Assessment of Student Learning 2 1

Process-Oriented, Performance Based Assessment

Module 004 Process-Oriented, Performance-Based Assessment

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. Identify terms related to process-oriented, performance-based
assessment
2. Recall concepts and principles involved in process-oriented,
performance-based assessment
3. Examine the criteria in designing assessment tasks
4. Discuss concepts, procedures, and techniques in creating and using
rubrics

Process-Oriented, Performance Based Assessment

Let's start by defining the term performance-based assessment. According to Performance-

Based Assessment: Reviewing the Basics. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2018, from
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/performance-based-assessment-reviewing-basics-patricia-
hilliard, performance-based assessment measures students' ability to apply the skills and
knowledge learned from a unit or units of study. Usually, the task challenges students to use their
higher-order thinking skills to create a product or complete process. In this module, our focus is
on how to challenge students to use their higher-order thinking skills to create a complete
process.

Most of the time, teachers tend to assess their learning through traditional testing or
through their products or outputs. The process on which students underwent so as to arrive at
their outputs or products should be assessed. The teacher can assess the processes that students
did to have the kind of outputs or products. Let us remember that assessment is a vehicle for
educational improvement and not an end in itself.

Learning is a complex process. It should be understood as multidimensional, integrated,

and revealed in performance over time. Assessment is said to be effective if it reflects that kind of
understanding of learning. Assessment should employ different methods and shall include a call
for performances on the part of the students, using them over time so as to reveal growth,
changes, and increasing integration degrees.

Process-oriented performance-based assessment evaluates the student's actual task

performance ( Laosinguan, n.d.) Its emphasis is not on the product or output; rather, it aims to
know what processes students undergo when a task is given. To further understand this kind of
performance-based assessment, let's discuss the learning competencies that should be set, the
task to be designed and given to students, and how we can assess them in doing the task.

Process-Oriented Learning Competencies

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 It is important to have some information on what outcomes or products students were able
to produce, but where the said students "end up" matter more. To improve students' outcomes,
teachers should know what these students experience as they do a particular task. Assessment
can help teachers understand the things about a particular student who learn best under
particular conditions. With such understanding, teachers can be capacitated to improve learning
as a whole. Process-oriented performance-based assessment focuses on the actual task
performance rather than the product or output of a particular activity.

How are the learning objectives in the process-oriented performance-based assessment

stated? What distinct qualities these objectives have? According to Navarro, R. L., Ph.D., & Santos,
R. D., Ph.D. (2013). Assessment of Learning 2, 2nd Edition. Quezon City, Philippines: LORIMAR
Publishing, Inc., pp 33, the following are the distinct characteristics of a process-oriented
performance-based objective:
• Stated in directly observable students’ behaviors
• Defined as cluster or groups of abilities or skills needed for a certain task
• Its focus is on the behavior that demonstrates a "best practice" for a specific task
that ranges from a "beginner" or a novice level up to the expert level.

Example:

TASK: To present oneself as if a student is a Student Council candidate

OBJECTIVES: The activity aims to enable the students to present himself specifically to
1. To introduce himself by giving factual information about him;
2. To use vocabulary words in describing oneself.
3. To maintain eye contact with the audience while presenting himself.
4. To pronounce the words clearly and with proper diction and intonation.
5. To create the ambiance of the presentation/campaign through appropriate
rising and falling intonation.

In the above example, the objective starts with a general statement of the student's
expectations in doing the specified task, and then the general objective is broken down to
more observable behaviors in presenting oneself. They identified specific objectives that
comprise the learning competencies for the said task. In stating the objectives using
Bloom's taxonomy, the specific objectives range from simple observable processes to more
complex processes ( ex. To create the presentation/campaign's ambiance through
appropriate rising and falling intonation). A competency is treated as more complex when
it consists of two or more skills.

The following are examples of simple competencies:

• Speak with a modulated voice
• Draw a diagonal line from one point to another point
• Color an apple with a red crayon.

The following are an example of more complex competencies:

• Tell a story with feeling using suitable quality of voice, facial expressions,
and hand gestures
• Draw and color two pictures with hexagon and octagon shapes
• Draw and label a formal dinner table setting
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Process-Oriented, Performance Based Assessment

Task Designing

After formulating the learning objectives for a process-oriented, performance-based

assessment, the next thing to prepare by the teacher is the task itself. Learning tasks should be
carefully planned. The teacher should see to it that the learning process to be observed will
contribute to the overall course understanding.

