EDASSL2

Assessment of Learning 2

Week 1: Introduction to Assessment of Learning

Allotted Time: Week 1 [9 Hours]

INTRODUCTION
In order to thrive in this constantly changing and extremely challenging period, the
acquisition of 21st century skills is necessary. It is imperative that the educational system sees
that these skills are developed and honed before the learners graduate. It should be integrated
in the program of each discipline. More than just acquiring knowledge its application is
important. To ensure that education has really done its role, ways to measure or to assess the
learning process are necessary. Thus, the assessment processes and tools must be suited to the
needs and requirements of the 21st century.

Assessment is an essential and powerful tool in the teaching and learning process.
Moreover, it is a process of obtaining data with which you could measure student competence
and learning outcomes. The process begins with the identification of the specific target goals
before collecting and interpreting the information.

1
 OBJECTIVES
After completing this module, you should be able to:

∙ Review basic terminologies in assessment.

∙ Explain assessment (for, of, as) learning.
∙ Discuss the 21st century assessment.
∙ Differentiate traditional assessment from authentic assessment.
∙ Appreciate the role of assessment as an essential and powerful tool in the teaching and
learning process.

ENGAGE

Inevitably the 21st century is here, demanding a lot of changes, development, and re
engineering of systems in different fields for this generation to thrive. In the field of
education, most of the changes have focused on teaching and learning. Preparing and
equipping the teachers to cater to the needs of the first century learners are part of the
adjustments being done in the education system. Curricula are updated to address the needs of
the community in relation to the demands of the 21 st century. This aspect of teaching and
learning has been given its share of focus, the various components/factors analyzed and
updated to ensure the students’ learning will be at par with the demands of the 21 st century.
Although a lot of changes has been made on the different facets of education, there are some
members of the educational community calling for a corresponding development or change in
educational assessment. Viewing educational assessment as agent of educational change is of
great importance. This belief, coupled with the traditional focus on teaching and learning will
produce a strong and emerging imperative to alter our long-held conceptions of these three
parts: teaching, learning, and assessment (Greenstein, 2012).
Twenty-first century skills must build on the core literacy and numeracy that all
students must master. Students need to think critically and creatively, communicate and
collaborate effectively, and work globally to be productive, accountable citizens and leaders.
These skills to be honed must be assessed, not just simply to get numerical results but more
so, to take the results of assessment as guide to take further action.
Educators need to focus on: what to teach; how to teach; and how to assess it
(Greenstein, 2012; Schmoker, 2011).
The Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century skills project (atc21s.org) has a core
belief that alignment of goals with learning and assessment is essential to policy and practice.
They emphasize the importance of balanced assessment systems that incorporate the 21st
century goals.

EXPLORE
Question: How do teachers and students benefit from the results of formative assessments?
EXPLAIN
Review of Basic Terminologies in Assessment

ASSESSMENT
∙ is the process of documenting, usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skill, attitudes,
and beliefs
∙ involves review of evidence of learning such as journal entries, written work,
portfolios, skill demonstrations, and performance in learning activities, test result
and rubrics ratings which cover a period of time and should reveal the progress of
students in competencies
∙ is defined as a process of obtaining information that is used to make educational
decisions about students, to give feedback to students about his or her progress,
strengths and weaknesses, to judge instructional effectiveness and curricular
adequacy, and to inform policy

EVALUATION
∙ occurs when a mark or grade is assigned after a quiz, a presentation or a completed
task
∙ refers to the process of judging the quality of what is good and what is desirable ∙
Chief Purpose of Evaluation: the improvement of the individual learner ∙ Other
Purposes of Evaluation
❖ to maintain standard
❖ to select students
❖ to motivate learning
❖ to guide learning
❖ to furnish instruction
❖ to appraise educational instrumentalities

MEASUREMENT
∙ is a process of quantifying or assigning number to the individual’s intelligence,
personality, attitude and values and achievement of the student.

