Conduct Effective Student Assessments with HeyForm
No student in the history of students has ever liked tests. But they still have an important role in education. With today’s hybrid education model, forced on us by the COVID pandemic, teachers are at their wits end to conduct student assessments virtually. This is what Sarah was trying to find a solution for.
Sarah is the Principal of a school. Like schools in most parts of the world, they had to take their classes online, almost overnight. “At first, it was utter confusion. We tried to cope with video classes and WhatsApp groups. But neither students nor teachers knew how to switch over to a completely virtual education,” says Sarah. “We eventually found a rhythm for the classes. We were communicating as well as we could. But it was about a month before the first mid-terms that we got to know that conducting tests would be a challenge.”
“It’s easy to conduct a test in a classroom, with all students being present. It’s an entirely different ball game to send out an exam and have students complete it at home, with no supervision” Sarah adds. “Teacher struggles to get a clear picture of how much the students have actually learned. HeyForm has been a huge help here.” From our experience of working with several schools and Principals like Sarah, here are some pointers on how to conduct assessments that are fair and accurate.
- Continuously Evaluate Students
In a physical classroom monitoring students’ performance is easy. But a teacher might find it much harder to pick up clues about students’ capabilities from a screen. That’s where a student evaluation form comes in. Using HeyForm, teachers can quickly and easily create online evaluation forms. They can also choose from one of the 100+ ready-to-use templates. Teachers can also use HeyForm’s integration with Gmail and other email software, to periodically send reminders to students. If students complete these forms from time to time, teachers get a bird’s eye view of where the class stands and what areas need more attention.
- Communicate Effectively
You need to open a channel for students to communicate effectively to your students. There’s no better way than student surveys. Such survery can give your direct and actionable feedback on different issues. And in HeyForm, you get a powerful tool to collect data. Use the versatile online form builder and make use of HeyForm’s survey templates. Share surveys to students via a link or embed them on your school’s website or message board. Sort responses using robust logic functions and collate data on google sheets. Get insights using HeyForm’s data analytics and make decisions that will have real impact.
- Customize as much as Possible
Teachers need to customize assessments for different purposes and goals, depending on students’ capabilities, skills, ages, knowledge levels, and other factors. Right from using certain colour tones to how questions are presented and what the visual language is, the more customized the assessment, the more effective it is. HeyForm’s templates are easy to customize. And collecting and consolidating the results becomes easier and faster.
- Face Time Matters
Personal interactions between teachers and students are irreplaceable. These sessions can be one on one or in small groups. Teachers can use HeyForm to chalk out a timetable for interacting with students, depending on everyone’s availability. Share a form that can be filled in by the group. Use HeyForm’s backend logic to arrive at the ideal day and time for the interaction and schedule it on your google calendar, via HeyForm’s integrations.
- Collaborate with Colleagues for a Holistic Evaluation
The way students interact with teachers can be different across classes and subjects. To thoroughly understand the competency of students, it may be a good idea for teachers to get input from their colleagues, so that they understand how student behaviour may change across classes. For this, teachers can use HeyForm to create a questionnaire, regarding each student, and share it among other teachers. A templated approach can be used and forms can be duplicated to minimize the effort in form creation. Responses can be collated on a master sheet, which gives the overall picture on a student’s progress. And of course, the security features of HeyForm will ensure data privacy and prevent leaks.