Assessment for Learning: The Road to Improvement

Event Date: 21st May 2022

Abstract:

For instruction to be truly effective, we need to introduce assessment for learning as an ongoing process. This becomes particularly important in these difficult times as COVID-19 has affected all aspects of our students’ lives and education. The aim of the session is to have participants reflect on the importance of introducing assessment for learning strategies as a means of helping students improve their learning.

The presenter starts the session by establishing the difference between summative assessment, formative assessment and assessment for learning. She then focuses on what assessment for learning involves and what the advantages of implementing this form of assessment are. The speaker then presents the ten principles on which assessment for learning is based and the main elements of assessment for learning, namely, learning intentions, success criteria, formative feedback and effective questioning. At different points during the presentation, she offers examples of how assessment for learning can be embedded in the learning-teaching cycle.

About the Speaker:

Annie Altamirano holds a first-class degree in EFL from teacher training college in Argentina and an MA in ELT and Applied Linguistics from the University of London. She has taught students of all ages and levels and her experience includes teaching, teacher training and academic management posts in Argentina and Spain.

She is an international speaker and has given teacher-training workshops in Europe, Asia and Latin America and for many years she served as Cambridge English Speaking Examiner and as a Cambridge English Language Assessment presenter.

She has worked with a wide range of publishers and written materials for children and adolescents. Her latest published work includes Cambridge Global English Teacher’s Resource, 2nd ed. published by Cambridge University Press. She has visited schools in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, Indonesia and China to learn more about teachers’ needs and expectations. She is currently a mentor in the Cambridge Teacher support Service and a freelance teacher trainer.