Jelilat Adesiyan

A Theoretical Assessment Cycle for ENG 1301 to 1302

This assessment cycle is going to test certain hypothetical outcomes from ENG 1301 and close the loop via ENG 1302 to ascertain if the outcomes hypothesized for ENG 1301 are the right ones i.e. the ones needed for student success.

Week 1

In order to start the assessment cycle, I will first give my students a diagnostic essay prompt (Paper 1). This essay will be 5% of the student’s final grade. I’m hoping that giving such low stakes will give my students the motivation to do their best and also relieve the pressure of the numbered grade. Overall, I will be using a formative style for encouraging students to revise their works. The papers will keep getting higher in grading percentages until the final paper which will have the highest stake.

Paper 1 - 5%

With this prompt, I am hoping to isolate the outcomes that will guide the rest of the semester. This prompt will be something like this;

[I will provide a passage from a textbook, and ask my students to support or oppose a certain stance that the passage makes. The passage will have two examples from people that support and oppose a stance. I will avoid asking the students to use real world examples because I would want to see what they can do with what is in front of them. I will be using the results from this essay to discover the strengths and weaknesses of the students. I will look for the student’s attempts to engage with the prompt fully. I will expect them to attempt to dissect the prompt and what it is looking for and stay within its scope so I can properly compare them to their peer’s results so as to compare and contrast the entire class’ attempts.]

If a common denominator is that everybody does something well, then I’m not going to teach that. I expect that they might all have introductions that they consider interesting in order to pique my interest, so I won’t teach that. I will also expect that many make attempts to use examples from the text and that maybe just as many of them use cases that are popular in social media or in their everyday lives to illustrate their points. I expect that students will have problems in many areas, but I my objective is to teach only four outcomes due to the limited time that is in a semester. In order to pick these outcomes, I will create a tale to group the successes and failures of each paper. I will pick each success and failure based on what is present in each paper. The table might look something like this;

Number of students = 30Engaging with the text directly

Building Cohesive Paragraphs

Making Direct comparisons

Contextualizing information

First sentence has funny or interesting intro

Uses real world example

Has five paragraphs or more

Keep checking for residual occurrence in

subsequent rough drafts. Repeat 4-6 for each

outcome

6 7 9 10 20 25 28

The table is hypothetical as I’m certain that other issues may problems might be within the student’s essay that I can’t think of now due to my limited knowledge of isolating problem areas that are below the surface and are not part of the ideal paper. Based on my table, the first outcome I will teach will be Engaging with the text directly.

Out of the fifteen weeks of the semester, there are typically 13 weeks of actual teaching in a semester. I will reserve the first week for the diagnostic essay prompt and divide the remaining twelve weeks into 4. I will go through each objective’s learning cycle in three weeks. Below is my assessment cycle map.

Week 2 -4

With these weeks, I will focus on this outcome: engaging with the text directly. I will focus on teaching it and checking to see if my students have learned it. I will assess the learning of this outcome using an essay (paper 2).

Paper 2 - 10%

Assessment cycle map

(1) Give prompt to develop outcomes

(2) Evaluate group performance to find the most common

issue s

(3) Pick three to teach due to limited time based on "most

common" missing outcome based on

previous paper

(4) Teach first outcome

I doWe DoYou do

(5) Read essay results to check

whether outcome was learned

(6) Give Peer Review or other

intervention mechanism to help

student assess their own paper

(7) Check final draft to see if writerly act

has been applied.

(8) Close loop by validating that 50%+

of competent student continue

competence.

My first objective will be what I consider the biggest problem; engaging with the text directly. I will teach this objective and then check if it has been learned by giving the students a paper to write in which I hope to see if the objective has been learned.

I will teach it using the two class periods of one week using the I do, we do, you do strategy. I will first. I will then give an in-class writing assignment asking them to read a passage from the textbook and answer a few questions from the question section of that textbook. The questions from the textbook is most likely to be asking the students what happened in the story they read, further helping them engage with the text. I will end the class by assigning an out of class writing assignment with the expectation that the students will work on the assignment using the strategies they have learned in class due for the second week of learning, and we will further work together on the assignment in class by discussing the moves the students made. I will then assign a paper with the expectation that they use this in-class strategies to engage with the text.

