No matter how brilliantly we explain new ideas it does not guarantee learning. Learning takes place in everybody’s own mind and it takes time.

The aim of using Assessment for Learning (AfL) is to improve the quality of the process of learning.

Let’s look at the first four tools of AfL.

The final or end-of-course exams verify if we have reached the goals of the course and that is what ‘Assessment of Learning’ mostly consists of. This type of testing is discussed at the end of each skill area under the menu topics ‘Vocabulary’, ‘Speaking’, ‘Pronunciation’, ‘Listening’, Reading comprehension’ and ‘Grammar’.

However, here we will focus mainly on AfL and how it can be done in lessons.

AfL, Assessment for Learning refers to all the continuous measures taken and feedback given by the teacher, student peers or anyone else involved in order to enhance learning.

AfL is an excellent a motivation tool in a relaxed CLT class:

The students realize

1. that the teacher is really interested in their learning and how they apply learning strategies.
2. what kind of learners they are and have the guts to find their own way of learning.
3. that they can really affect their own learning and grades and set their own goals.
4. that they may raise their grade by one upwards by working well in class and at home (AfL effort 9/10, final exam 7/10 > school report grade 8). (The principle works at least in Finnish schools.)
5. that they often learn best when one of the classmates explains the matter to them AND the best students learn social skills, for example, while teaching others.

9 ways how to apply AfL in class

The first 4 tools have been briefly dealt with earlier and most teachers are accustomed to using them. The main points are revised in this article below.

1. Formative tests and ‘Quizzes
2. Questioning techniques
3. Differentiation= Mixed-ability class techniques
4. Discussing learning styles and strategies
5. Class observation and self-assessment (This is the most important AfL tool!)
6. Assessment rubric /criteria opened up
7. Development discussion / (Performance appraisal)
8. AfL, Giving constructive feedback – tips, traps and phrases
9. Positive feedback comments

Points 5 – 9 will be discussed in the next article since they may include many ideas that teachers do not frequently use.

Formative tests and quizzes

Teachers have been using formative tests for many decades. They are short 5 to10-minute tests to check if the new content was learnt well enough. This kind of information is essential for the teacher and students as well. These mini-exams reduce exam stress, are fair and the focus is narrow and clear.

Some teachers use diagnostic tests when they get a new group and they know nothing about the students’ proficiency level. This may scare the students but they will calm down if you tell them that the results will not affect their grades at all. The test simply helps you to tailor the course better. Diagnostic tests can, therefore, be regarded as a special kind of AfL tool and formative tests.

I have been using formative tests in two ways:

1) The traditional formative test: To get information if the points of the current lesson or the previous lesson were learnt. So the tests took place in the same lesson or the next lesson after the points were taught. The student did not write their names on the test but drew a symbol of their own to be able to get their own paper back.

The tests were collected and distributed randomly in class (no-one marking their own paper). Then we marked the tests according to my marking scheme on the screen. The students marked the answer with a question mark if they were not sure how to mark it. I glanced at everyone’s results at home but they were not written down or collected. Vocabulary and grammar were my most popular topics to be tested.

The point in letting the students mark each other’s papers is that they have to think harder and they automatically compare their own answers with the ones in front of them: this way the feedback process is more active.

I hear you thinking: “But they will cheat, if I let them do it.” Some may try but I always mark the 1st test myself to get and idea of the students true level. Another option is to have a diagnostic test at the beginning of the course,

The issue of cheating also has to be discussed openly in class. If the students respect you and appreciate what you are doing, cheating is not a problem. Minimize the use of pencil in marking: only mistakes are underlined and question marks added.

2) Over the last few years I have replaced extensive summative exams with a collection of short formative exams. The only important thing is that the students agree with you on the idea and you teach and practise the content well before testing.

All the tests were checked by peers right after the tests after the papers were exchanged. I revealed the answers slowly and made sure there was no cheating. If the students could not judge the answer they marked it with a question mark.

I always checked the answers afterwards anyway but the marking took very little time. Retake of the test was possible on a particular day during breaks but turned out to be unpopular. If we had 6 formative tests during the course, the weakest result was left out.

This is the case when AfL and AoL are intertwined / mixed and there is peer-assessment involved. The students actually preferred this type of testing because there was less stress involved, the focus was narrow enough and the possibility to retake the test took off the pressure.

