Unit VI - How do student performances demonstrate understanding?

Performance in class tests, quizzes and projects are the traditional ways in which students demonstrate understanding. These days, however as instructors are adopting new methods of assessment to deal with changing needs of the classroom. For example, learning outcomes such as knowing how to operate a machine or run a lab experiment are not well suited to paper-and-pencil tests anymore. Today students’ skill level and understanding are measured through real world challenges (e.g. Collaborative projects) where their performance shows how much or what they have really understood. The other factor related with students’ understanding is their prior knowledge, which can bring some new light in the classroom and shows if the student can relate and make sense of the new information on that subject.