EDC 665--Blog 6

Melissa asks "Blog: As learners, we are often focused on completing assessment activities successfully as opposed to acquiring the outcomes indicated by the course- why is this? Describe a learning experience where either you have combated this learner tendency or you felt a teacher handled this well."

Much of today's society has taught that perfection is the key when being assessed. If you are not perfect, you have failed. Many of today's students have severe test anxiety because they are afraid that if they make a significant amount of mistakes, they are not good students and will always fail. It I beieve that it is somewhat ingrained in our society's heads. Speaking from experiences within my own class, many students get dwon upon themselves if they do not do well. I think that it is important that teachers reiterate that an assessment tells a teacher how well the concepts were taught and what concepts the student needs to be retaught. I think this is a common mistake, that even I have made regarding assessments. I think what scares kids the most is that these formal assessments are reflected on their report cards.

OMET has combated this fallacy very well. In each of my classes I have felt comfortable with the way all of the professors have assessed our learning. They use various mediums to determine how well we have met their goals and objectives. These mediums include blackboard, TI, blogs, SecondLife, weekly discussions and group projects. I think that by not having the "test" limitations I feel that I have been able to grow more as a person and fully learn about each of the concepts taught. My severe test anxiety has been subdued this year. I think that OMET is a model program that illustrates effective assessment strategies without testing.

One last note about OMET: Professors of OMET ask us to assess ourselves. Oftentimes, that is the best form of assessment. Students are more critical of themselves than teachers are.

Finally, while some people are good test takers, they may not comprehend the material in its entirity. I think that it is important to look at the other side of the situtation.