UNIT 1: BASIC CONCEPTS AND PRINCIPLES IN ASSESSING

LEARNING
 

1.0 Intended Learning Outcomes

a. Describe assessment in learning and related concept;
b. Demonstrate an understanding of the different principles in assessing learning
through the preparation of an assessment plan.
 
1.1. Introduction
What comes into your mind when you hear the following word/s? (Assessment in
learning, measurement and evaluation, assessment and testing, and formative and
summative assessment). One of the major concerns in education is how to assess learning.
Students can be assessed properly if we fully understand the different terms.
In this lesson, we will discuss and define Assessment in Learning, differentiate
Testing, Measurement, assessment and evaluation, types of assessment, and discuss the
principles in assessing learning.

1.2 Topics/Discussion (with Assessment/Activities)

1.2.1 Basic Concepts and Principles in Assessing Learning

What comes into your mind when you hear the following words below?
a. Assessment in learning
b. Measurement and evaluation
c. Assessment and testing
d. Formative and summative assessment

What is Assessment in Learning?

Is assessment important in learning?

Assessment
▪ Assessment is a Latin word assidere which means “to sit beside another”.
▪ Assessment is generally defined as the process of gathering quantitative
and/or qualitative data to make decisions.
▪ Just like curriculum and instruction, assessment in learning is important to
the educational process. Schools and teachers will not be able to determine the
impact of curriculum and instruction on students or learners without
assessing learning.
 How does Assessment in Learning differ from Measurement or Evaluation?

Assessment in Learning
▪ Assessment in learning is a systematic purpose-oriented collection, analysis,
and interpretation of evidence of student learning to make an informed
decision relevant to the learners.
▪ It can be characterized as
a.)a process, b.) based on specific objectives,
c.) from multiple sources.

What are Measurement and Evaluation?

Measurement
▪ Measurement is the process of quantifying the attributes of objectives.

Evaluation
▪ Evaluation refers to the process of making a value judgment on the
information collected from measurement-based specified criteria.

What is Measurement and Evaluation in the context of Assessment in Learning?

Measurement
▪ Measurement refers to the actual collection of information on student learning
through the use of various strategies and tools.

Evaluation
▪ Evaluation refers to the actual process of making a decision or judgment on
student learning based on the information collected from a measurement.

Therefore, assessment can be considered as an umbrella term consisting of

measurement and evaluation. However, some authors consider assessment as
distinct and separate from the evaluation (e.g., Huba and Freed 2000, Popham 1998).

What are Assessment and Testing?

Testing
▪ Testing is the most common form of assessment.
▪ In the context of education, testing refers to the use of the test to collect
information on student learning over a specific period.

Test
▪ A test is a form of assessment, but not all assessment uses a test or testing.
 ▪ A test can be categorized as either a selected response or a constructed
response.
▪ A test can make use of objective format or subjective format.
What is the Objective and Subjective Format of Test?

Objective Format
▪ The objective format provides a more bias-free scoring as the test items have
exact correct answers.

Subjective Format
▪ The subjective format allows for less objective means of scoring especially if
no rubrics are used.
When can we say that the test is good and effective?

▪ A test is good and effective if it has acceptable psychometric properties.

▪ This means that a test should be valid, reliable, has an acceptable level of
difficulty, and can discriminate between learners with higher and lower
ability.

What are Assessment and Grading?

Grading
▪ Grading is a related concept to assessment and learning.
▪ Grading is the process of assigning value to the performance or achievement
of the learner based on specified criteria or standards.
▪ It is a form of evaluation that provide s information on whether a learner
passed or failed a subject or a particular assessment task. But, teachers must
be competent in the design and development of classroom tests.

What are the different measurement frameworks used in assessments?

There two most common psychometric theories that serve as frameworks for
assessment and measurement.

1. Classical Test Theory (CTT)

▪ known as the true score theory
▪ It explains variation in the performance of examinees on a given
measure is due to the variations in their abilities.
▪ It also assumes that all measures are imperfect, and the scores obtained
from a measure could differ from the true score (true ability) of an
examinee.
 2. Item Response Theory (IRT)
▪ Item response theory analyzes test items by estimating the probability
that an examinee answers items correctly or incorrectly.
▪ It also assumed that the characteristics of an item can be estimated
independently of the characteristic or ability of the examinee and
vice-versa.