According to Navarro, R. L., Ph.D., & Santos, R. D., Ph.D. (2013). Assessment of Learning 2,
2nd Edition. Quezon City, Philippines: LORIMAR Publishing, Inc., pp 34, generally accepted
standards for task designing are as follows:

• Activity that would highlight the competencies that a teacher wants to evaluate (ex.
Writing an essay, reciting a poem, manipulating microscope)
• Activity that would involve more or less the same set of objectives
• Tasks that would be enjoyable and interesting for the students.

Likewise, in choosing and designing an assessment task, a teacher should bear in mind that
the task to use and the criteria to use in assessingstudents'e achievement with regards to the given
tasks are interrelated. That is why in choosing the assessment task to be given to students, the
teacher should evaluate their relevance against the criteria cited in UTAS Home. (2015, December
09). Retrieved January 21, 2018, from http://www.teaching-
learning.utas.edu.au/assessment/choosing-and-designing-assessment-tasks and, these are the
following:

1. The tasks are authentic and realistic.

The tasks should be related and applicable to real-life situations.

2. The tasks consist of worthwhile activities in their own right.

The activities should have a contribution to student's learning.

3. The assessment is in a holistic approach.

Development of students learning should include all aspects of development.

4. The tasks are not repetitive.

Students should learn how to make their time productive in doing the task, which,
as much as possible, there will be a need to repeat steps in performing the tasks.

5. The assessment should cause students to have self-assessment.

Activities in a task should range from simple to complex ones, enabling students to
assess what stage he is now and what particular activities he excels in and what
particular skills should be needing more practice.

6. The tasks are flexible.

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 The activities to perform in a task should be adjustable so as to make them conform
to the needs and interests of students.

7. The students will not interpret the task differently from the way the teacher designed
the task.
The task should be discussed well to the students so as not to misunderstood by
students on how they will perform the activities.

8. The tasks do not make assumptions about the subject matter.

The tasks to be given to students should be exact so as not to make different
assumptions on what to do.

Example:

The topic is about the preparatory and measuring kitchen tools and utensils.

Possible Task:

Bring the students to the food laboratory or in the canteen kitchen. There they can see different
tools and utensils in preparing dishes. As a teacher, observe how students will develop a system
for determining the tools and utensils used in preparing food, classifying them according to
preparatory and measuring kitchen tools and utensils, and concluding the differences between the
two categories of kitchen tools and utensils.

Scoring Rubrics

Performance assessment is usually evaluated using rubrics. In the previous module, these
are discussed briefly. Again, what is the rubric? It is a scoring scale used to assess student
performance along with a task-specific set of criteria. (Navarro, R. L., Ph.D., & Santos, R. D., Ph.D.,
2013). Student's aptitude in performing authentic assessments is identified by matching students'
performance against the set of criteria for the task.

For example, the rubric below covers the recitation portion of a task in English.

Story Telling: The Man with an Apple

Teacher Name: Mrs. Sibal

Student Name: ________________________________________

CATEGORY 4 3 2 1
Knowledge Can accurately tell Can accurately tell Can accurately tell Has trouble
the author, the author, title, and the title and favorite remembering title
illustrator, title, and favorite part of the part of the story without prompting.
favorite part of the story when asked when asked several
story when asked several days after days after the
several days after the retelling. retelling.
the retelling.
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Process-Oriented, Performance Based Assessment

Role Shifting Shifts roles smoothly Shifts roles pretty Tried to do role Did not attempt role
almost all the time. It well. It is usually shifting, but it wasn\'t shifting. It was very
is very easy for the easy for the very successful. It difficult for the
audience to tell audience to tell often was hard for audience to tell
which character is which character is the audience to tell which character was
speaking. speaking. which character is speaking.
speaking.

Setting Lots of vivid, Some vivid, The audience can The audience has
descriptive words descriptive words figure out when and trouble telling when
are used to tell the are used to tell the where the story took and where the story
audience when and audience when and place, but there isn\'t takes place.
where the story where the story much detail (e.g.,
takes place. takes place. once upon a time in
a land far, far away).

