Hello friends, As a culminating activity in the class I'm teaching now, students are making presentations. In the past, the students and I have worked together to design a rubric to help them plan their presentations as well as to use for peer, self and teacher feedback on the presentations. Now that we have adopted the CCRS, I want to integrate criteria from Listening and Speaking Anchor 4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
One of the things I noticed right away when I compared the presentation rubrics I've used in the past with the criteria spelled out in this standard is that even at Level A (the lowest level) content is at the heart of a presentation. In the past, we have focused mostly on the delivery of presentations. What I need to do now is rethink the entire process of rubric creation so that the students and I are clear on what makes for an excellent presentation with a strong emphasis on how well students explain the content they are presenting.
I'm learning that working with the standards means that I need to re-examine how I am teaching and assessing to determine where the gaps are. For me, this means I need to rethink a lot of what I do. .
For those who are working with the standards, I'm curious what you are learning about applying the standards. How you are using them to guide not only your teaching but also your assessment? Since the standards are new for all of us, I'm hoping we can share some creative ideas in our community. What has been your experience so far? What questions do you have about how to work with the standards?
Cheers, Susan
Moderator, Assessment CoP
Comments
Susan and others,
This is what I have experienced in working with the standards. In my experiences, I have noted that adult educators have challenges with differentiating instruction. I have found that working with the standards helps instructors with differentiation. They are more able to see and plan for what came before and what comes ahead. What do others think about this?
Meryl Becker-Prezocki, SME College and Career Standards
Hi Meryl and all, Yes, I agree that the standards can definitely help with differentiation. They also help with coherence as we look across the levels. We get a sense of which pieces are foundational and which pieces add rigor and refinement as we move up the levels. With regard to the Speaking and Listening Anchor 4 (I am used to saying Listening and Speaking as noted above -- not Speaking and Listening!), aspects of delivery, specifically having good eye contact and volume are not addressed until Level D. The fact that this criteria is not mentioned until later seems to indicate that these aspects are less foundational.
What do members think about that? When is it most appropriate to emphasize delivery of a presentation? How do we appropriately weigh the importance of conveying content with the delivery of that content during a presentation?
How do you prepare students for presenting? How can we use this standard to create a shared understanding about what makes for excellence in presentations?
Cheers, Susan