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Author:

Juuti, Tero Sakari; Lehtonen, Timo Arturi; Pakkenen, Jarkko Tapani; Riitahuhta, Asko Olavi; Vanhatelo, Mikko Johannes

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Abstract:

In traditional teaching the assessment is seen only as a test of learning. This approach does not consider the assessment as a tool for managing the students learning. Current assessment methods do not motivate students’ learning at the beginning of the course which would be the optimal point in time to begin the motivation. One effective way of motivating students during the whole course is learning contracts. These contracts tells who is responsible and for what in the learning process. Meaning e.g. teacher agrees to give enough information and guidance and students agree to do their best to find out correct answers. The assessment should be designed to reinforce this kind of learning contract, hence guiding students to learn essential matters and in correct way. The learning process can be seen as a transformation from one stage to another, so management of this transformation requires good understanding of the two stages and also the transformation process itself. We approach this challenge by modelling the relations between the goals of assessment and the assessment methods. By these relations it is possible to select the assessment method(s) which fulfil best the goals set to the course. We discuss in this paper about the effects of the assessment to the students learning and motivation.

Keywords:

Assessment, learning contract, management, situational leadership (learning)