Our Newspaper of Research Thought

I've been experimenting with Paper.li for a means of sharing the research, exploration of learning and changes in educational assessment and learning that we've been doing in our school. This paper has been an excellent means of visually sharing and summarizing what we're doing in our school.  I've been tweeting it but for those of you that have not seen this, please look below and enjoy.





Click on Title of Paper to get the entire paper.

Being Open to Change...

Last week I worked with three teachers as part of our Innovative Learning Design Grant.  Although there is only three days left of classes before winter break and all teachers are extremely tired from working so hard up, there is still excitement in the air.  

I started this day getting the necessary material for making movies in French.  I had already worked with Aaron for about an hour previously with training in IMovie.  At the start of the day we gathered up the necessary equipment for him: 4 digital cameras, extra batteries, cable to download the video and 2 laptops that had IMovie on them.  He was willing to experiment with his class with a different manner of assessing what his students learned.  That's what makes this research so wonderful, having teachers willing to take a chance.

The next teacher was introduced to Livebinder.  She had all her material already organized in paper format and did not see a need to convert the material to a Livebinder, but what was so fantastic was the initiative to try something new.

Shelley created an account, copied someone else's binder to her section to edit, began a new binder to experiment with and expressed the desire to continue to explore this new tools and perhaps use it in another one of her classes.  We then look at some other technology that she was interested in and in the end this was a very gratifying and rewarding experience for me.

The third teacher was the most passionate teacher yet.  Katie came into our school to work in a portable.  Her department heads asked for a LCD projector for her and a computer and in the end she received both items as well as a new document reader that takes pictures of what you project as well as, with a click of a button, you can make an swf video to add to your web site.  After going through the process of learning how to hook up all this equipment together, then learning the new software, the passion did not diminish, instead it strengthen.  Katie has expressed the wish to take her computer, the LCD projector and the document reader home over the holidays so she can experiment with these new resources, and become a stronger teacher with these means.  That’s passion that can ignite most students. 


Thank you for this experiences my fellow colleagues.

Reflection on Changed Teaching Practices

New Years Eve is a time of New Year Resolutions, but for me, it is also a time for reflection of my life, both personal and professional.  Every teacher should take the time to reflect on their practice as an Educator.  How can we, as a professional, improve our ability to do our job to the maximum?  That's where the reflection comes in. 

I've asked myself a number of questions now, in a number of areas of my professional life:

• How are my students doing?
• What did a do new this year?
• How did it make me feel, both physically and mentally?
• What was good or bad about this experience? Or perhaps it was both.
• What sense can I make of what happened?  What did happen and why?
• What else should I have done besides what I did?  How could I have improved what happened?
• If it happened again, what would I do differently?

These questions should not be asked only once a year, but constantly when making changes to your professional development.  But I find the holidays is a great time to do this.

Dewey (1933) identifies 3 characteristics of  people who are good at reflecting on their actions:  open-mindedness, responsibility and wholeheartedness.  These people are willing to take chancesand to change.  They turn every event into a learning experience.  It's as simple as it sounds, you do only three things:  look at an event, understand it, and learn from it.  This will help you grow in all aspects of your life

Tomas S. Farrell asks questions of more depth for understanding of why we teach the way we teach:

• What do I do as a teacher?  ( a description of my practice)
• What does this mean to me?  ( a look at the theories behind my practice)
• How did I come to be this way?  (a look at the influences on my practice)
• How might I do this differently?  ( a look at my future actions).  

He states in the book "Reflective Practice in Action:  80 Reflection" that effective partitioners go a step beyond simply acknowledging successes and failures, they strive to figure out why it worked or not, and how to change the way it went.    You need to constantly reflect on the new and old theories, values and believes of teaching, what learning means to you and what learning means to your students, tries new experiences and theories, examines what's happened, talk to others about it,  and see what can be changes and what cannot.  The conversation with colleagues is what will help you to see other views and other opinions, so you can see all aspects of your own learning experience of the event you just experienced.

