...
Assessment before a lesson enables the teacher to teach on firm learning foundations (see plan teaching planTeaching) and the app to keep what the learner can remember fresh (see retrieval practice theory retrievalPracticeTheory). Feedback of the type - tick or not (i.e. best learned later) - can strengthen chunks in long term memory (see chunk-based theorybasedTheory).
Assessment during the teach part of the lesson enables the teacher to teach more effectively i.e. give instant feedback. Self assessment by the learner during the practice part of the lesson enables the learner to know to seek help from a teacher or their peers i.e. feedback-dialogue.
Assessment after the lesson enables the teacher, app and learner to work together to keep the learning fresh and gradually stretch the durability of recall-ability of new and existing learning (see retrieval practice theoryretrievalPracticeTheory). The time set aside for retrieval practice also gives the teacher and learner the time and ability to do feedback-dialogue when errors are made. After a couple of months, the retrieval practice means the teacher will almost always find the teaching of the lesson has become deeply embedded in long term memory and the teacher can teach more on the topic (see plan teaching planTeaching).
(1)
...
Always teach on firm learning foundations = mastery learning
Effective pre assess, finding out what learners "already know" means we can make best use of lesson time. We won't teach learners what they "already know", nor attempt to teach them work for which they have insufficiently firm learning foundations, instead we can teach in the "sweet spot" between. So teaching and learning become more efficient i.e. we can increase the output (retained learning) per hour (of lesson time).
...
Of course it is no good collecting robust assessment for learning data, unless the teacher uses it to plan teaching.
| Expand |
|---|
| title | Why find firm learning foundations before teaching with timely practice |
|---|
|
When the teacher finds each learners firm learning foundations on a topic and uses that data to decide where to start teaching that topic, the teacher can be confident that the learners will retain new teaching because the teacher is teaching on firm learning foundations, the app schedules a retrieval practice programme for each bite (layer) of new learning and that when feedback needs to be given, it has the best chance of success, because the teacher and learner are entering into a feedback-dialogue and the app adjusts (reduces) the interval between asks of the similar questions from a layer in the retrieval practice schedule, so that the learner is most likely to remember and be able to apply the recent feedback.
|
| Expand |
|---|
| title | avoiding pitfall: learners often subvert the pre access process |
|---|
|
A traditional pre assess process which asks all the learners the same questions at the same time - whether they answer within a test, selecting from multiple choice options or using mini white boards - makes many learners uncomfortable. “Our cohort” are often especially uncomfortable, so they often undermine its effectiveness by quietly not engaging, copying or otherwise avoiding answering, perhaps by claiming they know everything or nothing or perhaps by asking - when will I use this in life? That’s why timely practice ensures that pre assess and retrieval practice are "low stakes". Learners, over time, learn their assessment is formative (to help their learning) not summative (to judge them against a standard). We need to teach our cohort - who no matter what the standard was, have learned that they won’t meet that standard - that when they use timely practice we are in the business of assessing them to help them learn better. (We probably won’t be able to avoid summative testing entirely.) it may take some time for learners to begin to feel comfortable, what the teacher can do to help is keep sticking with the message: “I’m finding out what will be easiest and most valuable to teach next” and “I’m finding out how well you can recall recent learning, so that you can recall it more easily in the future” and encouraging learners to “remember to use a question mark, if you need to”.
|
| Expand |
|---|
| title | Why doesn’t timely practice ask each learner a question from every layer in every topic? |
|---|
|
We don’t ask each learner a question from every layer in every topic because it would take too long: we initially rule out some key layers that we consider too easy or too hard (based on the Level for Learner the teacher inputs into the app) and because it would be too traumatic for learners. Hence the teacher can say to the class “Everybody will get some too easy, some OK and some too hard questions in their learned and remembered section, this is to help the app find out for the teacher, what to teach you soon.”
Instead we ask questions on a few key layers of a topic, and any that are answered 100% correctly we ask an additional verify question.
