Permaculture Learning Affinity New Technology Space
Assessment
Using PLANTS in an educational context
The formal and informal systems of feedback within the permaculture affinity space have been highly influenced by the strategies outlined by Graham Gibbs in the book Assessing Student Centred Courses (1995).
Within the context of website activities, feedback provided should strive to combine not just corrective notes related to projects, but also strategies for participants to stay motivated. A guiding principle for the space could be that peer feedback and self-assessment should evaluate and motivate—a value that could be modelled through posts and feedback from the admins and moderators. The combination of these technology-supported systems of communication and feedback, combined with guided interactions from other affinity space users, can foster a rich environment that meets many of the conditions under which learning can take place.
The mechanisms for assessment used in the affinity space could include:
Projects
Projects that allow individuals to frequently share their own permaculture production and construction attempts, upload participant-generated content, and receive feedback from peers and site administrators (admins) and moderators (mods). The project-oriented nature of the prompts would “provide a vehicle through which students learn: researching a topic for themselves rather than being taught. Projects are often employed in order to provide a framework for extended periods of independent study with no specific educational objectives.” (Gibbs, 1995, p. 47).
Diaries, Logs & Journals
Diaries, logs, and journals kept by participants as they take on permaculture challenges or content prompts. The journals would “encourage and ‘capture’ reflection on experience and develop students’ ability to learn through reflection” (Gibbs, 1995, p. 31).
Self & Peer Assessment
According to Gibbs, “self and peer assessment involves students judging the quality of their own or of other students’ work or performance.” (1995, p. 99). Gibbs posits these assessments are important tools “to develop students’ judgement.” and also “to engage students in talking to other students about their work.” (1995, p. 99). The website could provide sample worksheets for self and peer assessment that can be used by the community as needed. Beyond the samples, all content-gathering areas of the site such as posts, comments and replies act as informal repositories of feedback, helping learners gather input as they move through projects, not just at the completion stage (Wix Community, 2022).
Profiles
In his book, Gibbs states that “In practice, much of profiling doesn’t actually involve assessment, it is merely a framework within which assessment is undertaken and documented” (1995, p. 120). Profiles provide a vehicle to “collate documentary evidence of various kinds, over a period of time, including records of non-academic learning which would normally be excluded, which together form a record of achievement of a qualitatively rich kind but which would be difficult to quantify.” (1995, p. 120). Since learning in the affinity space could be quite informal, non-academic, and production- and-creation oriented, the use of profiles could act as an effective vehicle to document learner progress and outcomes.
Portfolios
A portfolio usually involves a collection of finished projects or assignments. Gibbs proposes portfolios are useful to “judge a wide range of products of students work together, in order to gain a rounded overview of achievement over a period of time rather than a narrow sample at one moment in time” and to “assess process as well as outcome in learning, by including evidence of learning and achievement at several stages of development.” (1995, p. 141). Permaculture portfolios would be structured to be formative spaces rather than summative ones, allowing individuals to showcase not just the best outcomes or successful projects—but rather, building spaces that share and celebrate works-in-progress, unexpected results, and unsuccessful attempts as well.
Assessing Student Centered Courses
Author: Graham Gibbs (1995)
Contents:
Introductions: definitions, problems and key features
Assessing group work
Diaries, logs and journals
Using projects
Assessing skills and competencies
Using learning contracts and negotiated assignments
Using self and peer assessment
Using profiles
Using portfolios
References
Gibbs, G. (1995) Assessing Student Centred Courses. Oxford: Oxford Centre for Staff Development. Retrieved from: https://archive.org/details/assessingstudent0000gibb