Activity 4: A Tool for Inquiry Summary
OK, so we've learned some particular software or manipulative tools! Assessing student achievement within the context of inquiry-based materials does pose some challenges.	Teaching is, above all else, a most practical, hands-on art. Informed, accurate assessment, both in process and summative, tells us what students are understanding, and what they have understood. The theme of assessment - how to do it and what results might mean - has colored many comments in the discussion area. In this activity, we address assessment directly and continue the dialogue in the Content and Practicum segments. We will take a collective look at both the new tools and our own assessment practices and innovations to respond to the challenge of two central issues: use of inquiry-based materials in the various disciplines to enhance student learning, and expanding assessment procedures to open a window onto the kind of learning fostered by inquiry methods.
	30 minutes for the reading. 30 minutes for work with materials from your module.
Assignments:
Readings
Read Linda Dager Wilson, "What Gets Graded is What Gets Valued," NCRSME Research Review, Volume 2 Number 3, Fall 1993, pp. 4-8. The article is in your INTEC notebook, or you can read it on the web at this link. In the article, Wilson records a "fly on the wall" case study of one teacher's attempts at integrating math reform into her classroom. She also gives some clear insights into the differences between assessment, measuring, and evaluation.

Hands-On

Activity 1 TO DO Checklist Readings & Hands On __ Read Wilson's article and consider it in light of your own assessment practices. Initial Thoughts __ Post your initial comments on Wilson's article and read some of the Tools: Summary discussion in your Primary Cohort's Discussion area. Further Reflection __ Revisit your Primary Cohort Discussion area later in the week to read more of the dialogue and post additional comments.

Consider Wilson's article in light of key pedagogical and content elements in the module you have chosen. Begin thinking about methods of assessment you could use with these new materials in your classroom. How might your current assessment practices incorporate: disciplined inquiry that "moves beyond knowledge produced by others," integration of knowledge that addresses "the content as a whole rather than as a collection of fragments," value beyond evaluation that would include discourse, material results, or collaboration with others.

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