International students in MTESOL courses in Victoria Australia have until very recently had limited opportunities to participate in supervised practica. In this session, tutor and students will discuss an assessment task in a professional practice unit that complements professional placements and provides opportunities for critical reflection and problem–solving skills. The task involved students working in small groups to find an English language learner, isolating an area of their language that required improvement, and creating and implementing a 5-week plan to extend the learner’s identified language needs.

As part of this project, students needed to:
1) conduct a needs analysis to identify an area for attention,
2) develop a learning plan by critically using Generative AI,
3) develop and adapt materials and resources using Generative AI,
4) implement the plan and provide feedback, and
5) evaluate the experience.

The task combined online and in-person meetings, and both formative and summative assessment principles in its design. Formative assessment was provided in each step through weekly feedback in consultations with the tutor, regular meetings between peers and after each session of teaching through feedback by the learner. Peer and tutor feedback was provided both orally and in writing through a Google Doc. The summative features included a final written report of the outcome of the project presented as a formal piece of academic writing, an oral class presentation of the project outcomes, and an individual, reflective piece about the experience and perceived professional learning. As part of the latter, students were encouraged to keep a wiki journal in which they could reflect on the experience in the language of their choosing. The task aims to model practices in assessment, build the professional skills of life-long learning and practices in teacher reflection, and provide an experience of teacher collaboration, crucial to TESOL.

Keywords: Assessment practices, alternative assessment design, professional teacher development.