Opportunities for Learners to Improve Work

This document discusses the importance of providing opportunities and encouragement for learners to improve their work. It includes examples of observation and witness statements, as well as strategies for assessment and monitoring progress. The document also emphasizes the need for peer and self-assessment, as well as reflective learning.

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Task 10:-Provide Opportunities and encouragement for learners to improve upon their
work
Example Observation/ Witness Statement
Student Name
Student Number
Date
Learning Outcome Use of the Assessment strategies to promote
learning
Assessment Criteria Task 10
Description of the Activity undertaken with an intention to achieve the objective
I gave them a task to write about a museum that they have visited. In order to go for an
assessment, I did a segmentation of my class based on their previous results. The in-depth
study of the academic performance gave me a list of high performers, average performers,
and low performers. I immediately jot down a list of "High ability students, "Average ability
students" and "Low ability students." It is essential for a teacher to identify the performance
levels and create a distinction for them. This mapping of the class based on the assessment of
the students s allows a teacher to formulate group specific and person student specific
strategies to intervene the students and bring out the best in them (Marzano, 2012).
I fixed two goals for myself; the students with higher and average mental ability will commit
fewer mistakes in the use of the capital letters, placement of the finger spaces and right use of
the comma and full stops, it was the primary objective of the exercise. Students with lower
performance levels will find it difficult to differentiate between the places where commas or
full stops can be placed. This is why the focus area was to check the answers for the
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placement of the punctuations and sentence framing. In the case of higher ability students, I
decided to fix a challenge by telling them to accommodate connectors like "because" and
"so" etc.
Education is not all about highlighting the weaknesses of a student when we are teaching any
particular language for any standard, we should never forget the fact all the individuals on
this earth are familiar with a universal language. Every human being has a different capacity
to play with the words. As a language teacher, it is our responsibility to bring every student
closer to the right expression in the form of the language. Adequate grammar is a tool, good
grammar is an asset for the expression, however, the natural flow of the expression is another
that should be cultivated if it is present in a student (Dixie, 2011). This universal rule of
language teaching is applicable to other subjects as well.
While checking the answers of the students, I worked on a checklist that I developed with the
help of the performance assessment of the students. The answers were written by the students
also gave me a fair idea about the familiarity with the subject and where they are standing in
the terms of the learning that they received prior to writing the answer. When a teacher works
with a particular class he doesn't require to for assessment on a daily basis because after two
or three assessments they become familiar with the strengths and weaknesses of the students.
While checking the answers of the students I not only corrected them but also gave them
some insights that how they can apply this knowledge further in life. I told them the
importance of the right placements of the commas and full stop by correcting their mistakes
and how these mistakes can become a bad impression for them.
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Task 11: Use information gained from monitoring from learner participation and
progress to help learners to review their learning strategies, achievements, and future
learning needs
Student Name
Student Number
Date
Learning Outcome Ensuring the participation of the students s in
the class and help them in drawing strategies
to improve their learning capacities and
develop a better understanding of the subject
better.
Assessment Criteria Task 11
In general, a teacher can adopt two techniques to check the presence of the students in the
class. A first technique is a technique of "answer first and question later" and the second
technique is the technique of the "amplification of the question." While teaching "Doppler's
effect" in a physics class we can take the example of two trains moving towards each other.
The concept of the relative velocity is easy to understand; a student can always add or
subtract the velocity of the two trains. As a teacher, we can demand an answer from the
students. Since it is a simple sum, the majority of the students will love to answer this
question. This simple technique will engage them in the classroom. Later on, after winning
their attention we can switch on to a complex scenario like Doppler's effect. The first
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technique of winning their engagement was from Unit 5 and delivering a lesson afterward
was a part of task 11.
Addition of two random objects to demonstrate the positioning of the objects for the desired
Doppler effect was another technique; the engrossment of the visual senses is another
technique or a trick in the arsenal of a teacher to increase the engagement level of the
students. The first task engaged them in a calculation and provided me an opportunity to go
for an assessment of their engagement levels. The second technique allowed them to observe
the things from a different point of view and feel belongingness with the subject (Brookfield,
2017).
With the help of these two techniques, I achieved a state of mind in the learners that they are
solving the riddles or exploring something new in the life with the help of the prism of
education. This step by step learning by bringing out the answers from the students
themselves helps them in gaining confidence while learning.
Further Action
I am seeking for some intermediate questions that can be asked in the classroom to check the
understanding of the learners. It is important, prior to testing them with the final exercise
after the lesson. The assessment of the intermediate questions will give me an idea about the
understanding levels of the learners and I will be able to pay proper attention to the students
that are not able to comprehend certain things in the theory.
