The Taxonomy in the Affective Domain behavior as studied in psychology and neuropsychology.

The taxonomy in the affective domain contains a large The reason may include basic needs (e.g., food, water,
number of objectives in theliterature expressed as shelter) or an object, goal, state of being, or ideal that is
interests, attitudes, appreciations, values, and emotional desirable, which may or may not be viewed as “positive”,
sets or biases. The descriptions of each step in the such as seeking a state of being in which pain is absent.
taxonomy culled from Krathwohl‟s Taxonomyof Affective
Domain (1964) are given as follows: SELF-EFFICACY – is an impression that one is capable
of performing in a certain manner or attaining certain
Mnemonic: ReResVOC goals. It is a belief that one has the capabilities to execute
1. Receiving is being aware of or sensitive to the the courses of actions required to manage prospective
existence of certain ideas, material, or phenomena and situations. Unlike efficacy, which is the power to produce
being willing to tolerate them. an effect (in essence, competence), self efficacy is the
2. Responding is committed in some small measure to belief (whether or not accurate) that one has the power to
the ideas, materials, or phenomena involved by actively produce that effect. It is important here to understand the
responding to them. distinction between self-esteem and self-efficacy. Self-
3. Valuing is willing to be perceived by others as valuing esteem relates to a person‟s sense of self-worth,
certain ideas, materials, or phenomena. whereas self-efficacy related to a person‟s perception of
4. Organization is to relate the value to those already his ability to reach a goal. For example, say a person is a
held and bring it into a harmonious and internally terrible rock climber. He would likely have a poor self-
consistent philosophy. efficacy in regard to rock climbing, but this would need to
5. Characterization by value or value set is to act affect his self-esteem
consistently in accordance with
the values one has internalized. Development of Assessment Tools
Assessment tools in the affective domain, in particular,
In the affective domain, and in particular, when we those which are used to assess attitudes, interests,
consider learning competencies, we motivations, and self-efficacy, have been developed.
also consider the following focal concepts: There are certain good practices that are considered
good practices in developing these instruments. We
1. ATTITUDES – defined as mental predisposition to act consider a few of the standard assessment tools in the
that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with affective domain.
some degree of favor or disfavour. Individuals generally
have attitudes that focus on objects, people orinstitutions. 1. SELF-REPORT
Attitudes are also attached to mental categories. Mental Self-report is the most common measurement tool in the
orientations towards concepts are generally referred to as affective domain. It essentially requires an individual to
values. Attitudes are comprised of four components: provide an account of his attitude or feelings toward a
concept or idea or people. Self-reports are also
a. Cognitions – our beliefs, theories, expectancies, sometimes called written reflections. In using this
cause-and-effect beliefs, and perceptions relative to the measurement tool, the teacher requires the students to
focal object. This concept is not the same as write their thoughts on a subject matter, like. “Why I Like
“feelings” but just a statement of beliefs and expectations or Dislike Mathematics”. The teacher ensures that the
which vary from oneindividual to the next. students write something which would demonstrate the
b. Affect – refers to our feeling with respect to the focal various levels of the taxonomy e.g., lowest level of
object such as fear, liking, or anger. For instance, the receiving up to characterization.
color “blue” evokes different feelings for
different individuals: some like the color blue but others
do not. Some associate the color blue with “loneliness”
while others associate it with “calmness and peace”. 2. CHECKLIST
c. Behavioral intentions – our goals, aspirations, and The easiest instrument in the affective domain to
our expected responses construct is the checklist. A checklist consists of simple
to the attitude object. items that the student or teacher marks as “absent” or
d. Evaluation – often considered the central component “present”. Here are the steps in the construction of a
of attitudes. Evaluationsconsist of the imputation of some checklist:
degree of goodness or badness to an attitude object.
Enumerate all the attributed and characteristics you
2. MOTIVATION – is a reason or set of reasons for wish to observe relative to the concept being measured.
engaging in a particular behavior, especially human
For instance, if the concept is “interpersonal relation”, scaling. The major characteristic of this scale is that the
then you might want to identify those indicators or response to one item helps predict the responses to the
attributes which constitute an evidence of good other items. For instance, if the individual responds
interpersonal relation. negatively to the item “I like oranges”, he is not likely to
respond positively to the item “Oranges are great for
Arrange these attributed as “shopping” list of breakfast”
characteristics.
Chapter 6 – Portfolio Assessment Methods
Ask the students to mark those attributes or
characteristics which are present and to leave blank A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that
those which are not. exhibits the student‟s efforts, progress and achievements
in one or more areas. The collection must include student
3. RATING SCALE participation in selecting contents, the criteria for
A rating scale is a set of categories designed to elicit selection, the criteria for judging merit and evidence of
information about a quantitative attribute in social student self-reflection.
science. It is a tool used for assessing the performance of
tasks, skill levels, procedures, processes, qualities, Purposes of Portfolio Assessment
quantities, or end products. It incorporates quality to the Why should we resort to portfolio assessment methods?
„elements‟ in the process or product which can be Portfolio assessment has several purposes and rationale
numeric or descriptive. Unlike checklists, rating scales for its use.
allow for attaching quality to „elements‟ in the process
or product. 1. Portfolio assessment matches assessment to
teaching.
The following are common examples of rating scales: The final outputs to be assessed are products of
classroom discussions and classroom work and are not
a. Semantic Differential Scale simple diversions from the tedium of classroom
The semantic differential scale (SD) tries to assess an activities. Unlike test items which mainly measure
individual‟s reaction to specific words, ideas or concepts cognitive skills, portfolio assessment can assess other
in terms of ratings on bipolar scales defined with components of the students‟ formed abilities based
contrasting adjectives at each end. on classroom discussions.