TEST
∙ is a formal and systematic instrument, usually paper and pencil procedure designed to
assess the quality, ability, skill or knowledge of the student by giving a set of
questions in uniform manner

TESTING
∙ is one of the different methods used to measure the level of scoring and interpretation
of the procedures designed to get information about the extent of the performance of
the students

DIAGNOSTIC ASSESSMENT
∙ common form of formative assessment
∙ measures student’s current knowledge and skills for the purpose of identifying a
suitable program of learning
∙ helps identify specific difficulties that students encounter
∙ identifies causes of learning problems
∙ it is made to determine a student’s strengths and weaknesses and the reason/s done at
the start of the course
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
∙ also referred to as “educative assessment”
∙ is used to aid learning
∙ would not be used for grading purposes
∙ provides feedback on the effectiveness of teaching and learning process as seen from
the students learning
∙ refers to the frequent, interactive assessment of student progress to identify learning
needs and shape teaching
∙ done during discussion

SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT
∙ are evaluative
∙ is graded (Ex. tests, final exams, projects, etc.)
∙ used to determine if the students pass or fail
∙ summing up students’ achievement at a particular point in time
∙ carried out at the end of the course or project

VARIOUS ROLES OF ASSESSMENT:

1. Summative Role
2. Diagnostic Role
3. Formative Role
4. Placement Role – for appropriate placement
Placement Assessment – helps to place you in courses matching your current abilities

Characteristics of Formative and Summative Assessment

Characteristics Formative Summative

Purpose To provide ongoing To document student

feedback and adjustment learning at the end of
to instruction an instructional
segment

When Conducted During instruction and After instruction

after instruction

Student Involvement Encouraged Discouraged

Student Motivation Intrinsic, mastery-oriented Extrinsic,

performance oriented

Teacher Role To provide immediate, To measure student

specific feedback and achievement and give grades
instructional correctives

Learning Emphasized Deep understanding, Knowledge and

application, and reasoning Comprehension

Level of Specificity Highly specific and General and group oriented

individual

Structure Flexible, adaptable Rigid, highly structured

Techniques Informal Formal

 Impact on Learning Strong, positive, long-lasting Weak and fleeting

3 TYPES OF ASSESSMENT:
1. Assessment for Learning
-pertains to the use of formative evaluation to determine and improve student’s
learning outcomes
-assessment is a tool to ensure student mastery of essential
standards *Informs students and teachers
*How can we use assessment to help students learn more?

2. Assessment as Learning
-student’s metacognition (one’s awareness of and ability to regulate one’s own
thinking)

3. Assessment of Learning
-uses summative evaluation which provides evidence of of students’ level of
achievement in relation to curricular learning outcomes
-evaluation of students by teachers
*How much have students learned as of a particular point in
time?

WHY ASSESS STUDENTS?

∙ To gather evidence of student learning
∙ To inform instruction
∙ To motivate students and increase student achievement

ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION
-is the process of gathering, interpreting, recording and using information about pupils’
responses to an educational task

The 21st Century Skills

Learning and Innovation Skills
∙ Creativity and Innovation
∙ Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
∙ Communication and Collaboration

Information, Media and Technology Skills

∙ Information Literacy
∙ Media Literacy
∙ ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) Literacy

Life and Career Skills

∙ Flexibility and Adaptability
∙ Initiative and Self-Direction
∙ Social and Cross-Cultural Skills
∙ Productivity and Accountability
∙ Leadership and Responsibility

The 8 Characteristics of the 21st Century Assessment

 1) RESPONSIVE

Visible performance-based work (as a result of assessment) generates data that inform
curriculum and instruction. Teachers can adjust instructions, school leaders can consider
additional educational opportunities for students and policy makers can modify programs and
resources to cater to the present needs of the school community. Processes for responding to
assessments are thoughtfully developed, incorporating best practices in feedback and
formative assessment. Self-reflection, peer feedback, and opportunities for revision will be a
natural outcome.

