Learning situations

Here we are, a few short months away from mandatory implementation of many of our new secondary 3 – 5 courses in Quebec Adult Education and I still find myself asking questions about learning situations. What about you?

My latest line of questioning had to do with the distinction between a learning situation (LS) and a learning and evaluation situation (LES).

Sonya Fiocco confirmed that the LES included some more formal evaluation components (for formative evaluation purposes, remember, our courses have 100% exams) where the teacher would want to track student progress compared to the end of course outcomes and provide them some tools for assessment, like ‘I can‘ statements or rubrics or criterion-referenced checklists.

Essentially, the LS and the LES are the same in terms of the content of learning. The E in the LES has to do with evaluation tools that are integrated into the learning context. And that these evaluation tools would be similar to those used for final evaluation purposes.

This is where my questioning became evident for me. As a teacher, I am always doing formative assessment. I can’t imagine putting my students in learning situations without assessment tools built in throughout the situation.

What about you? How are you implementing learning situations in your centres and classrooms? Is formative assessment always a part of your process? How (and when) do you know where students are in relation to the end of course outcomes?

Coincidentally, this morning I stumbled upon some old DevPro videos about learning situations from back when they were first being introduced to adult education with our Common Core Basic Education (CCBE) programs a number of years ago.

Here they are – you may recognize some of the speakers! (If you are reading this in your email inbox, please visit the blog post via the link at the bottom of the email to see the videos. Thanks!)
The 3 Rs of a learning situation

The anatomy of a learning situation

The learning situation pretenders.

What is an LES? Avi’s take.

What is an LES? Marc-André’s take.

The LES: one way to stimulate learning