Sequence Retells story in the Retells the story in Retells story with Retells story out of
correct sequence sequence with 2-3 several omissions sequence.
leaving out no omissions. but maintains a
important parts of sequence of those
the story. told.

Audience The storyteller looks Storyteller looks at Storyteller looks at Storyteller does not
Contact at and tells the story and tells the story to and tells the story to look at or try to
to all members of the a few people in the 1-2 people in the involve the audience.
audience. audience. audience.

Acting/dialogue The student uses The student often The student tries to The student tells the
consistent voices, uses voices, facial use voices, facial story but does not
facial expressions, expressions, and expressions and use voices, facial
and movements to movements to make movements to make expressions, or
make the characters the characters more the characters more movement to make
more believable and believable and the believable and the the storytelling more
the story more easily story more easily story more easily interesting or clear.
understood. understood. understood.
Duration The storytelling lasts The storytelling lasts The storytelling lasts The storytelling lasts
5-7 minutes. 4 or 8 minutes. 9 minutes. less than 3 minutes
or more than 9
minutes.

Table 1Sample Rubric

(n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2018, from http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?ts=1516545110

In the above example, a rubric is composed of two components: criteria and levels
of performance. The criteria, which are the characteristics of a good performance task, are
listed in the left-hand column, namely knowledge, role shifting, setting, sequence, audience
contact, acting/dialogue, and duration. Actually, for each criterion, short-hand is used to
fit them on the table. The full criteria are performance statements such as tell author,
illustrator, title accurately and favorite part of the story, Shifts roles smoothly and etc.

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 For each criterion, the teacher can identify to what degree the student has met the
criterion through the level of performance. In the example, there are four levels of
performance for each criterion. For example, the recitation can last 5-7 minutes, 4-8
minutes, 9 minutes, and less than 3 minutes or more than 9 minutes.

Finally, the sample rubric contains a mechanism for the score assigned to each
project. In the second to the left column, a weight is assigned to each criterion. Students
may receive 4,3,2,1 point for knowledge and other criteria set in the assessment task
rubric.

The sample rubric also shows that the rubric includes descriptors. These spells out
what is expected of students at each performance level for each criterion. In the given
example, Shifts roles smoothly almost all the time. It is very easy for the audience to tell
which character is speaking, and the rest of the statements on the 2 nd -5th columns are
examples of descriptors in a rubric. A descriptor tells students a more precise performance
will look like at each level. Likewise, these also help the teacher to be more consistent and
precise in distinguishing the student's work.

REASONS FOR INCLUDING LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE

1. Clearer expectations
Prior to the completion of the task, it is very useful for the teacher and the
students if the criteria are identified. Because of this, expectations and what to
look for students' performance will be clear to both. Likewise, students will
understand the difference between bad and good performance on a task because
of the levels of performance included in the rubrics.

2. More consistent and objective assessment

Including performance levels in rubrics enables the teacher to be more
consistent and objective in distinguishing an effective and ineffective student
performance or between superior, mediocre, and poor performance when
evaluating students' work.

3. Better feedback
Better and more detailed feedback can be given to students because of
the level of performance including in the rubrics. These can lead to a clear
recognition of what areas should be improved.

ANALYTICAL VERSUS HOLISTIC RUBRICS

Regarding the rubrics to utilize in assessing students' performance, teachers have

the option to choose from analytical and holistic rubrics. First, what is the difference
between analytical and holistic rubrics. According to Creating Rubrics. (n.d.). Retrieved
January 22, 2018, from https://resources.depaul.edu/teaching-commons/teaching-
guides/feedback-grading/rubrics/Pages/creating-rubrics.aspx, analytic rubric resembles
a grid or matrix in which the criteria representing the essential learning being assessed is
organized in the leftmost column, and the levels of achievement are represented in the top
row, while a holistic rubric wherein the teacher judges the level of performance across all
criteria together, instead of separately as is done with an analytic rubric.
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The given example in the previous page is an example of an analytic rubric wherein seven
criteria are given to assess the students' performance in storytelling, and the levels of
performance are also given opposite each criterion. The given analytic rubric can be
turned into a holistic one by summarizing a level of performance across multiple criteria
as a whole.

