What does the word “assessment” bring to mind?
It will probably bring back bad memories of your school days: feeling stressed about the work and being afraid of getting a bad grade. Such emotions are tough to handle, no matter how old you are!
At OpenClassrooms, our assessors do their best to ensure that assessments are considered positive, constructive, and an opportunity to make progress! Their goal is to help students achieve the level required in the workplace by providing them with feedback on their work.
We’ll be looking at the responsibilities of an assessor by carefully analyzing five example situations that you could face if you become one. Then, try to imagine how you would react if you were in this situation.
Let’s get cracking. 🙌
Situation #1: A Stressed Student
Imagine you’re in the following situation: the student is signing in for their assessment. They are pretty new to the field; this is their first project. The student is clearly very stressed: their voice is trembling, and they are stammering. They’re falling apart under the pressure of the exam.
What would you do in this situation?
The key here is to show empathy and kindness. Students often feel under pressure during their assessment. It can remind them of difficult, stressful moments from their school days.
Your job in this situation is to reassure them and transform their assessment into a positive and motivating event. You can remind them it's not only to assess their knowledge but also an opportunity to present their work, get some feedback, and enjoy a debate. To take the sting out of things, you can also remind students they can retake the assessment if needed. There's no need to panic; different people progress at different speeds!
Situation #2: Organizing Your Work
Imagine you’ve been an assessor for a few months. You have other professional projects to focus on alongside your work for OpenClassrooms. The workload is high at the moment. You have three assessments scheduled for the following Monday in addition to your other duties. How could you handle such a demand on your time?
Time management and organization are essential skills to have. Forty-eight hours before each assessment, you should set aside some time to prepare, read through the project's details, look through the mentor guide if you need to, analyze the deliverables, and make a list of questions for the student. Yes, you will need to plan and manage your schedule rigorously!
Situation #3: Staying Objective
You’re not as strong on one of the projects as you are on the others: it involves skills you do not use in your daily work. So it is only natural that you would want to ask the student questions that are a bit outside of the project’s framework, focusing more on topics you are passionate about.
Is this a good or a bad thing to do?
It is not always easy to remain objective, but it’s a crucial part of your role as an assessor! You will have to learn how to set aside your personal preferences and biases as they may impact your judgment.
What if I’m not 100% sure about my assessment?
It is essential to know how to evaluate yourself. If you have any doubts, you can get in touch with other mentors or assessors via Slack, for example, to ask their opinion on your assessment. We always try to help one another in the OpenClassrooms community. 😃
Let’s take a look at an example. You meet a student who is similar to you and went to the same university as you. Naturally, you will have a good first impression as you will link your experiences to theirs. It’s is only human! Your brain will focus on certain things in their presentation that confirms your initial impression - this is a cognitive bias called confirmation bias. The opposite of this can also be true; you may struggle to set aside a bad first impression you had of a student.
Situation #4: Dealing With Failure
You’ve just listened to a student’s oral presentation. It’s clear that they haven’t grasped the meaning of the project and the deliverables. You ask them a few questions to be sure of your assessment, and it becomes clear that they have not acquired the necessary skills to pass. Therefore, you have to inform them that their project is not going to be accepted. How should you go about this?
In this situation, you must provide constructive feedback both face-to-face and written. You must know how to tell a student that they have failed. Yes, we know that it’s not a pleasant task; however, remind yourself that it is in the student’s best interests to retake their assessment. It’s better than moving on without having acquired the necessary skills.
When providing feedback, always start by outlining the person’s strengths before discussing the areas for improvement. Stick to this method even when the project has not met the required level. When informing a student that they have failed, use the criteria outlined in the mentor guide to justify your decision: this will help them and their mentor understand why you did not accept the project.
Situation #5: Dealing With Change
The team at OpenClassrooms has decided to improve one of the projects you work on as a mentor/assessor. They added a new skill that isn’t your strong point. How should you deal with this change?
Prepare for this change: as a mentor/assessor, you will always be learning. It is one of the great things about the role: you will also have many opportunities to learn and acquire new skills! Our projects often adapt to the dynamic realities of the working world. If the new skill is not your strongest point, then you could:
See this as an opportunity to work on this skill.
Remove yourself as an assessor for this project on the OpenClassrooms platform.
When you’re a mentor/assessor, it is always important to check that your skills enable you to assess the students’ work objectively.
Identifying Soft Skills
By looking at these five situations, we have outlined the five key behaviors that a mentor/assessor should adopt:
Empathy.
Organization/time management.
Being objective and having a critical mind.
Communication and providing constructive feedback.
Being adaptable and continuing to learn.
Don’t worry; these skills don’t always come naturally, and you can work on them (which you are doing by taking this course)! 🙌
Let’s Recap!
As a mentor/assessor, you will be responsible for:
Analyzing the students’ deliverables before the presentation. Be organized and set aside time to prepare.
Being objective during the assessment process.
Reassuring the student during their presentation, helping to reduce the pressure by showing kindness and empathy.
Providing constructive feedback.
Making a clear decision and, when appropriate, knowing how to tell a student they have failed.
Being adaptable and staying up to date with workplace methods and practices.
You now have a clear understanding of your future responsibilities. So let’s look at those you will have as part of the OpenClassrooms community!
