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The Importance of Matrices 3

Matrix³

The Importance of Matrices

Here is a quote from Joanne Martin in her book on Cultural Theory. She talks about the importance of using a matrix to understand and decipher information.  It’s well written and to the point.

“When content themes are combined with cultural forms and formal and informal practices, we have the pieces of a cultural puzzle. We can explore how interpretations of these cultural manifestations relate to each other by summarizing the results of a cultural study– the pieces of the cultural puzzle, in one or more matrices. Columns in a matrix are types of cultural manifestations (such) as rituals or stories) and rows are types of cultural manifestations, are context specific content themes (such as the need to take a long term perspective or the company’s concern for employee well being). A matrix is useful because it shows precisely how culture has been operationalized… Such a matrix clearly exposes what a given researcher has actually studied when he or she claimed to be studying culture. A matrix is useful for summarizing the results of other people’s studies, or it can be used to summarize the results of your own culture research. It is meant as a supplement-not a substitute-for a full description of research results, whether theirs results are written in prose (as in an ethnographic portrait) or represented in statistics.

Such matrices are also useful because too often a cultural study is just a richly detailed description; the underlying patters of interpretation and theory of culture are difficult to decipher. When such a study is summarized in a series of matrices, theoretical assumptions become easier to see because the patterns of interpretations, across manifestations are made evident. The cell entries in such matrices, and the underlying patterns of interpretation of those cultural manifestations, show how a researcher has answered the following questions:  What is culture? What is not culture? Often, it is the empty cells and omissions that will be most important in making this diagnosis. Used in this way, a matrix is a prompt for deductive theorizing: You can see what has been studied, and how it has been interpreted, to determine what theory is in use.”

Joanne Martin, (2002). Organizational Culture: Mapping the Terrain. Sage Publications. (126-127)

The Importance of Matrices 2

Matrix²

The Importance of Matrices

Matrices make a great tool to design a comprehensive assessment. When matrices are used in assessment, they are generally called Rubrics. Rubrics provide for a much more in depth look at not just the assessment, but the depth and complexity too.

Here is a nifty site I found by typing in “rubric for biology” into Google:

http://www.instruction.greenriver.edu/avery/Faculty/pres/biology.htm

(Julie Barclay,

ESL

Instructor

Green River

Community College

, accessed April 14, 2005)

The rubric demands that the student look beyond the obvious towards synthesis and evaluation. Here is an example of one of the matricides:

4	3	2	1
Introduction includes a full and complete definition of both types of determinism	Introduction includes a definition of both types of determinism.	Introduction includes a partial or incomplete definition of both types of determinism	Introduction includes a definition of only one type of determinism or incomplete definition of both types of determinism that contains errors.

You can quickly see that the author has created a set of expectations that mirror Blooms taxonomy. She has a couple more examples that provide greater detail, and one that is set up to help students learn how to critique.

You will notice that within these matrices, there is no mention of biology itself. The rubrics are not designed to provide information on a topic, they are designed to provide process.

At the bottom of this teacher’s page is a link to the Chicago Public Schools, which provides a very comprehensive over view and instructions for rubrics.

http://intranet.cps.k12.il.us/Assessments/Ideas_and_Rubrics/ideas_and_rubrics.html

The Workbook as a Strategy

Using a workbook is an example of a strategy that can be used to assess knowledge.

For instance: if each student used a workbook, by the end of a topic, the student and the educator would have a portfolio of sorts. The student can see progress of knowledge of the topic, and the educator can correct misconceptions at an early stage.

If the student retains the workbook, then they can use it as a reference tool. If the school keeps the work book, then the need to write progress reports is negated, as a history of the student's progress would be available.

If the workbook is only used one time then the student can write all over it. White space reserved for summarization can be provided. Information can be presented spatially, allowing students to trace relationships. Tear out cards can allow the student to assemble the important topics in a way that makes sense to them. Students would own their work.

I could go on and on about the benefits of this strategy, but it is important to not fill in all the blanks for each strategy, so the educator can think of their personal uses for the strategy.

Getting the assessment piece right

Getting the assessment piece right is more than just evaluating the student, it is also letting the student know that they KNOW what they have studied.

Why......

• It builds self confidence
• It makes them know they are smart
• It helps them build on what they know

When educators assess students in only one way, students who do know the answer don't get to prove it.