A SAMPLE HOLISTIC RUBRIC

4- Exemplary
• Can accurately tell author, illustrator title, and favorite part of the story.
• Shift roles smoothly almost all the time
• Lots of vivid, descriptive words are used to tell the audience when and where the story takes
place.
• Retells story in the correct sequence leaving out no important parts of the story.
• Looks at and tells the story to all members of the audience.
• The student uses consistent voices, facial expressions, and movements to make
the characters more believable and the story more easily understood.
• The storytelling lasts 5-7 minutes.
3- Competent
• Can accurately tell the author, title, and favorite part of the story when asked
several days after the retelling.
• Shifts roles pretty well. It is usually easy for the audience to tell which character
is speaking
• Some vivid, descriptive words are used to tell the audience when and where the
story takes place.
• Retells story in sequence with 2-3 omissions.
• Looks at and tells the story to a few people in the audience.
• The student often uses voices, facial expressions, and movements to make the
characters more believable and the story more easily understood.
• The storytelling lasts 4 or 8 minutes.
2- Developing
•Can accurately tell the title and favorite part of the story when asked several
days after the retelling.
• Tried to do role shifting, but it wasn\'t very successful. It often was hard for the
audience to tell which character is speaking.
• The audience can figure out when and where the story took place, but there
isn\'t much detail
• Retells story with several omissions, but maintains sequence of those told.
• Storyteller looks at and tells the story to 1-2 people in the audience.
• The student tries to use voices, facial expressions, and movements to make the
characters more believable and the story more easily understood.
• The storytelling lasts 9 minutes.
1- Beginning
• Has trouble remembering title without prompting.
• Did not attempt role shifting. It was very difficult for the audience to tell which
character was speaking.
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 • The audience has trouble telling when and where the story takes place.
• Retells story out of sequence.
• Storyteller does not look at or try to involve the audience.
• The student tells the story but does not use voices, facial expressions, or
movement to make the storytelling more interesting or clear.
• Storyteller does not look at or try to involve the audience.
• The student tells the story but does not use voices, facial expressions, or
movement to make the storytelling more interesting or clear.
• The storytelling lasts less than 3 minutes or more than 9 minutes.

References and Supplementary Materials

Books and Journals

1. Navarro, R. L., Ph.D., & Santos, R. D., Ph.D. (2013). Assessment of Learning 2, 2nd
Edition. Quezon City, Philippines: LORIMAR Publishing, Inc., pp 32-42
2. Performance-Based Assessment: Reviewing the Basics. (n.d.). Retrieved January
21, 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/performance-based-assessment-
reviewing-basics-patricia-hilliard
3. Laosinguan, L. (n.d.). PROCESS ORIENTED ASSESSMENT. Retrieved January 21,
2018, from
http://www.academia.edu/30918884/PROCESS_ORIENTED_ASSESSMENT
4. Language assessment benchmark. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2018, from
https://www.scoop.it/t/language-assessment-benchmark
5. UTAS Home. (2015, December 09). Retrieved January 21, 2018, from
http://www.teaching-learning.utas.edu.au/assessment/choosing-and-designing-
assessment-tasks
6. Learning, D. (2015, June 30). How Can Educators Design Authentic Performance
Tasks? (Part 3). Retrieved January 21, 2018, from
https://blog.performancetask.com/how-can-educators-design-authentic-
performance-tasks-part-3-5817561ae422
7. Creating Rubrics. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2018, from
https://resources.depaul.edu/teaching-commons/teaching-guides/feedback-
grading/rubrics/Pages/creating-rubrics.aspx
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Online Supplementary Reading Materials

1. Why performance based assessment (n.d.) .Retrieved January 21, 2018 from
https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/events/materials/2011-06-
linked-learning-performance-based-assessment.pdf
2. Performance-Based Assessment: Rubrics, Web 2.0 Tools and Language
Competencies. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2018, from
http://mextesol.net/journal/index.php?page=journal&id_article=108
Online Instructional Videos
1. Process oriented method Pie-5. (2016, July 19). Retrieved January 22, 2018,
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHokddwgFaw
2. Process VS Product Approach. (2016, July 25). Retrieved January 22, 2018, from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS4lOVUdzWE
3. PP1 S011 Rubrics Assessing Open Ended Tasks. (2016, July 28). Retrieved
January 22, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipHEdBhLbG0

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