ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING IN CLASSROOM

ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING IN CLASSROOM

Learning is a relatively permanent change in, or acquisition of knowledge, understanding or behavior. There are three ways of learning, they’re Transmission, Reception and Construction.

Student Evaluation in Transmission Reception (Behaviorist ) Model of Education

Reception is model of learning where there is transmission of knowledge from the external source (for example, teacher) to the receiver (students). So, learning here is being taught. The teacher gives students the concept and knowledge while students are only receiving it purely.

Transmission is Sending & Receiving messages, knowledge, signals. Which includes no scope for creativity, Rigidity and Generally method of teaching is Lecture Method.

Behaviorism Theory of Learning “ Teachers must learn how to teach … they need only to be taught more effective ways of teaching.” -B. F. Skinner By: Brittaney

Behaviorism assumes that a learner is essentially passive, responding to environmental stimuli. It Believes that When born our mind is ‘tabula rasa’ (a blank slate) , and behavior is shaped by positive and negative reinforcement. Behaviorism is primarily concerned with observable behavior, as opposed to internal events like thinking and emotion. Observable (i.e. external) behavior can be objectively and scientifically measured. Internal events, such as thinking should be explained through behavioral terms (or eliminated altogether).

Assessment in Behaviorist Model of Education

     Here the importance is to assess how much students where receiving the information transmitted by the teacher. Knowledge transmission cannot be evaluated. But indirect methods can be used to assess attention or emotional states. Here teacher can assess only the success of teaching process. In this more weightage is given to knowledge level and understanding level of attainment of objectives. Traditional bloom’s taxonomy is the base for assessment. In this assessment is summative in nature.

Drawbacks of Assessment in Behaviorist Model of Education

§  Assessment is only about the success of teaching process.

§  Students are passive listeners so proper assessment of achievement is not possible.

§  Less importance to psychological aspects of learner.

§  More importance to the product achieved by the students.

§  No weightage to the mental process of learners.

§  No continues assessment of the learner.

§  Less importance to co-scholastic achievements.

Student Evaluation in Constructivist  Model of Education

Formalization of the theory of constructivism is generally attributed to jean piaget, who articulated mechanisms by which knowledge is internalized by learners. He suggested that through processes of accommodation and assimilation, individuals construct new knowledge from their experiences. “ Teaching is not about filling up the pail, it is about lighting a fire” Constructivism: focuses on knowledge construction .It is a theory of knowledge that argues that humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences and their ideas. Constructivism is a theory of knowledge  that argues that humans generate knowledge and meaning from an interaction between their experiences and their ideas. It has influenced a number of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, education and the history of science.

When individuals assimilate, they incorporate the new experience into an already existing framework without changing that framework. This may occur when individuals’ experiences are aligned with their internal representations of the world, but may also occur as a failure to change a faulty understanding; for example, they may not notice events, may misunderstand input from others, or may decide that an event is a fluke and is therefore unimportant as information about the world. In contrast, when individuals’ experiences contradict their internal representations, they may change their perceptions of the experiences to fit their internal representations.

According to the theory, accommodation is the process of reframing one’s mental representation of the external world to fit new experiences. Accommodation can be understood as the mechanism by which failure leads to learning: when we act on the expectation that the world operates in one way and it violates our expectations, we often fail, but by accommodating this new experience and reframing our model of the way the world works, we learn from the experience of failure, or others’ failure.

It is important to note that constructivism is not a particular pedagogy. In fact, constructivism is a theory describing how learning happens, regardless of whether learners are using their experiences to understand a lecture or following the instructions for building a model airplane. In both cases, the theory of constructivism suggests that learners construct knowledge out of their experiences.

Assessment in Constructivist  Model of Education

Constructivism is often associated with pedagogic approaches that promote active learning , or learning by doing. The view of the learner changed from that of a recipient of knowledge to that of a constructor of knowledge, an autonomous learner with metacognitive skills for controlling his or her cognitive process during learning. Learning involves selecting relevant information and interpreting it through one’s existing knowledge. Accordingly, the teacher becomes a participant with the learner in the process of shared cognition, that is, in the process of constructing meaning in a given situation. Concerning instruction, the focus changed from the curriculum to the cognition of the student. Thus, instruction is geared toward helping the student to develop learning and thinking strategies that are appropriate for working within various subject domains. Correspondingly, assessment is qualitative rather than quantitative, determining how the student structures and process knowledge rather than how much is learned. Continuous and comprehensive assessment is one of the main strategy in constructivist learning. In this assessment is formative rather than summative. Weightage to learning objectives in the assessment is given based on the revised blooms taxonomy.

Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE)

Continuous and comprehensive evaluation is a process of assessment, mandated by the Right to Education Act, of India. This approach to assessment has been introduced by state governments in India, as well as by the Central Board of Secondary Education in India. The main aim of CCE is to evaluate every aspect of the child during their presence at the school. This is believed to help reduce the pressure on the child during/before examinations as the student will have to sit for multiple tests throughout the year, of which no test or the syllabus covered will be repeated at the end of the year, whatsoever. The CCE method is claimed to bring enormous changes from the traditional chalk and talk method of teaching, provided it is implemented accurately.

As a part of this new system, student's marks will be replaced by grades which will be evaluated through a series of curricular and extra-curricular evaluations along with academics. The aim is to decrease the workload on the student by means of continuous evaluation by taking number of small tests throughout the year in place of single test at the end of the academic program. Only Grades are awarded to students based on work experience skills, dexterity, innovation, steadiness, teamwork, public speaking, behavior, etc. to evaluate and present an overall measure of the student's ability. This helps the students who are not good in academics to show their talent in other fields such as arts, humanities, sports, music, athletics, and also helps to motivate the students who have a thirst of knowledge.

Characteristics of Continues And Comprehensive Evaluation  

§  Teachers evaluate students in day-to-day basis and use the feedback for improvement in teaching – learning process.

§  Teachers can use varieties of evaluation methods over and above the written tests.

§   Students can be assessed in both scholastic and co-scholastic areas.

§   Evaluation is done throughout the year and therefore it is expected to provide more reliable evidence of students’ progress.

§   CCE encourages the students in forming good study habits.

§   The feedback provided by CCE can be effectively used in remedial teaching to slow learners.

Advantages of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE)

CCE is child-centric and views each learner as unique. This evaluation system aims to build on the individual child’s abilities, progress and development. That the child should not feel burdened during the learning years, CCE made formative and summative assessments mandatory in all CBSE schools. The learner thus was also benefitted by having to focus on only a small part of the entire syllabus designed for an academic year.

FORMATIVE & SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT, PURPOSE OF ASSESSMENT , METHODS OF ASSESSMENT , PRINCIPLES OF ASSESSMENT

Formative Assessment

The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. Formative assessment provides feedback and information during the instructional process, while learning is taking place, and while learning is occurring. Formative assessment measures student progress but it can also assess your own progress as an instructor. A primary focus of formative assessment is to identify areas that may need improvement. These assessments typically are not graded and act as a gauge to students’ learning progress and to determine teaching effectiveness.

Types of Formative Assessment

§  Observations during in-class activities; of students non-verbal feedback during lecture

§  Homework exercises as review for exams and class discussions)

§  Reflections journals that are reviewed periodically during the semester

§  Question and answer sessions, both formal—planned and informal—spontaneous

§  Conferences between the instructor and student at various points in the semester

§  In-class activities where students informally present their results

§  Student feedback collected by periodically answering specific question about the instruction and their self-evaluation of performance and progress

Summative Assessment

The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or benchmark. Summative assessment takes place after the learning has been completed and provides information and feedback that sums up the teaching and learning process. Typically, no more formal learning is taking place at this stage, other than incidental learning which might take place through the completion of projects and assignments. Grades are usually an outcome of summative assessment. Summative assessment is more product-oriented and assesses the final product, whereas formative assessment focuses on the process toward completing the product.

Types of Summative Assessment

§  Examinations (major, high-stakes exams)

§  Final examination (a truly summative assessment)

§  Term papers (drafts submitted throughout the semester would be a formative assessment)

§  Projects (project phases submitted at various completion points could be formatively assessed)

§  Portfolios (could also be assessed during it’s development as a formative assessment)

§  Performances

§  Student evaluation of the course (teaching effectiveness)

§  Instructor self-evaluation

PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENT

     The following are the different purposes of assessing learners.

§  For promoting to next class.

§  To grade or rank a student.

§  To predict success in future study and work.