So in all of this, where am I?  How well am I doing this term?  I have done a huge amount of recollective reflecting ( making sense of what happened in the hopes to change what I hope I can try again and get different results).  I will try again the Facebook assessment/collective Portfolios with my Grade 11/12 students.  But I need to explain in more detail to the students how to self-assess their own work.  I need to teach them self-reflective thinking, to explain that by reviewing their failures, they can show me learning, that every learning experience does not need to be positive.  

I will continue to do differentiation instruction in my Grade 11/12 Information classes.  I have created a number of online courses of learning in Photoshop, Illustrator, Advance Photoshop and some work in JavaScripting Programming.  The HTML online site has worked well after three years of editing, and I understand that the others will take some time to change as well.  

The reflection portfolios in my Grade 8 Information Technology class was not as successful as the Grade 11/12 one, feedback was not well done.  I need to connect their work in a better setup, perhaps using blogs like this one, and having a listing of the blogs all together will help me to moderate/control my time in a more effective manner, to respond in a quicker manner to work posted online.  Something to consider in more depth.

I have done active reflection ( immediate decision making during class as events unfold)  throughout these changes in my teaching practices, asking students to tag their photos so I can give immediate feedback worked extremely well.  Having students make photo book on Facebook to have their area of study organized worked well.  For those people doing movie editing, I advice getting a YouTube channel set up right away, so you can embed the videos right into Facebook (this worked extremely well).

In all honesty, the Grade 11/12 students were extremely happy with the differentiation practice - I on the other hand was extremely tired.  In the end students were helping each other.  This practise of asking other people before you ask the teacher (I'm the fifth on the list) worked better in the lower grades then the higher ones.  The Grade 11/12 students were not as receptive to a change in teaching practices as were the lower grades but in the end all were happy.

So the most important question of reflection - will I continue to explore these areas of interest or change to something new.  I'm not done yet, I like the changes in the student's learning - them taking ownership of what they want to learn. The level of motivation has tripled for many of them.  I just need to learn to manage my time more effectively for critiquing their work online.

There's my reflection so far.  Thanks for listening.

Differentiation - a lot of work but worth it....

I've been working with differentiating my Information Technology 11/12 class this year.  The class consist of 31 students in grade 11 and 12, at different levels of skills.  Some are in Grade 12 and have taken the course previously (there were 7 of them), for some  it's their first time but they have previous knowledge (6 of them), and some have started with no knowledge at all but have heard from friends that they liked the course.  

The course started with a basic lesson on plagiarism and copyright .  Every student needed to learn these rules since the course consist of taking pictures, editing them, and putting them online.  Then all students did a small unit in Adobe Photoshop.  But after that point students were allowed to choose the area they wished to follow as well as given the option that at any time they could change their mind and start something else (see below for choices).  With the ability to choose what they learn students took ownership of their learning with the premise that this would motivate them to work harder.  The premise was wrong in many ways.

This was an elective and as such some students chose to take it for an easy mark, a supposition that was wrong, my expectation was high, every day you needed to learn something new.

The intro (copyright and Photoshop) took one month to get through, the selection of choosing what they  wanted to learn was in October.  It took approximately until the end of October to the 1st week of November for students to understand expectations of the level of commitment that I wanted.  I expected students to work hard everyday.  My expectations of myself is very high and I expect the same work ethics from my students.  What I forgot is that sometimes the student doesn't want to work, they want down time, something that I very much understand, being one more week before the Winter Vacation.

I did however see that the students are enjoying what they chose to learn, that this took time for students to understand if they try, I was happy and they should be happy.  Instead of trying so hard to not work, when they did start working, they enjoyed what they did.   

