SELF-EVALUATION MANDALAS - AN INNOVATIVE TOOL OF THE VIRTUAL TEACHERS' TOOLBOX VTT PROJECT

This paper presents an innovative method of learners' motivation and self-evaluation. This method was developed and evaluated in a case study. In technology enhanced learning active involvement of learners is necessary to achieve good learning outcomes. On the one hand, the pre-knowledge of learners is often unknown. On the other hand, educators should create strict and well-defined descriptions of the taught competences. Finally, the learning success should be evaluated. The self-evaluation mandala is an aid for all these important issues. Mandela is a graphic depiction which aims to increase the learners' control, satisfaction and, ultimately, motivation. It describes the competences which should be learned by the learners and enables self-assessment to take place at a regular pace throughout a course. This is done as a formative assessment, to provide "just-in-time feedback" as well as at the end of the course in form of summative assessment. The self-evaluation mandala forces teachers to create a well-defined description of the taught competence in terms of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Learners use the mandalas to get informed about their pre-knowledge before starting their course and to give feedback about their learning success using the same mandala. The comparison makes their development immediately visible. The paper explains the idea of the mandalas, their use and implementation in practical teaching. It presents a case study of the successful implementation in school education (with students at secondary high school level). This study was performed as a research part in the frame of the ERASMUS+ project "Virtual Teachers' Toolbox VTT-Box" 2017-1-ES01-KA201-038199.