Level up your classroom assessments: Are you game?

Simulations, genius hours, and project-based learning have seen a dramatic rise in classrooms nationwide as educators aim to inspire and prepare a new generation of students. Yet, even as pedagogy shifts toward innovation and engagement, the metrics by which students are assessed are still largely predicated on the rote recall that characterized last century's assessments.

Assessment practices must transform to be meaningful to both students and educators. Meaningful metrics reveal new information to students and teachers: what went well, areas for improvement, and next steps for teaching and learning. What's more, assessments are most effective if they excite and engage our students toward continued growth. Formative assessment delivered through game-based learning can meet all these criteria.

Read more here:

Portnoy, L. (2018, February). Level up your classroom assessments: Are you game? ASCD Express, 3 (12). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol13/1312-portnoy.aspx

Using Games to Support STEM Curiosity, Identify, and Self-Efficacy

Portnoy, L., & Schrier, K. (2019) Using Games to Support STEM Curiosity, Identify, and Self-Efficacy. The Journal of Games, Society, and Self. 1(1), 66-96. Retrieved from https://kilthub.cmu.edu/articles/Journal_of_Games_Self_Society_Issue_1/7857578

Demystifying Learning So We Are Designed To Learn

Lindsay writes and researches about learning science in articles in peer-review journals to widely read publications such as EdSurge and Getting Smart, to ASCD and Digital Culturist. Her new book, Designed to Learn is available now for pre-order.

What it was like when you were a student

I had a very traditional experience with school. I didn’t feel like I was a ‘good’ student until I was in high school and sometimes I wonder if even that was by accident. I remember taking a test in high school telling me what types of careers I should pursue and thinking “wow, I don’t want to do any of those things but I guess I’m not able to do anything else.”

I think it’s really an interesting juxtaposition that in a time where so much money is being spent on initiatives to foster ‘growth mindset’ the grown-ups in the room are still following the entity perspective of ‘this is what type of learner you are and this is what your ability is’. We’re still looking to standardized tests to determine what people are capable of accomplishing and not allowing people to pursue what they care about and supporting them along the way. We ask our kids to be resilient but we don’t model it very well. Especially in a school system that is predicated on bells and exams and multiple barriers to entry from college to career. It seems a bit silly to me.

Read more & listen in here: https://barbarabray.net/2019/09/22/episode-83-demystifying-learning-so-we-are-designed-to-learn-with-dr-lindsay-portnoy/