Ex. In a Literature class, the teacher discussed about Literature and some Literary works.
For him/her to know if the class understood the lesson, he/she will conduct a formative
assessment. In a ¼ sheet of paper, the students will answer the question “How Literature
does mirrors your life?” and “What literary work mirrors your life?”

2) FLEXIBLE

Assessment need to be adaptable to students’ settings. Rather than the identical approach that
works in traditional assessment, 21st century approaches are more versatile. These approaches
best fit for the demands of the learning environment at present since as students’ decisions,
actions and applications vary, the assessments and the system need to be flexible, too.

Ex. In a Principles of Teaching 1 class, the students have a survey on their Multiple
Intelligences. After that, students were grouped according to their intelligences and they had
a creative presentation.

3) INTEGRATED

Assessments are to be incorporated into day-to- day practice rather than as add-ons at the end
of instructions or during a single specified week of the school calendar.

Assessment is about stimulating thinking, building on prior learning, constructing meaning,

and thinking about one’s thinking. It offers opportunities for students to consider their
choices, identify alternative strategies, transfer earlier learning, and represent knowledge
through different means.

Ex. The teacher assesses the students from time to time because assessments are not just given
at the end. The teacher gives students formative assessments rather than just giving them
summative assessments.

4) INFORMATIVE

The desired 21st century goals and objectives are clearly stated and explicitly taught. Students
display their range of emerging knowledge and skills. Exemplars routinely guide students
toward achievement of targets.

Learning objectives, instructional strategies, assessment methods, and reporting processes are
clearly aligned. Students have opportunities to build on prior learning in a logical sequence.
Ex. Before the teacher starts his/her class, he/she sees to it that students are aware of the
goals and objectives. With that, the students will be guided with their achievements.

5) MULTIPLE METHODS
An assessment continuum that includes a spectrum of strategies is the norm.

Students demonstrate knowledge and skills through relevant tasks, projects, and
performances. Authentic and performance-based assessment is emphasized. There is
recognition of and appreciation for the processes and products of learning.

Ex. The students have different intelligences, so the teacher sees to it that he/she does not
focus on only one way of assessing their learnings.

6) COMMUNICATED

Communication of assessment data is clear and transparent for all stakeholders.

Results are routinely posted to a database along with standard-based commentary, both of
which must be available and comprehensible at all levels. Students receive routine feedback
on their progress, and parents are kept informed through access to visible progress reports and
assessment data.

Ex. The teacher lets the students keep track of their progress by returning their papers or
evaluation sheet. He/She makes sure to submit student’s grade on time for their parents to be
aware of their child/children’s achievements.

7) TECHNICALLY SOUND

Adjustments and accommodations are made in the assessment process to meet the students’
needs and fairness. Students demonstrate what they know and how they can apply that
knowledge in ways that are relevant and appropriate for them.

To be valid, the assessments must measure the stated objectives and 21st century skills with
legitimacy and integrity.

To be reliable, the assessment must be precise and technically sound so that users are
consistent in their administration and interpretation of data. They produce accurate
information for decision-making in all relevant circumstances.

Ex. The teacher makes sure that assessments are valid, reliable, and supports comparisons
since the students have different intelligences, beliefs, gender and socioeconomic groups.

8) SYSTEMIC

21st century assessment is part of a comprehensive and well-aligned assessment system that is
balanced and inclusive of all students, constituents, and stakeholders and designed to support
improvement at all levels.

Ex. Changes are inevitable so the teacher makes sure that he/she is able to identify the needs
of his/her students and the community. With that he/she will be able to develop my students
into globally competitive individuals.

TRADITIONAL AND AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT

 Paper-and-pencil tests or quizzes are best examples of traditional assessment which mainly
describe and measure student learning outcomes. Most of the time, teachers still engage
themselves in the utilization of traditional assessment.
Traditional assessments are indirect and inauthentic measures of students learning outcomes.
This kind of assessment is standardized and for that reason, they are one-shot speed based,,
and norm-referenced (Bailey, 1998). Traditional assessment often focus on learner’s ability of
memorization and recall, which are lower level of cognition skills (Smaldino, 2000).
Assessment is authentic when it measures performances or products which have realistic
meaning that can be attributed to the success in school. Activities, questions and problems
with “real world” satisfy the criterion that it needs to be an authentic intellectual work within
the given situation or contextual realism of the tasks.

