Week 1 – 2

Nature of Educational Assessment

Lesson 1. Outcomes-Based Education

What is Education?

came from a Latin word “educare” which means to draw out”

the students and teachers are the two main elements of the educative process

What is Outcomes-Based Education?

OBE is the change of instruction from content to learning outcomes.

It focuses on classroom instruction on the skills and competencies that students must demonstrate
when they exit.

Three Characteristics of OBE

Student-centered Meaningful Faculty-driven

OBE is a process of curriculum design, teaching, learning and assessment that focuses on what
students can actually do after they are taught. American Sociologist, William Spady, who defines OBE
as.. a comprehensive approach to organizing and operating an education system that is focused on and
defined by the successful demonstrations of learning sought from each student (Spady, 1994:2). The
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) defines Outcome-based Education as an approach that focuses
and organizes the educational system around what is essential for all learners to know, value and do to
achieve a desired level of competence at the time of graduation (CHED Implementation Handbook,
2013).

Spady (1993) Identified Four Basic Principles of OBE:

1. Clarity of focus about outcomes - Learners are certain about their goals and are always given
significant, culminating exit outcomes.

2. Designing backwards - Using the major learning outcomes as the focus and linking all planning,
teaching and assessment decision directly to these outcomes.

3. Consistent, high expectations of success - Helping students to succeed by providing them

encouragement to engage deeply with the issues they are learning and to achieve the set of high
challenging standard.

4. Expanded opportunity - Developing curriculum that allows every learner to progress in his/her own
pace and that caters to individual needs and differences.

Why Shift to OBE?

OBE is distinguished from other reforms by its focus on outcomes, thereby enabling it to address
the pressing worldwide concerns on accountability, and effectively pairs legislative control with
institutional autonomy (Evans, 1991). OBE makes it imperative to lay down what are the intended
learning outcomes of an institution, and commit its educational resources until the goals are achieved.
In its transformational phase, OBE is the benchmarking concept trending in higher education. It
aims to organize a Work-Integrated Education (WIE) at the program level to link students and faculty
with the industry and eventually engage leaders of the profession and industry to enrich the teaching
and learning activities. As diverse countries are synergizing towards connectivity propelled by
technology, OBE is preparing young learners for global living.
Institutional Intended Learning Outcome (ILO) – what the graduates of the university or college are supposed to
be able to do.

Program Intended Learning Outcome (PILO) – what graduates from a particular degree program are should be
able to do.

Course Intended Learning Outcome (CILO) – what students should be able to do at the completion of a given
course.

Intended Learning Outcome (ILO) – what students should be able to do at the completion of a unit of study of a
course

The OBE curriculum is driven by Assessments that focus on well-defined learning outcomes and not
primarily by factors such as what is taught, how long the students take to achieve the outcomes or which path the
students take to achieve their target (Kissane, 1995). The learning outcomes are projected on a gradation of
increasing complexity that students are expected to master sequentially. The full implementation and
success of OBE demands a concerted effort, as in the old aphorism: It takes a village to educate a child. There is an
urgent call for all concerned to keep the rhythm in the steady march of humanity's progress: for educators,
strategizing educational planning that is results oriented; for learners, assuming greater responsibility and actively
participating in the learning process; and for parents and the community at large, exercising their right to ensure that
the quality of education for the next generation is not compromised by social, political and economic concerns.

Lesson 2. Basic Concepts in Assessment

According to Linn and Miller (2005) define assessment as any of a variety of procedures used to obtain
information about student performance.

Assessment refers to the full range of information gathered and synthesized by teachers about their
students and their classrooms (Arends, 1994)

Assessment is a method for analyzing and evaluating student achievement or program success.

Measurement, Evaluation and Assessment

Measurement as used in education refers to the process of quantifying an individual’s achievement, personality,
and attitudes among others by means of appropriate measuring instruments.

Educational Measurement

The first step towards elevating a field of study into a science is to take measurements of the quantities and
qualities of interest in the field.

Basic concepts in Assessment

As teachers, we are continually faced with the challenge of assessing the progress of our students as well as our
own effectiveness as teachers.

Educational Measurement

The first step towards elevating a field of study into a science is to take measurements of the quantities and qualities
of interest in the field.

Types of Measurement

Objective measurements- are measurements that do not

depend on the person or individual taking the measurements.

Subjective measurements- often differ from one assessor to the next even if the same quantity or quality is being
measured.

The underlying principle in educational measurement is

summarized by the following formula:

Measurement of quantity or quality of interest = true value plus random error.

Evaluation is the process of systematic collection and analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data for the
purpose of making some decision and judgments.

Assessment, Test, and Measurement

Test: An instrument or systematic procedure for measuring a sample of behavior by posing a set of questions in a
uniform manner.