The type of prompt I will give for this paper will be one that requires the student to engage with the text directly either by giving examples from the text to support their argument or in some other way based on how the students engage with the prompt. It might be something like this;

[In the short essay regarding communicative technologies in the workplace, Maria the nurse gives various examples of new technologies that might make Lorenzo and Maria’s lives better. Pick two of the various examples of the use of these technologies from the text and explain how it made Lorenzo or Natalia’s lives better. One example should be about a technology that was used on Lorenzo and the other on Maria.]

With this prompt, I want students to read the prompt carefully and engage with it. I deliberately separated the information I was requesting into two sentences so that I can get a picture of whether students even read the prompt completely. I also believe this prompt will force them to read the text and further more engage with the text directly, the outcome for the assignment. Although the students are to get examples from the text, they are allowed to write as they please.

I will require a rough draft to check that my first objective has been learned. I think that in the first draft, I might notice that most of the students have a problem engaging with the text and might instead use personal experiences to support their arguments, maybe how their grandmother broke a hip or something of that nature.

I will schedule an instructor-student conference with each of my students for three purposes.

1. To let them know they can come to meet me at any time (especially for those who seem to have learned the objective)

2. To check to see if those who have seemingly met the objective did it because they have actually learned it.

3. Finally, to reteach the outcome for those who cannot articulate it, and for those who can articulate but can’t apply it, I will teach them how to apply it.

For the final draft, I will be checking to see if any of my strategies (for those who did not make any changes) have worked, and to also see if those who could articulate it only can now apply it.

Does their final draft show that they have learned my objective? Or that they are willing to learn? (I will more check for that even more in the next paper, so I can adjust my expectations and do my best to help those people learn something to build upon even if it is only the first objective)

I will make it clear to the students what I graded them on for one purpose.

1. To let them know I only grade what I teach, and more importantly, what they have learned, and will continue to do so all semester, thereby implicitly informing them that things will continually have higher stakes.

I think that most of the students will have made changes to show that they have learned the objective by addressing the prompt more fully in the final draft (80%). However, true learning will be done when they incorporate that objective in the next paper without a push from me. I will keep checking for residual occurrences of these writerly acts in subsequent papers.

Week 5-7

I will pick out the next biggest problem based on paper 2. I will focus on teaching it and checking to see if my students have learned it. I will assess the learning of this outcome using an essay (paper 3). Assuming that the initial outcome is still the biggest problem, I will teach it.

Paper 3 - 15%

I will evaluate paper 2 to find the next outcome using the table system. I hypothesize that Building Cohesive Paragraphs is still the next biggest issue based on paper 2. My objective for this paper apart from teaching the outcome will be to check for objective 1 and 2 i.e. I will be looking to see if objective 1 shows up (then it has truly truly been learned) and if objective 2 has been learned, or rather to see to what extent it has been learned by the student body as a whole.

I will teach it using the I do, We do, You do strategy just like with the previous outcome. I will also assign an out of class assignment to further iterate the learning of that outcome. The second week of that class will be used to go over the out of class assignment just like with the previous outcome. The prompt will be one that asks the students to write for or against a topic.

The prompt might be something like this;

[Gun control is an issue that is prevalently discussed in the society today, argue for or against the effectiveness of gun control law. Use at least one example from the textbook from the chapter discussing gun control laws to support or argue against its ineffectiveness or effectiveness.]

I think this exercise will have the additional advantage of helping check to see if the students have really learned the first outcome.

I will ask for a rough draft to check if the writerly act I was trying to impart has been learned i.e. building cohesive paragraphs. I think that in the first draft, I might notice that most of the students have a problem building cohesive paragraphs and might struggle to stick to one main idea. I might also notice that objective one might be missing or present.

If I see that happening in the first draft, I will schedule an instructor- student conference like with paper 1. In this instructor-student conference, I will check to see if objective 1 has been incorporated into this paper (if it has, then it has been learned), and I will also check to see the progress of objective 2. Has the student made any changes to show that they understand the assignment prompt, and so have potentially learned the objective? I will mainly use this time to reteach the outcome for those who cannot articulate it, and for those who can but can’t apply it, I will teach them how to apply it.

