TopicsREPORT OF PREVIOUS EVENT
International Symposium:
"Assessment for and as Learning: Possibilities of Learning Assessment in Project- and Problem-Based Learning and MOOC"
Published online: August 9, 2017
The international symposium, entitled "Assessment for and as Learning: Possibilities of Learning Assessment in Project- and Problem-Based Learning and MOOC" and hosted by the Center for the Promotion of Excellence in Higher Education, was held in Yamauchi Hall of Shiran Kaikan at Kyoto University on October 8, 2014. This symposium welcomed Professor Eric Mazur of Harvard University as the keynote speaker.
Overview
In this symposium, Professor Mazur delivered a speech focusing on the assessment of project-based learning in Harvard University and also an active discussion about assessment methods encouraging students' learning followed. The Center for the Promotion of Excellence in Higher Education in Kyoto University invited Professor Mazur in 2012 and 2013 to learn about peer instruction with "clickers" in large class lectures implementing real-time learning assessment system, which is called Learning Catalytics.
Summary of this symposium
Professor Eric Mazur
In the opening of this symposium, Professor Mazur gave a keynote lecture entitled "Assessment for (not of) Learning." In his lecture, based on "Bloom's Taxonomy*," he stated that faculty should seek ways to assess students' creative and innovative higher-order thinking skills rather than lower-order thinking skills such as memorization (remembering) which has been the target of assessment in traditional pedagogy. He also emphasized that the purpose of assessment is focusing on feedback, not ranking of students.
* "Bloom's Taxonomy": The taxonomy of educational objectives developed by an American educational psychologist Benjamin S. Bloom. The original version was developed by Bloom and his colleagues in 1956 and the revised verion was published by L. W. Anderson and D. R. Krathwohl in 2001. It consists of the hierarchical structure from lower-order thinking skill to higher-order thinking skill: (1) remembering, (2) understanding, (3) applying, (4) analyzing, (5) evaluating, and (6) creating.
In Professor Mazur's lecture, "the Bloom's Taxonomy" referred to the revised version.
Anderson, L., and Krathwohl, D. A. (2001). Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. New York: Longman.
Bloom, B.S. and Krathwohl, D. R. (1956). Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals. Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. New York: Longman.
Professor Toru Iiyoshi
Next, in his report titled "Evolution of MOOC and Learning Assessment," Professor Toru Iiyoshi of Center for the Promotion of Excellence in Higher Education stated that the aim of assesment in "Chemistry of Life," which was the first MOOC from Kyoto University, was to foster learners' creativity. He also mentioned that improvement of MOOC has the potential to foster creativity through massive interaction, which was also the case for a MOOC by Delft University of Technology on solar energy ( "DelftX - ET3034x Solar Energy").
Professor Kayo Matsushita
Next, Professor Kayo Matsushita of Center for the Promotion of Excellence in Higher Education gave a report titled "Assessment as Leaning: Performance Assessment in Problem-Based Learning." She first discussed the types of learning assessment and later introduced "Modified Triple Jump" that was developed and implemented by the faculty of dentistry at Niigata University as a method of assessment of learning outcome in problem-based learning (PBL). Moreover, she argued that performance assessment in PBL does not function as the "assessment of learning" that has been traditionally implemented in education, but as "assessment as learning."
In the panel discussion, which was conducted after the lectures and moderated by Professor Mizokami of Center for the Promotion of Excellence in Higher Education at Kyoto University, an active question and answer session was held with the floor participants.
Professor Shinichi Mizokami
Panelists
Program:
Held on October 8, 2014. At Yamauchi Hall, Shirankaikan
14:00 Opening Remarks
Hajime Kita (Vice Director, Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences, Kyoto University)
14:05 Lecture
Eric Mazur (Professor, Harvard University)
"Assessment for (not of) Learning"
15:45 Report
Toru Iiyoshi (Professor and Director, Center for the Promotion of Excellence in Higher Education, Kyoto University)
"Evolution of MOOC and Learning Assessment"
Kayo Matsushita (Professor, Center for the Promotion of Excellence in Higher Education, Kyoto University)
"Assessment as Leaning: Performance Assessment in Problem-Based Learning"
16:20 Panel Discussion
Moderator: Professor Shinichi Mizokami (Professor, Center for the Promotion of Excellence in Higher Education, Kyoto University)
Panelists: Eric Mazur, Toru Iiyoshi, Kayo Matsushita
Published online: August 9, 2017
