As I was reading my article, I immediately thought of the conversations we had in class today about making sure our assessments were valid and reliable. The article stated that they focused their reviews on four areas, “(1) the quality of mathematical content, (2) feedback and scaffolding, (3) richness of interactions, and (4) adaptability of the applications.” They chose tablets, mainly because Apple’s iPads were new and sweeping the nation. But also because they knew what was needed in education. They had the idea that “tablets could personalize learning and improve student learning outcomes. A key to achieving this goal is in the form of formative assessments to track student learning and provide timely feedback”, something these new apps might be able to do.
They narrowed a list of 64 apps down to 16 through various factors. These 16 apps were then subjected to two researchers taking notes on positives and negatives in each of the four areas listed above. It was interesting to read that they were a wide variety of different age groups and genres available out there. However, it was not surprising that the majority of the apps on the list were targeting a younger audience and game oriented. Interestingly though, they did not find any that claimed to be assessment apps. They found “four recommendations for researchers and assessment developers on designing tablet-based mathematics assessments: (1) Thoroughly review the mapping between concepts/operations and objects/actions early in the task design stage; (2) Start with what evidence is needed to make inferences about student performance, and design the interactions to collect the necessary data; (3) Create opportunities for students to self-reflect or explain their problem-solving process; and (4) Adopt the mindset of app developers to keep the user engaged, on task, and moving forward to ensure that students are “in the game” enough to accurately assess content knowledge.”
The thing that I find most interesting about this article is that what the researchers recommend for designing tablet-based math assessments is actually very similar to what teachers need to do when creating or considering any kind of assessment in their classroom.
- There needs to be mapping between concepts. We shouldn’t teach things in isolation but instead as a progression or unit.
- We need to start with the “why”. It needs to be designed to the collect the evidence and data we are looking for.
- Assessments need to provide an opportunity for reflection and revision, how else will students learn from their mistakes.
- The students need to be engaged. There usually is no effort put into something that meaningless.
References
Cayton-Hodges, G. A., Feng, G., & Xingyu, P. (2015). Tablet-Based Math Assessment: What
Can We Learn from Math Apps?. Journal Of Educational Technology & Society, 18(2), 3-20.
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