What are the different types of assessment in learning?

The most common types of assessments are formative, summative,

diagnostic, and placement. Other experts describe the type of assessment as
traditional and authentic.

1. Formative Assessment
▪ Formative assessment refers to assessment activities that provide
information to both teachers and learners on how they can improve the
teaching-learning process.
▪ It is used at the beginning and during instruction for teachers to assess
learners’ understanding.
▪ Through performance report and students’ feedback formative
assessment also inform learners about their strength and weaknesses to
enable them to take steps to learn better and improve their
performance as the class progress.

The information collected on student learning allows teachers to make

adjustments to their instructional processes and strategies to facilitate learning.

2. Summative Assessment
▪ Summative assessment is assessment activities that aim to develop
learners’ mastery of content and attainment of learning outcomes.
▪ It provides information on the quantity or quality of what students
have learned or achieved at the end of instruction.
▪ It also informs learners about what they have done well and what they
need to improve on in their future classes or subjects.

While data from the summative assessment are used for evaluating learners’
performance in class, these data also provide teachers with information about the
effectiveness of their teaching strategies and how they can improve their instruction
in the future.

3. Diagnostic Assessment
 ▪ A diagnostic assessment aims to detect the learning problems or
difficulties of the learners so that corrective measures or interventions
are done to ensure learning.
▪ It is usually done right after seeing signs of learning problems in the
course of teaching.
▪ It can also be done at the beginning of the school year for a
spirally-designed curriculum so that corrective measures are applied if
pre-requisite knowledge and skills for the targets have not yet been
mastered.
4. Placement Assessment
▪ Placement assessment is usually done at the beginning of the school
year to determine what the learners have already known or what are
their needs that could inform the design of instruction.
▪ The entrance examination given in the schools is an example of
placement assessment.

5. Traditional Assessment
▪ Traditional assessment refers to the use of conventional strategies or
tools to provide information about the learning of the students.
▪ Traditional assessments are often used as a basis for evaluating and
grading learners.
▪ They are commonly used in classrooms because they are easier to
design and quicker to score.

Typically, objective (e.g., multiple-choice) and subjective (e.g., essay)

paper-and-pencil tests are traditional assessments.

6. Authentic Assessment
▪ An Authentic assessment refers to the use of assessment strategies or
tools that allows the learner to perform or create a product that is
meaningful to the learners, as they are based on real-world contexts.
▪ The most authentic assessments are those that allow performances that
most closely resemble real-world tasks or applications in real-world
settings or environments. The authenticity of an assessment task is best
described in terms of degree rather than the presence or the absence of
authenticity.

What are the different principles in assessing learning?

There are many principles in the assessment in learning. The following may
be considered as core principles.
1. Assessment should have a clear purpose.

▪ Assessment starts with a clear purpose. The methods used in collecting

information should be based on this purpose.
▪ The interpretation of the data collected should be aligned with the
purpose that has been set.

2. Assessment is not an end in itself.

▪ Assessment serves as a means to enhance student learning.

▪ Assessment is not a simple recording and documentation of what
learners know and do not know. Collecting information about student
learning, formative, or summative, should lead to the decisions that
will allow improvement of the learners.
3. Assessment is an ongoing, continuous, and formative process.

▪ The assessment consists of a series of tasks and activities conducted

over time.
▪ It is not a one-shot activity and should be cumulative. Continuous
feedback is an important element of assessment.

4. Assessment is learner-centered.

▪ Assessment is not about what the teacher does but what the learners
can do.
▪ Assessment of learners provides teachers with an understanding of
how they can improve their teaching, which corresponds to the goal of
improving student learning.

5. Assessment is both process and product-oriented.

▪ An assessment gives equal importance to learner performance or

product and the process they engage to perform or produce a product.

6. Assessment must be comprehensive and holistic.

▪ Assessment should be performed over a variety of strategies and tools

designed to assess student learning holistically.
▪ Assessment should be conducted in multiple periods to assess learning
over time.
 7. Assessment requires the use of an appropriate measure.

▪ For assessment to be valid, the assessment tools or measures used have

sound psychometric properties, including, but not limited to, validity
and reliability.