Quizzes

Electronic quizzes, like Kahoot, which is my favourite quiz, are a highly motivative way to have a formative test either individually, in pairs or in groups. It gives immediate feedback to the teacher and the class how well certain ideas are mastered. The students do not seem to get tired of Kahoot and think critically about their choices and are very competitive in a constructive way. There is no need to collect the results.

There are also other free programmes available in the internet.

Questioning technique (using differentiation the easy way)

Making the right kind of questions in class is a skill of its own. In nearly all cases we teachers know the answers to our questions so we do not make the questions to get information but to check if something was understood correctly or to ask the students to use the language to express their opinion.

Whether we are using textbooks or not, the problem of mixed-ability classes is there: the weakest students can barely find the answers to our chapter-based questions and the best ones get bored since they find them too easy.

I suggested an overall solution to this problem in my article ‘Deepening understanding differentiation. Part 1’: Letting the students choose freely one of the three options. For example:

1. When did the Hills start their holiday? (Lines 1 – 3) How did they get to Greece? (Lines 4 – 6) etc.
2. Look at the text about the summer holiday trip of the Hills, work in pairs and explain in your own words what happened in their holiday. You may use the pictures and the following key words …
3. If you are not very interested in the Hill family’s holiday, explain about the best holiday trip your family has made. (a high-order question which requires a lot from the students)

Don’t be alarmed! 1. 2. 3. above does not really cause you extra work and the same trick works in every lesson. However, there is no shortcut from 1. to 3. but it is up to the students to work for this goal if they find it reasonable. Still, I would personally be pleased in being in group 1. if it corresponds my non-existent knowledge of Japanese, for instance. So, all levels are to be appreciated.

Making questions forces the students to think and learning is directly connected to the amount of brain activities in the learners’ minds. The quality and level of the answers vary but it is always at least a little step forwards.

No matter how brilliantly we explain new ideas it does not guarantee learning. Learning takes place in everybody’s own mind and it takes time.

If the students are accustomed only to the teacher asking the questions aloud and one student answering it, the transition to the 3-step model takes time. The best way, in my opinion, is to start the process by having the questions on a screen and by letting the students answer the questions in pairs.

We teachers have to make the students think and ponder on the possible answers and by doing so we lead the students to work at their own pace. The transition from teacher-oriented method to pair and group work may be a very delicate one and the feedback we give has to be encouraging and not embarrass the students.

By now you must have realized that my method is a practical solution to an essential part of my English lessons: using differentiation in class.

Differentiation and teaching mixed-ability classes

We already discussed using ‘differentation’ in mixed-ability classes when we discussed the recommended order of doing things in a textbook-based lesson, when checking reading comprehension, the history of using differentation in Finland and finally how to apply the differentiation ideas in class.

However, it may be worth repeating some of the main ideas on differentiation and they run as follows:

Differentiation should not cause the teacher any extra work. My way of differentiation minimizes the workload AND allows me to help students individually while the others are working in pairs or groups.

1. Success in differentiation and applying AfL principles in class require the use of student-oriented methods as much as possible. It is the only way to have time to observe and help individual students.
2. The old ideas of having ‘streaming’ (having 3 classes in separate clssrooms based on proficiency level in English) is still lurking in the background. Nevertheless, ‘streaming’ approach was abolished in most countries decades ago by CLT teachers. In my system the students can choose if they take 1) an easy (recognition) task, 2) an average task requiring some more memorization and application or 3) a task based very much on free production.
3. I love to talk about INVISIBLE DIFFERENTIATION which means that I do not talk about differentiation at all but make it happen by using pair and group work. I constantly change the composition of the pairs and groups and the composition of the pairs or groups is never permanent.

Discussing learning styles and strategies

Teaching learning styles and learning strategies have been extensively discussed earlier on and I think it is enough here to provide you with the introductory article link to the discussions. You will find discussion about learning style and strategies in particular in most articles.

On the whole, this is one of the most fascinating areas in CLT research and if the teachers are able to apply the ideas suggested, the learning outcome among the students will rise to a new level. So does the students’ awareness of themselves as a learner.

There are five more tools for AfL and they will be discussed in the next articles.