MusEd 351 Assessment in the General Music Class – K. Inks 2009
The decisions we make: What is assessment? Why do we need assessment in MUSIC??! What is it that we assess and how? When do we assess?
WHAT and WHY - Defining assessment. How does this differ from evaluation? - Clarifying some lingo: o Formal assessment o Informal assessment o Formative assessment o Summative assessment o Performance-based assessment o Authentic assessment - Why bother spending your precious class time to assess your students: o The student benefits… o The teacher benefits… o The program benefits…
WHAT is it that we assess?? It’s only music class…(!) - Knowledge for music – cognitive domain examples: Dynamics, form, note values - Skills in music – psychomotor domain examples: singing, recording, moving, composing, improvising - Attitudes about and preferences for music – affective domain examples: kids who skip recess to be in the ensemble
Getting started with the most basic assessment tool: questioning is key - Type: Informal – during class, throughout the lesson. - What are the qualities of a good question? - What is the relationship of the question to the instructional objectives in your lesson plan?
Assessing Skills (psychomotor domain) - What are the skills addressed in general music class? - How do you know which skills you have addressed in your lesson plans? - Assessing skills informally – musicians are great at this! - Formal assessment of sill development.
Assessing Attitudes and Preferences (Affective Domain) - What makes this so tough?? - What are the tools to use?
Challenges with assessment in elementary music - WHEN? PLAN for assessment in the calendar; should coincide with your lesson plans, do a brief assessment often, use peer techniques when appropriate. - RECORDING the information: A well-organized notebook, photos, note cards, and excel spreadsheet or database, use of the Portfolio. Be sure to share the results. - MATERIALS for assessment in the music classroom: Pencils? Clipboards? Books?