b. Thurstone Scale 2. Portfolio assessment has clear goals.

Louis Leon Thurstone is considered the father of In fact, they are decided on at the beginning of instruction
attitude measurement. He addressed the issue of how and are clear to teacher and students alike. In cognitive
favourable an individual is with regard to a given issue. testing, the objectives are set at the beginning but the
He developed an attitude continuum to determine the actual items may or may not reflect achievement of such
position of favorability on the issue. objectives. In portfolio assessment, however, the
students control the items to be included and therefore
c. Likert Scale are assured that the goals are achieved.
In 1932, Rensis Likert developed the method of 3. Portfolio assessment gives a profile of learning
summated ratings (or Likert‟s scale), which is still widely abilities in terms of depth,
used. The Likert Scale requires that individuals tick on a breadth and growth.
box to report whether they “strongly agree”, “agree”, are In terms of depth, portfolio assessment enables the
“undecided”, “disagree”, or “strongly disagree”, in students to demonstrate time present in traditional
response to a large number of items concerning an testing through the help of resources such as reference
attitude object or items to include. materials and the help of other students. In terms of
breadth, portfolio assessment can show a wide range
d. Guttman Scale of skills to be demonstrated in the final output. Finally, in
In 1944, Louis Guttman suggested that attitude should terms of growth, portfolio assessment shows efforts to
be measured by multidimensional scales, as opposed to improve and develop and clearly demonstrates
unidimensional scales such as those developed by students‟ progress over time.
Thurstone and Likert. Guttman pointed out that there
should be a multidimensional view of the attitude 4. Portfolio assessment is a tool for assessing a
construct. He developed the Scalogram Analysis, variety of skills not normally
Cumulative Scaling, or as usually called, Guttman testable in a single setting for traditional testing.
The portfolio can show written, oral and graphic outputs
of students in a variety of ways which demonstrate skills 2. Showcase Portfolio
developed by the students. Also called as display or best works portfolio
Display of the students‟ best work
5. Portfolio assessment develops awareness of own Demonstrates the highest level of achievement
learning by the students. attained by the student
Students have to reflect on their own progress and the
quality of their work in relation to known goals. This is 3. Assessment/Evaluation Portfolio
achieved at each stage of the process since the students Document what a student learned based on
continually refer to the set of goals and objectives set at standards and
the beginning. competencies expected of students at each grade level
Demonstrate the mastery of the standards and
6. Portfolio assessment caters to individuals in a competencies
heterogeneous class.
Such flexibility is attributed to the fact that portfolio 4. Process Portfolio
assessment is open-ended sthat students can Demonstrates all facets or phases of the learning
demonstrate their abilities on their own level and caters to process
differential learning styles and expression of varying Useful in documenting students‟ overall learning
strengths. process

7. Portfolio assessment develops social skills. Essential Elements of the Portfolio

Students interact with other students in the development Every portfolio must contain the following essential
of their own portfolios. Sometimes, they are assessed on elements:
work done in groups or in pairs so that they necessarily 1. Cover Letter
have to interact and collaborate to complete the tasks. “About the author” and “What my portfolio shows about
my progress as a learner” (written at the end, but put at
8. Portfolio assessment develops independent and the beginning)
active learners. The cover letter summarizes the evidence of a student‟s
Students must select and justify portfolio choices; monitor learning and progress.
progress and set learning goals. Traditional testing
cannot achieve this educational objective no 2. Table of Contents with numbered pages
matter how skilfully the tests are constructed.

