http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/feb/18/my-best-lesson-english-literature-imagination-exams
It's funny that depending on whether you focus on the word "way" or "assessing", you can interpret the question "interesting way of assessing literature" differently. With the latter, it could be read as an alternative to the pen and paper exam but with "way", it can be read as preparing for the traditional exam in alternative ways. I chose Sian Carter's article because it focuses on how to make preparing for literature exams fun and will answer the other emphasis in my own thoughts later.
Carter's way of building up to a literature exam is interesting because she does it abstractly in a totally unexpected way that arrests any fears students usually develop when faced with an exam. For example, getting students to create a shape that represents a theme helps them to view it from a different angle, or rather a different medium. Such a visual means can help students sort relevant ideas and connect what they've learned to the theme as they scramble to explain the selected shape. This is because all too often, the idea of theme is too abstract for them to grasp.
What is a concept? How is a main idea different from a normal idea? How do I know if the idea i've chosen is big enough? These kinds of question often erupt when we teach students the idea of theme. Getting to think of shapes on the other hand, which are in themselves a kind of abstract idea actually, is reassuring because there is no wrong answer and helpful because it gets them to practise identifying and grouping similar points.
Carter goes on to get students picking quotes and attaching pictures to them anywhere in the classroom, even in areas traditionally forbidden such as walls and desks. This tactile approach links their physical trangression to breaking their minds out of traditional boxes so that they can analyse the quote more imaginatively. That's kinda useful although I wonder if building on what she earlier got them to do would be more useful. She could get them to come out with quotes based on similar designs or categories of the original shape and get students to also explain why.
It's also interesting that to get them to transfer all these ideas into an exam script, she only needed to get them to come up with alternatives to the word "show". She uses physical exploration again to get her students to come up with these alternatives but the interesting bit to me is that these connective words and phrases kinda help structure our exam responses. Usually, we're taught that they're just "filler" words that can be ignored but Carter suggests that they can actually affect the kind of answers we give. I guess it kinda makes sense as these connectors set up a mould or expectation in which we pour our content into. In any case, the idea of a "word graveyard" to banish cliches seems to be a cool way to get students to improve their vocabulary!
Anyway, touching on the other emphasis in the question, ever since I had my first Lit module in NUS, i've always wondered why the O and A level Lit papers are so stuffy compared to what we're allowed to do. From putting up sock puppet performances (SciFi) to having pizza parties (Playwriting), holding exhibitions (Screenwriting), poetry readings (Chapbooks and Digital Poetry) and publishing books (Tragedy), NUS Lit exams aren't just fun but enormously productive for both student and prof as we both leave knowing we've grown for the better. Heck, I can still remember my exam questions "Imagine you were at the wedding party of Chaucer and all his characters came together. What would a conversation between The Wife of Bath and any other female character from his tales be like?" after i've taken them. Compare this on the other hand to the general feeling of despair and gloom that we adopted when an exam approached, came and left.
And honestly, I have a hard time figuring out why we can't do the same for the national exams. If we can have Art as a subject which culminates in the production of a piece that is displayed or Theatre/Music as a performance, we should be able to transform Literature into Fine Art or Creative Writing that would culminate in the production of a literary text. I've researched Fine Art degree programs and found that they have just as much as rigour in academic reading as they do in the practical application of it, if not more so.
If I could design my own literature exam, I would ask students to read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and develop a carefully thought out nuanced reaction to or criticism of it over the course of a year. Doesn't that sound more valuable than messy handwriting on pieces of paper?
PS: If you're having trouble finding a website, try adding the term "creative" or "alternative" to "literature assessment" on Google.
Hi Jensen, wonderful article and thoughtful reflections on the nature of assessments (and why can't they be more creative and fun). I love the bit in the article about how the tutor took one critical feature - selectivity - and designed a host of meaningful, fun and challenging tasks around it. Despite the stuffy exams, I do think it's important not to get locked into the idea that essay practice and more essay practice is the only way to help our students improve their thinking. Here's to more creative ways of thinking about assessment.
ReplyDelete