Send me a message.

Holistic, summative assessment is essential for properly evaluating design and technology capability, drawing on research by Richard Kimball and Kay Stables that predates the National Curriculum and has been tested across multiple countries and age groups.

• Effective capability assessment tasks allow pupils to demonstrate ability to respond to an unfamiliar design contex
• Assessment focuses on students' design capability, not their knowledge of the specific context
• Teachers should provide resources for rapid immersion in the context without predetermined solutions
• Real-time assessment is more authentic than extended assessments over weeks
• "Unpickled portfolios" are raw and produced in real time, unlike "pickled portfolios" which become formulaic and focused on presentation
• Successful capability assessment requires student ownership, allowing innovation and prototype testing
• Holistic judgment approaches like comparative assessment provide reliable evaluation methods
• Assessment should support curriculum aims rather than distort them

Resources and References from Episode 4: Holistic Evaluation: The True Measure of Design & Technology Capability

1. Research by Richard Kimbell and Kay Stables on holistic, summative assessment of design and technology capability
   • Pre-national curriculum research from 1992 onwards
   • Tested across different countries and age groups
   • Research on comparative judgment as a reliable method of assessment
2. STEM website where much of Kimbell and Stables' published work can be found
3. Current research and evaluation study mentioned:
   • Dr. Hardy working with Kay Stables and Sarah Davis
   • Using Kimbell and Stables' work on assessing D&T capability as a pre and post intervention test
4. Previous episodes in the assessment mini-series:
   • Episode 1: Overview of assessment in D&T
   • Episode 2: Assessing knowledge
   • Episode 3: Formative assessment, design crit and peer assessment

Acknowledgement:
Some of the supplementary content for this podcast episode was crafted with the assistance of Claude, an AI language model developed by Anthropic. While the core content is based on the actual conversation and my editorial direction, Claude helped in refining and structuring information to best serve listeners. This collaborative approach allows me to provide you with concise, informative, and engaging content to complement each episode.

Support the show

If you like the podcast, you can always buy me a coffee to say 'thanks!'

Please offer your feedback about the show or ideas for future episodes and topics by connecting with me on Threads @hardy_alison or by emailing me.

If you listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, please take a moment to rate and/or review the show.

If you want to support me by becoming a Patron click here.

If you are not able to support me financially, please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or sharing a link to my work on social media. Thank you!