The commonly reported dimensions of authenticity are grouped into three broad categories
(Frey, 2012).

A. The Context of the Assessment

∙ Realistic activity or context
∙ The task is performance-based.
∙ The task is cognitively complex.

B. The Role of the Student

∙ A defense of the answer or product is required.
∙ The assessment is formative.
∙ Students collaborate with each other or with the teacher.

C. The Scoring
∙ The scoring criteria are known or student-developed.
∙ Multiple indicators or portfolios are used for scoring.
∙ The performance expectation is mastery.

Authentic Assessment Has 4 Basic Characteristics:

1. The task should be representative of performance in the field.
2. Attention should be paid to teaching and learning the criteria for assessment.
3. Self-assessment should play a great role.
4. When possible, students should present their work publicly and defend it.

Some of the Best Uses of Authentic Assessment (Mueller, 2010):

1. Authentic assessments are direct measures.
The main purpose of authentic assessment is to be able to use the acquired
knowledge and skills in the real world. Forms of assessment task must be applied in
authentic situations. This could be done also by teachers by asking the students to use
what they have in some meaningful way (example, conducting a Science experiment,
hypothesis testing, developing feasibility study, calculating savings).

2. Authentic assessments capture constructive nature of learning.

In a constructivist point of view, learners should create knowledge and meaning
based from schemata. Thus, assessments cannot just ask students to repeat
information they have received. Students must also be asked to demonstrate that they
have accurately constructed meaning about what they have been taught. Moreover,
students must be given the opportunity to engage in the construction of meaning.
Authentic tasks not only serve as assessments but also as vehicles for such learning.

3. Authentic assessments integrate teaching, learning, and assessment. In the authentic

assessment model, the same authentic task used to measure the student’s ability to
 apply the knowledge or skills is used as a vehicle for student learning. Problem
solving and decision making skills are best exemplified by this purpose. Students
are learning the process of developing a solution to a problem by simply applying
the meaningful concepts.

4. Authentic assessments provide multiple paths to demonstration.

Students may have different ways by which they could demonstrate what they
have learned. Similarly, authentic tasks tend to give the students more freedom on
how they will demonstrate what they have learned.

Important Things to Remember:

∙ In assessment, teachers play various roles and have different goals. These are as
follows: mentor, guide, accountant, reporter, and program director.
∙ The assigning of value or importance to the results of the assessment is what evaluation is
all about.
∙ Assessments can be used as basis for decision-making at different phases of the
teaching-learning process.
∙ Types of education decisions where results of assessment are used: instructional,
grading, selection, placement, guidance and counselling, diagnostic, program or
curriculum, administrative policies.
∙ Student Learning Outcome is the totality of accumulated knowledge, skills, and
attitudes that students develop during a course of study.
∙ In crafting student learning outcomes, the following sources must be considered:
Institution’s mission statement; policies on competencies and standards issued by
government education agencies; competencies expected by different professions;
business and industry; thrusts and development goals of the national government and
local government; global trends and developments; and general education skills.
∙ Good student learning outcome is specific, realistic, focused on learner; integrates
acquired knowledge, prepares learners for assessment and time bound.

ELABORATE

Question for Discussion: How would you apply the assessment concepts or skills in
practical setting?

EVALUATE
Click link for Evaluation)
EDASSL 2 QUIZ 1 MATH 2A - Google Forms

References:

Cajigal, R. C. and Mantuano, M. L. (2014). Assessment of Learning 2. Manila: Adriana

Publishing Co., Inc.
Del Socorro, F. R., Omas-as, Roberta, L., and Galela, R. S. (2011). Assessment of Student
Learning 1 & 2. Quezon City: Great Books Publishing.