ABSTRACTION

Effective assessment strategies improve student’s learning as it forms

important part in tracking one’s progress. To be able to design an appropriate
and effective assessment, there are things needed to put into consideration.
The following points will help you formulate an effective assessment design to
improve the learning process:

GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE STUDENT ASSESSMENT

(The Harriet W. Sheridan Center for Teaching and Learning)

ASSESSMENT INFLUENCES THE PROCESS OF LEARNING

1. Provide space-assessed tasks

 It permits students to fix and manage their schedule and
allows them to allocate enough time in studying. Hence,
avoiding ‘cramming’.
 Design and administer frequent tasks rather that end-course
assessment.
2. Design an engaging task
 Students should engage in the process of learning rather
than only focusing on the outcome of the task.
 Do not just focus on grading the finished task but consider
assessing drafts or works in progress.
 Let the students identify and show their errors and correct it
to validate their learning.
3. Give students opportunity to practice the skills needed for assessment
 Explain assessment criteria clearly
 Give feedback on student’s work in formative phase
 Discuss the assessment task together with the students
 Improve assessment task based on its effectivity in
enhancing student’s learning

USE FEEDBACK TO ENHANCE LEARNING

4. Provide enough and detailed feedback

 Use feedback and self-assessment sheets
 Consider using multimedia recordings of the student’s
performance and let them reflect on their presentations and
discuss how they would like to improve
 Avoid less meaningful terms in praising and correcting
student’s work
 5. Focus feedback on performance, learning, or actions the student can
control
 Identify errors clearly
 Give options for reasonable actions
 Do not give personal comments. Be constructive and
objective.
6. Provide timely feedback
 Feedback should be given while it matters and can be used
for improvement
 Share model answers or exemplars right after students
submit their outputs
 Use peer feedback
 Computer-based practice tests can provide immediate
feedback for self-paced learning
 Explanations for correct and incorrect answers should be
provided.
 Provide ‘thought’ questions that enables them to think
critically
7. Align feedback with learning goals and assessment criteria
 Use self and peer assessment to encourage critical thinking
and internalization of assessment criteria and standards.
8. Provide feedback appropriate to student’s background, experience,
and level of independence
 Make feedback understandable to the student
 Provide ways for the student to progress to the next
stage/level of understanding
 Separate feedback on generic study skill and discipline-
specific skill
9. Feedback needs to be read and noticed
 Let the students be actively involved in eliciting feedback
 Feedback only is better than giving grades (when
appropriate)
 Use self-assessment prior to official grading
 Use two-part assessment: (1) formative; (2) graded
10. Feedback must be acted on by the student
 Follow up the feedback
 Provide feed-forward (for future purposes)
 Use feedback to foster self-directed learning

While you are already aware of some important points to consider in

designing an appropriate and effective assessment, you should also know the
types of assessment based on its nature and purpose. You should be able to
categorize and classify your assessment whether it falls under Assessment AS
learning, Assessment OF learning, or Assessment FOR learning. You better
know the direction of your assessment.
 ASSESSMENT AS, FOR, AND OF LEARNING

Definition of Assessment (Dubec, 2019)

Assessment AS learning
“a formative assessment focusing on teaching the students the
metacognitive processes to evaluate own learning and make
adjustments”

Assessment FOR learning

“A formative assessment used to gain understanding of student’s
knowledge and skills to guide instruction”

Assessment OF learning
“A summative assessment used to compare students and report
progress”

Discussion:
Assessment AS learning
- students became metacognitive learners
- students reflect on their own work all throughout the learning
process
- students take responsibility of their own learning and monitor
future works and directions

Assessment FOR learning

- conducted during the learning process
- students understand clearly what to learn, what is expected of
them, and are given feedback and advice to improve learning
- used by teachers as an investigable tool to measure students’
competence and knowledge, confusions, and gaps
- provides basis for descriptive feedback, instructional strategies,
and resources to guide and improve the instruction

Assessment OF learning
- conducted usually at the end of work
- designed to provide evidence of achievement to parents, other
educators, students, and outside groups (other stakeholders)
- assessment that becomes PUBLIC and used for future purposes
- should be grounded from defensible and credible measurement
of learning
 ASSESSMENT AS ASSESSMENT FOR ASSESSMENT OF
LEARNING LEARNING LEARNING
- teaches the skills - aligns instructions - reports student
of self- assessment learning accurately
- identifies needs of and fairly based
- guides students students from learning
in setting their own evidence
goal and - selects and adapts
monitoring their materials/resources -provides rationale
own progress for undertaking
- creates assessment at a
- provides differentiated certain point of
exemplars that teaching strategies time, clear
reflect curriculum and learning description of
outcomes opportunities intended learning
TEACHER ROLE outcome, process
- works with - provides to demonstrate
students in immediate feedback students’ skills and
developing criteria and directions to competence,
of good practice student alternative
assessments
- guides students achieving the same
in developing goal, and
internal feedback transparent
and self- approaches to
monitoring interpretation of
mechanisms to result
validate learning
Source: Rethinking Classroom Assessment with Purpose in Mind

Features of Assessment of, for, and as learning

Additional Reading: Assessment of Learning, for Learning, and as Learning, Ch 3 from the
Learning, Teaching and Assessment Guide. Reprinted from Earl, Lorna. (2003). Assessment as
Learning: Using Classroom Assessment to Maximise Student Learning. Thousand Oaks, CA,
Corwin Press.