What I've noticed is that I'll experience the most meaningful learning curves after encountering a problem or issue that has ruffled my feathers. I often picture it like I am a brightly-coloured bird singing at the top of her capacity, everything is very sweet, as she surveys the horizon upon just landing after an enjoyable exploration, only to be toppled off by the predatory swipe of a hungry cat's paw. Although initially frightened she uses the experience to teach her where she should sing next time. Why does she not stop singing? She knows that if she does, she would no longer be a free bird, and she would not become wise.
One event where I experienced being toppled off .... well, not quite, but enough to ruffle my feathers a little, was in the last week with two formal assessments due, and an increased workload, plus some of the trials and tribulations of running a household. As much as I love the writing process I found that the requirements of the two assignments, far outweighed the time I perceived I had to devote to the tasks.
In a previous post I wrote about how I saw the whole assessment process as problematic. I deemed it to be based on the old "learner-as-processor" metaphor, where assessment practices focused on the individual, or what was in the individual's head, as the "unit of analysis" (Barab & Plucker, 2010). I felt frustrated about the issue, as I did not see how assessment, as traditionally conceived, reflected the real-world.
I, like Mari, was beginning to really enjoy the interactive and participatory context of blogging. Through ongoing participation, rather than having to develop "hypothesises" and "mental representations evidenced on post-assessment measures" (i.e. traditional assessment tasks that evaluate what has been learnt) I was enjoying the new style of instruction and assessment (Barab & Plucker, 2010). Although participants are still being assessed, they are evaluated in the context of real-world participation. This is a motivating form of assessment, as Mari highlights, as it is something that the learner feels is authentic to his or her needs, particularly how the assessments are "marked," through an automated marking process, and through the sheer fact that the posts are opened up to the world to read.
Mari outlines how, in contrast to the connectivist environment that the course espouses, there is the expectation for students to write three formal essays (summative academic papers). She refers to Goksu's point about how NGL is a "hybrid of connectivism and traditional education," rather than a true connectivist environment. Goksu's posts highlights how the incorporation of both the conventional of the past, such as including formal assessments but also elements of MOOCs can also be more time consuming, and I've certainly experienced this, as there is much to write about and only so much time. Mari rights how it is also "stressful" to have to switch to a different style of assessment, particularly a form that is constrained by convention. I also thought that it felt like overkill, on top of everything we had already been doing.
Nevertheless, after spending some time researching and writing a major assessment for the subject Theories of Learning Futures, what I found was that through writing an essay one is almost "compelled" to make the conceptual shifts that would not occur through only reading, or writing short blog posts. Not that posting ideas is not a constructive process, as it lends itself to many insights, however, through essay writing, a deeply reflective activity due to its length, one engages in higher-order thinking over a prolonged period of time, particularly if he or she desires to really know the area they are investigating. Through this extensive process the learner will experience changes in their schematic structure, something I think blogging will take longer to do, particularly as each blog post has a limited aim, and does not require the construction of a thesis (albeit very limited), or an extensive research process.
The changes to conceptual frameworks is due to the complex forms of thinking, reasoning and knowing that will occur as the learner attempts to "grasp disciplinary epistemologies" and apply these to a phenonema in the world (D'Agostino & O'Brien, 2010). It is through the construction of one's ideas, the learner begins to make conceptual shifts, one's they would not have made had they only read the content, or made comments along the way. I noticed that as I re-read previous journal articles and webpages, and ascertained their relevance to my thesis, I began having epiphanies, and even creative and innovative ideas developed, as I construed the theories application to my practice.
What I also noticed is that once one starts writing he or she can experience "flow," a state of "cognitive absorption" (Csikszentmihalyi, 1988; 1990 as cited in Goel et al., 2010). I began to lose track of time, was enjoying myself, immersed and curious about what I was exploring and the potential the exploration offered me. Through having to persist in my attempt to not only understand the information but also how I would harness what I knew to create a thesis that encapsulated all I knew about the topic and how it applies to my teaching context, I developed a thesis that felt transformative. Through evaluation and judgement, and the re-articulation of ideas, I began to make mental model changes (Goel et al., 2010), and realised that I would not have made the conceptual shift without having to apply many theories, through a compare and contrast process, to a real-world scenario.
Upon reflection, and a deeper analysis of educational assessment, I realise that some form assessment may be necessary, although as I move further in NGL and throughout my career I will continue to question the process. Assessment as an authentic real-world task does provide educators with some kind of marker about what the student can do and how effective the learning process is. It also enables others to see what type of skills a person has. As Weinberger, in Too Big To Know, outlines, although credentials in some spheres of the online world are not as important as in the past, in some areas, such as being a surgeon or an engineer, individuals want to be able to see that the practitioners have achieved some form of credential, and a credential involves an assessment process.
As David highlights, "we are constrained by our schemata," the schematic framework we have shapes how we see the world. My experience with assessment throughout my high school years still permeates as an adult, not only in myself with many of the adults that I come into contact with on a day-to-day basis. Goel et al., states that, as our mental models are implicit, they "typically resist change, until they are externalised by articulation through statements" (Schaffernicht, 2006 as cited in Goel et al., 2010), as I am doing via this blog. When asked what is at the heart of their fears, many adults tell me that it is the assessment process. They "hate" being assessed and it feels "too stressful." It feels like one is being "judged" as either worthy or unworthy. Unfortunately, I believe that this is a product of the traditional schooling system, and prevails today. I also believe, like I have stated in a previous post, that the experience of the traditional schooling experience prevents a lot of learners from pursuing further education.
Although I still find traditional assessment processes problematic, particularly how they impact on an individual's desire to continue learning, what is beneficial about the two assessments that I'm completing in NGL and Theories of Learning Futures is rather than take place in a "laboratory-like situations," "disconnected from the community of practice," the assessments enable course participants to demonstrate his or her knowledge in their area of work (Romer, 2010). Having this real-world application makes them both valid and authentic to not only my needs but to my students. For this reason, like the brightly-coloured bird, I'll keep singing despite the occasional feeling of being swiped down along my journey.
I'm interested to hear what other's think about the assessment process, or any of my comments.
References:
Barab and Plucker. (2010). Smart People or Smart Contexts? Cognition, Ability, and Talent Development in an Age of Situated Approaches to Knowing and Learning, Educational Psychologist, 37(3), p. 165-182).
Goel et al. (2010). Situated Learning: Conceptualisation and Measurement, Journal of Innovative Education, 8(1), p. 215-240.
O'Brien, M. and D'Agostino, F. (2010). Disciplinary-based approaches to curriculum, learning and teaching: extending project findings, Retrieved from http://www.griffith.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/329776/Disciplinary-based-approaches.pdf
Romer, T. A. (2010). Situated Learning and Assessment, Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 27(3), p. 233-241.
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