§  To provide feedback to students.

§  To motivating students.

§  To diagnose students strength and weaknesses.

§  To help students to develop students self-awareness.

§  To improve teaching.

Methods of assessment

1.   Group assessment : This develops interpersonal skills and may also develop oral skills and research skills (if combined, for example, with a project).

2. Self-assessment : Self-assessment obliges students more actively and formally to evaluate themselves and may develop self-awareness and better understanding of learning outcomes.

3. Peer assessment : By overseeing and evaluating other students’ work, the process of peer assessment develops heightened awareness of what is expected of students in their learning.

4. Unseen examination : This is the ‘traditional’ approach. It tests the individual knowledge base but questions are often relatively predictable and, in assessment, it is difficult to distinguish between surface learning and deep learning.

5. Testing skills : It can be useful to test students on questions relating to material with instead of which they have no familiarity. This often involves creating hypothetical knowledge scenarios. It can test true student ability and avoids problems of rote- and surface-learning.

6. Coursework essays : A relatively traditional approach that allows students to explore a topic in greater depth but can be open to plagiarism. Also, it can be fairly time consuming and may detract from other areas of the module.

7.  Oral examination : With an oral exam, it is possible to ascertain students’ knowledge and skills. It obliges a much deeper and extensive learning experience, and develops oral and presentational skills.

8. Projects : These may develop a wide range of expertise, including research, IT and organisational skills. Marking can be difficult, so one should consider oral presentation.

9. Presentations : These test and develop important oral communication and IT skills, but can prove to be dull and unpopular with students who do not want to listen to their peers, but want instead to be taught by the tutor.

10.     Multiple choice :These are useful for self-assessment and easy to mark. Difficulties lie in designing questions and testing depth of analytical understanding.

11. Portfolio: This contains great potential for developing and demonstrating transferable skills as an ongoing process throughout the degree programme.

12.     Computer-aided : Computers are usually used with multiple-choice questions. Creating questions is time consuming, but marking is very fast and accurate. The challenge is to test the depth of learning.

13.     Literature reviews : These are popular at later levels of degree programmes, allowing students to explore a particular topic in considerable depth. They can also develop a wide range of useful study and research skills.

PRINCIPLES OF ASSESSMENT

Good principles will help those wishing to evaluate their assessment designs or their implementations in practice. Following are the important principles that might kept in mind while assessing performance of learners .

1.   It should be clear and has direct link with outcomes :

The assessment strategies employed by the teacher in the classroom need to be directly linked to and reflect the syllabus outcomes. The methods of assessment should be planned in a very clear manner.

2. It should integrate to teaching and learning :

Effective assessment practices involves selecting strategies that are directly  derived from well structured teaching and learning activities. These strategies should provide information concerning student progress and achievement that helps to inform ongoing teaching and learning as well as the diagnosis of areas of strength and need.

3. It should be comprehensive and balanced :

Effective assessment program should give  result of  performance in all areas may be in scholastic as well as co-scholastic. Teacher should take care a balanced adoption of assessment strategies.

4. Strategies adopted should be valid and reliable :

Valid and reliable assessment strategies are those that give results that what the teacher actually assess not only in a particular situation but also in other situations.

5. It should be fair :

Effective assessment strategies are designed to ensure equal opportunity for success regardless of students’ age, gender, physical or other disability, culture, background language, socio economic status, etc.

6. It should be student centered :

The learning outcomes and the assessment process to be used should be made explicit to students. Students should participate in the negotiation of learning task and actively monitor and reflect up on their achievement and progress.

7. It should be time efficient and manageable :

Teachers need to plan carefully the timing frequencies and nature of their assessment strategies. Good planning ensures that assessment and reporting is manageable and maximizes the usefulness of the strategies selected.

8. It should enable to recognize individual achievement and progress :

All students must be given appropriate opportunities to demonstrate achievement. For giving constructive feedback to the students the assessment strategies should enable to evaluate learners individually.

9. It must ensure active involvement of Parents :

School authorities should ensure full and informed participation by parents in the continuing development and review of the school policy on assessment process.

