Assessment is a process for reflecting on the quality of our teaching practice and trying to identify if we have met our established criteria for what we think makes a successful activity. As museum educators, we face many of the pressures that those of you that teach in a classroom face, such as incorporating evaluation into our practice to have a better understanding of the impact we have on our students. We think reflectively about our practice so that we can assess what's working and what's not and determine ways for improving. We aim to engage with the content in a way that helps others engage with that concept and with one another in meaningful ways. Although the settings and the structure are different, the processes museum educators undergo are very similar to classroom practice. While I'm thinking about my students, I also need to outline all of my goals and objectives for the activity. These two things often go hand in hand. Is there a particular theme or big idea I want to connect with? Are there particular works of art I already know I want to include? What skills or techniques do I want my students to practice? Are there particular ideas or concepts I want the students to explore? What do I hope students gain from their experience? Once I know a little background about the students, or anything relevant about learning experiences or special needs, I can outline my teaching goals. From there, it's fairly easy to identify the type of engagement I want to have. Here at MoMA, we use a checklist when developing activities to ensure we are on track and working toward what we hope will meet our identified goals. The checklist guides us in our thinking critically about our planning. So, once I've gone through my step by step process, I have something I can compare to as a sort of final check by asking myself a series of questions. Are the instructions clear? Is the activity developmentally appropriate? Does it align with my teaching goals and objectives? Does it relate to the artwork? Does it engage multiple learning styles? Does it support a range of responses? Remember what we talked about in Week One? When done effectively, good activities, meet teaching goals, encourage close looking, provide alternate entry points, deepen student understanding and spark curiosity. If I can say yes to all these questions, then I know I am in good shape. It doesn't stop here. Rarely is an activity I do perfect the first time. So, over time, I refine and adjust for various audiences. There are things you can do as an ongoing process of formative assessment. At MoMA, we use video to record ourselves and our educators teaching in the galleries as a tool for assessment and reflection. Watching yourself on video, gives a perspective that you would not be able to get otherwise. It will also help you consider your choices in terms of content and facilitation of activities. Grab a teacher friend and do some videotaping of one another. Partner with a colleague and practice with each other. You can develop a simple observational template based on some of the criteria we have already discussed and then use that as you conduct peer evaluations.
