Accurate Assessment

With Geoff's lecture on Thursday I've discovered something very important about my teaching strategy. I've been very "anti-test" all along, thinking that I could discover how well the students are learning without having to test them on it. While this may be true, it's still necessary to provide assessments, if for no other reason than to be able to justify my grading systems.

The one problem I see is that when I sit down and try to write an assessment for any of the lessons I've taught thus far, I find it very difficult. My instruction isn't at all assessment based. As a student I hated when teachers would obviously just teach toward the test, but on the same regard, I hated when the teachers gave a test without adequately preparing us for it.

I think that the key to this balance is not to design your lesson for the test, but to decide what you want your students to understand from your lesson. If you already have teaching goals in mind, they will be more clear-cut in your presentation and writing the assessment will naturally ensue. The lesson won't be built for the test, rather the lesson and the test will be built for the reassurance of the learning process.