EDUC 202 - Assessment in Learning I

1. Assessment for Learning (Formative

UNIT I: Preliminary Concepts and Recent Assessment)
Trends
Assessment for learning is on-going
Lesson 1. What is Educational Assessment? assessment that allows teachers to monitor
students on a day-to-day basis and modify
Basic Principles their teaching based on what the students need
to be successful. This assessment provides
1. Assessment should be valid. students with the timely, specific feedback that
they need to make adjustments to their
2. Assessment should be reliable and learning.
consistent.
2. Assessment of Learning (Summative
3. Information about assessment should be Assessment)
explicit, accessible and transparent.
Assessment of learning refers to strategies
4. .Assessment should be inclusive and designed to confirm what students know,
equitable. demonstrate whether or not they have met
curriculum outcomes or the goals of their
5. Assessment should be an integral part of individualized programs, or to certify
programmed design. proficiency and make decisions about students'
future programs or placements.
6. The amount of assessed work should be
manageable.

7. Formative and summative assessment

should be included in each programme

8. Timely feedback that promotes learning and

facilitates

9. Staff development policy and strategy

should include assessment

Types of Assessment

Assessment is integral to the teaching-learning

process, facilitating student learning and
improving instruction, and can take a variety of
forms. Classroom assessment is generally
divided into three types: assessment for
learning, assessment of learning and
assessment as learning.
Table 1. Comparison between Assessment
for Learning and Assessment of Learning

Assessment for Learning (Formative Assessment of Learning (Summative

Assessment) Assessment)

Checks learning to determine what to do next Is designed for the information of those not
and then provides suggestions of what to directly involved in daily learning and teaching
do-teaching and learning are indistinguishable (school administration, parents, school board,
from assessment. Alberta Education, post- secondary institutions)
in addition to educators and students.
Is used continually by providing descriptive
feedback. Is presented in a periodic report.

Usually uses detailed, specific and descriptive Usually compiles data into a single number,
feedback-in a formal or informal report. score or mark as part of a formal report.

Is not reported as part of an achievement Is reported as part of an achievement grade.

grade.
Usually compares the student's learning either
Usually focuses on improvement, compared with other students' learning (norm-referenced,
with the student's -previous best|| making learning highly competitive) or the
(self-referenced, making learning more standard for a grade level (criterion-referenced,
personal). making learning more collaborative and
individually focused).
Involves the student.
Does not always involve the student.
Assessment as Learning 2. Testing is an instrument of assessment a
test or quiz is used to examine someone's
Assessment as learning develops and supports knowledge of something to determine what he
students' metacognitive skills. This form of or she knows or has learned. It is an
assessment is crucial in helping students assessment tool that reflects the records of the
become lifelong learners. As students engage students' learning outcomes. Testing measures
in peer and self-assessment, they learn to make the level of skill or knowledge that has been
sense of information, relate it to prior reached.
knowledge and use it for new learning.
3. Evaluation originates from the root word
Four General Purposes of Assessment -value and so when we evaluate, we expect our
process to give information regarding the
1. Instructional assessments: Assessment worth, appropriateness, goodness, validity or
used to modify and adapt legality of something for which a reliable
measurement has been made. It is a process
instruction to meet students' needs. designed to provide information that will help
us to make a judgment about a particular
2. Diagnostic assessments: Assessment used situation.
to determine a student's
Types of Tests
academic, cognitive, or behavioral strengths
and weaknesses. 1. Achievement tests are designed to measure
the knowledge and skills students learned in
3. Predictive assessments: Assessment used school or to determine the academic progress
to determine the likelihood they have made over a period of time.

that a student or school will meet a particular 2. Aptitude tests attempt to predict a
predetermined goal. student's ability to succeed in an intellectual or
physical endeavor by, for example, evaluating
4.Evaluative assessments: Assessment used mathematical ability, language proficiency,
to determine the outcome of a particular abstract reasoning, motor coordination, or
curriculum, program, or policy. musical talent.

