Classroom-based Assessment

Fundamental Concepts
Pop quiz
Mlearning.hoasen.edu.vn
Course: Classroom-Based Language Assessment
Week 1: Pop quiz
Time allotted: 5 minutes
This quiz is the prerequisite of this course.

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Reflection
1. How did this test make you feel?
2. How do tests make us feel much of the time?
3. List two reasons why tests are generally seen as something
negative by students.
4. Can tests be positive experiences?
5. Can tests bring out the best in students?
So, what is a TEST?

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 An instrument- a
set of techniques,
procedures, or
items
What is a test?
• A test is simply a method of measuring a

person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in a

given domain.
(Brown, 2003)

Quantifying

Measure
performance to
imply ability 4
What is a test?
A test is a measurement instrument designed to
elicit and evaluate a specific sample of an
individual’s behaviour.
(Bachman, 1990)

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What is assessment?
Assessment refers to ‘all those activities undertaken by teachers,
and by their students in assessing themselves, which provide
information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching
and learning activities in which they are engaged’
(Black and William, 1998, p. 2)

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What is Assessment?
• Assessment is one component of teaching and learning
activities.
• By doing assessment, teachers can hopefully gain information
about every aspect of their students especially their
achievement.
• An aspect that plays crucial role in assessment is tests.

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 Assessment and Testing
• Is assessment synonymous with testing?

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Tests – Assessment
• Tests are a subset of assessment.
• Tests are a genre of assessment techniques.
• Tests are not the only form of assessment.

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Measurement and Evaluation
What is measurement?
• Measurement is the process of quantifying the observed
performance of classroom learners (Brown, 2019).
• Measurement in the social sciences is the process of
quantifying the characteristics of persons according to
explicit procedures and rules (Bachman, 1990).
What is evaluation?
• Check the meaning of assessment and evaluation in
Vietnamese. Are they different?

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Evaluation
What is evaluation?
• Check the meaning of assessment and evaluation in
Vietnamese. Are they different?

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 Discussion

1. Think of a certain expensive product you have bought recently. Write

down the process that you went through before you decided to buy it.
2. Together with your friends, find out whether or not you have the same
procedure. Think about these issues.
+Why did you buy the product?
+What kind of information did you have before you decided to buy
the product? How did you judge the information? Did it take you a long time
to judge the information?
+Did you feel regret after buying the product?

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Evaluation
3. From the situation mentioned, it is clear that some factors of
evaluation have been touched on. Now, let’s consider the following
questions.
a. In general, is evaluation necessary for decision-making?
b. Do you agree that evaluation is a process of forming
judgments?
c. What is the necessary condition for forming judgments?
d. Do you think that the process of evaluating the product
mentioned can be applied into the context of education?
e. From the discussion, what are the components of evaluation in
education?

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Evaluation
• As teachers, when we carry out assessment, we have to
measure the performance of our students and progress they
make. We also need to diagnose the problems they have and
provide our learners with useful feedback.
• Evaluation involves looking at all the factors that influence the
learning process, such as syllabus objectives, course design,
materials, methodology, teacher performance and assessment.

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 Which best describes the relationship?

Assessment
Tests Teaching
Assessment Tests

Teaching
1
Tests
2
Assessment

Teaching

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3
 Which best describes the relationship?

Assessment
Tests Teaching
Assessment Tests

Teaching
1
Tests
2
Assessment

Teaching

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3
 1. To group my students for instruction purposes in my class
2. To obtain information on my students’ progress
1. Instructional 3. To plan my instruction
purposes 4. To diagnose strengths and weaknesses in my own teaching and instruction
5. To provide feedback to my students as they progress through the course
2. Student- 6. To motivate my students to learn
centred 7. To ‘make’ my students work harder
purposes 8. To prepare my students for standardized tests they will need to take in the
future (e.g., the Test of English as a Foreign Language)
3. 9. To diagnose strengths and weaknesses in my students
Administrative 10.To formally document growth in my students’ learning
purposes 11.To determine the final grades for my students
12.To provide information to the central administration (e.g., school, university)
13.To provide information to an outside funding agency

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