ASSESSMENT IN LEARNING I: Module I

Basic Principles and Concepts in Assessment in Learning

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Learning Outcomes
At the end of the chapter, the student should be able to:
Basic
Identify the basic concepts and principles in educational assessment;
Principles Define the terms: assessment, evaluation, measurement, testing and
and test, formative assessment, placement assessment, diagnostic
Concepts in assessment, summative assessment, traditional assessment,
Assessment portfolio assessment, performance assessment;
Discriminate the different purposes of assessment;
in Learning Differentiate the different types of assessment;
Discuss the different guidelines for effective student assessment; and
Differentiate norm-referenced interpretation from criterion-
referenced interpretation

Introduction

Assessment is one of the most significant areas of an educational system. It

defines what students take to be important, how they spend much of their academic
time and in many ways how they value themselves. Rowtree (1987:1) says of
assessment “If you wish to discover the truth about an educational system, we must
look into its assessment procedures.”
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The Importance of Assessment

I'm sure you know the feeling of anticipation when you are about to take a quiz or test. Did you
take detailed class notes and study enough? And you surely have been assigned with various essays. Did
you give yourself enough time to research, write, and revise your essay in order to meet the requirements?

Exams and essays along with speeches and projects are forms of assessment. Assessment is a
critical step in the learning process. It determines whether or not the course's learning objectives have been
met. A learning objective is what students should know or be able to do by the time a lesson is
completed. Assessment affects many facets of education, including student grades, placement, and
advancement as well as curriculum, instructional needs, and school funding.

The Effects of Assessment

Let's look at a couple of the main effects of assessment:

Student Learning
Assessment is a key component of learning because it helps students learn. When students are able
to see how they are doing in a class, they are able to determine whether or not they understand
course material. Assessment can also help motivate students. If students know they are doing poorly,
they may begin to work harder.

Imagine this situation:

Mario is a chemistry student. He just took his first exam in his class. He earned a 56%; he
needs a 79% to pass the class.

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 The low exam score lets Johnny know that he missed something important he should have learned.
Perhaps, he did not understand the material, or maybe he did not study long enough. Whatever
the case, the assessment results let Mario know that he did not successfully learn the material
and that he must try something new in order to earn a better score.

Teaching
Just as assessment helps students, assessment helps teachers. Frequent assessment allows
teachers to see if their teaching has been effective. Assessment also allows teachers to ensure
students learn what they need to know in order to meet the course's learning objectives.

Imagine this situation:

Mrs. Gomez is a 12th grade biology teacher. After finishing the unit on cell division, she gives
a 50-point multiple-choice test. Upon grading the exam, Mrs. Gomez realized the average class
grade was a 68%, far below the cutoff line for passing. Mrs. Gomez can easily see that her
students didn't fully learn cell division. This tells her that she needs to re-visit the unit on cell
division and determine why students failed the exam. Perhaps she may need to try a different
teaching strategy, or perhaps she did not spend enough time on difficult material.

Frequency and Feedback

Assessment is designed so that students understand their progress towards course goals and modify
their behavior in order to meet those goals. In order to do that, assessment should be ongoing. In other
words, classes that use one or two exams a term are not using assessment as effectively as it could be
used. In order for students to gain a true representation of their understanding, frequent assessment is
critical, and it should be accompanied with feedback.

Assessment is really only as good as the feedback that accompanies it. Feedback is the teacher's
response to student work. In order to make assessment as effective as possible, teachers should provide
their feedback as well as a letter grade. It is important that students understand why a particular question
was incorrect or why their essay did not meet requirements.

Ways on how to assess students

There is a lot of debate about how to assess learning, and especially about how to evaluate
performance. Our objectives give us guidance on what to assess because they are written in terms on what
the learner should be able to do. Based on these objectives it is very useful to identify all the activities and
skills which the learners will carry out, the conditions under which they will perform these tasks and the
activities, the possible results which might be obtained and the standards by which their performance will
be measured. The assessment itself can be done in different ways:

1. Ask the learner to recall facts or principles? (Ex: What is “x”?)

2. Ask the learner to apply the given or recalled facts or principles? (Ex. How does ‘x’ help you solve
this problem?)

3. Ask the learner to select and apply facts and principles to solve a given problem (Ex. What do you
know that will help to solve this problem?)

