Over the last five weeks, your assignments have been preparing you for this Final Paper. As you compile this paper from your previous assignments, you will realize that what you have been doing is a reflection of backward design planning.

To prepare for this assignment,

• Review      your instructor’s feedback on all assignments from Weeks 1 through 4. Read      the summative comments within Waypoint as well as all other comments.      Often times instructors will leave embedded comments directly in your      paper. As you work through each component of this assignment, make any      corrections or revisions recommended by your instructor.
• Review      and use the Week      6 Assessment Design Final Paper Template Summative Assessment      Template.
• Research      for at least two scholarly sources (Links to an external site.)      that will support your analysis within your paper.

Content Instructions

Use the following outline as you structure and complete your Assessment Design Final Paper:

• Standard      and Learning Objective 
  • List       your selected pathway from Week 1, the standard, and learning objectives.
• Formative      Assessment 
  • First,       describe the importance of formative assessment. What is it? Why should       formative assessments be part of every lesson plan? How should they be       used? This is where you should include evidence from your readings to       support your description.
  • Second,       based on your Week 2 assignment and any necessary revisions, explain the       three different ways you plan to formatively assess learners based on the       standard and learning objective you selected. Be sure that at least one       of your formative assessments utilize technology. Describe how these formative       assessments are aligned with your standard and learning objectives.
• Development      of Summative Assessment 
  • In       Week 3, you created a test blueprint that captures the different types of       questions you will ask that are aligned to at least three different levels       of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Make any necessary revisions based on instructor’s       feedback and then insert your test blueprint.
  • Then,       list your 10 questions that you developed in Week 3 making any necessary       revisions based on your instructor’s feedback. Your 10 test questions       must include the following: 
    • Each        question should include the learning objective it is aligned to as well        as the level of Bloom’s Taxonomy the question addresses.
    • List        the type of question it is (selected-response, constructed, or performance)
    • You        must include at least 6 selected response questions, 3 constructed        questions and 1 performance-based question.
• Development      of Rubric for Performance Assessment 
  • In       Week 3, you developed a rubric for the performance-based assessment that       you created for your summative assessment. Review the instructor’s       feedback, make any necessary revisions and then include the rubric here.
• Analysis      of Data and Interpretation 
  • In       Week 4, review your instructor’s feedback based on how you analyzed your       data. Make any necessary revisions and include the entire assignment       except for the conclusion.
• Reflection 
  • In       Chapter 11.1 of your text, Lefrançois (2014) discusses various grading       systems. One such method to help learners become self-regulated is to       engage them in self-assessments. You will perform your own       self-assessment of your final project by completing the following: 
    • Access        the rubric for your final project.
    • Review        the rubric and assess your level of proficiency for each criterion.
    • List        the criteria, the proficiency level you think you performed, and your        rationale. Consider using a table to complete this task.
    • After        reviewing the rubric and self-assessing your work, was there anything        that you changed in your assignment? If so, what was it and why?
    • Then        briefly discuss the benefits of having learners self-assess their own        work. Provide evidence from your readings or outside sources to support        your response.

Written Communication Instructions

Your Assessment Design Final Paper

• Must      be eight to 10 double-spaced pages in length (not including title and      reference pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the      Ashford Writing Center.
• Must      include a separate title page with the following: 
  • Title       of paper
  • Student’s       name
  • Course       name and number
  • Instructor’s       name
  • Date       submitted

For further assistance with the formatting and the title page, refer to APA Formatting for Word 2013 (Links to an external site.).

Carefully review the Grading Rubric (Links to an external site.) for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your assignment.

Weekly Lesson

Week 6

Welcome to the final week of EDU645: Assessment for Learning. Please be sure to review the Week 6 homepage for this course to see:

• the      specific learning outcomes for the week
• the      schedule overview
• the      required and recommended resources
• the      introduction to the week
• a      listing of the assessments

Next, be sure to read this entire Weekly Lesson including any videos or articles shared.

Introduction

This final week of the course provides you a chance to reflect on everything you have learned in this course by creating a mind map which allows you to present what you have learned in a creative manner. Then, you will end with the final assignment which is primarily a compilation of your assignments from weeks 1 through 4 followed by a personal evaluation on your own performance using the rubric.

