Republic of the Philippines

President Ramon Magsaysay State University

(Formerly Ramon Magsaysay Technological University)
Botolan, Zambales, Philippines

College/Department College of Teacher Education

Course Code EDCK 2
Course Title Assessment in Learning 1
Place of the Course in Professional Education
the Program
Semester and First Semester, 2021-2022
Academic Year

Introduction
Assessment in Learning 1 focuses on the principles, development and utilization of
conventional assessment tools to improve the teaching-learning process. It emphasizes on the
use of assessment of, as and for in measuring knowledge, comprehension and other thinking
skills in the cognitive, psychomotor or affective domains. It allows students to go through the
standard steps in test construction and development and the application in grading systems.
This unit is geared towards equipping you as future teachers with the basic concepts in
educational assessment, measurement and evaluation.

Intended Learning Outcomes

At the end of the unit, the students should be able to:
1. define basic terms in assessment;
2. explain the terms in simple semantic with their relationship in terms of teaching –
learning situation; and
3. identify the kinds of tests and their uses.

Discussion
 LESSON 1 Nature and Scope of Assessment

Measurement, Assessment and Evaluation

Measurement in education is the process of quantification of what students learned
through the use of tests, questionnaires, rating scales, checklists, and other devices. It is the
process of quantifying the degree to which someone possesses a given trait. For example, a
teacher gave his class a 10-item quiz after a lesson on solar system shows measurement of what
was learned by the students on that particular lesson.
Assessment, on the other hand, process of gathering and organizing quantitative or
qualitative data into an interpretable form to have a basis for judgment or decision-making.
These data can be gathered in formal ways such as assignments, tests, and written reports or
outputs. It can also be gathered in informal ways such as through observation or verbal exchange.
Furthermore, assessment provides information which enables evaluation to take place. Thus, it
is a pre-requisite to evaluation.
While measurement refers to the quantification of students’ performance and
assessment as the gathering and synthesizing of information, evaluation is the process of making
judgments, assigning value or deciding on the worth of students’ performance. Thus, when a
teacher assigns a grade to the score obtained in a quiz, he is performing an evaluation.
Evaluation is different from both measurement and assessment. Measurement answers
the question, how much does a student learn or know? Assessment looks into how much change
has occurred on the student’s acquisition of a skill, knowledge or value before and after a given
learning experience. Since evaluation is concerned with making judgments on the worth or value
of a performance, it answers the question, how good, adequate or desirable is it? Measurement
and assessment are therefore both essential to evaluation.

Purposes of Educational Assessment, Measurement and Evaluation

Educational assessment, measurement and evaluation serve the following purposes:
1. Improvement of Student Learning - Knowing how well students are performing in class can
lead teachers to devise ways and means of improving student learning.
2. Identification of Students’ Strengths and Weaknesses – Through measurement, assessment,
and evaluation, teachers can be able to single out their students’ strengths and weaknesses. Data
on these strengths and weaknesses can serve as bases for undertaking reinforcement and/ or
enrichment activities for the students.
3. Assessment of the Effectiveness of a particular Teaching Strategy – Accomplishment of an
instructional objective through the use of a particular teaching strategy is important to teachers.
Competent teachers continuously evaluate their choice of strategies on the basis of student
achievement.
4. Appraisal of the Effectiveness of the Curriculum – Through educational measurement,
assessment, and evaluation, various aspects of the curriculum are continuously evaluated by
curriculum committees on the basis of the results of achievement test results.
5. Assessment and improvement of Teaching Effectiveness – Results of testing are used as basis
for determining teaching effectiveness. Knowledge of the results of testing can provide school
administrators inputs on the instructional competence of teachers under their charge.Thus,
intervention programs to improve teaching effectiveness can be undertaken by the principals or
even supervisors on account of the results of educational measurement and evaluation.
6. Communication with and Involvement of Parents in their Children’s Learning – Results of
educational measurement, assessment, and evaluation are utilized by the school teachers in
communicating to parents about their children’s learning difficulties.