At the end of every class I asked individual students "Did you learn something today? What?"  Sometimes I got the straight answer of "nothing" and sometimes it opened up a conversation of self-assessment that was wonderful, exactly what I wanted, a student that honestly said "This is what I learned, this is what I need to work on", and the best question "Can you teach me this ....?".  They wanted to learn.  What better reward for a teacher, a student who wants to learn.

Like any major change in the dynamic of introducing a new teaching method, it takes time to iron out the problems, to set the right expectations, but like life, both these factors change with the change of personalities that you have in the classroom.  It is only through repetition, of explaining in detail your expectation of the student and to follow though with these expectations, will the students understand what they need to do and what they are expected to do in your classroom.  

Diversifying the lessons, teaching 7 different subjects at the same time in a classroom within the hour is challenging, students still need to learn to ask each other before asking the teacher, to rely on peers and researching their own answers before relying on a teacher.  I continually remind them, I will not be there to give you answers forever.  You need to rely on yourself more then me.  

That's the best lesson I can teach them, "Rely on yourself".  As Frank Tyger, nationally published editorial cartoonist, columnist and humorist for the Trenton Times said "Your future depends on many things, but mostly on you."

This is an example of one of my student's flash christmas assignment.  From my class at Sullivan Heights Secondary High School in Surrey, British Columbia, to you at your school district, have a Merry Christmas.

11 Desktop Design	11 Web Photoshop	12 Advance	Programming Languages
Copy Write and Plagiarism	Copy Write and Plagiarism	Copy Write and Plagiarism	Copy Write and Plagiarism
Emailing	Emailing	Emailing	Emailing
Photoshop	Photoshop	Advance Photoshop	Fireworks
Principles of Design -	Principles of Design for Web Pages	Fireworks	Intro Flash
Color Unit	Color Unit	Color Unit	Color Unit
Illustrator	HTML	Illustrator Advance	JavaScript
Indesign	DreamWeaver	Advance Dreamweaver - CSS	Java
	Flash	Flash
Final Project – Newspaper	Final Project Web Page for Teacher	Final Project – Starting a New Business	Final Project – Exam.

Sharing in the Educational Playground.

It's funny how when someone says something in passing it makes you think and wonder "What were you thinking when you said that?!!"

I told some friends about Sullivan Heights Paper, a summary of the blogs of the research that we're doing for the Tech Grant we received in September. They in turn were surprised at how much we don't mind sharing what we've done so far, the lessons, the rubrics, and exemplars.  I explained that it wasn't so much the grant that got the staff at our school started, it was the idea of sharing with people what we were doing, explaining to others what has worked for us, and what has failed.  This sharing of the adventure of our travels to reach the goals we set in September enhances the enjoyment of this trip.  The "Passion of learning" is what drives us.

Life is too short.  We need to enjoy a few moments in time and think about what we have and how we're fortunate to have what we have.  We were one of the first schools to get the College Wifi (thank you to all that helped support our school in that decision), and we received financial support in implementing some changes in our instruction and assessment methods to change our school environment.  Some examples of what we implemented so far is the welcoming of student technology (cell phones, outside computers, etc) into the classroom instead of banning it, embraced the opportunity these tools give our students in learning as 21st Century learners.  We're hoping to help students to understand how to properly use social networking tools/sites with awareness.  We want students to explore web 2.0 tools to self-assess their learning and enhance their critically thinking skills.  But with this exploration comes the  responsibility and need for comprehension (both teachers and students) in the area of copyright, plagiarism and intellectual property.  We are rich in having the opportunity and ability to delve into various areas of inquiry that each of us are passionate about, growing in our knowledge and skills. 

So I ask the question back to my friend "Why not share?" Twitter has given me numerous occasions to learn from colleagues all over the world.  I have seen opening and closing speakers of a number of conferences that I did not have the opportunity to go to.  These people share with me, why not give back to them?  Why reinvent the wheel?  Two heads are better then one, someone can make what I share better, and then give back to me their opinion.  What better opportunity can you think of?!

