If you taught subjects like English and Mathematics during the old Ugandan curriculum, you had to give an exercise at the end of almost every lesson to assess the learners' understanding. Some languages and other subjects with aspects of calculations would as well attract end of lesson exercises. It was common in the staffroon to see English and Mathematics teachers always having a pile of books on their spot.
However, in other subjects, it wasn't mandatory. The nature of the subjects demanded that the teacher gave an exercise only if they wished or if there was anything to assess. Therefore, in such subjects, learners would often be assessed during a test or end of term exam only.
The new Ugandan curriculum changes how teachers teach and assess learners. There are a number of points where a teacher assesses learners. For example:
When learners are doing a group activity
At the end of each chapter
At the end of the school term.
The assessment done at the end of each chapter is called the Activity of Integration. This done in all subjects, changing the old practice that in some subjects, assessment is at a test or exam. With this change, several scenarios could arise.
The activity of integration provided by NCDC might not appy to your local situation and you might want to change or edit it.
The activity of integration might be complicated for interpretation.
You might have looked at other publications and seen other versions of the activity of integration. How do you assess which one is aligned better.
To have the ability to assess, modify, or facilitate the activity of integration better, it is important to understand what it is, what are its components and how is it evaluated.
What is the activity of integration?
An Activity of Integration (AOI) is a school-based category of assessment that is conducted at the end of each chapter that a teacher has taught. It's purpose is to evaluate the learner’s ability to apply the knowledge, skills and behaviors acquired to solve a problem. It is also designed to assess the competence stated at the beginning of the topic.
What are the components of the activity of integration?
An activity of integration is made up of three parts:
The context/problem/scenario. This simulates the societal problem to a learner shall solve.
Instruction/Task with an expected output. This focuses the learner on what shall be produced as proof that they have done the task. It clearly states the output.
Support resources/materials. It enhances the learners understanding of the problem in the context
An example of an Activity of Integration:
Class: Senior One
Subject: History
Topic one: Finding Out About our Past
Reference: NCDC
Part 1: The Activity of Integration starts of with the context or painting the scenario as follows:
A school engineer was instructed to cut down a school banana plantation near the school and plan to build a school main hall there. When he engaged his labourers to dig the foundation, they found lots of materials like undecomposed clothes, soil layers of different colours and rusted metallic materials. This became a historical issue and many methods can be used to find out when these materials were buried and afterwards assess their historical impact.
Part 2: Then it shares the support resources/materials that provide more understanding of the task in context. In this case, they are illustrations.
Part 3: Instructions/the task. What will the learner do and what will they produce as a result? Here, the task was:
As a student of history, what method can you use to study such items found buried in the soil?
Explain how this can help you to trace your past.
If the construction site is turned into a historical site, what would be the benefits?
Examples of products (outputs) learners can produce from an Activity of Integration
A report
A mathematics calculation
A presentation
A (mind) map
A diagram
A model
A drawing
A painting
Writing a speech
Writing a letter
How is the activity of integration assessed?
To assess the activity of integration, we use the Evaluation Grid summarized by an acronym RACE - Relevance, Accuracy, Coherence and Excellence.
Relevance. Is it correct, connected and suitable for the issue at hand? For relevance, a learner earns a maximum of 3 points.
Accuracy. Does it carefully conform to the facts and truth known about the issue? For accuracy, the learner earns a maximum of 3 points.
Coherence. Do the ideas presented connect to each other smoothly, logically through the choice of words in a way that give meaning to the issue? For coherence, the learner earns a maximum of 3 points.
Excellence: This is the exceptional response unsolicited in the instructions. When a student presents something extra-ordinary that wasn't stated in the instructions yet it is relevant to the issue, they earn an excellence mark. It is 1 point on the overall Activity of Integration, no matter how many areas (Bases of Evaluation) that are being assessed. Take it as a bonus mark.
Assessment Grid
The evaluation of the Activity of Integration will appear like this:
Output | Basis of evaluation | Criterea 1: Relevance | Criterea 2: Accuracy | Criterea 3: Coherence | Criterea 4: Excellence |
| Basis 1 | | | | |
| Basis 2 | | | | |
| Basis 3 | | | | |
| Total | | | | |
Conclusion:
The Activity of Integration teaches learners to identify and solve problems in society. It is intended to build skills, knowledge and attitudes that are required in the world of work today. It is okay to have more than one Activity of Integration in one chapter. It is also okay to have more than three Bases of Evalutation in one Activity of Integration. In the next article, we will cover in detail how to score the activity of integration and how to compute the points that are eventually put on the learner's record.
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