Independent Schools Portal
  • Home
  • About
  • Professional Development in 2021
  • innovatED Magazine
    • innovatED Issue 1
    • innovatED Issue 2
    • innovatED Issue 3
    • innovatED Issue 4
Picture

Blog Page

Asking questions to assess attainment in computing

16/3/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Miles is speaking at the Northern Education Technology Conference at Leeds Beckett University on the 15th May 2017. Click to find out more.

By Miles Berry

Principal lecturer and the subject leader for Computing Education at the University of Roehampton. ​
When Ofsted reported on the state of ICT education in 2011, it observed that assessment was 'no better than satisfactory' in nearly 60 per cent of the schools that were visited. It's far from certain that the situation will have improved significantly since then, particularly with the removal of levels and the move from ICT to computing. It's possible, in fact, that even fewer teachers now know what to look for, or how to give helpful feedback to their pupils. Miles Berry, principal lecturer in computing education at the University of Roehampton, will be at The Education Show to tell us more, but here is an insight into his session.
The challenge with any assessment is that we can only ever use proxy measures to work out if teaching has been successful: we can watch what a pupil does, we can review the work they produce, or we can ask questions. Despite the prevalence of assessing a piece of work against agreed criteria, there's a growing body of opinion that believes asking pupils questions about their knowledge and understanding is more efficient, more reliable and more valid.
​

The McIntosh report on 'Assessment without Levels' recommended the establishment of a 'national item bank' of formative assessment questions. Daisy Christodoulou, head of assessment at Ark Schools, affirms the role of questions in assessing learning: "Instead of having teachers making a judgment about whether a pupil has met each criterion, have pupils answer questions instead." Similarly, the educationalist Dylan Wiliam argues for the use of 'hinge' questions as a way to check on a whole class’ understanding at the crucial hinge points of a lesson, such as after the initial introduction of concepts.
In computing, we're taking this advice seriously. Computing at School, the subject association for computer science, is working with Cambridge Assessment, Durham's Centre for Evaluation and Measurement, and Diagnostic Questions to crowd source a bank of multiple choice assessment questions for teachers to use however they want, to assess their pupils' 
Picture
Diagnostic Questions Screenshot
progress in computing. We call this Project Quantum: http://bit.ly/projectquantum, and our focus is on supporting the teaching of computing through guiding content. ​

​
The national curriculum for computing is admirably brief, but that can leave teachers at a bit of a loss as to how it should be interpreted. Through measuring progress, the Quantum questions allow teachers to check what pupils know and what they don't, both before and after teaching a topic, and through identifying misconceptions. As more pupils use the Quantum questions, we get a more accurate view of which bits of computing they struggle with, such as understanding how variables are assigned values and just what does make a good password.

The project has been running for less than a year, but we've already got over 2,500 computing questions online (see www.diagnosticquestions.com), covering all three strands of the computing curriculum: foundations, applications and implications.

Whilst we've got a good number of questions from the likes of exam boards, Bebras and code.org, lots of the questions have been written by teachers, initially for use in their own schools, then generously shared through the project. We're starting to curate the questions into quizzes and collections; it's all free, and questions can be exported for use on other platforms too.
​

Quantum will really come into its own when we've got a critical mass of pupils using it on a regular basis. At that point, we'll be able to use statistical analysis to figure out which questions do a good job at really checking understanding, as well as spotting where the common difficulties in computing lie – and perhaps even figure out what we can do to address these.

Miles is speaking at the Northern Education Technology Conference at Leeds Beckett University on Monday, 15th May 2017

