CH-10 ASSESSSMENT - MEANING, TYPES, IMPORTANCE AND STAGES
Assessment is an
integral part of instruction, as it determines whether or not the goals of
education are being met. Assessment affects decisions about grades, placement
advancement, instructional needs curriculum and in some cases, funding.
Test : a test refers
to a tool, technique or a method that is intended to measure students knowledge
or their ability to complete a particular task. In this sense testing can be
considered such as validity and reliability.
Measurement : The word
measurement, as it applies to education is not substantially different from
when it is used in may other field it simply means determining the attributes
or dimensions of an object, skill or knowledge. We use common objects in the
physical world to measure, tools are help to standards and can be used to
obtain reliable results when used properly they accurately gather data for
educators and administrators.
Evaluation :
Evaluation refers to the systematic gathering of information for the purpose of
making decisions. It not concerned with the assessment of the performance of an
individual but rather with forming an idea of idea of the curriculum and making
a judgment about it is this judgment is made based on some kind of criteria and
evidence. Evaluation is this larger and may include an analysis of all the aspects of the educational system.
Assessment :
Assessment is the process of colleting information students from divers can do with this
knowledge, Whit about instruction , evaluation is concerned with he students ‘
s performance in other words one assessment is concerned with the students
performance in other words one assesses an individual the students performance
in other words one assesses an individual but evaluates a program, a curriculum
an educational system, etc.
10.2 ASSESSMENT
In general,
assessment is the use of methods and processes,
to gather data about or evidence of human behaviour. Assessment is preferred
term because it (merely) connotes the collection of data concerning the present
state of human bahaviour.
10.2.1 Concept of
Assessment
According to Mirriam —
Webster online dictionary the Word ‘assessment’
comes from the root word ‘assess’, which is defined as:
|. To determine the
rate of amount of (as a tax).
2. To impose (as a
tax), according to an established rate.
3. To make an official
valuation of (property) for the purpose of taxation.
4. To determine the
importance, size of value of (assess a problem).
5. To change (a player
or team) with a foul or penalty.
These meaning of
‘assessment’ are mostly related to the ‘business’s world. Assessment in
education is best described as an action “to determine the importance, size or
value of.” Its synonyms are Appraisal, calculation, computation, estimation,
evaluation, judgment, opinion, valuation, view. Educational asses j measurable
t “ennobled See Process of documenting, usually" in measurable terms
knowledge skills attitudes beliefs it can focus on the individual learner the
learning community i.e. class workshop or other organized groups of learners
the institute or the educational system as a whole.
Assessment is a tool
that measures how well students achieve the learning outcomes assessment is not
a just a test at the end of a unit it is found in all there learning components
the content the process and the product it is performance based seamless and
ongoing students need multiple opportunities to demonstrate their learning.
10.2.2 Definitions of Assessment
Some important
definitions of the term ‘assessment’ in the content of education, are given
here:
I. Mirrian ~ Webster
Dictionary: “The action or instance assessment , appraisal, etc.
University of Oregon,
Teaching Effective Program, assessment is the process of gathering and
discussing information from multiple and diverse sources, in order to (develop
a deep understanding of what students know, understand; can do with their knowledge
as a result of their educational experiences; the process culminates when
assessment results are used to improve subsequent learning.”
3. PJ. Black & D.
William, “The term 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.”
4. Herry Dodds &
Corna Smith, “Assessment in education is the process of gathering,
interpreting, recording and using information about pupils responses to an
educational task.” Hence, assessment is the systematic collection, review and
use of information about educational programmers, undertaken for the purpose of
improving learning and development.
10.3 ASSESSMENT Vs. EVALUATION.
In higher education,
assessment describes any process that appraise an individual'’s knowledge,
understanding, abilities or skills.
The overall goal of
assessment is to improve student learning. Assessment provides students, parents/guardians
and teachers with valid information concerning students’ progress and their
attainment of the expected curriculum. So, assessment should always be viewed as
information to improve student achievement.
