What is EVALUATION?

A comprehensive way of assessing students

performance on a course, which may include
testing, together with other forms of
assessment. In other words, tests are not the
only tools a teacher can use to evaluate
students.

Ways to gather information for

evaluation
1. Testing: Formal and informal. Criterion is an
arbitrary level.
2. Teachers assessment: Subjective estimate of
the learners overall performance.
3. Continuous assessment: Combination of the
grades received for various assignments
during a course.
4. Self-assessment:The learners evaluate their
own performance, using clear criteria and
weighting systems (agreed before).
5. Portfolio:Ss gather a collection of assignments
and projects done over a long period of time;
this portfolio provides the basis for evaluation.

Testing
An activity whose main purpose is to convey,
usually to the tester, how well the testee knows or
can do something. (Learning may result from a
test, but this is not the main goal).

The relationship between

TEACHING and TESTING
Separated

teaching is mainly
directed to a particular
test

school exams
public examinations

The relationship between

TEACHING and TESTING
Close

tests are devices that:

reinforce learning
evaluate students performance
evaluate Ts effectiveness
help focus on areas of difficulty

Therefore:
TEACHING
TESTS = valuable devices
LEARNING
(rather than UNPLEASANT IMPOSITIONS)

CLOSE relationship is
EXTREMELY IMPORTANT

Characteristics of a good test

1.

Reliability
Something reliable is something that works well
and that you can trust.
A reliable test is a consistent measure of what it
is supposed to measure.

Questions:

Can we trust the results of the test?

Would we get the same results if the tests were

taken again and scored by a different person?
Tests can be made more reliable by making
them more objective (controlled items).

Characteristics of a good test

2.

Validity
Something valid is something fair.
A valid test is one that measures what it is
supposed to measure.

Types of Validity

Face: What do students think of the test?

Construct: Am I testing in the way I taught?

Content: Am I testing what I taught?

Tests can be made more valid by making
them more subjective (open items).

Characteristics of a good test

3.

Practicality
Something practical is something effective in
real situations.
A practical test is one which can be practically
administered.

Questions:

Will the test take longer to design than apply?

Will the test be easy to mark?

Tests can be made more practical by making
it more objective (more controlled items)

Reliability, Validity & Practicality

The problem:

The more reliable a test is, the less valid.

The more valid a test is, the less reliable.
The more practical a test is, (generally) the less
valid.
The solution:
As in everything, we need a balance (in both
exams and exam items)

Testing...
What?
1. Language
Grammar
Vocabulary
Spelling
Pronunciation
2.

Skills
Listening
Reading
Speaking
Writing

Why?
To find out what
students have learnt

To find out what

students can do

Testing in the Communicative

Classroom

more than one type of test is needed (skills)

main focus:
LANGUAGE is used for COMMUNICATION

tests must include:

Listening
Speaking
Reading
Writing

activities (integrating the skills

as it happens in real life)

Nevertheless, scoring is more subjective:

VALID, but not always RELIABLE.

Criteria for student evaluation

1.

Criterion-referenced: how well a learner is

performing in relation to a fixed criterion,
based on an estimation of what is reasonable or
desirable at a certain point in their
development.

2.

Norm-referenced: how well the learner is

performing in relation to
the group.

3.

Individual-referenced: how well the

learner is performing in relation to
his/her previous performance.

Products from evaluation

Feedback: Information that is given to the
learner about his/her performance of a learning
task, usually with the objective of improving this
performance.
Assessment: Informing the learner on how well
or badly he/she has performed. (e.g. grades,
good, no, etc.)
Correction: Specific information provided on
aspects of the learners performance. MUST
include information on what the learner did right
as well as wrong, and, most importantly, why.