Picture
Find out more
0 Comments
<<Previous

    Archives

    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016

    Categories

    All
    2005 Conservative Manifesto
    30 Hours
    3D Classsroom
    3D Printer
    3D Software
    3 For Free
    Adele Bannister
    Adobe Spark
    AEGIS
    Alan Thompson
    Andrew Goff
    Andrew Hammond
    Andy Falconer
    Andy Goff
    Animation
    Ann Marie Christian
    Anti-Bullying
    Anti-bullying Guide
    Antonia Clarke
    Apple
    App Of The Week
    Appraisal
    Assessment
    Assessment Systems
    Autism
    Back To School
    Barry Richardson
    Baseline Assessment
    Beatwave
    Bee Aware Initiative
    Bishops Univerity
    Bishops University
    Blue Apple Education
    Briefing Note
    Buncee
    Bursars
    Buying
    Buying Support Agency
    Cardiio
    Careers
    CAS
    Catherine Lees
    Charity
    Chatterpix
    Child Protection
    Child Support
    Choices
    Chris Forrest
    Christina Gabbitas
    Claas
    Claire Fuller
    Claire Stead
    Classroom Technology
    Clifton School And Nursery
    Clubs
    Code Combat
    Code Studio
    Collaboration
    Collaborative Learning
    Collaborative Purchasing
    Competition
    Competitions
    Compliance
    Computing
    Conference
    Conferences
    Conservatives
    Coopetition
    CoSpaces
    CPOMS
    Creative Writing
    Cundall Manor
    Cyber Cafe
    Cyber-security
    Dan Arnold
    Dan Seneker
    David Goulbourn
    David Horton
    David Paton
    David Winfield
    Department For Education
    Deputy Heads
    Devolve Me
    Dfe
    Difficult Conversations
    Difficult Parents
    Diversity
    Dotty
    Early Years
    Economics
    Ecoschools
    EdShow
    Edtech
    Education
    Educational Fads
    Education Policy
    Education Show
    Election 2017
    Eliziam
    Email
    Emil Willis
    Emma Warner-Reed
    Engagement
    E Safety
    E-safety
    ExamPAL
    Feel Real
    Festival Of Learning
    Finance
    Find Of The Fortnight
    Finnish Education
    Firefly
    Flash Fiction
    Flipped Learning
    Flowing Tales
    Formative Assessment
    Funding
    GBM Digital
    Gender
    Gender Stereotypes
    Globalisation
    Gooseberry Planet
    Governors
    Grammar School At Leeds
    Grammar Schools
    Grants
    Green Paper
    Grief Recovery
    Grieving
    Growth Mindset
    GSaL
    Hannah Wilson
    Heads4Heads
    Headship
    Health And Safety
    Helene Ruda
    Henry Smith
    Higher Education
    Hi Impact
    Hi-impact
    Holmewood House
    Homework
    Hyde Park School
    IAPS
    Icomm
    ICT For Leaders
    Incerts
    Incredibox
    Independent Schools
    Independent Thinking
    Innova
    Innovation
    Inspection
    Inspiring Teaching
    Inspiring The Inspirers
    International Higher Education
    International Study
    Internet
    Internet Safety
    Intrinsic Motivation
    Ishita Mandraka
    ISI
    IT
    Jack Adamson
    Jack Jackman
    James Tooley
    Jo Marsden
    Justine Greening
    Kahoot
    Karen Burns
    KCSIE
    Klick Technology
    Koma Koma
    Kylie Reid
    Lab Furniture
    Leaders
    Leadership
    Learning Environments
    Learning Ladders
    Learning Platforms
    Lego Life
    Leigh McGarvie
    Lily Foundation
    Lisa Ashes
    Literacy
    Little Food Company
    Loss
    Lucidpress
    Maria Brosnan
    Mark Davies
    Mark Doherty
    Mark Lomas
    Maths
    Maths Setting
    Matt Haynes
    Matt Koster-Marcon
    Matt Roper
    Meetings
    Mental Health
    Mike Abraham
    Mike Hargreaves
    Miles Berry
    NAHT
    Networks
    Nicola Clifford
    Nursery
    Nursery Education
    Outdoor Learning
    Outward Bound Trust
    Oxford Home Schooling
    P4C
    Parental Engagement
    Parent Apps
    Parenting
    Parents Tour
    Parent Teacher Relationships
    Partners
    Paul Brewer
    Pedagogy
    Peter Carpenter
    Phil Garner
    Philosophy
    Philosophy-for-children
    Pirjo Suhonen
    Playdemic
    Pobble
    Pokemon Go
    Pownall Hall School
    Premier Education
    Principal Resourcing
    Professional Development
    Programming
    Pupil Progress
    Purchasing
    Radnor House School
    Ransomware
    Recruitment
    Red House School
    Renewable Energy
    Resiliance
    Ross Morrison McGill
    Safeguarding
    Samantha Fisher
    Sam Antrobus
    Sarah Barthorpe
    Saving Money
    Savings
    School Communication
    School Outdoor Learning
    Schools
    Secret Parent
    Self Broadcasting
    Sensavis
    Shadow Puppet
    Sheilds
    Shropshire 3D Print
    Smart
    Smart Technologies
    Smoothwall
    Smootwall
    Snapseed
    Social Media
    Software
    Solar For Schools
    Sonia Gill
    Sonita Alleyne
    SOuL
    Splice
    St Bees
    Stella
    Stella James
    Stephanie Walker
    St Olaves
    Stress
    Stronger Together
    Stuart Bayne
    Student Debt
    Students
    Study In Canada
    Studying In The USA
    Study US
    Supply Teaching
    Sustainability
    TeacherIn
    Teacher Shortages
    Teaching
    Teaching And Learning
    Teaching Ideas
    Tech
    Technology
    Teresa May
    Termly Update
    Thomas Packer
    Three For Free
    Tigtagjunior
    Tigtagworld
    Tiny Tap
    Top Trumps It
    Tracy Gladman
    Twig
    Twig World
    University Funding
    USA University Study
    VEO
    Video
    Video Editor
    Video Enhanced Observation
    Videos
    Virtual Reality
    Viviana Doctorovich
    Wellbeing
    WomenEd
    Wonder Why Society
    Work - Life Balance
    Worrinots
    Yasemin Wigglesworth
    Yes Programme

    RSS Feed

Stay social

Picture
(c) Blue Cow Education Limited 2015-20.  All rights reserved.
  • Home
  • About
  • Professional Development in 2021
  • innovatED Magazine
    • innovatED Issue 1
    • innovatED Issue 2
    • innovatED Issue 3
    • innovatED Issue 4