Assessment s are based
on the levels of achievement and standards developed to: those curricular goals
appropriate for the grade.
Evaluation: Evaluation
is the process of determining what the collected data means to the students, teacher,
and curriculum. In order to get the best student achievement, the teacher must
know when to reteach and when to challenge further. Evaluating the results of
the student’s perform ice assessment guides the direction and focus, of new
curriculum des go and it s a guide for revising the project. In simple words,
evaluation is what we do with the assessment material, we have co lasted
through to the project.
Journey Vs. Snapshot:
One could look at assessment and evaluation as the journey (assessment) versus
Snapshot (evaluation). Assessment requires the gathering of evidence of student
performance over a period of time to measure learning and understanding.
Evidence of learning could take the form of dialogue, journals, written work, portfolios,
tests along with many other tasks. Evaluation on the other hand occurs when a
mark is assigned after the completion of a task test, quiz, lesson or learning
activity. A mark on a spelling test will determine if the child can spell the
given words and would be seem as an evaluation.
Assessment would be a
review of journal, written work, presentation, research papers, essays, story
writing, tests, examination, etc., and will demonstrate a sense of more
permanent learning and clearer picture of a students’ ability. Although a child
may receive high in spelling test, if he can’t apply correct spelling in
everyday work, the spelling test marks (evaluation) matters little.
Effective teachers
will use both assessment and evaluation techniques regularly and on a daily
basis to in. prove student learning and to guide instruction. Both, assessment
and evaluation measure heather or not
learning and/or learning objectives are being met.
10.4 STAGES OF ASSESSMENT
Examination +s not
assessment, it is only one of the tools of assessment. The overall aim of
assessment is to gather information to improve the teaching learning process.
The process of assessment involves the following stages:
Stage — 1, Gathering
Information about and evidence of the extent of effective: ness of teaching and
learning.
The infirmity can be
collected by using number of tools like, observation conversation and discussion, assignments.
projects. different types of tests. etc.
Stage — 2. Recording
of Information
Information should be recorded
so schematically. Different recording devices Hike learning profile. anecdotal
records. case studies, report
books, etc. can be
used for this purpose. It is necessary to keep samples
of student's work as
evidence to support the report of the teacher
Stage — 3, Analysing
and Reporting the Information Collected From the analysis of the collected
information, teacher should draw conclusions about how a child is learning and
progressing.
Stage — 4, Using the
Information for Improvement This is the
actual purpose of assessment. Assessment must result in improvements.
10.5 IMPORTANCE OF ASSESSMENT
According to Kellough
& Kellough (1999), “Teaching and learning are reciprocal processes that
depend upon and affect one another. Thus the assessment component deals with
how ‘yell the students are learning and how will the teacher is teaching.” In
other words, educational assessment describes the process that appraise an student’s
knowledge, understanding abilities or skills. There are many different forms of
assessment, serving a variety of purposes. Kellouget la has characterizes the
following seven purposes of assessment.
1. To assist student
learning.
2. To identify student’s
strengths and weaknesses.
3. To assess the
effectiveness of a particular instruction! strategy.
4. To assess and
improve the effectiveness of curricular -programmes.
5. To assess and improve
teaching effectiveness.
6. To provide data that
assist in decision-making.
7. To communicate with
and involve parents.
In general, following
purposes arc served by the use of assessment in the teaching-learning process.
1. To ascertain what
learning change and progress take place in the child over a period of time in
different subjects of study and other aspects of the child’s personality.
2. To promote student
learning by providing the student with feedback. normally to help improve his
performance.
3. To devise a
teaching-learning plan that is responsive to the individual needs and learning
styles.
4, To improve the
teaching-learning material by adding value.
1.
To help
every learner find out their interests, aptitude, strengths and weaknesses, so
that the learner can evolve effecting learning strategies.
