4.+Reseach+Variables+and+Question


 * Link to EDF689 Session 4 **


 * __ What is a concern in our practice? __** We are concerned that we are not providing all of our students with opportunities to show their true level of understanding.

Students in our mainly ESL school have an understanding of curriculum content but we do not always provide them with the assessment tools that allow them to take risks and allow them to present their knowledge, skills and understanding in a way that is aligned to their independent learning styles.


 * __ What are we going to do about it? __**

As a group of teachers who cover a wide spectrum of the school, we want to see if the students at early years, primary years and middle years are able to implement a common approach (based on exploring independent learning styles) which allows them to take risks and try different ways of presenting their understanding, knowledge and skills for assessment purposes.


 * We will: **


 * Share the theory of this approach with the students.
 * Inform the students that they have opportunities to explore different ways of showing their understanding.
 * Persuade the students that they have the right to make independent choices in presenting their understanding (to reiterate the concept of independent choice).
 * Present independent choice as an integral part of the presentation process.
 * Model and demonstrate a variety of presentation techniques aligned to different learning styles.
 * Allow the students opportunities to explore different presentation techniques.
 * Reassure and praise attempts for making independent choices.
 * Tailor our evaluation to assess student knowledge, learning and skills based on their independently chosen presentation.

At the end of this intervention, we hope the children in our classes will independently choose from a variety of assessment tools for demonstrating their understanding, knowledge and skills. They will state how that tool aligns with their independent learning style. They will take risks and have the confidence to try presenting their knowledge in a variety of ways.

(F or a pupil to take the risks necessary in order to learn, they must feel safe in their environment and for many, this security comes from contact with their peers while they are learning. In this article, I use 'independent' to mean self-managed learning, with the learner rather than the adult making the decisions. In order for a pupil to grow as an independent learner, he or she must develop an awareness of their individual learning preferences. ) [] - //Andy Bowman is an Advanced Skills Teacher for Learning and Thinking at Bailey's Court Primary School in Bristol (Teaching and Learning: online article accessed 18th October) //

//( //While the process toward independent learning begins during the earliest years of childhood, independence becomes especially significant as students rise to meet the challenges of the secondary phase of their school education. Skilled at using a variety of media and styles to present their ideas to a range of audiences, encouraged to become involved in setting their own criteria and evaluating their own success, to make decisions, to plan, listen actively and contribute in peer groups, students grow in confidence and take charge of their own learning.) [] //The writer is a founder and adviser of Central and Sevilla schools //.

( Creating opportunities for all students, by enriching the classroom through multiple techniques and assessment forms, develops students and brings out their strengths (Campbell et al., 1999;Gardner, 1999; Green, 1999). [] //International Education Journal //, 2006, 7(7), 935-947. ISSN 1443-1475 © 2006 //Shannon Research Press//. http://iej.com.au //935// Differentiated instruction: A research basis Monash University
 * Pearl Subban **

<span style="font-family: 'TimesNewRomanPSMT','serif'; font-size: 16px;">( If students are encouraged to examine their choices and to reflect on their performance, there’s a good chance they will make some important discoveries about themselves as learners. They may discover being able to make choices increases their motivation and willingness to work on assignments. They may be able to identify those learning skills they have that enable them to do well on certain kinds of assignments. And they may just realize those skills they don’t have can be developed thereby increasing the chance they will learn and do well on other kinds of assignments.) []