e-Content (Q2)

Programme : laboratory and workshop management

(Module III) (Performance Assessment in Laboratory and Workshop) (Part I)
1. What is Skill?

Skill refers to actions (intellectual or physical) and to reactions (to ideas, things or people)
which a person performs in a competent way in order to achieve a goal.
This skill development is done in laboratory or workshop

2. What is the aim of laboratory and workshop instruction ?

Through laboratory and workshop experiences

 learning process becomes more effective
 the skills and attitudes are developed

3. What is performance based assessment ?

But in skill development another important activity is assessment of skilled performance where
o Skills are assessed by performance based assessment
o A direct and systematic observation of the actual performance is done based on a
predetermined performance criteria

4. What are the areas of performance based assessment ?

Some of the areas of performance based assessment are

 Communication skills
 Psychomotor skills
 Athletic skills
 Concept acquisition
 Affective skills

5. What are the differences between traditional assessment and performance based assessment
?

 Traditional assessment is the paper-and-pencil test which measures learning indirectly

 Performance based assessment – is a direct measure of learning or competence

6. What are the types of performance based assessment ?

There are two types of performance based assessment.

i)Restricted response performance task- A performance task that is highly structured with a
limited scope.

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 Examples: writing a one page report , delivering a one minute speech, constructing a graph
from a data set , demonstrating how to set-up laboratory equipment

ii) Extended response performance task:

A type performance task that is less structured and broader in scope.

Examples: Students conducting a thesis and then presenting and defending their findings in
front of a panel of judges , rewriting poem after being criticized by a teacher, designing and
conducting an experiment on a selected topic , present and defend the findings , taking history
of a patient perform a physical examination

7. What are the strengths of performance based assessment ?

Strengths of performance based assessment

 It can effectively evaluate skills that cannot be assessed with paper and pencil test
 It provides a more natural , direct, and complete evaluation of some skills
 It provides greater motivation for students more meaningful by clarifying goals and making
learning
 It encourages the application of learning to “real life ” situations

8. What are the limitations of performance assessment ?

Limitations of performance based assessment

 It requires considerable time and effort to administer since only a few students can usually be
tested at a time
 Judgement and scoring performance is subjective , burdensome , and typically has low
reliability
 Evaluation must frequently be done individually , rather than in groups
 Such tests are difficult to construct and to administer
 Such tests tend to penalize students who cannot work well under pressure

9. How to do performance based assessment?

Procedural steps for making performance assessment

Step-1:Specify the performance outcome

Step-2:Select the focus of the assessment(procedure, product or both)
Step-3:Select the appropriate degree of realism
Step-4:Select the performance situation
Step-5:Select the method of observing , recording and scoring
Step-6:Creating Rubrics

10. How to specify performance outcome ?

 If the intended learning outcomes have been pre specified for the instruction then select those
that require the use of performance assessment
 If the performance outcomes are not available , they should be classified and defined for the
areas of performance to be assessed

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 The specification of performance outcomes typically include a job or task analysis to identify
specific factors that are most critical in performance
 Examples of action verbs for performance outcome – identify , construct, demonstrate

11. What is the focus of assessment ?

 Performance assessment can focus on

 Procedure or process
 Product
 Procedure and product

12. What is procedure assessment ?

Performance assessment should be focused on the procedure when

 There is no product, or product evaluation is infeasible
 The procedure is orderly and directly observable
 Correct procedure is crucial to later success
 Analysis of procedural steps can aid in improving a product
 Examples: making a speech , reading aloud , manipulating laboratory equipment , playing a
musical instrument , and various physical factors (e.g. throwing a ball , tennis, swimming , and
dancing

13. What is product assessment ?

Performance assessment is focused on product when

 The product is the focus of attention and the procedure (or process) is of little or no
significance.
 Different procedures can result in an equally good product
 The procedure is not available for observation e.g. take-home work)
 The procedural steps have been mastered
 The product has qualities that can be identified and judged

14. What is procedure and product assessment ?

 Where both the procedure and product are observable , the emphasis given to each will
depend on the skill being assessed and the stage of skill development
 However, the procedure has been sufficiently mastered , product evaluation is favored
because it typically provides a more objective basis of judgement

15. What is selection of appropriate degree of realism ?

 Performance assessment in instructional settings typically falls somewhere between the usual
paper-and –pencil test and performance in real-life situations
 Although we cannot expect to duplicate the natural situation in which the learning will later be
used , we can simulate it to some degree
 This is another dimension to consider in preparing performance assessment

16. What is selection of appropriate performance situation ?

 Performance assessments can be classified by the type of situation or setting as following

 Pencil-and-paper performance
 Identification test

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 Structured performance test
 Simulated performance
 Work sample

17. What is paper-and-pencil performance?

These paper-pencil applications might result in desired terminal outcomes, or they might serve as
an intermediate step to performance that involves a higher degree of realism
Example: Paper-pencil performance might simply provide a first step towards hand-on
performance. Before using a particular measuring instrument , such as micrometer, it might be
desirable to have students read various settings from pictures to the scale

18. What is identification test ?

It includes a wide variety of test situations representing various degree of realism

Example: A student may be asked to simply to identify a tool or piece of equipment and to
indicate its function. A more complex test situation might present the student with a particular
task and ask him or her to identify the tools , equipment, and procedures needed in performing
task.

19. What is structured performance test ?

 A structured performance test provides for an assessment under standard , controlled
conditions.
 It might involve such things as making prescribed measurements , adjusting a microscope ,
following safety procedures in starting a machine , or locating a malfunction electronic
equipment.

20. What is simulated performance test?

It is an attempt to match the performance in a real situation either in whole or in part.

Example: In physical education, swinging a bat at an imaginary ball, shadow boxing, and
demonstrating various swimming or tennis strokes are simulated performances.

What is work sample?

It incorporates the highest degree of realism. It requires the student to perform actual tasks
that are representative of the total performance to be measured.