Assessment+and+Motivation

Using Assessment to Increase Motivation

Assessment in schools need not and should not be a painful experience for students. Although the requirement for assessment through standardized testing will continue, educators are finding ways to incorporate more “authentic assessment” into the curriculum. Researchers in education are also finding ways to track assessment and effort to motivate students. Technology is integral in both authentic assessment and in using assessment to motivate students.

“Assessment” is no longer analogous to “testing.” Through authentic assessment, students complete tasks that mirror tasks they will complete as adults in the real world. Web 2.0 is a natural facilitator for such projects, as Web 2.0 skills will be used in a student’s later professional life. The interactive nature of real-world projects completed using technology enhances student motivation.

Technology-assisted assessments and tracking of assessment can also be used to help students understand the connection between effort and performance, which will also increase student motivation towards effort. Pitler (2007) outlined ways that spreadsheets can be used to track student effort and grades. Allowing students to create their own bar graphs showing the relationship between the time they spend on-task and their grades would be a real-world assignment that combines all the ways that assessment can actually motivate students.

References: Solomon, G., & Schrum, L. (2007). //Web 2.0: New tools, new schools.// Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education, 168-176.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E. R., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (n.d.). Reinsforcing Effort. In //Using// //Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works// (p. 162). Virginia: ASCD.