Maps, Rubrics & Portafolios

The following concept map is about maps, rubrics and portafolios. which are formative assessment tools.

First of all I'm going to explain what if Formative Assessment, the I will describe each assessment tool.

Formative Assessment is when the instructor  monitor's student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More specifically, formative assessments:

• help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work
• help faculty recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately

Concept Maps

presents the relationships among a set of connected concepts and ideas. It is a pictorial way to display how an individual, or group, perceives a concept, problem, or topic. A concept map is constructed, in most instances, from general ideas to more specific ideas.

Types of Concept Maps

• Anticipatory Guides: These concept maps introduce students to new content by having them respond to several teacher-generated oral or written statements or questions concerning specific material 

• Central and Hierarchical: These types of concept maps are structured around a central topic and used to illustrate concepts and the elements that describe them. Information is presented in order of importance, with items subordinated to other items.

• Comparative: These concept maps are presented in such a way that a comparison between two or more concepts is visually apparent; often, Venn diagrams matrixes, or a chart is often most appropriate for visually presenting the comparison.

• Directional: Maps of this type visually present information in a sequence and are often used to illustrate cause and effect information or content presented in a timeline or flowchart. Often called flow charts, directional maps visually present steps in an organized, linear way.

• Pictorial or Landscape Maps: These maps present information in pictures, landscapes or symbols. Word ideas or concepts can be presented in the shape of a tree, a wheel, a snake, or any other design.

• Semantic: Semantic maps: are used to introduce, review and clarify previously learned and newly introduced information. Salend states that these types of concept maps present a word or phrase that serves as a focal point of the web, with web strands used to show subordinate ideas that are related to the key word.

• Serial concept maps are a series of evolving maps that students can create about a single concept over a specified time period. As critical thinking progresses, this progression is represented in the concept maps; maps become more detailed, integrated, and comprehensive. These maps demonstrate the evolution of the understanding of a concept throughout the process and culminate in the students’ final conceptual maps.

• Spider maps require students to illustrate both hierarchical and interrelatedness of elements visually.

• Systems concept maps are similar to flowcharts, in that information is organized in parts, with one part flowing to the next, each representing an input and output. The output for one becomes the input for the next element.

• Webbing maps are one the most common types of concept maps. In this type of map, the students or teacher draw groups and sub-groups of information to show relationships between each group and the major concept or topic.

 Rubrics

       Rubrics are a type of formative assessment and can be used for instructional purposes. They are written out steps and procedures for students to follow for assignments, delineating expectations and desired outcomes. They are usually no more than one or two pages long, and they describe the different levels of quality from proficient to poor for a specific project or assignment. Instructional rubrics are considered a higher, better form of assessment because they provide more informative feedback about each student’s strengths and weaknesses than do traditional forms

of assessments.

Types of Rubrics

     Analytical Rubrics

    Analytical rubrics break projects into their individual parts and each part is rated using a scale provided. For writing a paper, such a breakdown could include the components:

• Uses an introductory paragraph,

•Clearly states main ideas,

• Provides supporting evidence,

• Uses a pattern to present information,

• Is persuasive, and

• Ends with a summary and appropriate conclusion

Each component is rated separately, and each individual rating is compiled to obtain an overall score for the project or assignment

Holistic Rubrics

Holistic rubrics require the instructor to score the overall project or presentation as a whole without rating each component separately. Holistic rubrics are more appropriate than analytical rubrics when there is no definite or clearly correct answer, or if the components of an activity are too interrelated for easy division.

Portafolios

Portfolios are collections of individual students’ work which document their performance and growth over a period of time. They are used to support an instruction approach that emphasizes student participation, understanding, and engagement.

Types of Portafolios

Developmental

Developmental portfolios can be used by instructors who want to document students’ progress in a particular subject throughout the school year.

Proficiency

Proficiency portfolios are used to prove mastery in a specific subject area. 

Showcase

Showcase portfolios document a student's best work during a school year, over a number of grades, or throughout their entire education.

College Admission

This is a type of showcase portfolio which some colleges require of their applicants to give admissions officers a more holistic view of applicants’ capabilities as they determine their eligibility for admission.

Employment Skills

This type of portfolio demonstrates an applicant’s job readiness to prospective employers. The contents should reflect a student’s problem-solving skills, critical thinking abilities, and proficiency in writing reports and presentations.

Writing Portfolios

Writing portfolios were one of the first uses of portfolios in education. Instructors should create checklists for students to ensure that all required elements are included and in proper order.

Electronic Portfolios

Electronic portfolios are an alternative way to manage portfolio content. These portfolios are stored on a server or a CD-ROM, rather than in a binder or manila folder like traditional portfolios. This approach may require additional instruction and direction from teachers, who should not assume that all of their students have computer access, or are adept with computers or the necessary software.

Now, the following video will explain the advantages and disadvantages of maps, rubrics and portafolios.

My reflection about maps, rubrics and portafolios are all part of the teaching-learning process, and they're all useful, for students as well for teacher. They all are part of formative assessment, so its purpose is to helps teachers to identify students strengths and weaknesses, in order to develop techniques and strategies to help students in areas where he needs.

Doing this video was real challenge for me because it was so much information and I was a bit tired. Still, I tried to make it possible.