Three Types of Assessment

1. Assessment for learning (formative assessment) occurs throughout the learning process. It is
designed to make each student’s understanding visible, so that teachers can decide what they
can do to help students progress. Students learn in individual and unique ways, yet, at the same
time, there are predictable patterns of connections and preconceptions that some students may
experience as they move along the continuum from emergent to proficient. In this type, teachers
use assessment as an investigative tool to find out as much as they can about what their students
know and can do, and what confusions, preconceptions, or gaps they might have. The wide
variety of information that teachers collect about their students’ learning processes provides the
basis for determining what they need to do next to move student learning forward. It provides
the basis for providing descriptive feedback for students and deciding on groupings, instructional
strategies, and resources.
2. Assessment as learning (self - assessment)focusses on students and emphasizes assessment
as a process of metacognition (knowledge of one’s own thought processes) for students. It
emerges from the idea that learning is not just a matter of transferring ideas from someone who
is knowledgeable to someone who is not, but is an active process of cognitive restructuring that
occurs when individuals interact with new ideas. Within this view of learning, students are the
critical connectors between assessment and learning. For students to be actively engaged in
creating their own understanding, they must learn to be critical assessors who make sense of
information, relate it to prior knowledge, and use it for new learning. This is the regulatory
process in metacognition; that is, students become adept at personally monitoring what they are
learning, and use what they discover from the monitoring to make adjustments, adaptations, and
even major changes in their thinking.
3. Assessment of learning (summative assessment) refers to strategies designed to confirm what
students know, demonstrate whether or not they have met curriculum outcomes or the goals of
their individualized programs, or to certify proficiency and make decisions about students’ future
programs or placements. It is designed to provide evidence of achievement to parents, other
educators, the students themselves, and sometimes to outside groups (e.g., employers, other
educational institutions). Assessment of learning is the assessment that becomes public and
results in statements or symbols about how well students are learning. It often contributes to
pivotal decisions that will affect students’ futures. It is important, then, that the underlying logic
and measurement of assessment of learning be credible and defensible.

Difference Between Assessment FOR Learning and Assessment OF Learning

ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING ASSESSMENT OF LEARNING

Teachers, students and parents are the Teachers, principals, supervisors, program
primary users planners, and policy makers are the primary
users

During learning After learning

Used to provide information on what and Used to certify student competence

how to improve achievement

Used by teachers to identify and respond to Used to rank and sort students
student needs

Purpose: improve learning Purpose: document achievement of

standards
 Primary motivator: belief that success is Primary motivator: threat of punishment,
achievable promise of reward

Continuous Periodic

Examples: peer assessment, using rubrics Examples: final exams, placement tests,
with students, descriptive feedback state assessments, unit tests

The Garden Analogy

If we think of our students as plants …
Summative assessment of the plants is the process of simply measuring them. It might be
interesting to compare and analyze measurements but, in themselves, these do not affect the
growth of the plants.
Formative assessment, on the other hand, is the equivalent of feeding and watering the
plants appropriate to their needs - directly affecting their growth.

