Using Discussion as a Summative Assessment

Summary:

Rebecca Hall, an experienced educator, shares her positive experience with discussion assessments as an alternative to traditional tests. Over her two decades in education, especially the past two years of teaching online, Hall has explored various assessment methods and found discussion assessments to be more compassionate and effective in promoting critical thinking, collaboration, and content mastery.

Key Points:

1. Compassionate Assessment: Hall introduces the concept of "compassionate assessment," emphasizing a supportive rather than punitive approach. Discussion assessments are seen as fostering critical thinking, encouraging peer-to-peer teaching, and providing students with opportunities to master content, creating a positive and engaging learning experience.

2. Getting Started:

   • Hall suggests outlining meaningful questions before starting a unit. These questions should cover essential concepts and extension topics, with students having the freedom to explore additional areas based on their interests.
   • Questions are gradually introduced throughout the unit, tying back to the driving phenomena. This approach keeps students engaged and ready to synthesize their learning at the end of the unit.

3. Implementation:

   • Students are given a full class period to choose questions and outline responses, often following a claim, evidence, and reasoning framework. Visuals are encouraged to support their responses.
   • Student choice is crucial, allowing them to select questions they understand best. Limiting preparation to three or four questions ensures depth in responses.
   • On the day of the discussion, students take the lead while the teacher moderates. A spreadsheet is used to document student contributions, promoting a supportive environment where no points are deducted for incorrect ideas.
   • A rubric is provided to assess the quantity and quality of student participation, ensuring fair evaluation.

4. Documentation and Adaptation:

   • Students are required to take notes during discussions, holding them accountable for their learning. These notes also support a subsequent writing assessment, where students respond to a chosen discussion question in a paragraph.
   • For students who don't prepare, participate, or are absent, discussion questions can be turned into an alternative assessment, allowing all students to demonstrate deep content knowledge and critical thinking.

5. Encouraging Teachers to Try New Approaches:

   • Hall encourages teachers to experiment with new approaches, particularly in challenging or less successful units. Additional resources, such as discussion sentence stems and a discussion rubric, are provided to inspire and guide educators in implementing discussion assessments.

Rebecca Hall's advocacy for discussion assessments aligns with the shift towards compassionate and student-centric assessment practices, offering a valuable alternative to traditional testing methods.

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