DECODING the DISCIPLINES

How will I assess student competency on the mental move?

Frequent assessment provides the teacher with feedback on anything that needs to be retaught, and provides the student with feedback on how well they are doing.

• Focus on evidence of competence of one specific mental move
• Match the mental move to an assessment technique and Bloom's types of thinking
• Pre- and post- assessment is used to measure change in student learning
• Summarize and interpret the evidence
• Track the mental moves in assessments for grading

This should be thought of as an iterative process. Creating effective assessments provides a feedback loop in order to continually revise your teaching and student learning.

Examples of Assessments

Examples of Decoding assessments may be found in Joan Middendorf and Leah Shopkow, Decoding the Disciplines: How to Help Students Learn Critical Thinking (Stylus, 2017) and Pace, David. The Decoding the Disciplines Paradigm (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2017) (Chapter 6) and in this video:https://youtu.be/1IY7_VcLB9c

[Add Bloom's => CAT pg 149, add reference to blue and yellow CAT book ]

The Collaborative Nature of Decoding

The entire Decoding process can be greatly facilitated by collaboration, and it is important that when you are able to do so, to share your results with others. We learn by example, by modeling, by practice –  therefore, Question 7 of Decoding involves sharing.