Assessing learners' achievement
Learners' experience of the learning process is important, but at every stage of their learning journey, you also need to establish what they know about the subject they are learning. If you are a Subject Learning Coach, make sure that you cover this in any CPD activities you run for your colleagues.
Achievement takes a different form in different subjects. The emphasis may be primarily on:
- developing competence in practical skills
- extending knowledge; or
- deepening understanding.
It may also include other aspects of personal development such as:
- in Arts disciplines, being able to think creatively; or
- in Sport and fitness disciplines, being able to practise reflectively, or mindfully.
So, in certain disciplines, you may prefer to think of learners becoming accomplished rather than achieving.
To get it right for learners you need:
- a vision of what achievement looks or sounds like in your area of learning
- a clear idea of what you could reasonably expect of someone who has been studying for a given period of time, and at various points along the way; and
- a way of communicating this to learners.
This clarity about outcomes gives you a set of performance criteria that should be reflected in the planned learning outcomes for your course.