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Task 12: Listen carefully to the learners and positively encourage them to communicate
their needs and ideas for future learning.
Student Name
Student Number
Date
Learning Outcome Extending support to the learners by listening
to their problems and shortcomings to
understand any particular topic.
Assessment Criteria Task 12
Description of the Activity and the outcomes
My task was to introduce the students with the magical properties of the Carbon atom, how
its four unsaturated valances help it in forming bonds to recreate substances that can match
the property of other elements.
When a teacher is dealing with a topic with such a wide scope, it is very important to explore
the worldview of the student and allow him to bring in those objects in the process of the
learning. An intermediate question for this chapter can be related to the metallic objects that
have been replaced by the Carbonic compounds. I told them about the screws of small
electrical circuits, in the past they were using aluminum and iron, now they have replaced it
with plastic. Later on when I asked about the other objects that have been replaced by
carbonic atoms then they name window pans, door pans, water taps, and many objects.
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My next question was a bit difficult, here I asked that why all these objects are different from
each other and how carbon compounds negotiated with this difference because, in the end, it
is only a carbon atom and four valances?
The second question raised a set of questions for them, they started looking for two answers,
first why we need a certain element like iron or wood or any other thing to meet with a
requirement and second how carbon has this capacity to meet with so many diverse
requirements.
Education is not just about lessons and formulas confined to a chapter and some question
jotted next to the chapters, it is equally about improving the worldview of a learner. In the
current exercise, I gave them this opportunity to explore their own world from the purview of
the chapter and apply the knowledge in the life and times that he is living (Peters, 2011).
Further Action
A limiting factor should be introduced to confine the imagination of the students s, in the
absence of a limiting factor sometimes he or she can kill time beyond the chapter and explore
a few things unnecessarily.
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Task 13: Support learners in using peer assessment and self-assessment to evaluate
their learning achievements
Student Name
Student Number
Date
Learning Outcome The introduction of the peer assessment and
self-assessment in the system to help the
students s in developing a sense of
achievement and develop a reflective
outlook.
Assessment Criteria Task 13
Description of the Activity and the outcomes
Dalton’s atomic theory has become redundant because of the arrival of new theories.
However, it is an integral part of the curriculum because it gives a thought process to a
learner. This theory remained invincible for more than four decades and then new theories
came in. While discussing the nuclear division I raised a question related to the presence of
Dalton’s theory in the curriculum. The debate among the learners gave them a clear idea
about their understanding of the theory. The conclusive part of the debate also brought in a
result where they learned about the importance of scientific temper.
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In order to conduct a group discussion, I divided the class into three groups. The first group
was of the thought that Dalton deserves a tribute because of his contributions. The second
group was of the idea that Dalton should be removed from the curriculum because it adds a
burden on the learner. It should be replaced with something more contemporary. The third
group was of the idea that the contemporary theories may fail and Dalton should be taught as
a basis of the nuclear division.
The output of the debate was healthy, all the three groups reached on the conclusion that
Dalton ’s theory should be kept in the syllabus and they should be studied more from the
point of view of a thought process and the fundamental question that says “ what is the
smallest particle belonging to an atom or a molecule.
The environment of the discussion allowed the students and participants to understand their
own status (Bubb, 2012). It was something beyond the textbook for a while; still, it was
important from the point of view of the scientific temper. Education is not the destination it is
a journey was moral. The exercise of the peer assessment does the same thing, it allows a
student to explore where milestones of a topic when others are accessing him on the merits of
what he has done. Many online courses are using the concept of discussion boards very
effectively and creating an interface where students can go for the exercise of the self-
assessment by listening to the views expressed by other students.
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Task 14: Support learner to
A) Reflect on their learning
B) Identify the progress that they have made
C) Identify their emerging Learning needs
D) Identify the strengths, weaknesses of their learning strategies and plan how to
improve them
Student Name
Student Number
Date
Learning Outcome Development of the reflective skills in an
individual.
Assessment Criteria Task 14
Description of the Activity and the outcomes
Description of the activity: Scientist Nicolai Tesla failed in the patenting the concept of
transporting electricity from one place to the other without a wire. It was the biggest failure
that he met with. However, in the current world, most of the technologies are taking the
support of the electromagnetic waves. Nicolai Tesla conceived the right thought process,
however, his quest for the supporting technology let him fail. I told the students to write a
reflective essay on the teachings from the Tesla's life and his methods.
Reflection on the learning of the students
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It was an important exercise because there were two big challenges. In order to support or
decline Tesla, they were required to step into the shoes of Tesla. Secondly, they were also in
a need to understand the concepts given by him and compare them with the other
technologies. Reflective capacities and critical analysis of the information or the knowledge
is an important lesson. As a teacher I presented a case study in front of them, a technology
which was a failure in the 20th century and the same technology became the backbone of the
21st century.
