UNPACKING DEVELOPING ASSESSMENT CAPABLE LEARNERS
Understanding Assessment for Learning and Student Motivation
There is a direct link between assessment for learning practices and student motivation or desire to learn. Factors that contribute to the desire to learn include:
- having a sense of control and choice
- receiving specific, descriptive feedback
- encounters tasks that are challenging, not threatening
- is able to self-assess accurately
- encounters learning tasks similar to everyday life
Goal Orientations
There are three different goal orientations that we’re going to address. These goal orientations can impact students’ motivation in the classroom.
Performance/Ego
The student’s goal is to prove ability or hide a perceived lack of ability.
- Works to exceed performance of others or to hide learning needs.
- Believes initial lack of success indicates lack of ability.
- Quits, cheats, or chooses easier work when faced with difficulty.
- “I don’t know what I’m doing, so I’m not smart enough to do this.”
- “How do I get the highest ‘A’?”
- “How do I avoid being seen as not smart enough?”
Task-Completion
The student’s goal is to get it done and get a grade.
- Works just hard enough to get assignments turned in and/or to get points.
- Believes that effort in school is about getting points; it matters less who does the work.
- Looks for alternative ways to get points when faced with difficulty.
- “When is it due?” or “How much is this worth?”
Learning
The student’s goal is to get better.
- Develops willingness to try and persistence to keep trying.
- Believes that effort will lead to eventual success.
- Exhibits “Failure tolerance” when faced with difficulty. Initial failure can be overcome by a change in strategy.
- “What can I learn from this mistake?”
Students can hold one set of goal orientations in one classroom and another in a different classroom.
We know that students may be more motivated in one content area and less motivated in another area. Likewise, teacher-student relationships also play a role in student goal orientations. When we put more focus on developing assessment capable learners as a common classroom practice, students tend to move toward the learning orientation. Our assessment practices do a great deal to shape students’ goal orientations.
Key Factors in Developing a Learning Orientation in Students
- Having clear learning targets or visions and making them clear to students
- Focusing instruction, learning activities, and diagnostic assessment on the learning targets
- Ensuring your assessment practices treat learning as a progression and mistakes as a way to learn
- Structuring sufficient practice time with feedback before the graded event
- Teaching students to self-assess and set meaningful goals for further learning
Why do you think there is a correlation between these practices and motivation and achievement?
Coaching Companion
Video: Building Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Concrete Practices to Support Student Persistence