The Learning Wheel. Effective Self-Evaluation.
By Jen Parisi and Andrea Siwik, Mathematics
The purpose of the Learning Wheel is to provide students with an easily accessible way to assess their level of comprehension on a given learning target. As we all know, the first piece of having a formative assessment tool is to have learning targets. However, in general, targets act as a broad description of essential skills and concepts we expect students to master. For many students, they hear and understand what the target is; however, they are uncertain of the action steps needed to achieve mastery of the target. Therefore, we designed the Learning Wheel as a means to clearly articulate the action steps, or learning components, students should demonstrate in order to achieve mastery of a target. The Learning Wheel also allows students to reflect on their understanding of the learning components needed to achieve full mastery of a specific target.
Creating the Learning Wheel
When creating the Learning Wheel for a unit, we begin with a title of the learning target at the top and then the wheel is comprised of the learning components that students need in order to achieve mastery of the target. As we have worked with the Learning Wheel, we determined the most effective way to identify the learning components is to look at the unit assessment. The learning components are the action steps needed to achieve mastery of the “partial credit” points on assessments.
Implementing the Learning Wheel
Our initial purpose in implementing the Learning Wheel was to have students use it as a self-assessment tool. After a warm-up, students are told what target they worked on and then the specific component(s) that they practiced.
Students are asked to shade the component that demonstrates their understanding. The interesting part for us is when we started using the wheels – as teachers it was an all or nothing - either you understand the component completely and shade it completely or you don’t understand it and leave it blank. It was our students who came to us and said, “can’t we shade it half way if we get it a little” – to which we responded, “Yes – You Can!” As the year continued, students started to become better at “knowing what they do not know.” In addition, we also provide them with specific language that they can use when asking for assistance. Students are no longer saying “I do not get it.” They are able to identify the specific action steps i.e. “I do not understand how to identify the hypotenuse when doing the Pythagorean theorem.”
However, throughout time, other benefits of the Learning Wheel became apparent. Learning Wheels are not only self-assessments tools, but they can be used as exposure at the beginning of a new unit by identifying to students the action steps they need to perform in order to achieve mastery of a specific target. Students will be told “today, we are going to work on Target A:___________, in order to achieve mastery, you will need to….________________.”
This has helped eliminate some of the mystery behind a target and clearly communicates to students what they are expected to complete to attain mastery.
The Learning Wheel as an Assessment Tool
Finally, we also use the Learning Wheel as a formative assessment tool. After an assessment, the teacher completes an error analysis. The test is reviewed and shaded in order to indicate the areas where
students require additional remediation.
The orange shaded areas show partial understanding of a target. While the red areas show no understanding of the target. We find this to be, as Dylan Wiliams says, “a way for the teacher clarifying, sharing, and understanding learning intentions and criteria for success.” We “shade the wheels” for students earning a C- or lower on assessments. However, the remainder of the students are given a “key” of the wheel as their cover page and they color it themselves.
The piece that has resonated with us as far as using this as a formative assessment tool is we did not have to make more problems and find time to “do more problems” nor did we have to write specific feedback on their problems. Using the Learning Wheel as a formative assessment tool has allowed us to take what we already have and simply communicate to students what they know and what they need to learn. This explicit communication to students moves them from being “grade focused” to “task focused.” When students do not perform well on assessments, they know exactly what they need to remediate in order to master a particular target. This type of feedback moves the students learning forward.
As we move toward implementing state mandated SLO’s (Student Learning Objectives) in 2016-2017, rubrics are needed to assess students growth. The Learning Wheel is a student friendly communication rubric that both students can use to self reflect on their learning as well as teachers can use to provide formative feedback.
Creating the Learning Wheel
When creating the Learning Wheel for a unit, we begin with a title of the learning target at the top and then the wheel is comprised of the learning components that students need in order to achieve mastery of the target. As we have worked with the Learning Wheel, we determined the most effective way to identify the learning components is to look at the unit assessment. The learning components are the action steps needed to achieve mastery of the “partial credit” points on assessments.
Implementing the Learning Wheel
Our initial purpose in implementing the Learning Wheel was to have students use it as a self-assessment tool. After a warm-up, students are told what target they worked on and then the specific component(s) that they practiced.
Students are asked to shade the component that demonstrates their understanding. The interesting part for us is when we started using the wheels – as teachers it was an all or nothing - either you understand the component completely and shade it completely or you don’t understand it and leave it blank. It was our students who came to us and said, “can’t we shade it half way if we get it a little” – to which we responded, “Yes – You Can!” As the year continued, students started to become better at “knowing what they do not know.” In addition, we also provide them with specific language that they can use when asking for assistance. Students are no longer saying “I do not get it.” They are able to identify the specific action steps i.e. “I do not understand how to identify the hypotenuse when doing the Pythagorean theorem.”
However, throughout time, other benefits of the Learning Wheel became apparent. Learning Wheels are not only self-assessments tools, but they can be used as exposure at the beginning of a new unit by identifying to students the action steps they need to perform in order to achieve mastery of a specific target. Students will be told “today, we are going to work on Target A:___________, in order to achieve mastery, you will need to….________________.”
This has helped eliminate some of the mystery behind a target and clearly communicates to students what they are expected to complete to attain mastery.
The Learning Wheel as an Assessment Tool
Finally, we also use the Learning Wheel as a formative assessment tool. After an assessment, the teacher completes an error analysis. The test is reviewed and shaded in order to indicate the areas where
students require additional remediation.
The orange shaded areas show partial understanding of a target. While the red areas show no understanding of the target. We find this to be, as Dylan Wiliams says, “a way for the teacher clarifying, sharing, and understanding learning intentions and criteria for success.” We “shade the wheels” for students earning a C- or lower on assessments. However, the remainder of the students are given a “key” of the wheel as their cover page and they color it themselves.
The piece that has resonated with us as far as using this as a formative assessment tool is we did not have to make more problems and find time to “do more problems” nor did we have to write specific feedback on their problems. Using the Learning Wheel as a formative assessment tool has allowed us to take what we already have and simply communicate to students what they know and what they need to learn. This explicit communication to students moves them from being “grade focused” to “task focused.” When students do not perform well on assessments, they know exactly what they need to remediate in order to master a particular target. This type of feedback moves the students learning forward.
As we move toward implementing state mandated SLO’s (Student Learning Objectives) in 2016-2017, rubrics are needed to assess students growth. The Learning Wheel is a student friendly communication rubric that both students can use to self reflect on their learning as well as teachers can use to provide formative feedback.
