Morales, Mark John C.

BEED 3C

BASIC CONCEPTS OF 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.

Assessment for Learning

Is practiced, students are encouraged to be more active in their learning and associated
assessment. The ultimate purpose of assessment for learning is to create self-regulated
learners who can leave school able and confident to continue learning throughout their
lives. Teachers need to know at the outset of a unit of study where their students are in
terms of their learning and then continually check on how they are progressing through
strengthening the feedback they get from their learners.

The underlying principle in educational measurement is summarized by the following

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

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.

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.

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?"

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.

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 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 exemplare.

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.

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. 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?