Meaning, Related Terms- Measurement, Evaluation, Examination& Assessment

Meaning, Related Terms- Measurement, Evaluation, Examination& Assessment

Measurement

        Measurement is the quantitative judgment of something ,ie, how much, how little, how much small a thing is. It is the process by which the attributes or dimensions of some physical object are determined. It is objective and impersonal. It does not change with change of individuals. Measurement is precise and scientific. It is not a continuous process. And scope of measurement is limited.  However, when we measure, we generally use some standard instrument to determine how big, tall, heavy, voluminous, hot, cold, fast, or straight something actually is. Standard instruments refer to instruments such as rulers, scales, thermometers, pressure gauges, etc. We measure to obtain information about what is.

          According to Stevens “ Measurement is the assignment of numerals to objects , or events, according to rules”

          According to Stuffebeam “ Measurement as the assignment of numerals to entities according to rules”

Evaluation

          Evaluation is the process by which we judge the quality of some thing. It is the process of determining the extent to which an objective is achieved. Evaluation is subjective and personal to a great extent. Evaluation is a continues process. Correct evaluation depends up on correct measurement. And scope of evaluation is unlimited. Inherent in the idea of evaluation is "value." When we evaluate, what we are doing is engaging in some process that is designed to provide information that will help us make a judgment about a given situation. Generally, any evaluation process requires information about the situation in question. A situation is an umbrella term that takes into account such ideas as objectives, goals, standards, procedures, and so on. When we evaluate, we are saying that the process will yield information regarding the worthiness, appropriateness, goodness, validity, legality, etc., of something for which a reliable measurement or assessment has been made.

Functions of Evaluation

          Following are the different functions of educational evaluation;

1. Evaluation enhances the quality of teaching

2. Evaluation helps in clarifying the objectives.

3.Evaluation motivates learners.

4.Guidence can be given on the basis of evaluation.

5. It can help in bringing changes in the curriculum.

Test / Examination

          A test or an examination (or "exam") is an assessment intended to measure a test-taker's knowledge, skill, aptitude, or classification in many other topics (e.g., beliefs). In practice, a test may be administered orally, on paper, on a computer, or in a confined area that requires a test taker to physically perform a set of skills. A test may be administered formally or informally.

Assessment

          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. Assessment in education is about gathering, interpreting and using information about the processes and outcomes of learning. It takes different forms and can be used in a variety of ways, such as to test and certify achievement, to determine the appropriate route for students to take through a differentiated curriculum or to identify specific areas of difficulty or strength for a given student.It is a process by which information is obtained relative to some known objective or goal. Assessment is a broad term that includes testing. A test is a special form of assessment. Tests are assessments made under contrived circumstances especially so that they may be administered. In other words, all tests are assessments, but not all assessments are tests. We test at the end of a lesson or unit. We assess progress of students in between and at the end of a school year through testing.

          According to the Critical Dictionary of Education “ Assessment is the process by which one attempts to measure the quality of learning and teaching using various assessment techniques, assignments, projects, continuous assessment, objective type tests.

Assessment For Learning

          It involves teachers uses information about student’s knowledge, understanding and skills to inform their teaching. It occurs throughout the teaching learning process to clarify student’s learning and understanding.  

• It includes two phases—initial or diagnostic assessment and formative assessment.
• This type of assessment can be based on a variety of information sources (e.g., portfolios, works in progress, teacher observation, conversation)
• Verbal or written feedback given  to the student  after this assessment is primarily descriptive and emphasizes strengths, identifies challenges, and points to next steps.
• Through this assessment teachers check on understanding they adjust their instruction to keep students on track.
• No grades or scores are given - record-keeping is primarily anecdotal and descriptive.
• It occurs throughout the learning process, from the outset of the course of study to the time of summative assessment

Assessment As Learning

          It occurs when students act as their own assessors. Students monitor their own learning , ask questions and use a range of strategies to decide what they know and can do for learning.

• It begins as students become aware of the goals of instruction and the criteria for performance.
• It encourages to take responsibility for their own learning.
• It involves goal-setting, monitoring progress, and reflecting on results
• It implies student ownership and responsibility for moving his or her thinking forward (metacognition).
• It occurs throughout the learning process

Assessment Of Learning

          It assists teachers in using evidence of students learning to assess achievements against outcomes and standards. Sometimes it is known as summative assessment.

• This assessment helps for assigning grades & ranks.
• It compares one student’s achievement with standards
• The results can be communicated to the student and parents
• It occurs at the end of the learning unit