6. To enhance the
effectiveness of the teaching-learning process,
7. To record the
progress of every learner and communicate it to parents and other stakeholders.
8 To measure the
extent to which curricular objectives have been realized.
9. To find out the
needs and learning style of every learner.
10. To involve the
learners in the process through peer and self- assessment.
11. To maintain a
dialogue between the teacher and the student and also the parents for the
overall improvement of the system.
12. To enable the
public (including employers and higher education providers) to know that an
individual has attained an appropriate level of achievement that reflects the academic
standards set by the awarding institution and agreed norms, including the frameworks
for higher education qualifications. This may include demonstrating fitness to prectize
or meeting other professional requirements.
10.6 PRINCIPLES OF ASSESSMENT
American Association
of Higher Education (AAHE) has established the following principles of
assessment:
1. The assessment of student learning begins
with educational values.
2. Assessment is most
effective when it reflects an understanding of learning as multidimensional,
integrated and revealed in performance over time.
3. Assessment works
best when the programmes it seeks to improve have clear, explicitly stated
purposes.
4. Assessment requires
attention to outcomes but also an equally to the experiences that lead to those
outcomes.
5. Assessment works
best when it is ongoing, no episodic.
6. Assessment fosters
wider improvement when representatives from across the educational community
are involved.
7, Assessment makes a
difference when it beans with issues Of use and illuminates questions that
people really care about.
8. Assessment Is most
likely to lead to improvement when tat’s Part
ta larger set of conditions that promote change.
9. Through assessment,
educators meet responsibilities to students.
10.7 TYPES OF ASSESSM ENT
There are different
types of assessment in education. All assessment methods have different
purposes during and after instruction. This article will tell you what types of
assessment are most to important during developing and implementing your
instruction.
1. Diagnostic
assessment: Before creating the instruction, it’s necessary to know for what
kind of students you’re creating the instruction. Your goal is to get to know
your student’s strengths, weaknesses and the skills and knowledge the posses
before taking the instruction. Based on the data you’ve collected, you can
create your instruction.
2. Formative
assessment: Formative assessment is used in the first attempt of developing
instruction. The goal is to monitor student learning to provide feedback. It
helps identifying the first gaps in your instruction. Based on this feedback you'll
know what to focus on for further expansion for your instruction.
3. Summative
assessment: Summative assessment is aimed at assessing the extent to which the
most important outcomes at the end of the instruction have been reached. But it
measures more: the effectiveness of learning, reactions on the instruction and
the benefits on a long-term base. The long-term benefits can be determined by following
students who attend your course, or test. You are able to see whether and how
they use the learned knowledge. skills and attitudes.
4. Confirmative assessment:
When your instruction has been implemented in your classroom, it’s still
necessary to take assessment. Your goal with confirmative assessments 1s to
find out if the instruction is still a success after a year, for example, and
if the wav vow’ re teaching is still on point. You could say that a
confirmative assessment is an extensive form of a summative assessment.
5. Norm-referenced
assessment: This compares a student's performance against an average norm. This
could be the average national form for the subject History. for example. Other
example is when the teacher compares the average grade of his or her students against
the average grade of the entire school.
6. Criterion-referenced assessment: It measures
student's performances against a fixed set of predetermined criteria or
learning standards. It checks what students are expected to know and be able to
do at a specific stage of their education. Criterion-referenced tests are used
to evaluate a specific body of knowledge or skill set; it’s a test to evaluate
the curriculum taught in a course.
EXERCISE
1. What do you mean by
assessing students performance? Differentiate between assessment, measurement
and evaluation with suitable examples.
2. What is assessment?
Explain its aims and uses in the field of education.
3. Define assessment.
Discusses the stages of assessment.
4. Explain assessment
and its principles in detail.
5. What is concept of
assessment? Explain the types of assessment in detail.
6. What is assessment
and how it is differ from evaluation?