3. Psychological tests, including IQ tests, are

Lesson 2. Common Terminologies used to measure a person's cognitive abilities
and mental, emotional, developmental, and
1. Measurement is the process of social characteristics.
determining or describing the attributes or
characteristics of physical objects generally in 4. Placement tests are used to place new
terms of quantity. When we measure, we use students in the right class in a school. It
some standard instrument to find out how long, assesses students' productive and receptive
heavy, hot, voluminous, cold, fast or straight skills and designed to show how good a
some things are. student is in English in relation to a previously
agreed system of levels.
5. Diagnostic Tests are used to discover summarize, etc.
student problems, difficulties or deficiencies in
a course. We use this type of tests to know 3. Performance skills targets require the
students' strengths and weaknesses so as to be student to demonstrate their mastery of a
able to do something about them. learning target and to be observed.

6. Proficiency Tests are not necessarily 4. Product targets are tangible and concrete
based on certain courses that students may evidence of student's ability. These are not
have previously taken. Teachers design this test used as frequently as other types but are highly
to measure students' knowledge and ability in a valued, calling for creation of a product. There
language. is a need to specify the level of workmanship
as expert, skilled, or novice.
7. Personality test is a method of assessing
human personality constructs. Most 5. Dispositional targets rarely show up on
personality assessment instruments are in fact state standards but are important because they
introspective (i.e., subjective) self- report reflect students' attitudes about school and
questionnaire and rating scales. learning.

Lesson 3. High Quality Assessment Sources of Learning Targets:

Components
1. Bloom's Taxonomy
Clear and Appropriate Targets
a. Cognitive – mental skills (Knowledge)
Assessment can be made precise, accurate and
dependable only if what are to be achieved are b. Psychomotor – manual or physical skills
clearly stated and feasible. It starts with clear (Skills)
and appropriate learning targets which include
both what the students know and can do and c. Affective - growth in feelings (Attitude)
the criteria for judging student performance.
2. National, regional, and district standards
There are many benefits based on the
existence of learning's that are CLEAR and 3. Textbooks
USABLE in order to build clear learning
targets: Appropriate Methods

1. Knowledge targets begin with words like: a. Written-Response Instrument

know, list, name, identify, recall. Procedural
knowledge targets call for knowing how to do Objective tests – appropriate for assessing
something. the various levels of hierarchy of educational
objectives
2. Reasoning targets deal with the skillful use
or application of knowledge. These targets
start out with mental processes like: predict,
infer, classify, hypothesize, compare, conclude,
Essays example when programs/courses have large
can test the students' grasp of the higher level numbers of students or when artifacts take a
cognitive skills long time to review. The portion evaluated is
the sample of the entire population.
Checklists - list of several characteristics or
activities presented to the subjects of a study, Sampling procedures before evaluating
where they will analyze and place a mark artifacts or data.
opposite to the characteristics.
1. Decide whether you will use a sample or the
b. Product Rating Scales whole population.

used to rate products like book reports, maps, 2. Choose an appropriate sample size based on
charts, diagrams, notebooks, creative percentage, artifact size and complexity.
endeavors
3. Choose an appropriate sampling method.
need to be developed to assess various
products over the years Common Types of Sampling

C. Performance Tests 1. Simple Random Sampling number of

students or artifacts. You randomly select a
Performance checklist consists of a list of certain
behaviors that make up a certain type of
performance. It is used to determine whether 2. Stratified Sampling. Students are sorted into
or not an individual behaves in a certain way homogenous groups and then a random sample
when asked to complete a particular task. is selected from each group. This is useful
when there are groups that may be
d. Oral Questioning – appropriate underrepresented.
assessment method when the
3. Systematic Sampling. You select the nth (e.g.
objectives are to: i) Assess the students' stock 7th, 9th, 20th) student or artifact from a list.
knowledge and/or determine the students'
ability to communicate ideas in coherent 4. Cluster Sampling. You randomly select
verbal sentences. clusters or groups (e.g. classes or sections),
and you evaluate the assignments of all the
e. Observation and Self Reports - useful students in those randomly selected clusters or
supplementary methods groups

when used in conjunction with oral Objectivity refers to the removal of personal
questioning and performance tests. opinion, judgement or bias in order to arrive at
more precision. It is disputed how much this
Adequate Sampling can be achieved in reality as even the framing
of the situation in which objectivity is desired
Sampling facilitates the assessment process ( such as research project or an assessment) is
when it is not feasible to assess all students-for subject to subjective influence.
Purposes Lesson 4. Recent Trends and Focus