Guiding Principles in the Assessment of Learning

by Corpuz and Salandanan (2007)
1. Assessment of Learning is an Integral part of the Teaching – Learning process.
2. Assessment tool should match with performance objectives.
3. The result of assessment must be fed back to the learners.
4. In assessing learning, teachers must consider learners’ learning styles and multiple
intelligences and so must come up with a variety of ways of assessing learning.
5. In our assessment techniques, we give positive feedback along with not so good one.
6. Emphasize on self-assessment.
7. If we believe that our task as teachers is to teach all pupils/students, and that it is
possible that all students, even those from limited backgrounds, will have access to
opportunities and therefore can achieve. (Danielson, 2002).
8. Assessment for learning should never be used as punishment or as a disciplinary
measure.
9. Results of learning must be communicated regularly and clearly to parents.
Characteristics of Assessments
VALID. A valid assessment is one which measures what it is intended to measure. It
refers to an instrument’s truthfulness. For example, it would not be valid to assess driving skills
through a written test (alone); the most valid way of assessing driving skills would be through a
combination of practical assessment and written test.
Kemp (1985) also explains that a test is valid when “ it specially measures that was
supposedly learned in terms of the subject content or task as specified by learning objectives
for the unit or topic.” Hopkins and Stanley (1981) describe validity as a measure of how well it
fulfills the function for which it is being used. “Regardless of the other merits of a test, if it lacks
validity in the information it provides it is useless.”
With the use of behavioral objectives, instructional designers use another type of validity
called content validity. Content validity determines the degree to which test items correlate with
instructional objectives. Also, the use of a certain type of test items involves a form of validity
known as construct validity. Construct validity relates to the extent to which the form, content,
and structure of a test influence the results on the test.
RELIABLE. Reliability relates to the consistency of an assessment. A reliable
assessment is one which consistently achieves the same results with the same (or similar) cohort
of students. A reliable test is a test that provides approximately the same results every time it is
administered to students. Thus, a reliable (accurate) instrument is one which a consistent enough
that subsequent measurements give approximately the same numerical status to the thing or
person being measured” (Green, 1975).
Various factors affect reliability -- including ambiguous questions, too many options
within a question paper, vague marking instructions, poorly trained markers, and error in the
test. In addition, the emotional and physiological condition of students taking the test could
affect test reliability.
Other characteristics of assessment include practicality (which relates to the
feasibility of the assessment), fairness (which relates to its application across various cohorts -
such as males and females) and authenticity (which relates to its realism).

LESSON 2 Tests and their Uses in Educational Assessment

A test is one of the devices used in the measurement, evaluation and

assessment of the educative (teaching-learning) process. It is a formal and systematic way of
gathering information about the learner’s behaviour, usually through paper-and –pencil
procedure.

A. Uses of Tests
Tests serve a lot of functions for school administrators, supervisors, teachers, and
parents, as well.
School administrators utilize test results for making decisions regarding the promotion or
retention of students; improvement or enrichment of the curriculum; and conduct of staff
development programs for teachers.
Supervisors use test results in discovering learning areas needing special attention and
identifying teachers’ weaknesses and learning competencies not mastered by the students. Test
results can also provide supervisors baseline data on curriculum revision.
Teachers, on the other hand, utilize tests for numerous purposes. Through testing,
teachers are able to – gather information about the effectiveness of instruction; give feedback to
students about their progress; and assign grades.
Parents, too, derive benefits from tests administered to their children. Through test
scores, they are able to determine how well their children are doing in school and how well the
school is doing its share in educating their children.

B. Types of Test
1. According to mode of response
A. Oral Test – It is a test wherein the test taker gives his answer orally.
B. Written Test – It is a test where answers to questions are written by the test
taker.
C. Performance Test – It is a test which the test taker creates an answer or a
product that demonstrates his knowledge or skill, as in cooking and baking.
2. According to ease of quantification of response
A. Objective Test – It is a paper and pencil test wherein the students’ answers
can be compared and quantified to yield a numerical score. This is because it
requires convergent or specific response.
 B. Subjective Test – It is a paper-and-pencil test which is not easily quantified as
students are given the freedom to write their answer to a question, such as an
essay test. Thus, the answer to this type of test is divergent.
3. According to mode of administration
A. Individual Test – It is a test administered to one student at a time.
B. Group Test – It is a test administered to a group of students simultaneously.