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 4. Ask the learner to formulate and solve his or her own problem by selecting, generating and applying
facts and principles (What do I see as the pro as the problem here and how can I reach a satisfying
solution?)

5. Ask the learner to perform tasks that shows mastery of the learning outcome.

Learners should be actively involved in both the development of learning objectives, and as much
as possible in their own assessment.

In many education systems, assessment is used as a tool for ‘sorting’ students for selection process
(progression to a higher level of education, higher rewards, among others).

Assessment where students are compared with each other is known as norm-referencing.
Assessment of learners in relation to a particular target of level of performance is called criterion-
referencing.

Different terminologies:
Assessment refers to the different components and activities of different schools.
 an assessment can be used to student learning and
comparing student learning with the learning goals of
an academic program.
 Assessment is defined as an act or process of gathering,
organizing and interpreting data into an interpretable
form to have a basis for decision making (about student
learning).
 It emphasizes on individual student or groups of
individuals and on the academic program of a certain
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educational institution.
 There are different purposes of assessment: To
provide feedback to students and to serve as diagnostic tool for instruction. For
this purpose, assessment usually answers the questions “Was the instruction effective?”
and “Did the students achieve the intended learning outcomes?”
The most common form of assessment is giving a test.
 Since test is a form of assessment, hence, it also answers the question,
“How does individual student perform?”
 Test is formal and systematic instrument, usually paper and pencil
procedure designed to assess the quality, ability, skill or knowledge of the
students by giving a set of question in uniform manner –examples:
Multiple choice, True or False, Identification type etc.
data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZ  Testing is one of the different methods used to measure the level of
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performance or achievement of the learners.
 Also, it refers to the administration , scoring and interpretation of the
procedures designed to get information about the extent of the performance of the students.
Measurement is a process of quantifying or assigning number to the individual’s intelligence,
personality, attitudes and values and achievement of the students.

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 Express the assessment data in terms of numerical values and answer the question, “How
much”.
 Example: Mario got 23 correct answers out of 25 items in Mathematics
Ana got 89% in her English first grading periodic test.
Juan’s scored 85% in his laboratory test in Chemistry.
Evaluation refers to the process of judging the quality of what is good and what is desirable.
 It is a comparison of data to a set of standard of learning criteria for the process of
judging the worth or quality.
 Note: for evaluating essay type of test, a rubric must be used.

Types of Assessment Procedures

Nature of Assessment

1. Maximum Performance - it is used to determine what individuals can do when

performing at their best. Examples of instruments using maximum performance are
aptitude tests or achievement tests.

2. Typical Performance - it is used to determine what individuals will do under natural

conditions. Examples of instruments using typical performance are attitude, interest and
personality inventories, observational techniques and peer appraisal.

Format of Assessment

1. Fixed-choice Test - an assessment used to measure knowledge and skills effectively and
efficiently. Standard multiple-choice test is an example of instrument used in fixed-choice
test.

2. Complex-performance assessment – an assessment procedure used to measure the

performance of the learner in contexts and on problems valued in their own right.
Examples of instruments used in complex-performance assessments are hands-on
laboratory experiment, project, essays, oral presentation..

Role of assessment in Classroom Instruction

 According to Swearingen (2002) and Kellough (1999), Teaching and Learning are reciprocal
processes that depend on and affect one another.

 Assessment enhances learning in the instructional processes if the result provides feedbacks to
both students and teachers.

 The information obtained from the assessment is used to evaluate the teaching methodologies and
strategies of the teacher and used to make teaching decisions.

 When planning assessment, it should start when teacher plans his instruction - when writing
learning outcomes up to the time when the teacher assesses the extent of achieving the learning
outcomes.

 Teachers made decisions from the beginning of instruction up to the end of instruction.

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  THERE ARE FOUR ROLES OF ASSESSMENT USED IN THE INSTRUCTIONAL PROCESS.

