The Key to Project-based Assessment: Self-Reflection
Competency-based education necessitates greater student self-reflection. Period. In an ever-changing world, students greatest skill will be learnability. In order to be able to learn how to learn for yourself, you need greater self-awareness; greater skill awareness. For proper PBL assessment, we need to include our students in the assessment process. The more aware they are of their strengths and challenges, the more equipped they will be for the modern workplace. Even though our reporting has changed to be more anecdotal and include student reflections, for competency-based learning to be effective, our students need to be well-versed in the art of self-reflection.
Now that I’ve stepped away from teaching, I’m realizing that I could have done a better job with how I implemented self-reflection in my classroom. I often treated it as a finish line: something for my students to do towards the end of a term or after a project. But what was the value of that? The activity was complete. At best, they gained a little awareness, at worst, I had them reflect for reflection’s sake. It lost its metacognitive value.
I realize now that assessment must be both timely and acted on for it to be more meaningful.
PBL ASSESSMENT NEEDS TO BE TIMELY
The “when” of self-reflection and skill assessment matters. We’ve built Spinndle: a project-based learning assessment platform to incorporate self-reflection as the lens in which students learn. Each time a student shares their work-in-progress (drafts, ideas, brainstorms) they reflect and self-assess. This increases awareness of their learning goals, frames their mind for what they’re sharing, and actively engages them in the assessment AS learning process. What skill am I flexing? Do I need help/ feedback? What am I struggling with?
Self-reflection should not be conclusive. It should be what informs your next steps. It should be what drives learning forward. PBL assessment would be much more valuable if it were put in the hands of the student and shared with the teacher. If your project-based assessment rubric or instrument is training students to identify their needs, strengths and challenges than this creates the perfect opening for targeted teacher intervention.
PBL ASSESSMENT NEEDS TO BE ACTED ON
There has to be a “so what?” piece tied to self-reflection. What do you do with that insight? How will it determine where you go next? Self-reflection at the beginning of an activity is a great way to kickstart learning. It acts as a benchmark to help you make a plan to move forward. Continued self-reflection throughout an activity increases ownership and self-awareness. Self-reflection at the end of an activity is summative and often marks the end of that learning. PBL assessment often falls in the summative category.
I have taken for granted how much self-reflection has to be taught. It has always come so naturally to me. I reflect in order to move forward — but I’ve assumed that in others and I’ve assumed that in my students — that simply the act of self-reflecting was enough.
They need to be taught — and live out — the importance and the value. How do we get our students to a point where they understand that this is what self-reflection can do for you:
“Reflection forces me to slow down, identifies feelings, names what happened (truths), provides space to forgive, reminds me to focus on the bigger picture (what’s important), restores chaos to wholeness, and shows me wiser and imaginative ways to move forward. When I take the time to look back, I am often led to thoughtful and discerning action.When I take the time to look back, I am often led to thoughtful and discerning action.”
Those words are from Nina Pak Lui’s blog — my inspo for the evening as I sit and write.
That *insert emoji finger pointing upward* is what I want for every student. That is what reflection — as a practiced art and skill — has done for me. That is the proficiency level I hope for every student.
So, how do we get there? I feel like more and more I end these blogs with questions rather than answers.
(Sorry, not sorry.)
RESTORES CHAOS TO WHOLENESS
A National Faculty member from PBLWorks this week described Spinndle to Jack and I as “a student-centered, student-driven platform to house all pieces and parts of a project so that you move start to finish in a succinct and manageable way.” This got us thinking about all of the “pieces and parts” in student-directed learning — or learning in general.
It is often chaotic for teachers.
With hindsight and fresh eyes, when the chaos passes and you reflect on it, you start to notice how all of the pieces actually fit together. How it was all one whole learning journey. How parts intertwined. How one piece enhanced another. How one bad experience gave you the strength to be stronger in the next. How it isn’t chaos AT ALL, but a pretty clear build-up of knowledge and skills over time.
Project-based learning assessment shouldn’t be seen as the end of something, but the beginning of possibilities.
We made Spinndle so that students have the opportunity to check-in with their skills and reflect on their progress throughout their projects.
Students build a body of work around one skill and then select 1-3 pieces of evidence that best represent their growth in that skill. This isn’t a one time thing. Student reflect on these skills every time they work on a new task. Students then fill out a self-report. Students reflect on their challenges, needs and strengths in that skill according to the evidence they provided. On Spinndle, students are building skill awareness and teachers have the means to provide more targeted intervention. It’s beyond formative assessment.
If you are interested in learning more about how to use Spinndle’s self-assessment features for your next Inquiry or project-based learning experience, sign up for an account and start building your first project!