Initial work on the project is focusing, not just on the design of rich tasks, but on their assessment - helping teachers to embed formative assessment into their everyday classroom practice. After consultation with teachers, this area has been identified as a pressing need.
It is intended to start chiefly with Mathematics but to broaden the scope as the work proceeds. The project team and collaborators aim to build a repository of tasks, for each of which there will be resource material for students and teachers. The teachers' materials will provide rubrics and other assessment materials for measuring and recording attainment of fundamental skills as students progress along a learning continuum for each one. It should be noted that the skills identified for inclusion - understanding, connecting, communicating, reasoning, applying and problem-solving - are relevant for all STEM areas; thus, the extension to STEM areas other than Mathematics can take place naturally as the work proceeds.
It is intended to start chiefly with Mathematics but to broaden the scope as the work proceeds. The project team and collaborators aim to build a repository of tasks, for each of which there will be resource material for students and teachers. The teachers' materials will provide rubrics and other assessment materials for measuring and recording attainment of fundamental skills as students progress along a learning continuum for each one. It should be noted that the skills identified for inclusion - understanding, connecting, communicating, reasoning, applying and problem-solving - are relevant for all STEM areas; thus, the extension to STEM areas other than Mathematics can take place naturally as the work proceeds.
