How a little black dress and MCQ have more in common than you think

Multiple choice questions are like a little black dress; they are versatile. A little black dress does it all, slims your figure, appeals to all shapes and types of women and never goes out of style. Multiple choice questions have that same feeling of always being dependable.

Regardless of what grade or subject, multiple choice questions can be used for assessment. Similar to a black dress where you can dress it up with a pair of heels or make it casual with a pair of flats or flip flops. Multiple choice questions can be as simple or complex as you want them allowing students to analyze, discriminate or interpret a variety of concepts and information. Using it for assessment not only provides a valid test because it enables the teacher using multiple-choice items to test a broader sample of course content in a given amount of testing time. Consequently, the test scores will likely be more representative of the students’ overall achievement in the course (Burton, Sudweeks, Merrill & Wood, 1991).

As almost every women will say you can never have enough options. As beneficial as clothing or assessment options are, limitations are always possible and you must find what is suitable. Good multiple-choice test items are generally more difficult and
time-consuming to write than other types of test items. As versatile as they are, multiple choice questions cannot display thought processes, provide students opinions, produce original ideas and allow students to provide examples(Burton, Sudweeks, Merrill & Wood, 1991). Reliability is also effected due to that fact that guessing is still a viable option for students that may skew results.

Whether you're shopping for a special occasion or creating an assessment for the end of your unit, versatility and quality should always be part of the decision process. For the next assessment you are planning make sure that the questions you create have clear instructions, are complete sentences, emphasize higher level thinking and allow students to take the knowledge they have learned and apply it to a situation(BYU, 2001). Happy Shopping...I mean grading!

Why psychometrics matter to me

Psychometrics is an important measurement for teachers to understand and use because of personal traits that it measures. As a teacher we deal with human qualities everyday and in order to be an effective teacher we must understand psychometrics and how to use it to the best of our ability.This includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes, and personality traits, most recently academic achievement. While measuring these different types of qualities the concepts that must be kept in mind are reliability and validity.

An important aspect to keep in mind is making sure your assessments are reliable and valid. In order for that to occur as the one assessing is the test retest method. Making sure that assessing and then reassessing will make sure that the results are reliable. Also using triangulation for data collection can also be an advantage.

As we continue to assess our classes and making sure that effective instruction and personal attributes are tested the quality of the test is what is most important. Psychometrics has given education based jobs and ability to understand others while maintaining a positive and effective environment

Don't be the "ass" in assessment

Reading the different types of assessment that my fellow educators did research on, I definitely had an initial understanding of each one and as advanced as assessment has become it is still done in a very traditional way.Research has been proven and with the help of the multiple intelligence theory, students learn different ways and although it is difficult to reach every student,teachers should stride to provide quality assessments throughout the school year.

Normative assessment in physical education is a recipe for disaster. Not all students have developed physically, mentally and emotionally in the same way, therefore how does one students success affect another's? I had an experience similar to that in high school when my teachers starting implementing grades.

I personally never had any issues with it because I loved PE and played sports throughout my high school career, but I watched a friend who was rather overweight and tried hard, but wasn't very coordinated. She received a low grade because she could not perform as well as the other girls in the class. She became withdrawn and stopped putting effort in class. It really became a wake up call for me once I got into college and started learning about assessment. I as a teacher do not ever want a student to feel inadequate when they walk into my physical education class and I want them to improve on their terms and in accordance to their ability.

When it comes to assessment, try different types and see what affects your students the most. It not only give you as the teacher feedback on if your instruction is effective, but gives you some insight into how you might improve overall fitness and skill development in your classes. Next time you start to assess your students make sure you are prepared and your students are prepared. Get creative, make it enjoyable, it doesn't need to feel like a test every time.

Gym Class vs. Physical Education

Gym Class, is a term that I and many physical educators cringe when we hear that name. That name gives the "roll out the ball" mentality, where only those who were coordinated and athletic survived and where many self esteems and identities were built up only to be torn down by peers and teachers alike. Physical Education for years never received the respect and is still being fought in be kept in many school districts throughout the country. There is one difference between gym class and PE which is: Assessment.

