TESL 140, Assignment 3

Self-Evaluation -TESL 0140

It is now the end of the course and it is time to evaluate whether I achieved the goal I set at the beginning of the course.

This is my goal setting for the TESL 140 Course

My goal for this course:	My goal by April 4 is to learn how to create a summative needs assessment.
My plan for learning it:	Over the next few weeks, I will complete the assigned readings and course assignments to help me understand assessments and how to create them.
How I know I have achieved it:	I will have achieved my goal when I am comfortable in creating a summative needs assessment.
Demonstration that I have learned it:	I will create a summative needs assessment for the final assignment for the course by April 4.

I did create a summative assessment and rubric for the final assignment. So success.

However, I was not comfortable creating the summative assessment and I am not sure it was done well. So it needs work.

As for my plan to learn how to create a summative assessment by completing the readings and the various course activities, this is how it went.

I was intrigued by the idea of having separate definitions for assessment and evaluation. I have always equated them as the same thing. However, once you distinguish the two terms as assessment is a measure of progress while evaluation is a score and a judgement, you open yourself to more possibilities. Assessments allow you to measure students progress on a continuing basis which allows the teacher to help or assist the student in their learning process. Evaluation enables the teacher to quantify the extent of the student's learning, but also leads to ranking and comparing students against one another. Assessments allow for better feedback of the student's strengths and weaknesses to allow the student to grow not just in knowledge, but also in 'self'.

Learning the specifics of creating assessments left me intimidated. Having never taught an ESL course before and therefore never using assessments, I found the information helpful yet overwhelming. It was difficult to determine what I would need to do when I had no background. Attempting to create a valid assessment for the teaching material while I am still struggling to understand how to create the teaching material left me unnerved. 

Then rubrics were introduced as a tool for assessments and evaluations. Essentially providing students with a check list of what is required to perform a specific task is a fascinating concept. Throughout the other TESL courses I have been using them myself as a student, but the explanation was not clear in the earlier courses. Now I understand that rubrics can help me guide students, and myself, toward understanding their own learning process.

So, as for understanding the readings and activities throughout the course, I have to admit that it needs work.

Overall score - I need to do more work!

Stay tuned.