4. According to test constructor

A. Standardized Test – It is a test prepared by an expert or specialist. This type of
test samples behaviour under uniform procedures. Questions are administered
to students with the same directions and time limits. Results in this kind of test
are scored following a detailed procedure based on its manual and interpreted
based on specified norms or standards.
B. Non-standardized Test – It is one prepared by teachers for classroom use with
no established norms for scoring and interpretation of results. It is constructed
by a classroom teacher to meet a particular need.
5. According to mode of interpreting results
A. Norm-referenced Test – It is a test that evaluates a student’s performance by
comparing it to the performance of a group of students on the same test.
B. Criterion-referenced Test – It is a test that measures a student’s performance
against an agreed upon or pre-established level of performance.
6. According to nature of the answer
A. Personality Test – It is a test designed for assessing some aspects of an
individual’s personality. Some areas tested in this kind of test include the
following: emotional and social adjustment; dominance and submission; value
orientation; disposition; emotional stability; frustration level; and degree of
introversion or extroversion.
B. Intelligence Test – It is a test that measures the mental ability of an individual.
C. Aptitude Test – It is a test designed for the purpose of predicting the
likelihood of an individual’s success in a learning area or field of endeavour.
D. Achievement Test – It is a test given to students to determine what a student
has learned from formal instruction in school.
 E. Summative Test – It is a test given at the end of instruction to determine
students’ learning and assign grades.
F. Diagnostic Test – It is a test administered to students to identify their specific
strengths and weaknesses in past and present learning.
G. Formative Test – It is a test given to improve teaching and learning while it is
going on. A test given after teaching the lesson for the day is an example of this
type of test.
H. Socio-metric Test – It is a test used in discovering learners’ likes and dislikes,
preferences and their social acceptance, as well as social relationships existing in
a group.
I. Trade Test – It is a test designed to measure an individual’s skill or competence
in an occupation or vocation.

Activity No. 1
Name:______________________________________ Score:________________
Course and Year:______________________________Date:_________________
I. Answer the following questions briefly but completely:
1. Why are measurement, assessment and evaluation different from each other? What is the
relationship among these three concepts? Explain your answer.
2. What are the three types of classroom assessment teachers undertake? Briefly explain each.

3. How are tests useful for school administrators, supervisors, teachers and parents? Explain
your answer.

II. Give the differences between the following paired types of tests:
1. formative and summative

2. diagnostic and aptitude

3. standardized and non-standardized

4. norm-referenced and criterion-referenced

5. intelligence and personality

 Exercise No. 1
Name:______________________________________ Score:________________
Course and Year:______________________________Date:_________________
I. TRUE OR FALSE. Write True, if the statement is true and False if it is false. Write the answer before
the number.

__________1. Student learning is a primary responsibility of every teacher.

__________2. Testing has to be parallel with teaching.
__________3. Teaching is causing learning among students.
__________4. When a teacher records the results of a quiz given to his class, he is doing
assessment.
__________5. Assigning grades to scores obtained by students in a periodical examination is an
illustration of educational measurement.
__________6. Analysis of students’ work in the classroom can provide teachers with
information on the learners’ strengths and weaknesses.
__________7. Results of formative assessment are used for grading purposes.
__________8. Quarterly examination is an example of assessment AS learning.
__________9. Testing provides the most objective and reliable information about students’
performance.
__________10. Only teachers should make judgment about students’ progress.

II. IDENTIFICATION. Identify what is being asked in the following sentences. Write the answer
before the number.
____________________1. It is a test given after the teaching of a lesson to determine whether
students had achieved the objectives.
____________________2. A test given at the end of a marking term for grading purposes.
____________________3. A test that determines the likelihood of success in a profession.
____________________4. It is a test which is utilized in measuring an individual’s mental
ability.
____________________5. A test prepared by teachers to meet a particular classroom need.
____________________6. A test wherein a norm for scoring, administration and interpretation
of results is provided.
____________________7. A test designed to assess the strengths and weaknesses of a learner
prior to formal instruction.
____________________8. A test constructed to measure emotional and social adjustment and
other personal qualities of an individual.
____________________9. A test wherein the taker has to give his response verbally.
____________________10. A test designed to measure social relationships within a group.

Reflection
How have particular tests and measurements influenced your life?
(minimum of 200 words)

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Suggested Readings

Resources and Additional Resources

Prepared by

LEA F. DOLLETE
Assistant Professor 2