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What Is A Test

A test measures a person's knowledge or performance in a given domain and is a formal method of evaluation with defined grading parameters. Formative assessments evaluate learning throughout a course while summative assessments evaluate learning at the end. Communicative language tests measure language use in real communication and performance-based assessments measure applying skills and knowledge.

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57 views3 pages

What Is A Test

A test measures a person's knowledge or performance in a given domain and is a formal method of evaluation with defined grading parameters. Formative assessments evaluate learning throughout a course while summative assessments evaluate learning at the end. Communicative language tests measure language use in real communication and performance-based assessments measure applying skills and knowledge.

Uploaded by

justtry17310
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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What is a Test?

A test, in simple terms, is a method of measuring a person's knowledge, or


performance in a given domain. Tests are a subset of assessment. They are not
synonyms.

Informal and Formal Assessment

An informal assessment is spontaneous. It is a method of evaluation where


the instructor tests participants' knowledge using no standard criteria or rubric.
This means that there is no spelled-out evaluation guide. Rather, the instructor
simply asks open-ended questions and observes students' performances to
determine how much they know.

A formal assessment is a data-driven method of evaluating students, usually with


well-defined grading parameters. Formal assessments produce results that have a
significant effect on a learner's progress. For example, they could determine
whether a student gets into college or earns a new certification.

Formative and Summative Assessment

In a nutshell, formative assessments are quizzes and tests that evaluate how
someone is learning material throughout a course. Summative assessments are final
exams that evaluate how much someone has learned throughout a course.

Norm-Referenced and Criterion-Referenced Tests

Norm-Referenced tests measure the performance of one group of test takers against
another group of test takers. Criterion-Reference tests measure the performance of
test takers against the criteria covered in the curriculum. To measure how much a
test taker knows compared to another student.
Discrete-Point and Integrative Testing

Discrete item (or discrete point) tests are tests which test one element of language
at a time. ... Integrative tests, on the other hand, may be either direct or indirect.
The use of the term integrative indicates that they test more than one skill and/or
item of knowledge at a time.

Communicative Language Testing:

Summary. Communicative language tests are those which make an effort to test
language in a way that reflects the way that language is used in real
communication.

Performance-Based Assessment

What is a performance-based assessment? ... In general, a performance-based


assessment measures students' ability to apply the skills and knowledge learned
from a unit or units of study. Typically, the task challenges students to use their
higher-order thinking skills to create a product or complete a process (Chun, 2010).

Traditional and "Alternative" Assessment

Traditional assessment often focuses on learner's ability of memorization and


recall, which are lower level of cognition skills. ... Alternative assessments, on the
other hand, assess higher-order thinking skills. Students have the opportunity to
demonstrate what they learned.

Computer-Based Testing

In computer-based testing (CBT), computer technology is used in the


administration of achievement or ability test items. Such assessments have been
gradually supplanting paper-and-pencil tests in educational assessment since their
introduction in the 1970s.

Practicality
Every good assessment has to be practical. In an ideal world all assessments would
be identical to what the target task is. If you are testing an English as a second
language learner and their ability to provide customer service in English while
working in a hotel, the ideal way to test and see if a learner can actually do that
task is to actually have the learner go to a hotel and work with customers; however,
this isn’t very practical.

Reliability

A test also has to be reliable. This means that the test results are consistent and
dependable. If students of similar skill level take an assessment, they should
receive a similar grade. Additionally, if the students were to retake the assessment,
their scores should be similar to the previous score, assuming that the students
didn’t study more after taking the first assessment.

Validity

The last thing a good test needs is validity. Validity answers the question “does the
test actually measure what it is intended to measure?” There should be a strong
relationship with what the assessment is measuring and how that reflects the
student’s ability to do the test in a real life situation.

Student-Related Reliability
Student Related reliability: the deviation of an observed score from one's true score
because of temporary illness, fatigue, anxiety, bad day, etc.

Rater Reliability Means


This refers to the degree to which different raters give consistent estimates of the
same behavior. Inter-rater reliability can be used for interviews.

Inter / Intra Rater Reliability


In statistics, intra-rater reliability is the degree of agreement among repeated
administrations of a diagnostic test performed by a single rater. Intra-rater
reliability and inter-rater reliability are aspects of test validity.

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