Managing Assessment Information

Evidence of growth in technology education can be collected in three ways:

• by observing students in the processes of doing and making products
• by listening to their comments, observations and questions they raise
• by reviewing their products

Student Journals

Assessment of student performance may be supported through the use of journals. Student journals are a useful tool for encouraging students to reflect on their experiences. Journals may be quite structured, or they may be a general review of the events of the week in the class. Entries may comment on a specific activity or topic, or provide a broad reflection on progress or on an issue.

Journals are an important aspect of communication between the student and teacher. Students may ask questions, indicate successes, or identify areas where they need further assistance to develop skills.

Teachers can respond to student journals in a letter, with a short comment in the journal, or by talking to the student.

Design Portfolios

A design portfolio is a purposeful collection of a student's work that shows the student's effort, progress, and achievement over time.

Design portfolios provide teacher with one information, they need for a comprehensive assessment of students' development as they identify problems or needs and progress toward the process of designing and making their solutions. Design portfolios are an important part of career planning, particularly in engineering, graphic arts and other areas that are design oriented.

Developing the Design Portfolio

Developing a design portfolio is an interactive process that requires ongoing reference to the original design brief while the students are actively involved. The process results in modifications and the reviewing of previous stages as students work toward a solution.

Ideas for design portfolios:

• Identify a need or opportunity. A situation with a recognized need or opportunity is examined.
• Frame a design brief. A concise problem statement is formulated that clearly identifies: 1) what the student will do and 2) what the successful solution or product will do. As well, the design brief lists the requirements of the work, such as size, materials, cost, aesthetics, and safety issues.
• Investigate and research. Data or information that relates directly to the problem is collected from a wide variety of sources.
• Generate ideas. Students record their initial ideas for possible solutions using notes and sketches.
• Decide on a solution. The various design possibilities are considered and the design that best meets the requirements stated in the design brief is chosen for further development.
• Developmental work. Through the use of detailed, working drawings and renderings, students refine initial design ideas to produce a final design.
• Planning. The key stages of production are identified and organized in a logical sequence. This may require the development of flow charts.
• Produce the solution. Students begin to produce the final solution or product. Students document problems encountered in the production phase of the development.
• Test and evaluate. Students test and reflect on the results to assess the suitability of their design solutions.
• Modify the solution or product. Students make changes to their original design based on the results of the testing. Modifications made should be recorded in the design portfolio.
• Summary and Evaluation. Students review their portfolios and make judgments about the achievement of their goals.

The following is an example of a design portfolio developed by students in grades 8 and 9. This example is excerpted from the reference set Evaluating Problem Solving Across Curriculum .

Design Brief: Design and build a metal vehicle that fits inside a 12.5 cm track, prepare a radio or TV ad, make a poster, include an accounting of costs, write a research and discovery report, and hold a race to see how far the vehicle rolls down a ramp (gravity power).

The project was done over several months. The teacher explained to the students what each term in a design flow chart meant, gave examples of actual problems being constructed and discussed possible ways of applying each step to design and construct a particular project.

As the students worked through their problems, they often approached the teacher with questions. He responded to their questions with a question-"I don't know, what do you think?"; "What do you see as your options here?"; "Where might you find an answer to that problem?"; "Who in this class might best know the answer to that question?"; "Who might you call on the telephone to arrive at a possible solution to your problem?"; upon a creative solution, the teacher might say "Good idea; why did you decide to do it that way?"

Teacher Observations

"Evan and Cory worked well together with lots of focussed discussions, and with a few friendly disagreements. All activity was productive. They stayed focussed on the problem and enjoyed the time of "not knowing," brainstorming, and figuring out things. Each time a new problem emerged, they tackled it energetically. When they were unsure of technical information, they were relentless in their search and always had specific questions to ask. When they found that something didn't workÑlike the wheelsÑthey accepted it as a matter of course and looked for a new solution. All planning and drafting was detailed and complete."

"Evan is a particularly gifted artist. His ability to develop very complex prototype drawings, working drawings and poster was above anyone else in the program." "While the problem the students dealt with were primarily technical, an important sub-problem we dealt with daily was cooperative learning skills.
Both students had complimentary gifts-one in technical and artistic areas, the other in leadership skills. Their strong views and ideas ended sometimes in Ô"friendly disagreements." Working through these disagreements was an integral part of the overall pattern."

Interviews

Interviews provide valuable information about students' understanding, thoughts, and feelings about technology education subjects. Interviews may give the student an opportunity to reflect on the unit of study and the teacher a chance to gather information about the student's knowledge and attitudes, as well as to diagnose student needs. Interviews may take the form of a planned sequence of questions that leads to an open-ended discussion or they may require independent completion of specific questions. Informal interviews between the teacher and student should take place on a regular basis throughout instruction.

Observation Sheets

Observation sheets may be used to assess students during individual or co-operative activities. Teachers should focus their assessment by selecting only a few attributes for each observation. This information is useful when reporting on individual student progress.

Checklists.

Checklists allow the teacher to observe the entire class "at a glance." They provide a quick reference for keeping track of specific information about student attitudes, knowledge and skills. Checklists allow the teacher to create an individual record-keeping system organized in a variety of ways. Information might include date, skill-proficiency legends, or a simple checkmark identifying a yes or no. Checklists can be useful in developing a learning profile of a child that indicates growth over time. Checklists may be created to gather information about student co-operation, participation, attitude, leadership, or skill development.

Problem Solving

Individual Assessment Checklist

Student________________________________________________

Problem________________________Date________________________
Problem________________________Date________________________
Problem________________________Date________________________

	Beginning	Developing	Maturing	Comments
Engagement	shows little interest has difficulty defining the problem works too quickly gets sidetracked needs frequent reinforcement to stay engaged	seems to want to solve the problem has some difficulty defining problem may seek frequent reinforcement	shows interest clarifies problem approaches problem actively and thoughtfully works independently
Background Knowledge	is unsure of what to look for has gaps in content knowledge needs explanation has narrow focus seldom transfers knowledge/strategies	can identify some required content knowledge has some gaps in content knowledge focus may be narrow/may seek out information may transfer information/strategies	relates prior knowledge gives clear evidence of content knowledge recognizes and finds missing information transfers information/strategies
Process	may lose sight of problem is not aware when on the wrong track gives up/doesn't change strategies	is unsure of approach to problem is aware when on wrong track, but not sure what to do frustrated, but looks for help	uses appopriate strategies is aware when on wrong track and changes strategies uses unique or unusual strategies
Representation	has difficulty restating problem has difficulty communicating processes used solution is disorganized, partial, or incorrect	restates salient features of problem may communicate some of the processes used solution may be complete, but not thorough and organized	communicates subtle features of problem communicates thinking and processes used solution is thorough, organized, appropriate, and may be original

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Table of Contents

Province of British Columbia
Ministry of Education
MOE Curriculum Branch

© 1996 Copyright

Maintained by: Technology Education Coordinator

Revised: February 27, 1996

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