It was a vast topic and most of the students failed in understanding the real reasons behind the
failure of Tesla, however, they comprehended some important lessons related to the coming
up with some responses that can keep them contemporary. Most of the students, however,
reached the conclusion that Tesla failed in positioning him with the contemporary prevailing
technologies and his peers scored in the same department.
Identification of the progress that they have made
Some of the students took this test lightly because they thought that performance here will
not add into their final exams. I told them that it is nice to have objectivity about the goals of
education; however, they should enjoy the journey rather than just thinking about the
milestones of the journey.
Identification of the strengths, weaknesses of their learning strategies and plan how to
improve them
It was essential for us to add a thought process where they can go for an analysis of the
events rather than just memorizing it as a historical event. During the course of this group
discussion, I realized that most of the students read the chapters with an intention to answer
the question that is present at the end of the chapter. This is a good approach to obtain good
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marks, however, it serves as a limiting factor as well because it somehow confines the
freewill thinking and scientific temper among them.
Identification of the learning needs
The development of reflective thought process is an important milestone in education and it
should be achieved at an early level because it helps an individual in positioning well in any
given setup. For the learners and the student, the tool of reflective analysis is an important
intermediate step that helps them in reaching the next level of their learning endeavor. The
results of the task designed by me were encouraging for me for two reasons. First, most of the
students adopted the thought process that I was planning to impart in them. Rest of them also
started thinking about it after I told them that this exercise was not aimed at the case study of
the Nicolai Tesla alone, we were also seeking for development of the thought process among
the kids.
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Task 15: Provide feedback to the teacher on:
A) Learner participation and progress in the learning activities
B) Learner’s engagement in and response to assessment for learning
C) Learner's progress in taking responsibility for their own learning
Student Name
Student Number
Date
Learning Outcome Participation of the leaners and its impact on
the progress of the student.
Assessment Criteria Task 15
Description of the Activity and the outcomes
a) Learner participation and progress in the learning activities
The questions prescribed in the books after the chapter describes three types of assessment
criteria. First, they check the basic understanding of the concept. Second, they check the
problem-solving capacity of an individual connected to the same and third they check the
possibilities of advanced studies or the suitability of the student for the next level. For this
task, I collected answer sheets written by the students in their previous exams when they were
studying the chapter of the lenses and focal distance. I classified the questions, in three
segments and checked the marks that they obtained in each type of questions. Majority of the
kids in my class were not ready to explore the subject for future studies. In my views, it was a
setback for me because education has the power to sustain the quests in the mind of the
readers. It also indicated that majority of the students were not in the mind frame to think
rationally about various aspects of the focal length of a lens and its impact on the shadow, I
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also checked the notebooks of the practical classes and realized that most of the students did a
smart work. As an educationalist we should never forget that the purpose of the education is
not about obtaining great marks alone, it is equally about developing an understanding of the
topic for the future application in life as well.
I checked many answers from my previous assignments while categorizing the questions in
the same category. Ideally, a teacher should rely on the questions and the criteria of the
grading prescribed by the educationalist and experts.
For instance, in the case of a chapter related to focal lengths and their impact on the vision.
We can understand the standing of a learner by checking his knowledge about the lenses, his
familiarization level of the impact of these lenses on the light passing through them. Finally,
we can check him on the lines that whether he can manipulate lenses to come up with the
desired outcome. The questions at the end of the prescribed books can also be treated as a
checklist for the progress of a student. It is very important to add calculated objectivity while
looking at the progress of the student. My observations suggested me that students are not
ready to learn more about the focal lengths beyond their curriculum. I also added an exercise
in the homework where I told them to search for a video tutorial which is similar to the
content that we have studied in the class. Most of the students admitted that this exercise of
searching for a video tutorial on the internet allowed them to explore many other videos
present on the net it also allowed them to explore certain things beyond the curriculum. This
type of exploration can give them an opportunity to develop an interest in the topic for further
studies. Some of the students even came up with some advanced questions on the same topic.
I didn’t discourage them and gave them a brief overview of the problem and a general answer
to the question.
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Another aspect that I discovered here was connected with the attention levels of the students.
When I have a relook on many of the previous assignments where I checked the answers of
the students, I realized that most of the students with good participation levels in the class
scored well, whereas the students with less participation in the class scored average marks.