For those who haven’t moved past the previous objective, I’ll have them do the assignment but grade them with the old objective i.e. for the students who did not manage to meet the objective 1 even in the final draft of paper 1, I will check to see if they have met it in this paper. If they have, then I will grade them on that.

For the students who applied the writerly act of objective 1 in the final draft of paper 1, after the instructor-student conference of paper 1, I will grade this final draft (for paper 2) using this objective.

If it is the same group if students having the problems of meeting the objective (if they already met objective 1 with the final draft of paper 1), it might be because of a few reasons. I will reteach that outcome to them and discuss their problems with the outcome to see if I can make it simpler for them by eliminating some problem or idea that might be stopping them form learning (when possible).

If the same students that haven’t met objective 1 with the final draft of paper 1 and still didn’t meet it this time (what I will be grading them on), this will also give me a better handle on the type of student they are i.e. are they willing to learn or are they the students that will need to take ENG 1301 again? This is so that I will know to stick to my guns and attempt to teach them the objective 1 so that they have something to build upon for when they take the class again.

For other non-recurring students that have a problem meeting this prompt objective, I will check to see if they can articulate the problem they’re having (if they still didn’t make any significant changes after the peer review). If they can articulate it, I will teach them how to apply it using another example other than the assignment prompt (to check for local transferability) just like in paper 1.

I will check to see how much time they put into their work (assuming that I think they have the types of problems I hypothesized in the first paper) and the place where they think they have the most problem. Knowing where they have a problem might help me eliminate that problem and help them at least learn that outcome in a different way that they might better understand.

For the final draft, I will be checking to see if any of my strategies (for those who did not make any changes) have worked, and to also see if those who could articulate it only can now apply it. Does their final draft show that they have learned my objective?

I think that most of them (65%) will have, and that they will also mostly (84%) have learned objective 1.

Week 8 -10

Paper 4 - 20%

I will evaluate paper 3 to find the next outcome using the table system. I hypothesize that Making Direct Comparisons is still the biggest next issue based on paper 3. My objective for this paper apart from teaching the outcome will be to check for objective 1 & 2 i.e. I will be looking to see if objective 1 shows up (then it has truly truly been learned) and if objective 2 has been learned, or rather to see to what extent it has been learned by the student body as a whole.

The prompt of this paper will be to encourage students to make comparisons directly.

The prompt might be something like this;

[In Mahsweta Devi’s Giribala, Devi discusses the lack of freedom for women in social classes. Do women still lack these freedoms in today’s society? If so, in what way? Discuss.]

If I see that happening in the first draft, I will schedule the next class as a peer review class meeting. It might also be that the student did not in fact read the prompt fully. The peer review will be to encourage students to assess their peers using what has been taught to them (the objective).

As this is the third paper, I am hoping the students will have a handle at answering these prompts and figuring out how to apply the outcome, and can at least articulate it. If they can articulate it, the peer draft will be good for helping them see how others have applied it.

At the beginning of class, I will once again reiterate the prompt objective and encourage them to spend a few minutes taking note of the prompt objective i.e. what does the prompt require them to have? This will hopefully force the students to engage with the prompt fully.

I will then require the students to revise their paper using their peer’s comments if they deem it satisfactory enough, and also hopefully guide them to think for themselves and ask themselves what they were looking for in their peer’s paper.

Due to this peer review, the students will have to write a second draft, although they might make no changes if they so wish. The point is not that they make changes although due to the nature of the peer review they might. It is for students who can articulate the prompt be able see the different ways in which others are applying the objective learned. The peer review will further give the students an opportunity to not only assess their peer’s papers, but to check themselves and see if what they’re looking for (prompt objective) is present in their own paper. It will particularly help students in recognizing the writerly act and see how they are applying it, if they are.

I will read this second draft and take notes as to whether there has been some significant change in the second draft i.e. does there seem to be an improvement that shows that the student has learned to engage with the text directly? Did the paper change to reflect that they have learned this objective? I think I will see some change, but that some students might not have made changes for different reasons.