Most of us entered the field of education because of the love of seeing a student's eyes glow when they finally understand what we have been trying to teach them.  The rush of pleasure a teacher feels when they say "Oh, I get it!".  That rush is not diminished when it's an adult who says this.  It's flattering when someone retweets you, why not feel the same when someone edits your idea to suit their class.  As in a retweet, mentioning the name of the person is the polite thing, and as professionals I hope we do the same with the rubrics, documents, or anything of a colleague that we wish to use. 

So why not enjoy the sharing.  To people who follow my site, please, feel free to use anything here or at my other sites (excellent Web 2.0 tools at this link).  Just say thanks  and email to say how it worked or how I can improve it.  

This morning I looked at the sunrise here in Vancouver (yes this picture), on a beautiful sunny crisp morning, and I thought to myself, I'm fortunate to be in a job that I enjoy, continuously challenging myself to be better in my field, having the means and opportunity to explore my interest and passion.  Why not share my good luck with others?  I hope this blog and my colleagues blogs help you in some way, shape or form.  Enjoy your day or week.  Enjoy your passion.

Parental Assessment of the E-Portfolios.

I've done electronic portfolios for both my Information Technology 11/12 students and with my information technology grade 8 class.  The numbers was a little different from what I imagined.  In this entry here is some of my data from my Grade 11/12 Information Technology class:

• Out of 31 students 16 students returned the assessment of the portfolio.   That's only half the class and I need to continue nagging the students to get this done.  There could be a number of reasons why such a low number
• Students did not want to have parents see the portfolio.
• Students forgot to do it.
• Parents did not have time to go through the assessment - it was a lot of work.
• Students lost the assessment sheet.
• Out of the 18 returned 2 were obviously not read or though about in regards to authentic assessment of their child's work.  The evidence was the parent/guardian gave their child Exemplar credit for every single item to consider, including spelling.  That means 14 were authentic or rather parents considered the work before assessing their child.
• Some parents did not give exemplar credential but they did make positive comments for their child
• two parents stated they did not understand the assessment and one of them stated they could not do it.
• 2 had no time to do it (understandable considering the time it would take to do the assessment - going over everything we've covered so far - at least 28 assignments - from September to the end of October.
• I need to create a rubric or assessment sheet whereas both the student and the parent/guardian do this together, sharing the learning, and learning about what the student is doing.  This would make this assessment more valuable.
• This assessment is realistic, involving partners in learning, and need to be more specifics for performance skills and specific work to be illustrated and discussed.
• It would be easier for parents to see an example before the assessment of their own child's work, seeing the expectation of the teacher and what was asked of the student.  Something to consider for the future.

According to Lorenzo & Ittelson, 2005 a portfolio is a purposeful selection of artifacts together with reflections that represent some aspect of the owner's learning.  I started using eportfolios  for the ease of marking using Facebook.  When students uploaded their work demonstrating a skill in a specific aspect of a program, it was easy to mark because all their work appeared on my wall in FaceBook.  What was not expected was the overwhelming amount of work to assess.  I was hoping that there would be ore peer assessment but the most basic practise was clicking on the "Like: button, with only a few students (23%) doing actual authentic assessment (giving examples of what the peer's opinion was and how to change the art work).  The next time I start with electronic portfolios I need to emphasis the need to peer assessment and the authentic reasoning behind this method of assessment.

According to Cotterill S. J. What is an ePortfolio? ePortfolios 2007, Maastricht

An ePortfolio is a purposeful collection of information and digital artifacts that demonstrates development or evidences learning outcomes, skills or competencies.

The process of producing an ePortfolio (writing, typing, recording etc.) usually requires the synthesis of ideas, reflection on achievements, self-awareness and forward planning; with the potential for educational, developmental or other benefits.

