What is the best evaluation strategy in remote education models?

Regardless of whether we are talking about hybrid or distance learning, the criteria for learning evaluation still is a mystery, isn’t it? Without the possibility of having the student’s presence, seeing his/her daily development at short distance or testing his/her knowledge level in person, teachers and educational coordinators have many doubts on how to successfully evaluate learning.

Fortunately, since partial or fully remote education brings new challenges, new possibilities for solutions to this challenge arise. With their innovative dynamics, education professionals can experiment with new ways to evaluate their students’ learning — which escape the traditional “test.”

Overcoming the old paradox of the “19th-century school, 20th-century teacher, and 21st-century student,” these new education models can finally incorporate more modern and updated notions of what constitutes learning, benefiting everyone, in addition to enhancing the concrete benefits of learning.

For me, the most stimulating model, and also the one I identify with the most, is that of Project-Based Learning, of which I will speak in this text.

Evaluating from a distance

In 2020, distance education, especially in hybrid models, became the very continuity of education in Brazil and the world. For example, the Moodle platform, which was already used for online courses, suffered a 286% increase in the number of accesses, according to the Luminova education network.

However, this type of education opens an interesting window for the introduction of new evaluation methods. Instead of procedural evaluations and measurement of acquired knowledge, it is possible to invest in the evaluation of the learning act itself.

This can be a gain, because one of the flaws of the traditional model is to always assume an ideal student, who fits into a certain evaluation rule, starting from the false premise that, if the student is in class, he is acquiring all the knowledge that is transmitted, without any kind of variation. The lack of humanism in this model is evident.

With hybrid models and with distance learning, it is necessary to redouble the attention to the student’s person. Is he/she learning? Can he/she take the subjects and put them into practice, even with the different class monitoring atmospheres?

These are questions that all educators should ask themselves. And there are already several possible answers. There are self-evaluation strategies, feedback moments that involve students and teachers, digital portfolio structuring, etc.

But, for me, one of the main ones that can solve most of these needs is the Project-Based Learning (PBL) model.

Projects and learning

The PBL is a teaching method that, as the name implies, focuses on projects as the basis of learning. From the knowledge acquired in class, students are guided by the educator, individually or in groups, to develop a project whose result reflects the knowledge acquired.

Here, the figure of the educator is no longer only that of a transmitter of knowledge, but also almost that of an advisor or mediator, accompanying the development of solutions by students and providing clues to face obstacles.

This type of methodology brings many advantages. It allows an improvement of the students’ creativity, since the same project can be concluded by following different paths.

On the other hand, it is a matter of operating outside a sectorial logic, since situations may demand the activation of different areas of human knowledge, being able to be implemented for evaluation in more than one discipline.

The PBL is based on the idea that the fixation of learning in the student’s mind is not by exposing the content or memorizing formulas for solving problems in an exam, but by the way it is effective within a real life situation.

It is perfect for distance learning, where measuring performance by applying tests becomes almost impossible. But it is also equally suitable for the Hybrid Teaching model, since it gives another meaning to the idea of “homework.”

Decentralization and modernity

World education is undergoing a profound reformulation. Schools, educational institutions, and families now need to coordinate a less centralized learning model, more flexible, and more focused on the figure of the student than on knowledge itself.

In a world in transition, with challenges never before seen in history, it is increasingly necessary to prepare young people for situations where they need to use knowledge in a practical, creative, and resourceful way.

The way I see it, simulating this kind of situation in education is the best way to train the student for the world of tomorrow, developing not only knowledge, but skills and competencies that will make all the difference in the future.