Here is my personal example. (feel free to overlay with a bitter tone)

• I cannot spell well. I am also not that good at math.
• In grade school we sat in straight rows, in alphabetical order. I am a "W".
• Every week we had spelling words, spelling tests, and if it was a bad we for me, spelling bees.
• In Junior High, entrance into advanced sciences was based on math ability.
• I never thought I was smart.
• Had those times gone beyond the multiple choice, fill in the blank and short essay questions, I might have realized I was smart.

Helping a student realize they are smart is no minor task in the educational experience. It is incumbent upon the educator to help the student understand that assessments may not prove knowledge, and help the student figure out how they can show they know.

The importance of Assessment Strategies

Carl Berger gave a great talk at the NLII about the need for different assessment strategies.

http://www.educause.edu/ir/library/powerpoint/258,2,NlII
Spring Focus:  Assessment and evaluation of emergent practices

You don't get to see him flailing his arms around or hear the passion in his voice, but if you read through the slides you get a good idea that what he is saying is that we need to think about assessment in different ways than we have in the past.

And he is right.

Ever since his talk, I've been thinking about how we as educators of the educators can affect change in the process of assessment. If I am going to say what I said in previous posts, that we think and more importantly, do things in different ways, I can't write an edict that says assessment must be done in a particular manner.

It will be vital, then, to provide educators with a list of strategies that would help them expand the way they assess. The strategies would come with tips, warnings, caveats, what ever would help the educator select the right assessment for them to apply and their students to benefit from.

Take a minute and think about that last statement.

It must be a strategy that the educator is comfortable with. If the educator feels awkward or uncomfortable with the assessment tool, then they will not put their all into it.

And it must be an assessment that will measure knowledge accurately. This will mean that the strategies we provide to the educator will, ideally be, multidimensional or be able to be combined with other assessments on the same topic.

Learning: The Non-Traditional Approach

There is nothing better that a girl from St. Louis can be happy about: Thinking about learning by using Baseball as a metaphor. The only downside is that it was the Red Socks that took advantage, and that allowed them to steal the national championship.

Again from the Chief Learning Officer:

http://www.clomedia.com/content/templates/clo_article.asp?articleid=874&zoneid=63

Important quote:

"Baseball is rooted in history and dominated by tradition. The majority of coaches, managers, scouts and front-office staff have largely used the same methods to evaluate personnel: trusting the mind of experience. The “experts” often ultimately relied on gut instinct and what they saw with their own two eyes to guide personnel decisions. In most situations, raw talent was the overriding factor in decisions. However, baseball is a game of numbers, and these same individuals have relied on statistics to augment their opinions.

Everything in the game today is measured, but traditionally only a subset of this data garnered much attention. The age-old, simple metrics of batting average, runs batted in and home runs have been used as the primary measurement of a hitter by almost everyone associated with the game since the late 1800s.

The problem with these common measurements is that, like many things in life, they don’t take into account the realities of the game. Batting average (hits divided by at bats), for example, is completely unaffected when a player achieves a base on balls (walks). Walking is immensely valuable to an offense because it puts a runner on base and increases the team’s chance of scoring a run—but the batting average measurement ignores it completely.

Whether it’s performance data for an individual or measurements on programs, corporate America also has largely relied on a core set of simple metrics. Progressive learning practitioners today recognize that several of these metrics are outdated, and a much more detailed analysis is necessary to make informed decisions. More importantly, there’s been increasing recognition that learning metrics are most useful when directly tied to business productivity."

What this says to me is that great success can be achieved, if we take the time to look at the team we are working with, assess individuals for their strengths and then work with them to become better players.

Here are the author's 5 correlations matched with 5 Correlations for Learning:

5 Correlations to Baseball	5 Correlations to Creating Learning
Common Measurements did not take the realities of the game into account.	Multiple choice assessments do not reflect the application of learning.
Ultimately, runs win the games, not hits.	Ultimately, getting all students to  participate in the learning process, makes them all better learners.
Innovative uses of software have significantly changed the game.	Innovative use of software can help students who learn in non traditional ways.
Fiscal irresponsibility is the single quickest way to hamstring a franchise for a decade.	Assessment irresponsibility is the single quickest way to learning failure.
During the season and during the game, data is critical to performance on the field.	Formative assessments are key to learning performance