Making the Most of Assessment Outdoor and Environmental Education Centres

Effective reviewing can… Add value to what is already happening Increase awareness of other perspectives Develop communication and learning skills Help learners clarify, achieve and even surpass their objectives Use success or failure as a source of learning and development Make benefits tangible and generate useful data for evaluation Improve prospects for the effective transfer of learning Greenaway, R. (2007). Dynamic Debriefing

Experiential Learning

PURPOSE to establish where learners are in their learning at the time of assessment Masters 2013

PROCESS gathering evidence that can be used to draw conclusions about where students are in their long-term progress within a learning domain. Masters 2013

An assessment cycle

Enriching Outcomes Does the assessment improve student learning? Are their richer outcomes: For Centre teachers For Visiting teachers For students For parents

Link with Curriculum Do you have a clear learning intent for the program? Are their identified learning progressions for students? Are you assessing what you are teaching? Does the assessment assist in determining what needs to be taught?

Attuned with Pedagogy Is your assessment method attuned with your pedagogy? Is the method “seamless” in the teaching of the program? Does it engage the students? Does the assessment inform the teaching of the program?

In Proportion Where in the program are you assessing? Is the time, effort and reward in proportion to the length of the program? Does it suit the age of the students? Is it able to be repeated and continued? Is it establishing where the students are in the program learning or a whole unit?