Chapter 16 presents information on how EC professionals observe, assess and document science learning. EC professionals use evidence to determine what children know and understand, and base this on a process of observation (how children explore and interact within their environment), anecdotal note-taking, journal entries, checklists and folios of children’s work. The chapter describes strategies associated with the assessment of learning in science as outlined in the EYLF and the Australian Curriculum: Science. The information in this chapter is supported by case studies of EC professional practice.

The concept of learning potential assessment is based on the belief that there is a significant difference between people’s existing ability to solve problems and their ability to learn how to solve problems. To evaluate a person’s learning potential, some form of learning should be included in the assessment procedure. This can be achieved using a test–learn–test format or by including a sequence of helping prompts or cues after each incorrectly solved item. Learning potential assessment procedures can use test materials similar to those of standard cognitive tests, such as sequences of numbers or figures, matrices, and verbal or pictorial analogies. Learning potential assessment can also be carried out with tasks reflecting practically any type of curricular material: language, mathematics, history, science, and so on. Once the idea of learning potential assessment entered the field of the school curriculum, an interesting dialogue started between it and the following, somewhat related assessment approaches in contemporary education: formative assessment, adaptive assessment, and response to intervention.

This chapter reviews research on how video games have been used in schools and other learning environments and how they impact learning outcomes. This chapter reviews four functions of video games in learning. Games as content teach specific disciplinary knowledge, for example in history, math, second language learning, physics, and medicine. Games as bait leverage the engaging aspects of video games to attract students to the game even when it is not obviously about learning. Games as assessment use the “leveling up” feature of games, where players advance to the next level as their skills increase, as a way to assess the player’s developing knowledge. Games as architectures for engagement are studied by examining how and why people play games and how they can be designed to best foster learning by fostering involvement, immersion, and investment – often using narrative structures. There is evidence that when games are designed on learning sciences principles, they contribute to deeper learning.

In recent years, the use of analytics and data mining – methodologies that extract useful information from large datasets – has become commonplace in science and business. When these methods are used in education, they are referred to as learning analytics (LA) and educational data mining (EDM). For example, adaptive learning platforms – those that respond uniquely to each learner – require learning analytics to model the learner’s current state of knowledge. The researcher can conduct second-by-second analyses of phenomena that occur over long periods of time or in an individual learning session. Large datasets are required for these analyses. In most cases, the data are gathered automatically – such as keystrokes, eye movement, or assessments – and are analyzed using algorithms based in learning sciences research. This chapter reviews prediction methods, structure discovery, relationship mining, and discovery with models.

This case study discusses an online second language teacher education course, designed for teachers, teacher educators, directors of studies and course designers, created and run by the authors, who are both members of a language services cooperative in Barcelona. Information about the cooperative is given, and the events leading to the start of the project are described. Having outlined Long’s (2015) approach to task-based language teaching (TBLT), which serves as the model for the course, we describe the course itself, and the components of its twelve sessions. We go on to explain how we wrote the course and how, once complete, it was marketed. The first implementation of the course is then described, including details of the participants’ working roles; their highest qualifications; their engagement with course activities; the completion rates; and feedback. We then explain how the second implementation reflected changes we made to the course as a result of our reflections and feedback. Finally, we discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the course, paying particular attention to loop input (Woodward, 2003) and to the principle of faithfully reflecting TBLT processes so that the course practices what it preaches.

As a teacher, you will broker syllabuses, Australian Curriculum content and the local cultural knowledge that is valued in your community, to develop tasks and provide classroom experiences that foster quality learning. You will need to understand the different forms of assessment, their purposes and the tools available to you. As you progress in your career, you will continue to develop the skills and knowledge required to activate a collaborative classroom culture that promotes student ownership of learning and enables students to foster each other’s learning through classroom assessment. You will work in partnerships with students, colleagues and parents/carers to curate authentic evidence of learning. In this chapter, we examine forms of assessment, the most effective types of feedback and how teachers use assessment data in teaching, planning and reporting practices.

The term, open architecture, originates in the information technology world, where open architecture is designed to make adding, upgrading and swapping components easy. Open Architecture Curricular Design (OACD) in language learning promotes continual change of activities and tasks according to learner needs, specifically their styles, strategies, level of fossilization, interests, and zone of proximal development. At early levels, a textbook is frequently (though not always) used to ensure all learners are exposed to the same content corpus, with focus on structure and lexicon. The OACD teacher creates flexible lesson plans according to a thematically-based syllabus based on authentic materials. The teacher, who takes on the role of advisor, mentor, and partner, negotiates aspects of the syllabus and lesson plans with the learners, using formative, educative assessments to achieve the ultimate goal-to transform learners into bicultural people.

Educators/teachers are required to determine what children know and understand so that they can effectively enhance children’s learning opportunities. Evidence of learning is usually obtained through a process of observation, anecdotal note-taking, journal entries, checklists and folios of children’s work. However, this data needs to be analysed by considering the full picture – who the child was playing with, what they were doing, what science underpinned the play activities and the children’s dispositions at the time. In early childhood centres, this understanding of a child’s learning is often determined through a democratic process (Dahlberg & Moss, 2008) that involves the collaboration of educators/teachers. This chapter describes and provides examples of children’s learning in science with reference to the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) (DEEWR, 2009a) and the Australian Curriculum: Science (ACARA, 2015).

Teachers are powerful contributors to students’ success from preschool through 12th grade; much of students’ educational achievement is dependent on the skills they are taught and teachers’ effectiveness in engaging and delivering instruction in the classroom. A positive learning environment is grounded in teachers’ abilities to implement Tier 1 instructional and behavior management practices. School psychologists are uniquely positioned to support teachers in the use of practices that are known to influence student learning and social behavior. In this chapter, we describe the theory and evidence supporting common Tier 1 classroom practices and provide examples of those practices in schools. The use of formative assessment in identifying and promoting instructional and behavior management practices is then discussed. Next, we describe an evidence-based instructional coaching approach that integrates observational data on universal practices for guiding decisions and actions (identify needs, set goals, monitor change) in the coaching process. Finally, we offer recommendations and resources for supporting teacher professional development.

This chapter’s fertile question invites you to challenge the assumption that all assessment is meaningful, in that it supports student learning. When assessment is undertaken as an afterthought to learning, or conversely, if teaching is driven by the needs of high-stakes standardised testing, students and their learning are disadvantaged.

In Chapter 6: Milestones, you will choose summative milestones, which provide tangible evidence of learners’ knowledge of the topics and acquisition of skills at the end of a learning activity.