Assessment And Teaching Of 21st Century Skills

This second volume of papers from the ATC21STM project deals with the development of an assessment and teaching system of 21st century skills. Readers are guided through a detailed description of the methods used in this process. The first volume was published by Springer in 2012 (Griffin, P., McGaw, B. & Care, E., Eds., Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills, Dordrecht: Springer). The major elements of this new volume are the identification and description of two 21st century skills that are amenable to teaching and learning: collaborative problem solving, and learning in digital networks. Features of the skills that need to be mirrored in their assessment are identified so that they can be reflected in assessment tasks. The tasks are formulated so that reporting of student performance can guide implementation in the classroom for use in teaching and learning. How simple tasks can act as platforms for development of 21st century skills is demonstrated, with the concurrent technical infrastructure required for its support. How countries with different languages and cultures participated and contributed to the development process is described. The psychometric qualities of the online tasks developed are reported, in the context of the robustness of the automated scoring processes. Finally, technical and educational issues to be resolved in global projects of this nature are outlined.

Rapid—and seemingly accelerating—changes in the economies of developed nations are having a proportional effect on the skill sets required of workers in many new jobs. Work environments are often technology-heavy, while problems are frequently ill-defined and tackled by multidisciplinary teams. This book contains insights based on research conducted as part of a major international project supported by Cisco, Intel and Microsoft. It faces these new working environments head-on, delineating new ways of thinking about ‘21st-century’ skills and including operational definitions of those skills. The authors focus too on fresh approaches to educational assessment, and present methodological and technological solutions to the barriers that hinder ICT-based assessments of these skills, whether in large-scale surveys or classrooms. Equally committed to defining its terms and providing practical solutions, and including international perspectives and comparative evaluations of assessment methodology and policy, this volume tackles an issue at the top of most educationalists’ agendas.

As the 21st century unfolds, the pace of change in the world is accelerating. The authors believe a combination of cognitive skills (skills students will need to succeed academically) and conative skills (skills students will need to succeed interpersonally) is necessary for the 21st century. This clear, practical guide presents a model of instruction and assessment based on these skills.

Go beyond traditional paper-and-pencil tests! This book provides a framework and practical ideas for assessing 21st century skills such as problem solving, collaboration, and creativity.

This book provides a detailed description of research and application outcomes from the Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills project, which explored a framework for understanding the nature of these skills. The major element of this new volume is the presentation of research information from the global assessment of two 21st century skills that are amenable to teaching and learning: collaborative problem solving, and learning in digital networks. The outcomes presented include evidence to support the validity of assessment of 21st century skills and descriptions of consequent pedagogical approaches which can be used both to teach the skills and to use them to enhance key learning goals in secondary education systems. The sections of the volume are connected through a focus on the degree to which innovative assessment tasks measure the constructs of interest. This focus is informed by conceptual and methodological issues associated with affordances of 21st century computer-based assessment. How understanding of the nature of the skills, as derived from these assessments, can guide approaches to the integration of 21st century skills in the classroom, is informed by initiatives adopted by participating countries. The guiding questions in this volume are: "Do the assessment tasks measure the constructs?" and "What are the implications for assessment and teaching in the classroom?" It is the third volume of papers from this project published by Springer.

Grounded in contemporary, evidence-based research, Assessment for Teaching provides a comprehensive introduction to assessment and teaching in school settings.

Great events in history have always brought about great changes in the lifestyles of humans. Every invention, every great war and every discovery has challenged the ways in which people lived up until that point. The 21st century bears the effects of various advancements in several different parts of human life. Sometimes it is called a “space age”, sometimes an “information age”, or a “computer age”. Some people have called it a digital age, or new media age too. However it is named, the time in which we live has challenged the lifestyles of the past and has brought about new requirements in skills and practices. Media literacy, leadership, critical thinking, and problem solving, are among the new skills required by the 21st century. However, the relationship between these skills and education has not yet been fully established. To this end, this book discusses these skills through theoretical and empirical studies in the context of Turkey.

This important resource introduces a framework for 21st Century learning that maps out the skills needed to survive and thrive in a complex and connected world. 21st Century content includes the basic core subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic-but also emphasizes global awareness, financial/economic literacy, and health issues. The skills fall into three categories: learning and innovations skills; digital literacy skills; and life and career skills. This book is filled with vignettes, international examples, and classroom samples that help illustrate the framework and provide an exciting view of twenty-first century teaching and learning. Explores the three main categories of 21st Century Skills: learning and innovations skills; digital literacy skills; and life and career skills Addresses timely issues such as the rapid advance of technology and increased economic competition Based on a framework developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) The book contains a video with clips of classroom teaching. For more information on the book visit www.21stcenturyskillsbook.com.