The reflection was evident in approximately 81% of the students, but it took more then a month to get students to self-critique using the critical thinking  process.  Students need to learn to analyze what they are thinking, to explain the important aspects of their work, ad to solve any problems they have.  They need to synthesis their work.  Syntheses is organizing, constructing, composing and creating your finished results.  Students can organize their work in Facebook, construct new ideas, compose their work and finish their final product, but when they need to assess their finished product, many of the students believe (still) that if they give negative feedback on their own work, they will receive negative marks.  

This process is a change in the students’ concept or understanding of grading, something instilled in most children since Grade 1.  The fact that negative criticism usually means a low mark, not a means of informal assessment.  This is far from the truth. This change in the understanding of evaluation or assessment takes time, and relearning, to break this cycle of "assessment must be numbers".  This is also a huge change for parent understanding as well.  They also need to be informed of the difference between informal and formal education.

Finally, next time I start eportfolios with students it is best to explain in detail why I want students to keep electronic portfolios.  I need to explain that this is a portfolio of showing skills, but also of assessment and personal development/growth of learning.  According to Cotterill: 

Specific types of ePortfolios can be defined in part by their purpose (such as presentation, application, reflection, assessment and personal development planning), pedagogic design, level of structure (intrinsic or extrinsic), duration (episodic or life-long) and other factors.

More consideration needs to be made of the purpose of the porfolio as well as the presentation.  Once more, an exemplar would be useful for this, one attached to my Facebook wall, so that students can see the work (and the critical thinking and self-assessment of the exemplar) and understand by example what is expected from them.  Giving out the rubric at the start of the portfolio did not work well with this group.  Perhaps with the next group it may help.

Next step, doing a similar experience with grade 8 students in Info Tech.  The students used Webnode for their eportfolios, with blogs of critical thinking and perspective of different subject matters (such as artificial intelligence, artificial limbs, cyber bullying, the life of Steve Jobs and his contribution to the computer world to name a few).  For this assessment I am looking at a partnership of parents, students and I assessing the thinking of students.  Not so much their opinion as much as backing up their opinion.  According to Dan Kurland: 
   

We are thinking critically when we

• recognize the relevance and/or merit of alternative assumptions and perspectives
• recognize the extent and weight of evidence

• evaluate all reasonable inferences
• consider a variety of possible viewpoints or perspectives,
• remain open to alternative interpretations
• accept a new explanation, model, or paradigm because it explains the evidence better, is simpler, or has fewer inconsistencies or covers more data
• accept new priorities in response to a reevaluation of the evidence or reassessment of our real interests, and
• do not reject unpopular views out of hand.

This is my hope for my students.  We'll see if this is happening.

Parents helping with assessment of learning on E-Portfolios

Previously I mentioned how I was using E-portfolios for my Information Technology class since I was diversifying and differentiating my class of 31 students.  Some are doing Illustrator, some programming, others Photoshop, and others Flash.  Some are advance, doing advance work, some beginners, all at different levels and skills.  So, how do you handle it besides run around constantly and suggest changes, show different tools, and answer questions?  You get students to take control of their learning, and critically assess their own work and the work of their peers through Facebook.

Students add photos and comments in their Facebook, tagging me, or add their work to my wall.  I make comments, give suggestions, and either ask for me or praise their work, but not before they make comments on their own work, stating what they did well, what they learned, and what they should improve (many students do not do this because they are afraid of losing marks - a matter that was discussed a number of times but something that still needs work.).

But with 31 students and over 25 assignments each at this point, that's a lot of assessment and hard to give instant feedback online.  So why not get the parents involved in their learning.  Below is an assessment worksheet (2nd draft) for both parents and students to assess the portfolio.  On Tuesday this sheet is going home to parents to see the work that their child has done, to see what critical thinking students have done on their work, and parents get to see how well they are doing.  It's an informal way of assessing and informing parents of the work their child has done.  They can also go see their friends on Facebook and see what other students are doing in class, and do comparisons.

