How to apply the Progress-Mandala?
Are you looking for a creative and exciting method for student self-assessment? Then the Progress-Mandala is perfect for you.
To use the Progress-Mandala you only need a piece of paper which can be divided into several sections. Each section can stand for an individual lesson, a topic or anything that was covered in class. After every lesson, topic etc. the pupils colour in the section that was completed. If they understood the content very well, they can colour the whole section, if they only grasped a fraction of the content, the students are only allowed to colour in a small portion. By using this method, the students are asked to review their work to determine what they have learned and what areas of confusion might still exist. The mandala illustrates their progress in a playful and creative way and addresses especially visual learners.
Another benefit of this method is that it can easily be put into practice in subjects like German, Mathematics or even Animal Husbandry. Of course, this method can be adapted in various ways. Students can write phrases or words into the mandala about what they already understand. Another modification can be that different colours have different meanings. For example, red means that something was hard to understand, or there is a lot of work still left to do. But the one thing you should always remember as a teacher is that the students have enough time to carefully consider and reflect their progress.
Author: Stefanie Kletzmayr
Student of the elective “English”
University College for Agrarian and Environmental Pedagogy
