“Everyone is a genius” a quote by Einstein. This applies best to our students in the normal stream. Through professional practice and experiences, we have observed that students’ performance in the normal stream differs that of express students. They lack motivation and enthusiasm to excel in their studies. Thus we believed that the key to success lies in the mode of assessment.
A pilot project was carried out for one secondary one Normal Technical class. The traditional pen-and-paper assessment was replaced with the use of Patchwork Assessment. However this does not suggest that Patchwork Assessment is a panacea for all the students' ills. The sole aim was to raise students’ self-efficacy and interest in science education and create an authentic curriculum that encourages active participation and learning.
Some of the key characteristics of the Patchwork Assessment are:
- Accommodate individual differences and multiple modes of representation in assessment;
- Allow students to receive feedback on their learning and the feedback received has 'social dimension';
- Provide students with opportunities to reflect on their learning.
The lower secondary science assessment weighs heavily on project-based assignments, self and peer reflection and the use of daily work in class.
The use of Google Drive was selected based on its user-friendly interface and the possibilities of adding on the various apps such as Popcorn Maker, ConceptBoard, Lucidchart and Mindmeister. This creates a coherent and systematic platform for greater feedback for learning. It also creates opportunities for students to share ideas and refine their projects for continuous learning. It also paves way for collaboration among students which will eventually leads to improvement in students’ learning outcomes.
A survey was also conducted for the students to better ascertain the benefits of Patchwork Assessment in the area of self-directed learning, engagement level and academic scores.