Beginning of Instruction

 Placement Assessment according to Gronlund, Linn and Miller( 2009) is concerned with
the entry performance. The purpose of placement assessment is to determine the
prerequisite skills, degree of mastery of the course objectives and the best mode of
learning. Examples: readiness test, aptitude test,pre-tests, self report inventories

During Instruction

 The main concern of a classroom teacher is to monitor the learning progress of the students.

 Teacher should assess whether students achieved the intended learning outcomes set for a
particular lesson.

 The teacher should provide a feedback to reinforce learning. Garnison and Ehringhaus
(2007), stressed in their paper “Formative and Summative Assessment in the
Classroom,”that feedback provides students with an understanding of what they are doing
well, links to classroom learning and gives specific input on how to reach the next step in
learning progression.

 Formative Assessment is a type of assessment used to monitor the learning progress of

the students during instruction. The purposes of the formative assessment are the
following:

 To provide immediate feedback to both student and teacher regarding the success
and failures of learning;

 To identify the learning errors that need correction;

 To provide teachers with information on how to modify instruction; and

 To improve learning and instruction.

 Diagnostic Assessment is a type of assessment given at the beginning of instruction or

during instruction. It aims to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the students
regarding the topics to be discussed. The purposes of diagnostic assessment are:

 To determine the level of competence of the students;

 To identify the students who are already have knowledge about the lesson;

 To determine the causes of learning problems that cannot be revealed by

formative assessment; and

 To formulate a plan for remedial action.

 Examples: published diagnostic tests(standardized test), teacher-made test,

observational techniques

End of Instruction

 Summative Assessment is a type of assessment usually given at the end of a course

or unit. The purpose of summative assessment are:
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  To determine the extent to which the instructional objectives have been met.

 To certify student mastery of the intended learning outcomes as well as use it for
assigning grades;

 To provide information for judging appropriateness of the instructional objectives;

and

 To determine the effectiveness of instruction

 examples: teacher-made survey test, performance rating skills(eg. English –

theater), product skills(projects)

Methods of Interpreting the Results

1. Norm-referenced interpretation – it is used to describe student performance according to

relative position in some known group. In this method of interpretation, it is assumed that the
level of performance of students will not vary much from one class to another class. Example:
Juan ranks 4th in a classroom group of 40.

2. Criterion-referenced interpretation - it is used to describe student performance according to

a specified domain of clearly defined learning tasks. This method of interpretation is used
when the teacher wants to determine how well the students have learned specific knowledge or
skills in a certain course or subject matter.

Example: divide three-digit whole numbers correctly and accurately; recite the lyrics of National
Anthem precisely and correctly, multiply binomial variables correctly

Other types of Test

Non-standardized test versus Standardized test

1. Non-standardized test – is a type of test developed by the classroom teachers.

2. Standardized test is a type of test developed by test specialists. It is administered,

scored and interpreted using a certain standard condition. It is subjected to different
corrections, reliability and validity.

Objective test versus Subjective test

1. Objective test – is a type of test in which two or more evaluators give an examinee
the same score. Example: Multiple choice

2. Subjective test - is a type of test in which the scores are influenced by the
judgement of the evaluators, meaning there are no one correct answer. Example: Essay

Supply test versus Fixed-response test

1. Supply test – is a type of test that requires the examinees to supply an answer, such
as an essay test item or completion or short answer test item.

2. Fixed-response test – is a type of test that requires the examinees to select an

answer from a given option such as multiple-choice test, matching type of test or
true/false test.
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 Individual test versus Group test

1. Individual test – is a type of test administered to student on a one-on-one basis using

oral questioning.

2. Group test - is a type of test administered to a group of individuals or group of

students.

Mastery test versus Survey test

1. Mastery test – is a type of achievement test that measures the degree of mastery
of a limited set of learning outcomes using criterion-reference to interpret result.

2. Survey test – is a type of test that measures student’s general achievement over a
broad range of learning outcomes using norm-reference to interpret result

Speed test versus Power test

1. Speed test - is designed to measure number of items an individual can

complete over a certain of time.

2. Power test - is designed to measure the level of performance rather than

speed of response. It contains test items that are arranged according to
increasing degree of difficulty.

MODES OF ASSESSMENT

Traditional Assessment – it is a type of assessment in which the students choose their answer
from a given list of choices. In traditional assessment, students are expected to recognize that there
is only one correct answer or best answer for the question asked.

