At the midpoint of my inquiry, I have started to see positive shifts in how students communicate their thinking during learning tasks.
My inquiry question is:
How can I make student thinking more visible in learning tasks so I can make accurate assessment judgments, particularly for extension students?
After discussions with Danni Stone, I introduced and explicitly taught the R.A.C.E strategy within classroom tasks. Over time, students have begun using this framework with increasing confidence, and I am seeing stronger written explanations and clearer evidence of reasoning in their work.
This has already helped me feel more confident when making assessment judgments, as students are providing more visible evidence of what they know and understand.
However, as this inquiry has developed, a new challenge has become increasingly noticeable. While students are becoming more capable of explaining their thinking, some learners still approach tasks with a “can’t be bothered” attitude and are reluctant to put effort into fully demonstrating their understanding.
This has shifted part of my focus towards student engagement and self-efficacy. I am beginning to recognise that students not only need the tools and frameworks to explain their thinking, but also the motivation and ownership to care about showing their best learning.
Moving forward, I would like to explore strategies that help students:
- take greater pride in their work
- value effort and improvement
- build confidence in themselves as learners
- become more invested in demonstrating their thinking
While my original inquiry centred around assessment evidence, it is becoming clear that student mindset and engagement play a major role in how visible that learning actually becomes.