It should be interesting and I'm looking forward to the results.  A new way of assessing?  I imagine only in my classroom.  I'm sure someone has tried this before.  Make a comment, I would love some feedback.   But there is more below....

EPortfolio (Digital Portfolio) Parent Assessment and Student Self-Assessment    

Name:________________________________________

CATEGORY	Exemplary (E rating)	Proficient (P rating)	Developing (D rating)	Unsatisfactory (U rating)	RATING
Selection of Artifacts	All artifacts and work samples are clearly and directly related to the purpose of the eportfolio. – show learning and growth A wide variety of artifacts is included.	Most artifacts and work samples are related to the purpose of the eportfolio.	Some of the artifacts and work samples are related to the purpose of the eportfolio.	None of the artifacts and work samples is related to the purpose of the eportfolio.
Reflections	All reflections clearly describe growth, achievement and accomplishments, and include goals for continued learning (long and short term).	Most of the reflections describe growth and include goals for continued learning.	A few of the reflections describe growth and include goals for continued learning.	None of the reflections describes growth and does not include goals for continued learning.
	All reflections illustrate the ability to effectively critique work and provide suggestions for constructive practical alternatives.	Most of the reflections illustrate the ability to effectively critique work and provide suggestions for constructive practical alternatives.	A few reflections illustrate the ability to effectively critique work and provide suggestions for constructive practical alternatives.	None of the reflections illustrates the ability to effectively critique work or provide suggestions for constructive practical alternatives.
	All artifacts are accompanied by a reflection that clearly explains the importance of the item	Most of the artifacts are accompanied by a reflection that clearly explains the importance of the item .	Some of the artifacts are accompanied by a reflection that clearly explains the importance of the item	None of the artifacts is accompanied by a reflection that clearly explains the importance of the item
Writing Mechanics	There are no errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.	There are a few errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling. These require minor editing and revision	There are four or more errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling requiring editing and revision.	There are more than six errors in grammar, capitalization, punctuation, and spelling requiring major editing and revision.

CATEGORY	Exemplary (E rating)	Proficient (P rating)	Developing (D rating)	Unsatisfactory (U rating)	RATING
Use of Multimedia where ask for	All/any of the photographs, graphic organizers, spreadsheets, graphics, audio and/or video files enhance understanding of concepts, ideas and relationships, create interest, and are appropriate for the chosen purpose. .	Most of the graphic elements and multimedia contribute to understanding concepts, ideas and relationships, enhance the written material and create interest.	Some of the graphic elements and multimedia do not contribute to understanding concepts, ideas and relationships.	None of the graphic elements or multimedia contribute to understanding concepts, ideas and relationships. The inappropriate use of multimedia detracts from the content..
	All audio and/or video files are edited with proper voice projection, appropriate language, and clear delivery.	Most of the audio and/or video files are edited with proper voice projection, appropriate language, and clear delivery.	A few of the audio and/or video files are edited with inconsistent clarity or sound (too loud/too soft/garbled).	Audio and/or video files are not edited or exhibit inconsistent clarity or sound (too loud/too soft/garbled).
Documentation & Copyright	All images, media and text follow copyright guidelines with accurate citations (web sites listed)  . All content throughout the eportfolio displays the appropriate copyright permissions.	Most images/media or text elements created by others are cited with accurate, properly formatted citations (web site listed).	Some of the images, media or text created by others are not cited with accurate, properly formatted citations (web site listed from where it was taken).	No images, media or text created by others are cited with accurate, properly formatted citations.
Ease of Navigation	The navigation links are intuitive. The various parts of the portfolio are labeled, clearly organized and allow the reader to easily locate an artifact and move to related pages or a different section. All external links connect to the appropriate website or file.	The navigation links generally function well, but it is not always clear how to locate an artifact or move to related pages or different section. Most of the external links connect to the appropriate website or file.	The navigation links are somewhat confusing, and it is often unclear how to locate an artifact or move to related pages or a different section.Some of the pages connect to the T Some of the external links do not connect to the appropriate website or file.	The navigation links are confusing, and it is difficult to locate artifacts and move to related pages or a different section. There are significant problems with many of the external links do not connect to the appropriate website or file.