The focus and subjectivity of the education is an important factor that cannot be ignored
when we are preparing a learner to become a part of a bigger picture where others will judge
him on the merits of his academic performance.
b) Learner’s engagement in and response to assessment for learning
The progress reports based on the end questions of a chapter allows a leaner to revisit the
chapters all over again think about them under a different light. I observed that most of the
students have this tendency to check and learn the question where they failed in scoring. It is
also an important aspect, the concept of monthly tests, half yearly tests prior to final exams
also supports the same theory of the utility of the prescribed questions.
In the current case, I prepared a mixed bag of questions after teaching them about the focal
length and the variations of the lenses. There were two types of questions, the first type of
questions was directly related to the theory part of the chapter and the second type of
questions was related to the observation of the student’s s. Here I realized one more important
thing, the questions where we check the problem-solving abilities of a student’s we should
never forget the fact that these questions should be updated from time to time. Sometimes
these questions become clichés and fail in helping us in identifying the real talent of an
individual. My assessment of the students to figure out their abilities completed when I took a
group of my students in the laboratory and told them to arrange a few lenses for the desired
outcomes. For them, it was the next level of the numerical problems that they solved inside
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the classroom. Solving a numerical based on the formulas and applying the same value in a
practical setup are two different things. I completed an empirical study of sorts when I
figured out that sixty percent of the students were able to apply the numerical values on the
tests that they were doing.
It is very important to check the ability of a student while applying the theoretical knowledge
in the practical applications. It completes the circle of the knowing and allows an individual
to experiment further and set new rules.
c) Learner's progress in taking responsibility for their own learning
There are two levels of the learning, in the first level a learner familiarizes himself with the
topic and in the second level he experiments with his knowledge. He can do it for two
reasons, first when he is expecting some rewards or gains out of it and second if he has a
genuine interest in the topic. After the completion of the first level, I gave away the task of
making a kaleidoscope and smartphone projector to all the students. Most of the students
made it without any help. They even tried to experiment with the theoretical measurements
and came up with their own designs.
Their success in making a gizmo with the help of the theoretical knowledge gained by them
gave me an idea that now they are taking the responsibility of their own learning. As a
teacher, I also gave them an opportunity to write a reflective essay on the difficulties that they
faced while making a cardboard projector and a cardboard Kaleidoscope. Most of them came
up with the problems related to the cardboard cutting and others. None of them complained
about the settlement of the lenses for the desired result. In their reflective essay, some of them
wrote that the cardboard smartphone projector made by them is on par with the commercial
smartphone projectors. It shows that they were able to critically assimilate their lesson with
some real-world equipment and they are capable of taking care of their own learning process.
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Task 16: Use the outcomes of the assessment for learning to reflect on and improve own
contribution to supporting learning
Student Name
Student Number
Date
Learning Outcome Observation Witness Statement
Assessment Criteria Task 16
Description of the Activity and the outcomes
Activity What Went Well What Did Not Go
Well
How will I attempt it
differently next time
The introduction to
the refractive index
and their importance
in the traveling of
light. How it can
force the light to
change its
wavelength and
frequency. What are
the impacts of this
index on the images
that are forming on
Introduction of some
daily life objects like
water, oil, various
transparent surfaces,
and other materials
was a good idea.
Students came up
with many more
surfaces. Some of the
students even
explained about
certain other
The absence of visual
aids was a big
drawback. For
instance, I failed in
explaining the
refractive index of
the sea surface and
sky as a surface.
Though most of the
students bought my
arguments. However,
they trusted me as a
I will try to come up
with more examples
and visual aids to
support the statement
that the color of the
sky or the sea is blue
because of the
presence of a
refractive index in
the water and the
layers of oxygen and
other gases in the
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various surfaces? surfaces. A healthy
discussion also came
in when they asked
about the lights
coming out of mobile
phone screens and
other such materials.
They not only
learned about the
surfaces but figured
out that the refractive
index of a surface
can be used for some
scientific purposes if
we can control the
manipulation of these
surfaces.
source; they were not
able to find enough
evidence of what I
am saying. I was
attempting a
technique where
student s can explore
a few things by their
own wisdom. The
absence of proper
visual aids came out
as a big drawback of
the lesson and left a
blind spot in front of
the students.
sky.
Bibliography
Brookfield, S. D. (2017). Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. New York: Wiley.
Bubb, S. (2012). A Newly Qualified Teacher's Manual: How to Meet the Induction
Standards. Abingdon: Routledge.
Dixie, G. (2011). The Ultimate Teaching Manual: A Route to Success for Beginning
Teachers. London: Bloomsbury Publication.
Marzano, R. J. (2012). Becoming a Reflective Teacher. Bloomington: Solution Tree Press.
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Peters, J. K. (2011). A Teacher's Reflection Book: Exercises, Stories, Invitations. California:
California State Press.
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