This gives us a broad brush stroke picture of the learner’s skills and learning gaps. We then ask responsively questions from easier or harder key layers, and any that are answered 100% correctly we ask an additional verify question, then we sometimes ask questions from some scaffold layers and any that are answered 100% correctly we ask an additional verify question.
This trial and improvement process means we can be fairly confident we are finding each learners' firm learning foundations from each topic. |
| Expand |
|---|
| title | Rarely/never teach too much nor too hard |
|---|
|
It’s easy to teach too much and/or too hard and if we do the learners will forget the new teaching and will inevitably become progressively more despondent about their ability to learn, the retrieval practice system that timely practice uses would require more feedback capacity than the teacher has available and so only learning that the learner requires no feedback for would be retained 😢
The pre assess process is set up so that the teacher can create and set an assessment assignment for one whole lesson or shorter assessment assignments to be completed in say 10 to 15 minutes of a fortnight of consecutive lessons,
After this, the timely practice app can show the teacher firm foundations for the first few topics. The app is intended to hold the teacher back from teaching too much and/or too hard, meaning the learners generally retain their learning until the next lesson, and when this happens regularly learners become progressively more motivated, very little feedback is required to ensure the retrieval practice system that timely practice uses ensures learners retain new learning for the long term
|
(2)
...
Assess Pre-Assess Only Assignments
The 3 pre assess assessment options in pre assess are tick, bell and reset
...
| Expand |
|---|
| title | What the progress on topic array tells us |
|---|
|
A learner’s column in the Plan Teaching topic dashboard which has some mid grey and darker blue-grey squares - indicates that pre assess is not complete; which only shows light grey squares - indicates that the app does not intend to pre assess the topic (judging all the layers either too easy or too hard); which shows a mix of white and light grey squares - indicates the app thinks the learner could learn layers from the topic, but has not learned any yet; the (often fuzzy) line between the shades of blue (perhaps mixed with light grey) in the lower part of the column and the white (usually mixed in with light grey) in the upper part of the column is the (often fuzzy) “goldilocks” point where teaching should begin.
|
(3)
...
Absent Learner List - ensures a maximum of 1 open assignment per learner
For the second and subsequent warmup assignments, we need to make sure that each learner has a maximum of one open assignment. In this mp4, we see how the learner F (who was absent last lesson), doesn’t have their assignment assessed, and the teacher makes a list/remembers who the absent learners were and unticks, the learner's name, before pressing the Create button in the Create t.p. section of the planning and preparation session.
...
| Expand |
|---|
| title | Read about the process rather than watching the mp4s |
|---|
|
Preparing for lessons requiring a warm up assignment, Create a P&P (planning and preparation) session - the type will be warmup and the date will be the date of the lesson when timely practice pre assess will happen Open that P&P session and go to the Assess t.p. section and select a learners name Assess each question of the learners' completed/partially completed assignment using tick: fully correct BELL (BEst Learned Later): almost any other attempt e.g. partially correct, incorrect, missed out, written a ? etc reset: learner ran out of time or you think the learner didn’t see the question (e.g, small question sandwiched between larger questions, you just can’t read the learners handwriting e.g. they orginally wrote 5 they’ve overwritten with 3, or was it the other way around?) once all the questions in a learners assignment are assessed, tap the floppy disk symbol and assess the next learner’s assignment
Once all completed/partially completed assignments have been assessed, make a note of who has an outstanding assignment (and check you have the paper copy) and tap the Continue button If you need to, change any learners Pace for Practice, (this will ensure most students complete their assignment within a minute or two of each other). Each learner’s Pace for Practice slider, is found within each learner’s data within the Classes/Learners' tab. Then, return to the Planning & Preparation Tab, for the next lesson and return to the Create t.p. section. Change the nominal number of questions (if you want a longer or shorter assignment), and tap to un tick the names of the learners who have an outstanding assignment. Leave both retrieval practice and pre assess assignments ticked (this is good practice for 2 reasons which are explained later) Tap the Create button, tap Continue Select the type of Download you prefer: duplex concatenated (all learners assignments printed double sided with additional blank pages to easily separate them), simplex (single sided) or each learner separately. Click the appropriate green arrow(s). The assignments will be found in your downloads folder.
|
(4)
...