9. Portfolio assessment can improve motivation for

learning thus achievement. 3. Entries
When students are empowered to prove their own Both core (items students have to include) and optional
achievement and worth, they become highly motivated to (items of student‟s choice). The core elements will be
pursue the learning tasks. It is when they lose this required for each student and will provide a common
feeling of empowerment that they feel inadequate and base from which to make decisions on assessment. The
become less motivated as in traditional classroom testing. optional items will allowthe folder to represent the
uniqueness of each student. Students can choose to
10. Portfolio assessment provides opportunity for include “best” pieces of work, but also a piece of work
student-teacher dialogue. which gave trouble or one that was less successful, and
It enables the teacher to get to know every student. give reasons why.
Moreover, portfolio assessment promotes joint goal-
setting and negotiation of grades which can never 4. Dates on all entries, to facilitate proof of growth over
happen in traditional testing. time
Types of Portfolios 5. Drafts of aural/oral and written products and
1. Working Portfolio revised versions
Also called as growth or development or i.e., first drafts and corrected/revised versions
documentation portfolio
A project “in the works” 6. Reflections
Demonstrates an individual‟s development and Can appear at different stages in the learning process (for
growth over time formative and/or summative purposes.) and at the lower
levels can be written in the mother tongue or by students guiding principles for evaluators which can equally apply
who find it difficult to express themselves in English. in the Philippine context. These guiding principles are
hereunder stated:

Stages in Implementing Portfolio Assessment Systematic Inquiry: Evaluators conduct systematic,

The following constitute the stages in the implementation data-based inquiries about whatever is being evaluated.
of portfolio assessment in classrooms: Inquiry cannot be based on pure hearsay or perceptions
but must be based on concrete evidence and data to
1. Identifying teaching goals to assess through support the inquiry process.
portfolio
The usual first step of organizing portfolio assessment is Competence: Evaluators provide competent
to establish the teaching goals. It is very important at this performance to stakeholders. The evaluators must be
stage to be very clear about what the teacher hopes to people or persons of known competence and generally
achieve in teaching. These goals will guide the selection acknowledged in the educational field.
and assessment of students‟ work for the portfolio.
Integrity / Honesty: Evaluators ensure the honesty
2. Introducing the idea of portfolio assessment to and integrity of the entire evaluation process. As such,
your class the integrity of authorities who conduct the evaluation
Portfolio assessment is a new thing for many students process must be beyond reproach.
who are used to traditional testing. For this reason, it is
important for the teacher to introduce the concept to Respect for People: Evaluators respect the security,
the class. Perhaps, he can start by explaining the dignity and self-worth of the respondents, program
meaning of the word “portfolio: from portare (carry) and participants, clients and other stakeholders with whom
foglio (sheet of paper). they interact. They cannot act as if they know everything
but must listen patiently to theaccounts of those whom
3. Specification of Portfolio content they are evaluating.
Specify what and how much have to be included in the Responsibilities for General and Public Welfare:
portfolio both core and options. Specify for each entry Evaluators articulate and take into account the diversity of
how it will be assessed. interests and values that may be related to the general
and public welfare
4. Giving clear and detailed guidelines for portfolio
presentation Evaluation Approaches
The teacher must set clear guidelines and detailed Evaluation approaches are the various conceptual
information on how the portfolios will be presented. arrangements made for designing and actually
5. Informing key school officials, parents and other conducting the evaluation process. Some of the
stakeholders evaluation approaches used today in the educational
Do not attempt to use the portfolio assessment method setting are original approaches while others are
without notifying your department head, dean or principal. refinements and extensions of these original approaches.
This will serve as a precaution in case students will later
complain about your new assessment procedure. Stufflebeam and Webster (1980) place approaches into
three groups according to their orientation toward the role
6. Development of the portfolio of values, an ethical consideration. The political
Both students and teacher need support and orientation promotes a positive or negative view of an
encouragement at this stage in the process of portfolio object regardless of what its value actually might be.
development. The students particularly should get this They call this pseudo-evaluation. The question
from an understanding and patient teacher. Teachers will orientation includes approaches that might or might not
get it by doing portfolio assessment as teamwork in their provide answers specifically related to the value of an
staff or joining or initiating a support group to discuss object. They call this quasi-evaluation. The values
questions with colleagues as they arise. orientation includes approaches primarily intended to
determine the value of some object. They call this true
evaluation.
Chapter 7 – Educational Evaluation

In order to systematize the evaluation process, the

American Evaluation Association has created a set of