Week 6 Learning Activities 

This section includes additional, specific assistance for exceling in the assessments (learning activities) for Week 6 as a supplement to the instructions and grading rubrics. If you have questions about what is expected on any assessment for Week Six, contact your instructor before the due date.

Discussion: Mind Map

Mind Map Art [Online image]. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.mindmapart.com/how-to-mind-map-mind-map-jane-genovese/ (Links to an external site.)

This final discussion is an opportunity for you to explore what you have learned in this course by using a mind map. The above image is a mind map about mind mapping. Be sure to review your assignment instructions as well that clearly outline the steps involved in creating a high-quality mind map. Mind maps are another great assessment tool that you could use in your instructional practice to determine what knowledge learners have acquired in a fun and engaging manner that will be meaningful for your learners. So, don’t be afraid to use color and get as creative as you want; have some fun with this task!

Also, don’t forget to complete the “L” portion of your KWL chart from Week 1 Introduction.  While this is another way to assess learner knowledge, it will also provide you with a great way to brainstorm as you develop your mind map.  Additionally, you are asked to provide at least one question about assessments that you are still looking to get answered and you guessed it…it is yet another way that you can assess learner knowledge.  Your classmates and instructors will hopefully provide some answers as you engage in your last opportunity for discussions.

Final Paper: Assessment Design

The Final Assignment is your chance to highlight the depth of understanding you have now acquired about assessments. Be sure to review all the feedback your instructor has given you on assignments for Weeks 1 through 4, making any necessary changes for improvement. Please note that there are slight variations of what you are asked to present for each section of the final paper.  It is not entirely a “copy and paste” from your Week 1 through 4 assignments. Use the Week 6 Assessment Design Final Paper Template found in the assignment instructions to guide your writing. The finale of your Final Assignment will require you to engage in your own self-assessment by evaluating your own work based on the rubric that is used by your instructor to assess your work and examine the benefits of such a practice.

Week 6 Lesson 

Wrapping it Up!

Congratulations!  You completed five intense weeks learning about assessments. It is hoped that this course has provided you greater insights on assessments and its significance for the learning process. Without assessments, effective instruction cannot occur. Therefore, it is critical to plan your instruction using the backward design model so that you do not focus on what you want to instruct, but rather on what you want your learners to learn. Each week, you progressed through the steps of the backward design model that allowed you to focus on the learning of your students and you never actually created an instructional plan to teach the standard and learning objectives/outcomes/targets you developed, which is the final step of the backward design model. We will not complete that final stage of the backward design model in this course, but perhaps it is a lesson that you could develop one day.

For your final assignment, you are asked to evaluate your own performance using the rubric to determine your proficiency levels based on the rating scales. This strategy encourages learners to become self-regulated learners because it allows them to set goals and monitor their progress.  The outcome is that learners begin to realize what strategies are effective and ineffective for their learning process.  The hope is that this process will motivate learners to continually work on their performance.

Here is a video on one such strategy that promotes self-regulation through reflection called “Be Sure To”. Consider how this powerful reflection tool can support the success of your learners and even the success for your own educational journey here at Ashford University.

Teaching Channel. (n.d.). “Be sure to strategy”: A powerful reflection strategy (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/student-goal-setting

References

Teaching Channel. (n.d.). “Be sure to strategy”: A powerful reflection strategy (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/student-goal-setting (Links to an external site.)

Tips for Success 

Do you know all the services that are available to you from the writing center? Studies have shown that students who use these services have a higher success rate in their courses.  Consider using some of these services to support your success on your final assignment!

Required Resources

Article

Pinola, M. (2013, September 9). How to use mind maps to unleash your brain’s creativity and potential (Links to an external site.). Retrieved from https://lifehacker.com/how-to-use-mind-maps-to-unleash-your-brains-creativity-1348869811

Website

Mindmapping (Links to an external site.). (https://www.mindmapping.com/)

• This      website provides information about mind mapping and will assist you in      your Mind Map discussion this week.
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