Day 3

The workshop on assessment "Alarmed by assessment? Facing the fear factor" was very helpful. The participants discussed benefits, fears, and myths associated with the concept of assessment. In addition, we were provided with some useful tools aimed to ease the assessment process. The first step is to start with learning outcomes i. e. to determine what students will learn at the end of a unit, chapter, semester, etc. Learning outcomes must be measurable. The attendees were asked to develop knowledge-based and skill-based outcomes pertaining to our content areas. Then we shared them with the colleagues. This was a great exercise. We were actively engaged in a discussion about productive approaches to assessment of student learning outcomes. 
Many presentations at this conference were focused on student engagement that increases motivation and enhances learning. One such talk was about a university professor, who stopped lecturing her students and  challenged them to engage in active learning. This point resonates with the ideas underlined in the keynote address. For 3 days I attended many wonderful presentations and took away some ideas that can be applicable in my own classroom. This was a great professional development opportunity!