8. Assessment should be as authentic as possible.

▪ Assessment tasks or activities should closely, if not fully, approximate

real-life situations or experiences. The authenticity of assessment can
be thought of as a continuum from less authentic to most
authentic, with more authentic tasks expected to be more meaningful
for learners.

Evaluation:

Develop
A.

1. What is assessment in learning?

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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2. How similar or different is an assessment from measurement, evaluation testing,
or grading?
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3. What are the different types of assessment?

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
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4. Give three core principles in assessing learning.

_________________________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________________________

B.

Task
Example:
Principle Illustration of Practice
1. Assessment should In our practicum course, we were task to prepare a lesson
be as authentic as plan then execute the plan in front of the students with my
possible. critic teacher around to evaluate my performance.
The actual planning of the lesson and its execution in front
of the class and the critic teacher is a very authentic way of
assessing my ability to design and deliver instruction rather
than being assessed through demonstration in front of my
classmates in the classroom.

Given the example, continue the identification of illustrations of assessment practices

guided by the principles discussed in the class.
Principle Illustration of Practice
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
C.

Principle Plan for Applying the Principles in your Classroom

Assessment
1. Assessment should
have a clear purpose.

2. Assessment is not an
end I itself.

3. Assessment is an
ongoing, continuous,
and formative process.

4. Assessment is
learner-centered.

5. Assessment is both
process and
product-oriented.

6. Assessment must be
comprehensive and
holistic.
7. Assessment requires
the use of an
appropriate measure.

8. Assessment should
be as authentic as
possible.

D.

Indicators Great Moderate Not at

Extent Extent All
1. I can define an assessment.
2. I can explain the meaning of assessment in
learning.
3. I can compare and contrast assessment with
measurement and evaluation.
4. I can compare and contrast assessment with
testing and grading.
5. I can enumerate the different types of
assessment.
6. I can differentiate between classical test
theory and item response theory.
7. I can explain what each of the principles of
assessment means.
8. I can give examples of assessment tasks or
activities that conform with one or more core
principles in assessments.
9. I can give examples of assessment tasks or
activities that do not conform with one or more
of the core principles in assessments.
10. I understand what it means to have good
assessment practices in the classroom.

E.
For each item, circle the option that corresponds to what you think is the best
answer.
 1. Which of the following is true about measurement and evaluation.

A. measurement and evaluation involve the collection of information.

B. measurement and evaluation are part of the assessment process.
C. measurement and evaluation require the use of tests.
D. measurement and evaluation are similar processes.

2. Which of the following assessment task is LEAST AUTHENTIC?

A. essay test
B. field demonstration
C. multiple-choice-test
D. research project

3. “Assessment is not about what the teacher does but what the learners can do”.
This assessment is most reflective of which principle of assessment?
A. Assessment is learner-centered.
B. Assessment is not an end in itself.
C. Assessment should have a clear purpose.
D. Assessment should be as authentic as possible.

4. Which of the following statements about assessment is NOT TRUE?

A. Assessment is systematic and purpose-oriented.
B. The word assessment is rooted in the Latin word assidere.
C. A test is a form of assessment, but not all assessments use tests or testing.
D. Assessment is the process of assigning a numerical score to the
performance of the student.

5. “Assessment should have a clear purpose”. If you are already a classroom teacher,
how would you best demonstrate or practice this assessment principle?
A. Discuss with the class the grading system and your expectations of your
students’ performance.
B. When giving a test, the purpose of each test is provided in the first page of
the test paper.
C. Explain during the first day of classes your assessment techniques and
your reasons for their use.
D. When deciding on an assessment task, its match with consistency with
instructional objectives and learning targets are ascertained.

1.3 References
 David, D. A., Golla, D. E., Magno, D. C., & Valladilid, D. V. (2020). Assessment in Learning 1.
Sampaloc, Manila: Rex Book Store, Inc.

 
1.4 Acknowledgment
 
The images, tables, figures and information contained in this module were
taken from the references cited above.
 

Disclaimer:
This module is not for commercial use and solely for educational purposes
only. Some technical terminologies and uses were not changed but the author of this
unit ensures that all in-text citations are in the reference section. Photos, figures,
images, and tables included in here belongs to their respective owners and their
copyrights.