I have been teaching exam classes such as FCE, IELTS, etcetera for the past four years. Teaching exam classes is unidirectional and multi-faceted, that is why a lot of teachers have questions when starting to prepare learners for exams. Similarly, I found teaching some aspects very confusing. This assignment will focus on making a relevant and interesting course for the learners.
As a learner of exam classes, I found skills more difficult than other tasks due to my previous learning experience as I was never taught how to develop sub-skills, how to focus on key words, etcetera. Learners have similar problems while preparing for exams.
The interest in teaching exam classes is due to the following:
Focusing on learners` weak points.
Making lessons more motivating, enjoyable, relevant.
Providing a course for lower level learners.
Challenging learners to work more effectively.
Balancing testing and teaching.
1.2. Key Issues and Implications on Course Design
Burgess and Head (2005:1) mention that teaching exam classes is somewhat similar to teaching general English classes. However, the former involves aspects including exam format, specific teaching skills or techniques, etcetera.
Teaching exam classes has some advantages such as the same aim
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Exam candidates may have a variety of motivations such as intrinsic (driven by internal rewards), extrinsic (driven by external rewards e.g. money, fame, etcetera.), instrumental (driven by a practical reason e.g. getting a salary, bonus), etcetera. My IELTS adults often lose motivation if the course is long. It is not difficult to persuade learners to do homework and be always ready for the lesson at the beginning, but a long-term course motivation may reduce due to repetition of exam practice, poor results and stress which raise the affective
The acute teacher and admisistrator improvement is not worth it for the time and effort it takes. Standerdized tests are not beneficial to students acedemic achievement, they induce unwanted stress and anxiety, and they dont provide accomadations for non-english
After an orientation, students are familiar regarding standardized testing and other prerequisites and course requirements. If students will be tested using a standardized instrument the teacher will have less flexibility in choosing the material proposed to be covered in a course. In order to achieve maximum success on the test, course objectives and lessons will need to closely align with the intended test students will
In today’s educational setting, teachers must teach according to a strict curriculum, following a timeline of when to teach the lesson, how long to teach it for, and how to teach it. At the end of each lesson, a test is given to the students, and then a new lesson begins, pushing the previous lesson out of the brain probably never to be used again. Better yet, these lessons that are being taught by teachers are not showing up as frequently in standardized testing. Instead, these focus more on logic, strategy, and time-management, or how fast one can finish a test. Unfortunately, while some kids can prosper under timed conditions, many are not good at multiple-choice only tests, and they are frowned upon for low scores.
Figure 1 is a summary of the students’ learning throughout the learning segment. I administrated this test as a pre-assessment prior to the lesson one and administered it again after the completion of lesson 3. This test is a compilation of students’ learning and it demonstration how they met the standards and objectives that were set out for them to achieve. The evaluation criteria in which this assessment and all other assessment in the individual lessons did was not altered. Even though the students have different learning needs, the assessment met all of the needs for all learners.
By using humor and impartial words, she does not alienate either of her audiences. In addition to her language, Alonso’s argument does not attempt to claim that all aspects of examinations are not without flaws. She also does not dismiss any frustrations that come with examinations; rather, Alonso asks that students and teachers connect examinations to a larger meaning. Alonso wants students and teachers to understand that examinations are a learning process for both students and teachers: a gauge of a student’s academic performance and a gauge of how well a professor taught a topic. Her positive outlooks on examinations often persuade the audience to overlook the negatives.
According to Education Week Teacher “Reaching performance goals or learning a new language requires students to be organized, to set goals, and to evaluate if they’re meeting those goals. ”(Rambo 2011) Middle schools should allow electives because it helps you by allowing students to learn new skills and experiences, what they may want to do in their future, and gets them prepared for their adulthood. Firstly, electives in middle schools could allow students to learn new skills and experiences.
The Benefits of Taking AP Classes in High School Why spend hours doing homework in college, when you could have done it in high school? “The Advanced Placement program has revolutionized high school classrooms around the United States. The program offers rigorous, college-level education to motivated students, and offers the benefit of college credit.” (Mattimore A33).
What is education? According to the Oxford dictionary “Education is the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction especially at a school or university”. Most agree with Nelson Mandela's statement “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. Education is one of the most precious thing in one's life. The act of learning empowers most especially the ones that know how to use the resources surrounding them.
Why I Should be Able to Retake Test taking is an important curriculum taught in school all over the world. The point for test taking is to make sure students understand the lesson that has been taught through a series of questions. The last test held in first period civics class was focused on the amendments. Before the test we were putting all our efforts and focus into making our class/grade Constitution.
In the essay “More Testing, More Learning”, Patrick O’Malley, the author, states that he thinks college professors should test students more often to enhance their learning. Patrick declared that semester finals or midterm exams are causing much unneeded stress on the students. O’Malley thinks that if professors gave more tests, quizzes, and homework during the semester, maybe the students wouldn’t be so stressed out about one final test. Also in his article, he explains why having more of these tests and quizzes would give the scholars better studying habits. More tests and quizzes, equals more studying.
In fact, individual emotional and motivational aspects should be considered [17]. Motivation is defined as a desire to make an attempt in order to perform duties and responsibilities and to use individual skills [18]. Academic motivation refers to behaviors that lead to learning and improvement [19]. It includes the tendency to perform well and to spontaneously evaluate one's own performance. Experts have devided motivation into two main groups, namely intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
It is generally accepted that testing encourages and gauges students’ learning, although most students would agree that education would be a little bit more enjoyable if they took fewer tests, given that the tests contain a lot of marks at stake (Dunlosky et al., 2013). Hence, the idea of self-testing as a form of practice testing is a reasonable idea. When students do self-testing, they test their memory, what they have learned, what have they revised; anything they can recall from memory. Through this, they can gauge their own performance and where they stand in terms of comprehension and understanding, much like how teachers do when testing students. Hartwig and Dunlosky (2012) believe that “self-testing by recalling the target information boosts performance on subsequent recall and multiple-choice tests of the target information, and it also boosts performance on tests of comprehension” (p. 131).
Other primary factors could be categorized by internal and external elements. The internal elements identified were student traits, goals and student beliefs whereas external factors related to academic motivation were assessments and evaluations, the academic environment, feedback, relevant role-players such as lecturers and family, module characteristics and extracurricular activities (Van Etten, Wesley, McInerney & Liem, 2008, pp. 812-816). In Radovan’s study (2011, pp. 220-221) to determine the relationship between student motivation and academic success the results showed that self-efficacy, task value, internal goals and effort were proximal to academic success.
As pedagogical education changes, it is my responsibility to learn and integrate appropriate learning theories into my teaching practice. As teaching is steering away from traditional paper pencil tasks, I try to implement more inquiry based teacher practices in my lessons where students are forced to use critical thinking skills to solve problems. Element 3.1.1 - 3.1.4 Teachers are responsible for creating a learning environment that allows students to feel safe, welcomed and supportive. A classroom culture is fostered by the teacher who establishes the rules. In a diverse classroom setting, it is important to set boundaries and rules.
TRADITIONAL TEACHING METHODS TO TEACH WITHN THE CONTEXT OF HIGHER EDUCATION Teaching methods refers to the general principles, pedagogy and management strategies used to classroom instruction. The choice to teaching methods depends on what fits educational philosophy, classroom demographic, subject area and school mission statement. The teaching theories can be arrangement into four categories and based on two major parameters- a teacher centred approach versus and a student –centred approach, and high tech material use versus low-tech material use. TEACHER-CENTRED APPROACH TO LEARNING Taken to its most extreme interpretation, teachers are the main figure in a teacher-centred instruction model.