Examples: Multiple choice test, standard true/false, matching type test, fill-in-the-blank
test

Alternative Assessment – students create an original response to answer a certain question.

Students respond to a question using their own ideas, in their own words.

Examples: Short-answer questions, essays, oral presentations, exhibitions,

demonstrations, performance assessment, portfolios.

Components of Alternative Assessment

a. Assessment is based on authentic tasks that demonstrate students’ ability to

accomplish communication goals.

b. The teacher and students focus on communication, not on right and wrong
answers.

c. Students help the teacher to set the criteria for successful completion of
communication tasks.

d. Students have opportunities to assess themselves and their peers.

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 Performance-based assessment – students are asked to perform real-world tasks that
demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills
 It is a direct measure of student performance.
 It focus on processes and rationales; there is no single correct answer.
 The teacher is an important collaborator in creating tasks, as well as in developing
guidelines for scoring and interpretation.
Portfolio assessment
 Systematic, longitudinal collection of student work created in response to specific,
known instructional objectives and evaluated in relation to the same criteria
(Ferenz,K.,2001).
 It is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student’s efforts,
progress and achievements in one or more areas over a period of time.
Contextualized assessment - The focus is on the student’s construction of functioning
knowledge and the student’s performance in application of knowledge in the real work context of
the discipline area.
 It uses performance-based tasks which are authentic in nature.
 It measures skills and knowledge in dealing with specific situations or perform specific
tasks which the students have identified as important and meaningful to them.
 Application of the skills and knowledge must be in the context of the real world as
possible.
Decontextualized assessment – It includes written exams and term papers which are suitable
for assessing declarative knowledge.
 Do not necessarily have a direct connection to a real-life context (Biggs, 2011)
 It focuses on declarative knowledge and/or procedural knowledge in artificial
situation detached from the real world context.

THE ROLE OF ASSESSMENT IN LEARNING

Assessment is used for various purposes:

a. Assessment FOR learning: where assessment helps teachers gain insight into what students
understand in order to plan and guide instruction and provide helpful feedback to students.
- is an approach to teaching and learning that creates feedback which
is then used to improve students' performance.
- FORMATIVE assessment – ongoing process used by all students
and teachers during learning and teaching to elicit and use evidence
of students learning to improve student understanding of intended
disciplinary learning outcomes and support student to become self-
directed learners.
b. Assessment AS learning: where students develop an awareness of how they learn and us that
awareness to adjust and advance their learning, taking an increased responsibility for their
learning.
- Students monitor their own learning, ask questions and use a range of
strategies to decide what they know and can do, and how to use assessment
information for new learning.

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 c. Assessment OF learning: where assessment informs students, teachers and parents, as well
as the broader educational community of achievement at a certain point in time in order to
celebrate success, plan intervention and support continued progress.

Assessment of learning occurs when teachers use evidence of student

learning to make judgements on student achievement against goals
and standards (SUMmative assessment).

GUIDELINES FOR EFFECTIVE STUDENT ASSESSMENT

Gronlund (1998) provided general guidelines for using student assessment effectively:

1. Effective assessment requires a clear concept of all intended learning outcomes.

2. Effective assessment requires that a variety of assessment procedures should be used.
3. Effective assessment requires that the instructional relevance of the procedure should be
considered.
4. Effective assessment requires an adequate sample of student performance.
5. Effective assessment requires that the procedures must be fair to everyone.
6. Effective assessment requires specifications of criteria for judging successful performance.
7. Effective performance requires feedback to students emphasizing strengths of
performance and weaknesses to be corrected.
8. Effective assessment must be supported by comprehensive grading and reporting system.

REFERENCES:
Ubina-Balagtas, M. et al. (2019). Assessment in Learning 1, Manila, Philippines. Rex
Bookstore Publishing INC.
Websites:
Assessment Feedback
https://www.ucd.ie/teaching/resources/
Effective student assessment and evaluation in the classroom
https://files.eric.ed.gov
The role of teachers in the assessment of learnin
https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/assess/role.html
Student assessment of learning gains-practical classroom assessment tools
http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/nisec/cl1

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