The management, research and pedagogical staff of the faculties of Kryvyi Rih State Pedagogical University strive for constant professional self-improvement, study and implementation of new trends in pedagogy of higher education. On December 8, 2021, representatives of the Faculty of Geography, Tourism and History, the Faculty of Foreign Languages and the Faculty of Ukrainian Philology took part in the webinar “Student Assessment: Encourage, Not Discourage” organized by the British Council in Ukraine.
The Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Doctor of Philology, Associate Professor M.V.Vardanian, Associate Professor of the Department of Ukrainian and Foreign Literature, Candidate of Philological Sciences I.M.Onikienko and Senior Lecturer of the Department of Tourism and Economics L.Ye.Bratchenko joined the online event and learned about the intricacies of modern student-centered approaches to assessment. Speakers of the webinar drew attention to the need to determine the answers to certain basic questions before starting the assessment process: the teacher must clearly understand what exactly and how students will learn, and how to know that theor knowledge is mastered.
Kathy Wright, Deputy Director of Innovation of “Advance HE”proposed a number of modern alternatives to traditional forms of assessment that meet new educational content, student demands and needs. The speaker told (translated, original is not available): “These can be blogs, podcasts, infographics, modeling, creating educational material, debates, problem sets, patchwork etc”.
Olga Yashenkova, Associate Professor of English Philology and Communication at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, presented practical life hacks on assessment during online learning, suggested combining different forms of assessment: peer, self-assessment, descriptive feedback from teachers with recommendations for improving knowledge acquisition.
Marian Slabinoha, Associate Professor of Computer Systems and Networks of Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas, highlighted the need for changes in approaches to assessment in order to motivate students, stressed that students should be seen as partners. The IT specialists shared the main message (translated, original is not available): “To stay ahead of students you need to keep up with them, because students are our teachers”.
The participation in the webinar was certified by appropriate certificates. The experience that KSPU representatives achieved during the online event will be useful for high school teachers: it motivates them to be creative in order to implement appropriate innovations in the practice of the educational process.