Assessment and Computing - A Practical Guide to Teaching Computing and ICT in the Secondary School - page 73

look at strategies involving baselining, diagnostic, ipsative, peer- and self-
assessment.
Assessment for Learning (AfL)
The Assessment for Learning (AfL) strategy, developed in England by the
Assessment Reform Group, is one example of best practice in the use of assessment
tools to ensure learners maximise their learning.
What is AfL? We can define it as the process of gathering and interpreting
appropriate evidence for use by pupils and their teachers, to decide where the
pupils have got to in their learning. From this it can be determined where they
need to go, and how best to get there.
• It is a core element in teaching and learning, and is not an option that can be
bolted on to an existing lesson structure.
• Learning goals should be shared with, and understood by, the pupils.
• It involves pupils in peer and self-assessment.
• It provides 'next-steps' feedback, whereby the pupil is praised for their
achievement, shown their misconceptions and guided to improve their work.
Is there evidence that improving 'Assessment for Learning' raises standards?
Is it actually practical to use AfL in the classroom? In a word, 'Yes'. A variety of
different research initiatives (the most famous being Black and Wiliam's Inside the
Black Box, 1998) have shown that effective 'formative assessment' can improve
pupil performance at GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education; the post-
16 assessment standard in England and Wales) by one to two grades, and can
raise 'average' pupils into the top 35 per cent of achievement (in a criteria-based
assessment model).
Learning objectives
Key to learners being able to learn is their own understanding of what they are
learning about, or are doing at any particular time. The sharing of learning
objectives is a fundamental pillar of AfL strategy.
Learning objectives must state clearly what the teacher intends the pupils to
learn . They include references to knowledge, understanding, and skills developed
in the lesson, and should link explicitly with learning outcomes and oral and
written feedback. Learning objectives are not tasks, although tasks are used to
progress learning and to demonstrate the measurable outcomes.
There are simple acronyms used by some teachers to identify learning
objectives and learning outcomes. One example is: 'We Are Learning To' (lesson
objectives) and 'What I'm Looking For' (lesson outcomes). These are often written
as WALT and WILF. The idea that you should include the bigger learning picture
as well is sometimes represented by TIBS (This Is BecauSe).
Much literature describes AfL. In particular, you may find that the now-archived
but substantial collection of resources for the ICT strand of the English KS3 Strategy
contains many useful materials that can help you with your professional
development in this area. These are included in the Whole school development in
assessment for learning pack (DFES, 2004) which has specific guidance on ICT
included in the resources, some of which is adaptable to Computing. In particular,
Appendix 1.1 of that pack provides a succinct coverage of the research findings in
the area.