Measurement: The process of obtaining a numerical description of the degree to which an individual possesses a
particular characteristic. Measurement answers the question “How much?”

Test, Non- test, Examination, Test item and Quiz

A test in the educational setting is a question or a series of question which aims to determine how well a student
learned from a subject or topic taught.

A non- test is a question or activity which determines the interests, attitude and other student’s characteristics
whose answer or answers is/are not judged wrong or incorrect. Examples: Personality inventory,” What is your
favorite sports?”, “Why do you prefer green vegetables?”

An examination is a long test which may or may be composed of one or more test formats. Examples: Mid- term
examination, Licensure Examination for Teachers, comprehensive examination.

A test item is any question included in a test or examination. Examples: Who was the President of the Philippines
when World War 2 broke out? Is “Little Red Riding Hood” a short story?

A quiz is a short test usually given at the beginning or at the end of a discussion

period.

Indicators, variables and Factors

An educational variable (denoted by an English alphabet, like X) is a measurable characteristic of a student.
Variables may be directly measurable as in X= age or X= height of a student.

An indicator, I, denotes the presence or absence of a measured characteristics. Thus:

I= 1, if the characteristics is present

= O, if the characteristic is absent

Various Roles of Assessment

Assessment plays a number of roles in making instructional decisions.

Summative Role- An assessment may be done for summative purposes as in the illustration given above for grade
VI mathematics achievement. Diagnostic Role- Assessment may be done for diagnostic purposes. In the case, we
are interested in determining the gaps in learning or learning processes, hopefully, to be able to bridge these gaps.

Formative Assessment- Another purpose of assessment is formative. In this role, assessment guides the teachers
on his/ her day- to- day teaching activity.

Placement- The final role of assessment in curricular decisions concerns placement. Assessment plays a vital role
in determining the appropriate placement of a student both in terms of achievements and aptitude.

Aptitude- refers to the area or discipline where a student would most likely excel or do well.

Evaluation

Is the process of gathering and interpreting evidence regarding the problems and progress of individuals in
achieving desirable educational goals.

Chief Purposes of Evaluation

The improvement of the individual learner

Other Purposes of Evaluation

 To maintain standard

 To select students

 To motivate learning

 To guide learning

 To furnish instruction

 To appraise educational instrumentalities

Function of Evaluation

 Prediction

 Diagnosis

 Research
Areas of Educational Evaluation

 Achievement

 Aptitude

 Interest

 Personality

A well defined system of evaluation:

 Enable one to clarify goals

 Check upon each phase of development

 Diagnose learning difficulties

 Plan carefully for remediation

Principles of Educational Evaluation

• Evaluation must be based on previously accepted educational objectives.

• Evaluation should be continuous comprehensive and cumulative process.

• Evaluation should recognize that the total individual personality is involved in learning.

• Evaluation should be democratic and cooperative.

• Evaluation should be positive and action-directed

• Evaluation should give opportunity to the pupil to become increasingly independent in self- appraisal and
self- direction.

• Evaluation should include all significant evidence from every possible source.

• Evaluation should take into consideration the limitations of the particular educational situations.

Measurements

Is the part of the educational evaluation process whereby some tools or instruments are use to provide a
quantitative description of the progress of students towards desirable educational goals.

Test or Testing

Is a systematic procedure to determine the presence or absence of certain characteristics of qualities in a learner.

Types of Evaluation

• Placement

• Formative

• Diagnostic

• Summative

Educational Assessment serves three important functions (Bernardo, 2003):

1. Student selection and certification

-To make decisions, about which students get admitted, retained,

promoted, and certified for graduation.

2. Instructional monitoring

- To provide information about student learning and teaching performance to help teachers monitor manage, and
make decisions about the instructional system.

3. For

- Public accountability and program evaluation

- Making decisions about the different aspects of the educational Process

 - Helping make GOOD decisions, if they provide accurate, authentic, reliable and valid information about
educational: LEARNING GOALS.

Principles of Educational Assessment

• Educational assessment always begins with educational values and standards.

• Assessment is not an end in itself but a vehicle for attaining educational goals and for improving on these
educational goals.

• These educational goals (values and standards) should be made explicit to all concerned from the very
beginning.

• Desired learning competencies (skills, knowledge, values, ways of thinking and learning) determine what
we choose to assess.

• Educational values and standards should also characterize how we assess.

• Assessment systems should lead educators to help students attain the educational goals, values, and
standards.

Characteristics of Assessment

• Assessment is not a single event but a continue cycle.

• Assessment must be an open process.

• Assessment must promote valid inferences.

• Assessment that matters should always employ multiple measures of performance.

• Assessment should measures what is worth learning, not just what is easy to measure.