Assessment. One simple word that has so many meanings and understandings of it. I believe that assessment is an integral part of the curriculum and that from your use of assessments you can have an understanding of your students abilities and needs. Assessment drives your curriculum, drives your grading and also holds your PE program accountable. For years physical education was based on "effort", which is such a subjective term that making sure students were not only physically active but were given the tools to be active for their lifetime. Assessments in physical education is not only based on physical activity, but cognitive and affective assessments are just as important. Health body, mind and spirit is what I believe PE assessment is about and although it has received some resistance from communities, it should and will continue to be part of the new PE.

One dimensional PE

Physical Education teachers are given the most unique environment to teach their students in. The "gym" could be outside on grass, on stone, in the woods or in the traditional gymnasium many would consider as the environment, but besides the natural environment, the way that the teacher presents the lessons and allows students to practice skills is what really creates the environment.

I find it fairly easy to combine all of the multiple intelligences into lessons. Unfortunately with limited time constraints is may not always be feasible but one technique that is useful is using the jigsaw teaching style.

Allowing students to be in groups focuses on their interpersonal skills and once each go to a different "piece" of the puzzle to learn there may be an opportunity to provide some intrapersonal time to learn the task in front of them. Other ideas would be having a visual picture or a demonstration for them to see. There also could be dance steps that students have to learn which helps their understanding of rhythm but also improves their bodily kinesthetic intelligence. Being able to put all the pieces of the puzzle together could use logic in order to create a routine which flows and during this time students are also working on their linguistic skills developing communication skills amongst their group members.

The jigsaw teaching style is just one idea to the variety of ways to incorporate multiple intelligence into a PE class. It may take some creativity and planning on the teacher's part but as a teacher it is our duty to allow each students opportunities to respond and give them the ability to succeed by providing an environment that caters to their learning abilities. Don't become another one dimensional PE class, really stride to find a balance between teaching and learning based on what is best for each student.

Writing Objectives

Lesson plans for teachers are the heart of the instructional school day. They give a detailed outline of the activities and information in a formatted and specific yet flexible guide. Included in these lesson plans are objectives that are specific measurable behaviors that you want the student to be able to do by the end of class. Writing them can be tricky but practice makes perfect and here are some few tips to help you out:

1. Who- Who is this objective for, this usually starts our the sentence (Ex. Students will be able to...)
2. What- What would you like your students to be able to do by the end of the lesson. This should always be a verb and will differ depending on what domain you are using.
3.Condition- This explains the circumstances under which the "what" is to be completed. (Ex. Given a quiz or in general space)
4.Degree- This helps out with assessing if the student was able to perform the task given to them. This shows the accuracy needed to be successful ( Ex. 1 out of 3 times, 95 % of the time)

An example of a psychomotor objective:

The student will be able to gallop using different pathways in general space without assistance from the teacher 95% of the time

Who- Student
What- Gallop
Condition- In general space
Degree- 95% of the time

Standards, Goals & Objectives! Oh, My!

The reintroduction of standards, goals and objectives did not bring any information that was new to me, but what it did was reinforce my understanding and the way I have previously used them. I was very interested to find out that the different states in the K-3 standards, many of them had the same concepts. Making sure students were able to perform movement concepts, have an understanding of how to apply them to different strategies and skills while also developing an understanding for why physical activity is important. Even the most basic understanding of physical activity and its benefits is what will set the tone for the rest of these students careers in physical education. The standards have become very unified throughout the United States and that says a lot about how far physical education has come in and the respect the subject is gaining.

The goals that can be set for each class or each school are endless and should be made specifically to the needs of that program. Being able to go back and change the goals and objectives should not be considered a failure of the program, but creating a more developmentally appropriate program.

The objectives although tricky at times are very important to have as a teacher. I feel that you can never have enough practice with objectives and being able to test myself and review of these objectives really refreshed my memory and usage. My feeling with objectives is they are the simplest way to make sure what you are assessing what is supposed to be assessed. It makes your lessons more concise and when all combined together should really lay out the goals of your overall program.