When all is said and done, the analyst educator skills help determine if we have met our objectives. Assessments come in many forms, and we must allow our learners to demonstrate their skills in multiple ways while also successfully employing formative and summative assessments.
Before we can employ our evaluation techniques, we must ensure we know how to assess our learners. As we have designed lessons in our MET program, we have paid particular attention to ensuring we choose the appropriate evaluation points for a project. As we have developed programs, we have also learned the importance of assessment intervals and feedback. Throughout the web design course, we were tasked with weekly labs and hands-on coding-based exams reflecting the system’s nature.
Beyond the traditional assessment, we must provide our students with multiple platforms to demonstrate mastery. The systematic change theory course helped us practice this as no formal papers were accepted, and we were to determine the best method to reflect our learning. As students, we have also seen our instructors utilizing data to help us achieve our learning goals by consistently using rubrics for assessment. As a definitive proof of accomplishment, we are creating digital portfolios to help us move to the next phase of our educational journey.
I did not come to education in a traditional way; thus, the idea of formative and summative assessments seemed somewhat foreign. Throughout the MET program, I have seen the use of both assessments to help identify issues and catch potential roadblocks. In the lessons I’ve developed, I’ve included plans to use the assessment data to help me look for trends and to inform future curricula and instructions. Several of my MET courses have included some weekly reflection, using KWL charts, progress, and knowledge checks to help us create that student-instructor relationship that was frequently lacking in the online environment. No matter the data collection method, it is useless unless we comprehend and incorporate the data … a key message throughout the MET program.