1. To avoid bias. Accountability

2. To ensure accurate conclusion or results. Assessments generate information and,

depending on the nature and use of the
3. To ensure out comes purely based on information obtained, can play multiple roles
facts. in education. Accountability involves using
some of this information to generate incentives
Characteristics of Objectivity to validate or change the behaviors of students
and educators.
1. Based on scientific facts rather than on one's
opinion. In the field of education there are three
main types of accountability system:
2. Factual, free from personal biases.
(a) Compliance with regulations - bureaucracy.
3. Judgment based from observable
phenomena uninfluenced by emotions or (b) Adherence to professional
personal prejudices
(c) Results driven.
4. Being objective is to be or to do something
that is not primary about one-self. Fairness refers to the consideration of learner's
needs and characteristics, and any reasonable
5. Has multi-dimensional viewing adjustments that need to be applied to take
account of them. It is important to ensure that
6. Its results and data is based on continuous the learner is informed about, understands and
testing, then demonstrated or confirmed by a is able to participate in the assessment process,
third party. and agrees that the process is appropriate.

Accountability Three imperatives that support fairness in

educational assessment
When assessments are aligned with learning
goals, accountability systems can motivate 1. Democratic
classroom instruction to focus on those
outcomes (Stecher, Barron, Kaganoff, and While examinations have not historically
Goodwin, 1998). Thus, policy makers and always been fair or democratic in intent or
educators in many states view assessment consequence, a democratic imperative for
linked with accountability as a powerful fairness in assessment has evolved from the
strategy for ensuring that all students are held tradition of selection by examination.
to the same set of high standards (Grissmer
and Flanagan, 1998)
2. Measurement The general goal of standards-based learning is
to ensure that students are acquiring the
The quality of information that assessments knowledge and skills that are deemed to be
provide is affected by stakeholders' perceptions essential to success in school, higher education,
of fairness. Students' perceptions influence careers, and adult life..
their motivation in the assessment process,
their degree of engagement, and thus the Outcomes- Based Education:
degree to which they demonstrate learning.
The change in educational perspective is called
3. Pedagogical Outcomes-Based Education(OBE). It
focuses on classroom instruction on the skills
The beliefs and knowledge that teachers and and competencies that students must
students bring to teaching and learning interact demonstrate when they exit.
with different elements of fairness. The
fairness of classroom assessment, regardless of Characteristics of Outcomes-based
purpose, is affected by classroom relationships Education
and interactions, which in turn influences the
learning environment. 1. It is student centered. It places the students
at the center of the process by focusing on
For an assessment to be fair, it must: Student Learning Outcomes (SLO)

measure a student's ability in the subject they 2. It is faculty driven. It encourages faculty
have studied responsibility for teaching, assessing program
outcomes and motivating participation from
effectively differentiate student performance the students.

ensure no student is disadvantaged, including 3. It is meaningful. It provides data to guide

those who speak English as a second language the teacher in making valid and continuing
improvement in instruction and assessment
give all students the same opportunity to activities.
achieve the right grade, irrespective of which
exam series they take or which examiner marks Procedure in implementing outcomes-based
their paper. education on the subject or course.

Standard Based Education: 1. Identification of educational objectives of

the subject/course.
Standards-based education refers to systems
of instruction, assessment, grading, and Educational objectives are the broad goals that
academic reporting that are based on students the subject/course expects to achieve, and
demonstrating, understanding or mastery of the defining in general terms the knowledge, skills
knowledge and skills they are expected to learn and attitude that the teacher will help the
as they progress through their education. students to attain. The objectives are stated
from the point of view of the teacher such as
-to develop, to provide, to enhance, etc.
2. Listing of learning outcomes specified for
each subject/course objective. Learning
outcomes are stated as concrete active detailed
guide such as to demonstrate, to explain, to
differentiate, to illustrate, etc,. A good source
of learning outcomes statements is the
taxonomy of educational objectives by
Benjamin Bloom (Cognitive, Psychomotor and
Affective)

3. Drafting outcomes assessment procedure.

This procedure will enable the teacher to
determine the degree to which the students are
attaining the desired learning outcomes. It
identifies for every outcome the data that will
be gathered which will guide the selection of
the assessment tools to be used and at what
point assessment will be done.)