Assess last lesson’s teaching +
...
Decide between FOA, FOB and BELL:
...
Using the Absent Learner List in edit Taught
If a learner has been absent from a lesson, then we don’t want to add the layer we wanted them to teach them, into their retrieval practice (as we know they haven’t learned it). So using the Absent Learner List, tab the yellow squares of the layers of the absent learners. We aren’t going to judge whether we think the learner learned what was taught last lesson (as it won’t be accurate), we are going to leave the timely practice app to find out whether the learner has retained until the next lesson, what they were taught last lesson.
...
Principles to
...
Decide between FOA, FOB and BELL
In a nutshell the question is
...
| Expand |
|---|
| title | sometimes BELL (BEst Learned Later) may result in more embedded learning than feedback |
|---|
|
if the feedback on a layer isn’t going well, the teacher and learner are likely to remember, perhaps with a slightly sick feeling in the stomach, how the previous feedback-dialogue attempts went. They should both be honest about whether the feedback is working, in a case like this, deciding on BELL will open up more time and more motivation for other feedback. the more feedback assessments per assignment, the less likely each is to result in embedded learning - usually 3 feedbacks per assignment is enough, so if a layer which has already had several feedback dialogues is the only layer needing feedback perhaps continue, but if there are 2 or 3 other layers needing feedback perhaps BELL the layer which has had several feedback’s already.
|
(5)
...
Teachers Assess (but don’t
...
Mark) the timely practice assignments
| Expand |
|---|
| title | Assessment is about improving future learning, whereas marking may have different purposes |
|---|
|
The purpose of marking may be thought to be To make sure there are no remaining written errors on the page: the reason might be that then the learner can revise from their exercise books. This is not a good use of time, because we want learning to be improved soon, rather than hope learners will return and revise at a later date. To give hints or clues or model answers to help the learner. However the teacher must guess what the learner was thinking/ not thinking when the learner made their error(s). This is not a good use of time because often the teacher will guess wrong, or the learner won’t read, or understand if they even read what the teacher has written. The teacher gives value judgements in the hope of changing learners effort/motivation in lessons. This is not a good use of time, because value judgements, even positive ones, may decrease rather than increase the likelihood of learners learning from suggestions and the learners motivation. A repetition of all or part of the original teaching. This is not a good use of time, because if the teaching of the lesson, didn’t lead to embedded learning, the teachers explanation - which is necessarily less detailed and can’t involve assessment for learning, as the lesson could - is less likely to lead to embedded learning.
Although the desired marking purpose may sometimes be achieved, the probability that any of these purposes will effectively embedding learning is low, and the cost to the teacher is high. |
...
| Expand |
|---|
| title | Top Tip 4: use the answers within timely practice app |
|---|
|
Even though many questions will take the teacher "next to no time" to work out the correct answer, the teacher should use the answers provided by the app, because the small bits of extra time to read the question and work out the correct answer add up, it distracts the teacher from the assessment task - i.e. how well is this learner able to apply their learning - it is harder, and therefore takes fractionally longer, for the teacher to switch back and forth between doing maths and assessing maths.
|
(6) Assess t.p.
...
Retrieval Practice part
The 3 pre assess and 5 retrieval practice assessment options
...
Examples of feedback-dialogue are given within the questions for this layer (ask if you would like this training).
(8)
...
Feedback-dialogue (fixing incomplete/incorrect chunks) is best after a nights sleep
Contrary to our expectations, feedback is better given after one sleep, than directly after an error. It seems that if we give feedback on the day of the error, we may not be as effectively triggering reconsolidation - see (2) above - that is we are not as effectively triggering the brain to change chunks in long-term memory. On the other hand, if we leave feedback for too many days, then feedback is not as effective as it could be, because forgetting has further deteriorated the learning our feedback is trying to fix.
...