Although there are many factors that could have affected their participation in the assignment, for the purposes of this assessment, I think that the reasons that might have affected my students might have to do with time management, the student being lazy, or maybe the student’s belief that their work already met the objective. Knowing where the problem is can help me teach the outcome to the student in a way they might understand better.

I will use this meeting time to discuss my notes with the students and reteach the outcome for those who cannot articulate it, and for those who can but can’t apply it, I will teach them how to apply it. I think that about 54% of the students will have made some changes.

For those that made changes, my job will be to see if it was because they actually recognized the need to meet the prompt objective during the peer review i.e. did they actually learn what I taught them?

For those who did not make any changes, if they can articulate the prompt objective and say they have met it even when they haven’t, it might be because they have poor time management skills or are lazy and didn’t even try to read their peer’s comment. If the student can articulate what the prompt is, I will teach them how to apply it using another example other than the assignment prompt (to check for local transferability)

For those who did not make any changes because they truly did not learn the objective, I will question them to find the place where they think they have the most problem. My discussion with them will also have the added benefit of evaluating their current knowledge. More importantly, I will also spend this time re-teaching the outcome.

Finally, I will check their rough draft to see if those who could articulate it only can now apply it. Does their final draft show that they have learned my objective? I think that most of them (86%) will have, and that they will also mostly (92%) have learned objective 1 & 2.

Ultimately: If I can tell that a student isn’t going to pass, I’ll keep working with them with the objective they’re stuck on to make sure they at least have one skill. This is so that when they retake the class, they will have one objective learned, or at the very least will be able to articulate the objective.

Week 11-13

Portfolio - 30%

I will require students to put together a portfolio of their essay. They will be required to edit two out of the three papers based on the outcomes they have been taught this semester. This will have the biggest percentage in terms of grading. The students will also be required to write a self-assessment essay. It will require them to discuss what they have learned in the class. It will also include the changes they have made and would require them to document how they made these changes. Which outcome did they apply? This portfolio will be useful in helping me see how they regard their learning experience in the class.

The prompt might look something like this;

[At the end of the semester, you will put together a portfolio that would include a self-assessment report. Your portfolio should include two original final drafts of your essay and revisions of those essay based on what you have learned this semester. Your self-assessment report will also include your learning experiences. Your learning experience should include what you have learned in the class, and how you have applied them in your original essay versus how you have applied them in your revisions. Did apply skills learnt from weeks after the original in your portfolio revision? Feel free to include any issues you think will be useful to hear about.]

This portfolio will be useful for students in teaching them how to evaluate themselves, it will also teach them to see the difference between good and bad writing based on their growth that semester. When I had to put together a portfolio, I saw my writing in a different light. Although mine was a graduation portfolio, it helped me realize that I did know when I had written what I considered to be a good paper or a bad paper. I was able to see my growth and actually realize that I was better now than I was then. I’m hoping this would do the same for my students even though it is a short amount of time. I’m hoping that would encourage them to see that learning is possible and will grow over time and with application.

I will give the students room for portfolio revisions. To start this process, I give student chances to send me their informal notes and drafts on the portfolio. I will then schedule a conference with them to discuss the portfolio parts and expectations. It will also give the students an opportunity to discuss any problems they might have with the assignment with me.

Note: The remaining 20% will be calculated as thus;

5% for each rough draft (3) [For encouragement to participate] = 15%

5% for class attendance

Closing the loop: Is it the right missing outcome?

My ultimate goal will be to see if what has been learned in ENG 1301 is the right outcome to have taught and whether it has truly been learned. So did the people who went on make it? If so, is it because of what I taught? Did they learn what I taught? Is what I taught the missing objective?

Those who passed my class will theoretically have learned what has been taught. In order to answer the questions posed, I will have to see how many of those that moved on to the next class passed it. I will also have to check to see if this class has built upon the things I have taught them. Have they used those skills? Have the outcomes of these new class, gleaned from their first writing (such as writer’s profile and diagnostic essay) been built on my outcomes? I will check this based on the outcomes that teacher developed for the class after the class is over.

I anticipate that most of those that passed ENG 1301 will pass ENG 1302. If 50%+ of students who passed ENG 1301 passed ENG 1302, my hypothetical missing outcomes from ENG 1301 were the right ones. The loop will then be closed.