Ineffective Tools for Assessments. Are We Finding What They Know or Only What Tools They Can Use?

When I received my cooking task and utensils for my TPACK video (below), my initial concern was more about what I had to make instead of how I had to make it. The only prior knowledge I have about charcuterie boards is that it’s often used to symbolize a fancy event and that it involves cheese. The other options of making a sandwich, cutting vegetables, and making a fruit salad all seemed like simpler tasks from my point of view based entirely on my previous exposure to them. It was only after I figured out what I had to do before I thought about how appropriate my tools were to complete that task. I can directly relate this to ways my students may be feeling in the classroom. They may have the physical tools that I provided to complete the task, but do they have the necessary information or mental tools?

It is important to remember that a tool is only as effective as the person using it. If you give a construction worker a paint brush and an artist a drill, then it’s likely that neither tool will be used to its full potential. I was reminded of this while reading “Do Artifacts Have Politics” (Winner, 1980). Regarding the issue of technical arrangements as forms of order, the author discusses bridges being intentionally constructed short as a method of preventing specific demographics from accessing his parkway via public transportation (Winner, 1980). In a similar manner, giving students a task without the proper tools to complete it or the proper skills to utilize their tools effectively will essentially set them up for failure, allowing seemingly positive technologies to hinder students’ work. It becomes an assessment of how effectively they can use technology rather than how well they understand the concepts.

References:

Winner, L. (1980). Do artifacts have politics? Daedalus, 109(1), 121-136. https://www.jstor.org/stable/20024652

Wix. Pupil and teacher [Photograph]. Wix. https://static.wixstatic.com/media/11062b_f2664cdc1948485e915b4020c6f6a8c6~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_1110,h_740,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/11062b_f2664cdc1948485e915b4020c6f6a8c6~mv2.jpg