Assessment schema

The MAS Project has distinct innovation and originality features which correlate to the development of novel concepts, approaches and solutions serving as the basis for effective 21^st century museum-school partnerships.

One of the premises of MAS is to identify tools and methodologies to evaluate the impact of the partnerships developed during the project. This could include consideration and implementation of MPAZ (Multiliteracies Performance Assessment Zones) (Savva, 2016a). To assess how each student meets the criteria in each of the knowledge processes from the Learning by Design Model and define their level of performance, this tool developed by Savva incorporates the following schemes of formative assessment:

1. An Assessment Schema, derived from the “Learning by Design Criteria for Measuring Learning” (Kalantzis and Cope et al., 2005, pp. 95-97). According to Cope and Kalantzis, the assessment schema uses a teacher rating sheet (TLS). Cope and Kalantzis posit that the TRS allows for the tracking of students’ performance in each of the knowledge processes.

2. The Four Resources Model adapted by Luke and Freebody (1990); these resources being the functional dimension, the meaning making dimension, the critical dimension and the transformative dimension. These dimensions correspond respectively to each of the knowledge processes on the Assessment Schema by Cope and Kalantzis, and together reflect a zone of multiliteracies competence.

Kalantzis and Cope (2005) posit that the TRS is an effective tool to evaluate changes in students’ repertoires of literacy and this was confirmed in this research as it allowed to track students’ performance in each of the knowledge processes, namely demonstration of experiential knowledge, conceptual knowledge, analytical knowledge and applied knowledge, as well as the multiliteracies experience of students (Table 1.1).

Table 1.1 Assessment criteria in the teacher rating sheet (TRS) (Source: Kalantzis and Cope, 2005)

In regards to each of these processes, three levels of performance exist that define how a student moves from the competence to think and act with assistance, to the competence to think and act independently, and finally the competence to perform collaboratively. These are described as: 1) assisted competence, 2) autonomous competence and 3) collaborative competence, with the former being considered the most difficult and higher order level to achieve. Figure 1 provides a description of each of these levels of performance.

To explore the four interrelated dimensions of multiliteracies and the exhibited level of performance, we pertain to the work of Hill (2005) who proposed the use of an analytical tool called a Multiliteracies Map. This tool was based on the renowned Four Resources Model adapted by Luke and Freebody (1990) involving namely: the functional dimension, the meaning making dimension, the critical dimension and the transformative dimension. The proposition is that each of these dimensions combined with the knowledge processes reflect a zone of multiliteracies competence. The elements of the MPAZ are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 The Multiliteracies Performance Assessment Zones (MPAZ) (Savva, 2016a)