• Assessment should support every student’s opportunity to learn important mathematics.

Elements of the Assessment Process

-assessment should center on the learner and the learning process. Huba and Freed (2000) explained the four
elements of learner centered assessment.

1. Formulating statements of intended learning outcomes

2. Developing or Selecting Assessment Measures

3. Creating Experiences Leading to Outcomes

4. Discussing and Using Assessment Results to Improve Learning

The Three Types of Learning

Believing that there were more than one (1) type of learning, Benjamin Bloom and a committee of colleagues in
1956, identified three domains of educational activities: the cognitive, referring to mental skills; affective referring
to growth in feeling or emotion; and psychomotor, referring to manual or physical skills.

Principles of Good Practice in Assessing Learning Outcomes

The assessment of student learning starts with the institutions mission and core values.

Assessment works best when the program has clear statement of objectives aligned with the
institutional missions and core values.

Outcomes- based assessment focuses on the student activities that will be relevant after schooling
concludes.

Assessment requires attention not only to outcomes but also and equally to the activities and
experiences that lead to the attainment of learning outcomes.

Assessment works best when it is continuous, ongoing and not episodic.

Assessment should be cumulative because improvement is best achieved through a linked series of
activities done over time in instructional cycle.
Kinds of Assessment

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is an integral part of teaching and learning. It does not contribute to the final mark given for
the module; instead it contributes to learning through providing feedback. It should indicate what is good about a
piece of work and why this is good; it should also indicate what is not so good and how the work could be
improved.

Effective formative feedback will affect what the student and the teacher

does next.

Summative assessment

Summative assessment demonstrates the extent of a learner's success in meeting the assessment criteria used to
gauge the intended learning outcomes of a module or program, and which contributes to the final mark given for
the module. It is normally, though not always, used at the end of a unit of teaching. Summative assessment is used
to quantify achievement, to reward achievement, to provide data for selection (to the next stage in education or to
employment).

Diagnostic assessment

Like formative assessment, diagnostic assessment is intended to improve the learner’s experience and their level of
achievement. However, diagnostic assessment looks backwards rather than forwards. It assesses what the learner
already knows and/or the nature of difficulties that the learner might have, which, if undiagnosed, might limit their
engagement in new learning.

It is often used before teaching or when a problem arises.

Dynamic assessment

Dynamic assessment measures what the student achieves when given some teaching in an unfamiliar topic or field.
An example might be assessment of how much Swedish is learnt in a short block of teaching to students who have
no prior knowledge of the language. It can be useful to assess potential for specific learning in the absence of
relevant prior attainment, or to assess general learning potential for students who have a particularly disadvantaged
background. It is often used in advance of the main body of teaching.

Synoptic assessment

Synoptic assessment encourages students to combine elements of their learning from different parts of a program
and to show their accumulated knowledge and understanding of a topic or subject area. A synoptic assessment
normally enables students to show their ability to integrate and apply their skills, knowledge and understanding
with breadth and depth in the subject. It can help to test a student's capability of applying the knowledge and
understanding gained in one part of a program to increase their understanding in other parts of the program, or
across the program as a whole. Synoptic assessment can be part of other forms of assessment.

Criterion referenced assessment

Each student’s achievement is judged against specific criteria. In principle no account is taken of how other students
have performed. In practice, normative thinking can affect judgments of whether or not a specific criterion has been
met. Reliability and validity should be assured through processes such as moderation, trial marking, and the
collation of exemplars.

Ipsative assessment

This is assessment against the student’s own previous standards. It can measure how well a particular task has been
undertaken against the student’s average attainment, against their best work, or against their most recent piece of
work. Ipsative assessment tends to correlate with effort, to promote effort-based attributions of success, and to
enhance motivation to learn.

Evaluative assessment provides instructors with curricular feedback (e.g., the value of a field trip or oral
presentation technique)

Educative assessment Integrated within learning activities themselves, educative assessment builds student (and
faculty) insight and understandings about their own learning and teaching. In short, assessment is a form of
learning.
The Effective Assessment

Enhancing learning by enhancing assessment

Assessment is a central element in the overall quality of teaching and learning in higher education. Well designed
assessment sets clear expectations, establishes a reasonable workload (one that does not push students into rote
reproductive approaches to study), and provides opportunities for students to self-monitor, rehearse, practice and
receive feedback. Assessment is an integral component of a coherent educational experience.

Three objectives for higher education assessment

Assessment that guides and encourages effective approaches to learning;

Assessment that validly and reliably measures expected learning outcomes, in particular
the higher-order learning that characterizes higher education

Assessment and grading that defines and protects academic standards.

