Blog Post 1

From what you’ve seen of the course so far and in the course outline, which of the assessment strategies in your reading this week are being used in this course? 

Throughout the readings, different forms of assessment were discussed while also outlining how they function. For this course, I believe it to be a mixture of formative assessment and summative assessment. The formative portion comes in with how feedback is given throughout the course and, more specifically, the draft project. Before the final project would be submitted, we would go through the process of completing a draft, which would be subjected to feedback, which would in the end help with fixing any shortcomings. Additionally, our blogs are another form of improving our learning, which comes from the blog posts themselves. Being able to post publicly allows for instructors and peers to provide their own insight on the content that you learned. However, in the end, the project would be based on a grade, which would count as a summative assessment because that grade would reflect the criteria set by instructors and our understanding of meeting them. 

Which are not being used?

Summative assessment can be seen as not being used and not at the same time because the projects do contain grading; without the grading portion, summative assessment would be taken out completely.

What learning Theories (from week 1) do these connect to?

The learning theory that these approaches connect to comes from behaviourists learning theory, in my understanding. The feedback being provided on the project on how to take the next step and how to correct your previous ones aligns with this theory. Responses are required from the students, which would then allow instructors to provide their insight after their observations are adjusted accordingly. Overall, with feedback being given by instructors on where to improve, help the student effectively stay on track with support being given during the process. Coming back to our course, we can see this from our blueprint all the way to the final project. Additionally, not only instructors, but your group can also provide areas for improvement. 

How does it compare to other courses you’ve taken in your studies?

Focusing on sociology for my experiences during my studies, I feel many courses follow a summative assessment. Specific classes consist of only midterms and a final exam. You are required to create your own scenarios and connections with exam-related content, sometimes harder or easier entirely based on how well you understand a theory and connect with it. In many cases, for me, the ones easier to understand were those with solid examples or in a way I could apply them to myself. However, after each exam, you were given a grade, and feedback was not as important. There was not really any room to show your learning aside from putting it all down on an exam paper. Furthermore, in my opinion, being able to actually identify where you went wrong, etc., is a better skill and helps individuals grow as compared to simply being given a grade and moving forward, where you might struggle more than you did before.