36 Post-Assessment

The post-assessment answers two questions: What did the learners learn? Were the desired outcomes accomplished? A post-assessment that is conducted within a FLO lesson must be short. It should match the desired learning established at the beginning of the lesson. For example, if the lesson is an introduction to terminology, an appropriate post-assessment might be a matching or sentence completion exercise. If the lesson focused on learning a skill, the post-assessment might require the performance (perhaps partial or simulated) of that skill.

Expressive outcomes are assessed mainly by reflection on the experience, often by the learners themselves. This might involve writing about “the relevance of the lesson for me” or discussing the possibilities or limitations of an idea that was explored.

In some situations, the post-assessment may be critically important. In a workplace training setting, a practicum course, or an apprenticeship program, for example, the instructor or facilitator of learning may need to consider very seriously what will happen if a learner cannot demonstrate that learning has occurred, especially if there are implications for safety or service delivery.