A Challenge To Take

Since day one, it is actually new for me to have this online course from one of the prestigious universities in
the country, University of the Philippines Open University. It is a new step to take knowing the degree of
difficulties in having a new atmosphere, a new way of learning, and a new field to have on.

This course gave me a lot of realizations, knowledge, and motivation for me as a teacher. Knowing the
importance and essence of the assessment process in achieving quality good education for our students
means a lot for me. As an educator, our goal and objectives are to give enough knowledge, improve their
capabilities, and enhance their skills for their future endeavours in life.

There are so many learnings that I got during the one-semester stay for this one course. I realized that as
an educator, assessment plays a vital role in the teaching-learning process. Your goal to give education to
your students will fail if you also failed to deliver the exact, proper and correct way of handling and facilitating
assessments. I also got guilt when I knew that final examinations are not just for compliance to have grades
at the end of the semester but to have an effective assessment, that is used to improve the students in a
specific topic. Most of our teachers and even the mindset of students see assessments are just the method
to have grades. And I learned it is not. Formative, Summative, Rubrics and Table of Specifications are not
known to me already. However, this course gave me additional inputs with these topics. Effective
assessment will also be nothing without feedbacks. Feedbacking is a useful tool of giving information to your
students on what to do in the next activities, what they should not do, and what are the things that they need
to improve.

Assessment is crucial in my life being a teacher. This is not just giving information or input to improve our
students but it is also a tool for improving my teaching strategies to aim my goal in giving my students a good
education that they deserved. Hopefully, students will also realize that they are in school every single day
because they need to have a glimpse of reality, to garner knowledge, to enjoy the activities of building
themselves and not just for the merit and grades. Having a mindset of doing their best is not bad. However,
the point here is they should not be afraid to fail, to have zeroes, and to commit mistakes. These failures are
also an effective assessment for me because, with these experiences, we could empower, motivate and
inspire ourselves to be better in our future endeavours.

With all things said, having knowledge in this course is not just simple information that I acquired but on how to
make these things and use these things in my class. To put everything that I’ve learned in reality. This is a
challenge that as a teacher, I can overcome my misconceptions, malpractices, and misunderstanding of what
assessment truly means.

Let's do Finland!

This module about Reporting and Feedback helps me a lot in understanding what is rubrics, feedback, and grading is all about. It helps me understand the importance of those three essential things in the assessment process. However, this blog entry will not focus on my learnings about the module but a continuation of my insights about the failure of the educational system in our country- and I know we have this model same as in the United States. (because we get the culture of education during American colonization)

In all the readings that I've read, (although I already know this fact) this fact struck me most-  Finland, as considered to have the best educational system in the world, appreciated and dreamt by the US Professors, particularly in the famous Harvard University, to benchmark the same system and junk the culture of their standardised- grade valued system in the US.

The system in Finland focuses on the experiences and learnings of their beloved students, not particular with the standardised test nor the grades. This kind of system helps students understood the essence of life and prepare them in the reality that they will be facing in the future. It moulds the skills of every individual and creates an atmosphere of learning not relying on their teachers but explore the learning through their experiences in the classroom activities prepared by their teachers.

Our current system tells us to value much of the grades than our knowledge. Evident most of our students and even me when I am still a student that we are so afraid of failing, having mistakes, and getting zeroes in our quizzes.

According to the study of Younge et al (1996), most of the educational failures lead to suicide. This culture of grade-minded must be stopped. It is okay to fail. It is okay to commit mistakes. It is okay to get zeroes in our examinations. Nobody is perfect and we are not living in a utopian world.

However, it is important to establish an educational system close to being perfect similar to Finland. As an educator, it is not possible to do the same thing. Aside from not having standardised tests and focusing on the skills and experiences of the students, they also have FREE education to all.

Yes! it is possible for some countries to have this kind of system. It is possible to debunk the current system and change it to a more effective and comfortable one. Indeed nothing is impossible.

We must challenge our system. Challenge our government as the forefront of the policies of the state to organize and benchmark the system to Finland. Challenge our education agencies such as the Department of Education, and the Commission on Higher Education. And lastly, a challenge for all of us in the academe especially my fellow educators. We can change the system slowly and in our own little way in the classroom. Providing a system of assessment and learning process that doesn't value grades but learning, a system that seeks for justice that education is our right and not privilege, and a system that focus on the reality than memorizing the things out of fantasy.

If Finland can do it, why can't we?

Don't Chose, Compliment!

Over the years, I am exposed to different assessments of the different professors in the different universities as I become a continuing student after I graduated my college degree. I've learned in this course that assessment is not just about the grades that we need as students but it is learning to improve ourselves and to the strategies of our teachers as well.

This course also made me realized that there a lot of categories of assessment. I can now understand why my professors did that in our classes. Sometimes, as a student, we always fear assessments. We always see assessment as a hell time because it is like a quiz and activity for us to work into for our grades.

I prefer assessments in a non-traditional approach. I am exposed to the traditional way of assessment during my elementary and high school days. However, during college, I appreciate the value of non- traditional assessment in one of the premier universities in Cebu City. As a Mass Communication student, we are assessed through our experiences in the field. There is some traditional way however, it was lessened because our learning focused on the actual experiences on and off the field. We often assess ourselves, have portfolios to document our work, and explain our insights in the classroom. With this non-traditional assessment, I enjoy while learning. I took a break from professors who make fun of having paper and pencil assessments such as quizzes and periodical examinations.

Honestly, the most threatening part of the assessment is in the traditional approach. I am threatened with it because as a student, I am much in critical thinking than memorizing things that I cannot use in the future. I hate memorizing the lessons, take assessments just for grades and after, I can just forget all the lessons in my life. While with non-traditional assessment, you can reflect and discern with yourself. You can be an expert of your own understanding of your learning process.

As an educator, I honestly do associate traditional learning to my students. However, it is a lesson and it is more on non-traditional learning. With this strategy, students can value the lessons in the class. They will not be bored in always memorizing the lessons and they can create an enjoyable atmosphere. I will not use all non-traditional assessment also in the class because it could waste more time to do so. I value the two assessment as important to each other. You don't need to choose. You just need to compliment each other to achieve your goals and objectives in the class in the direction of good quality education for your students.