CATEGORY	Exemplary (E rating)	Proficient (P rating)	Developing (D rating)	Unsatisfactory (U rating)	RATING
Layout and Text Elements	The eportfolio is easy to read. Fonts and type size vary appropriately for headings, sub-headings and text. Use of font styles (italic, bold, underline) is consistent and improves readability	The eportfolio is generally easy to read. Fonts and type size vary appropriately for headings, sub-headings and text. Use of font styles (italic, bold, underline) is generally consistent.	The eportfolio is often difficult to read due to inappropriate use of fonts and type size for headings, sub-headings and text or inconsistent use of font styles (italic, bold, underline). Some formatting tools are under or over-utilized and decrease the readers' accessibility to the content..	The eportfolio is difficult to read due to inappropriate use of fonts, type size for headings, sub-headings and text and font styles (italic, bold, underline). Many formatting tools are under or over-utilized and decrease the readers' accessibility to the content.
	Color of background, fonts, and links enhance the readability and aesthetic quality, and are used consistently throughout the eportfolio.	Color of background, fonts, and links generally enhance the readability of the text, and are generally used consistently throughout the eportfolio.	Color of background, fonts, and links decrease the readability of the text, are distracting and used inconsistently in some places throughout the eportfolio.	Color of background, fonts, and links decrease the readability of the text, are distracting and used inconsistently throughout the eportfolio.

Notice there are no grades, just ratings.  I am interested in both the student's opinion of their work as well as the parent/guardian's opinion of the work the student has done so far.  It should be interesting.

I'll also be using this with my Grade 8's who are also doing an e-portofolio for assessment of critical thinking and learning.  Thanks to Intel Teach Elements for their copy.  I've edited very little, they did such an excellent job with this resource material as well as their entire training web site.  Take a look at the site.  Below is the Grade 8 assessment worksheet for both student self assessment and peer assessment.  Parents will be sent a copy of this rubric as well as have their child show them the beginning of their electronic portfolio of learning.  As stated, wish me luck.  Happening this week.

Critical Thinking Rubric

Name:  ___________________________________

Category	Exemplary (E rating)	Proficient (P rating)	Developing (D rating)	Unsatisfactory (U rating)	Rating
Identifying Important Information	I determine what concepts and relationships are important in a complex system of abstract and concrete information.	I can usually tell what concepts and relationships are important in a system.	Sometimes, I have trouble telling the difference between important and unimportant concepts and relationships in a system.	I often get important and unimportant information mixed up.
Making Inferences	I use what I know about the subject along with my personal experiences and knowledge to make reasonable inferences. I use my inferences to draw conclusions about information.	I analyze new information and make reasonable inferences.	With help, I can make inferences, but sometimes my inferences are not based on good reasons.	I usually cannot make inferences about what I am learning.
Evaluating Sources	I use several strategies for evaluating the reliability of a variety of different kinds of sources.	I use some strategies for evaluating sources.	Sometimes, I am fooled by information that is not reliable.	I often cannot tell the difference between reliable and false information.
Learning Independently	I do whatever I need to do to learn more about ideas and concepts that are new to me.	I make an effort to learn more about ideas and concepts that are new to me.	If someone reminds me, I learn more about ideas and concepts that are new to me.	I am usually happy with what I already know about information, and I do not bother to find out more.
Communicating	I can clearly and thoroughly explain my opinions by giving good reasons for them, orally and in writing.	I can explain my opinions by giving good reasons for them, orally and in writing.	With prompting and guidance, I can explain my opinions orally and in writing.	I cannot explain my opinions so that they make sense.

  Wish me luck and stay tune for the results.