16 indicators of effective assessment in higher education

A checklist for quality in student assessment

1. Assessment is treated by staff and students as an integral and prominent component of the entire teaching
and learning process rather than a final adjunct to it.
2. The multiple roles of assessment are recognized. The powerful motivating effect of assessment
requirements on students is understood and assessment tasks are designed to foster valued study habits.
3. There is a faculty/departmental policy that guide individuals’ assessment practices. Subject assessment is
integrated into an overall plan for course assessment.
4. There is a clear alignment between expected learning outcomes, what is taught and learnt, and the
knowledge and skills assessed — there is a closed and coherent ‘curriculum loop’.
5. Assessment tasks assess the capacity to analyze and synthesis new information and concepts rather than
simply recall information previously presented.
6. A variety of assessment methods is employed so that the limitations of particular methods are minimized.
7. Assessment tasks are designed to assess relevant generic skills as well as subject- specific knowledge and
skills.
8. There is a steady progression in the complexity and demands of assessment requirements in the later years
of courses.
9. There is provision for student choice in assessment tasks and weighting at certain times.
10. Student and staff workloads are considered in the scheduling and design of assessment tasks.
11. Excessive assessment is avoided. Assessment tasks are designed to sample student learning.
12. Assessment tasks are weighted to balance the developmental (‘formative’) and judgmental (‘summative’)
roles of assessment. Early low-stakes, low-weight assessment is used to provide students with feedback.
13. Grades are calculated and reported on the basis of clearly articulated learning outcomes and criteria for
levels of achievement.
14. Students receive explanatory and diagnostic feedback as well as grades.
15. Assessment tasks are checked to ensure there are no inherent biases that may disadvantage particular
student groups.
16. Plagiarism is minimized through careful task design, explicit education and appropriate monitoring of
academic honesty.
The Assessment Cycle

Good assessment follows an intentional and reflective process of design, implementation, evaluation, and revision.
The Assessment Cycle relies on four simple but dynamic words to represent this process.

 What do I want students to learn?

 How do I teach effectively?
 Are my outcomes being met?
 How do I use what I've learned?
Lesson 3. Purposes of Classroom
Assessment
1. Assessment FOR Learning – done before and during instructions.
Placement
The purpose is to assess the needs of the learners to have basis in planning for a relevant
instruction
Teachers use this assessment to know what their students are bringing into the learning situation
and use this as a starting point for instruction
The result of this assessment place students in specific learning groups to facilitate teaching and
learning
Diagnostic
This is use to determine students’ recurring or persistent difficulties
It searches for the underlying causes of student’s learning problems that do not respond to the
first aid treatment
It helps formulate a plan for detailed remedial instruction
Formative
It is this assessment where teachers continuously monitor the students’ level of attainment of the
learning objectives
The result of this assessment are communicated clearly and promptly to the students for them to
know their strengths and weaknesses and the progress of their learning

2. Assessment OF Learning – done after instructions.

Summative
It is use to certify what students know and can do and the level of their proficiency and
competency
Its results reveal whether or not instructions have successfully achieved the learning outcomes

3. Assessment AS Learning – this is done for teachers to understand and perform well their role
of assessing FOR and OF learning.

Teachers should be skilled in:

choosing and developing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions
administering, scoring, interpreting the results of both externally-produced and teacher-produced
assessment methods
developing valid pupil grading procedures
using assessment results when making decisions about individual students, planning teaching,
developing curriculum, and school improvement
communicating assessment results to students, parents, other lay audiences, and other educators
recognizing unethical, illegal, and otherwise inappropriate assessment methods and uses of
assessment information
Lesson 4. Assessment Principles

Lesson 5. Characteristics of Modern

Educational Assessment
1. Responsive – visible performance – based work (as a result of assessment) generates data that
inform curriculum and instruction.
2. Flexible – assessment need to be adaptable to students’ settings. Rather than the identical
approach that works in traditional assessment, 21st century approaches are more versatile.
3. Integrated – assessments are to be incorporated into day-to-day practice rather than as add-ons
at the end of instructions or during a single specified week of the school calendar.
4. Informative – the desired 21st century goals and objective are clearly stated and explicitly
taught. Students display their range of emerging knowledge and skills. Exemplars routinely guide
students toward achievement of targets.
5. Multiple Methods – An assessment continuum that includes a spectrum of strategies is the
norm.
6. Communicated – Communication of assessment data is clear and transparent for all
stakeholders.
7. Technically Sound – Adjustments and accommodations are made in the assessment process to
meet the students’ need and fairness
8. Systematic – 21st century assessment is part of a comprehensive and well-aligned assessment
system that is balanced and inclusive of all students, constituents, and stakeholders and designed to
support improvement at all levels.
Week 3 – 4
Instructional Objectives and Learning Outcomes