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Hodder Murray teams up with Tata Interactive Systems for a revolutionary approach to science student assessment
Tata Interactive Systems
| London, UK
31-Aug-2005 » Training Press Releases » Assessment for learning rather than the assessment of learning is the revolutionary approach to online testing devised by Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), the leading global e-learning producer, for 'Hodder Science', a science course used in over 1,000 schools in the UK which has been put forward for one of the prestigious BETT Awards, which are due to be announced in January 2006.
Assessment for learning rather than the assessment of learning is the revolutionary approach to online testing devised by Tata Interactive Systems (TIS), the leading global e-learning producer, for 'Hodder Science', a science course used in over 1,000 schools in the UK which has been put forward for one of the prestigious BETT Awards, which are due to be announced in January 2006.
TIS devised a unique interactive assessment process to accompany a revised version of this course - intended for pupils at Key Stage 3 (11 to 14 year olds) - which also comes with free access to a website to offer further support to teachers and pupils.
"The assessments in 'Hodder Science' do not aim to discover if the student has got the answer 'right or wrong'," explained Catherine Denton-Cox, senior product manager at Hodder Murray. "Rather, the aim of the assessment is to identify the most appropriate remedial action that a student, who has given a wrong answer, can take - since the aim of the programme is to enable all the students to understand all of the course.
"Assessment for learning rather than the assessment of learning is an important distinction," she added, "because this means that students don't view getting the 'wrong' answer as 'failure'. Rather, they are led - non-judgementally - to further materials that help to reinforce their learning and so help them achieve the grades that they, their parents and schools want."
In addition to directing the student to the relevant part of the course for some 'remedial learning', these assessments also enable the teacher to identify areas where the whole class are weak and so can prompt in-class brainstorming sessions, involving students making presentations and using a whiteboard to determine consensus answers to the questions posed by the course.
The TIS-devised assessments also provide the basis for a number of detailed reports, for teachers, of student progress and levels of understanding - as both a class and on an individual basis. According to Hodder Murray's Sales and Marketing Director, Janice Tolan: "This provides a degree of sophisticated feedback that is currently unique among commercial KS3 science courses.
"Hodder Murray has many years experience in educational publishing," Tolan added, "but we are relatively new to the world of e-learning. Rather than spend a great deal of time and money on developing our own e-learning content, we chose to work with a company such as TIS, which already has a high degree of expertise and a track record of both quality and success in producing e-learning materials for the education, public and corporate sectors."
"Naturally, we are delighted to be working with Hodder Murray on such a ground-breaking development in electronic educational publishing," commented Alan Samuel, head of TIS in the UK.
"Over recent years, TIS has won 22 major international awards for its e-learning materials - including a BETT Award in 2004. We would love to add to that tally in 2006!"
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About 'Hodder Science' and 'Hodder Science Interactive Assessment'
Hodder Science is a series of three, networkable CD-ROMs that provide a teaching resource for implementing Key Stage 3 Science Strategy for strengthening standards in the early years of secondary education.
Hodder Science Interactive Assessment - companion, networkable CD-ROMs to 'Hodder Science' - gives accurate and detailed diagnostic feedback on pupils' progress, covering both formative and summative needs.
The formative assessment involves:
* Animated activities to allow pupils to explore difficult concepts and misconceptions.
* Associated questions with immediate feedback, encouraging pupils to take control of their own learning.
The summative assessment involves:
* 'Levelled', trackable tests.
* A customisation tool, allowing the adaptation of individual questions and tests, and a searchable question bank, which allows the creation of new tests.
* Detailed reporting for teachers and pupils, linked to the QCA scheme of work objectives; yearly teaching objectives; National Curriculum references, and levels and sub-levels.
* Printable tests for home and school use.
Hodder Science Interactive Assessment comes on three CD-ROMs - one for each year encompassed by Key Stage 3. Each CD-ROM is priced at £250 + VAT.
About Tata Interactive Systems (TIS)
Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) is the world's leading developer of learning solutions - with a team of over 600 multi-disciplinary specialists, TIS creates 3000+ hours of learning content across 160+ concurrent projects every year.
Backed by an unmatched 19 years' experience, TIS develops unique and innovative learning solutions that are designed to enable clients achieve their organizational goals. Whether it is performance and productivity gains, streamlining operations and financials, developing leadership and decision-making skills, enabling smooth product development, reducing time to market, boosting employee motivation, or any other corporate or learning initiative - TIS' solutions have proven their effectiveness at more than 60 Fortune 500 companies, leading educational institutions and government departments worldwide.
TIS' clients include more than 60 Fortune 500 companies, leading educational institutions, and government departments worldwide.
TIS is the first learning solutions organization in the world to be assessed at Level 5 in both the SEI-CMM and P-CMM frameworks. Its solutions have won widespread industry recognition with prestigious awards including Performance Centered Design, ASTD, IT Training, Brandon Hall, APEX, BETT, BIMA, SIIA Codie, FICCI BAF and Business World-NID awards.
TIS caters for three segments - Corporate, Education, and Government. It offers its clients innovative learning solutions including:
• Web-based Training & Courseware - to help achieve learning goals
• Simulations - to offer immersive learning experiences
• Electronic Performance Support Systems - to provide on-the-job support
• Software Solutions - to leverage technology in learning
• Game-based Learning - to enhance learner engagement
The scope of TIS' learning solutions encompasses on-boarding, sales training, process training, product training, curriculum design, assessments, soft skills training, and technical training, among others. TIS has extensive experience across diverse industry domains including pharmaceuticals and healthcare; banking, finance, and insurance; IT; communications and telecom; publishing; virtual and online schools and universities; transportation; government and defense; and not-for-profit organizations.
TIS has development centers in Germany, Switzerland, and India. Its sales and marketing operations span the US, Canada, the UK, mainland Europe, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East, and Asia.
For more information log on to www.tatainteractive.com
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