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Learning outcomes help faculty and students come to a common understanding about the purpose
and goals of a course or academic program. By providing clear and comprehensive learning
outcomes, faculty begin to provide a transparent pathway for student success.
Learning outcomes are the cornerstones of course design and assessment, and help students focus
on what is important. Learning outcomes can also be considered an inclusive teaching practice as
they can help clarify expectations for all students. Reflective assessment is a method that belongs
to the formative assessment family of methods, although it can be used summatively. It is about
assessment primarily for the purpose of improving learning. It is further an active and empowering
assessment method since it engages the student in self-evaluation and self-reflection. It leans
theoretically on the crucial role that meta-cognition plays in learning, in that it asks students to
think about their own thinking. Gibbs has specified a cycle of six steps in reflective learning that
is often applied when teachers design reflective assessment . Some ways to implement reflective
assessment include, for example, asking students to write down “I learned” statements, asking for
an oral “turn and talk” with the student next to them, asking students to write down what is clear
and unclear from the lesson on a piece of paper, and asking students to compose a journal / dairy.
Learner-Centered
The primary attention of teachers is focused on observing and improving learning.
Teacher-Directed
Individual teachers decide what to assess, how to assess, and how to respond to the
information gained through the assessment
Teachers do not need to share results with anyone outside of the class.
Mutually Beneficial
Students are active participants.
Students are motivated by the increased interest of faculty in their success as learners.
Teachers improve their teaching skills and gain new insights.
Formative
Assessments are almost never "graded".
Assessments are almost always anonymous in the classroom and often anonymous online.
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Assessments do not provide evidence for evaluating or grading students.
Context-Specific
Assessments respond to the particular needs and characteristics of the teachers, students,
and disciplines to which they are applied.
Customize to meet the needs of your students and course.
Ongoing
Classroom assessment is a continuous process.
Part of the process is creating and maintaining a classroom "feedback loop"
Each classroom assessment event is of short duration.
Rooted in Good Teaching Practice
Classroom assessment builds on good practices by making feedback on students' learning
more systematic, more flexible, and more effective.
Measurement and evaluation are both means to monitor progress for individuals or groups in the
work place or in the educational environment. The outcomes of the measurements and evaluations
help determine potential and effective systems that may be put in place to ensure key performance
in business and learning institutions. There are many similarities in these two methods but one
simple difference sets them apart.
Measurement and evaluation are processes that are used to provide information about a person
or object and their performance. Measurement and evaluation are used together to assist in the
development of individuals or systems to improve performance or to modify the system to suit the
needs of the individual, group or business operation. Bill Gates highlighted the need for
measurement in business when he said:
“In business the idea of measuring what you are doing, picking the measurement that counts, like
customer satisfaction and performance ….. You thrive on that.”
Measurement and evaluation are both means to monitor progress for individuals or groups in the
work place or in the educational environment. The outcomes of the measurements and evaluations
help determine potential and effective systems that may be put in place to ensure key performance
in business and learning institutions. There are many similarities in these two methods but one
simple difference sets them apart.
Measurement and evaluation are processes that are used to provide information about a person
or object and their performance. Measurement and evaluation are used together to assist in the
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development of individuals or systems to improve performance or to modify the system to suit the
needs of the individual, group or business operation. Bill Gates highlighted the need for
measurement in business when he said:
“In business the idea of measuring what you are doing, picking the measurement that counts, like
customer satisfaction and performance ….. You thrive on that.”
It is the measurement that he speaks of that assists the evaluation.
Measurement is all about the numbers and being able to quantify the performance or the
abilities. Evaluation assists with using the data and information to judge success or
failure. Evaluation can take place without numerical measurement as it measures performance.
Measurement requires some standardized tools for measuring. A speedometer measures the
speed of the moving car and a thermometer measure the temperature of a give space. These tools
help to measure and record physical attributes.
Evaluation is used to judge the value or worth of a plan or project. Evaluation can be used in
conjunction with measurement to asses pupils or workers performance. Evaluation is a key
element in pupil’s performance and helps measure progress of the individual. Evaluation can
determine the needs of individual pupils so that a programme suited to their level of understanding
can be implemented.
Reflective assessment is easy to apply to entrepreneurial teaching that is action-oriented and
experiential. Students can be asked to reflect upon their practical entrepreneurial experiences .
Since these experiences can often be emotionally strong, reflective assessment will be a natural
kind of reflection for entrepreneurial education students. Reflections can be both private for the
teacher’s eyes only, and forum based for the entire team or class to reflect upon and discuss
together. Reflective assessment can also be easily combined with e-assessment through the use of
different kinds of social media and digital discussion forums.

As an educator, I've taught classes of seven students, and I've taught classes of 75. In my classes
of seven, I've enjoyed assessing my students through things like presentations, discussions, and
debates. For these small groups it's been feasible to use supply response assessments, or
assessments which require students to supply or construct their own responses and answers.
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However, in my classes of 75, I've often steered away from this type of assessment. Yes, listening
to student presentations is a great way to assess their mastery of content, but fitting 75 presentations
into the short time we have together just isn't all that feasible. Instead, I have employed selection
response assessments for my large groups, things like multiple choice test in which students select
a response from provided alternatives.
In today's lesson, we'll take a look at these two assessment types and explore the benefits that come
with each.
Let's start with the benefits of selection response assessments. As just stated, these are assessments
in which students select a response from provided alternatives. Very familiar to most of us,
multiple choice, matching, and true or false questions are all examples of selection response
assessments. They're made up of concrete questions with specific answers. They're cut and dry.
For this reason, selection response assessments are often referred to as objective tests, or tests
which allow for an unbiased, set scoring systems. One answer is right, all others are wrong.
Although selection response assessments have come under increased scrutiny in the past few years,
they do offer some benefits. First, and as already mentioned, they are objectively scored. They
leave no room for teacher bias or preference. No matter how much you like little Suzie, you can't
give her credit for filling in the France bubble when asked who America fought in the
Revolutionary War. Conversely, you can't give the trouble-making Johnny a big red X when he
answers Great Britain. Answers are either right or wrong, and scores reflect this reality.
Second, selection response assessments allow for timely assessment of large populations and
material. As mentioned in my opening statement, watching student presentations is great when
you have a handful of students, but doing it when you have 50 or more is rather time prohibitive.
On the other hand, response assessments are not. They can be distributed, taken, and graded post-
haste. Talk about efficient!
Adding to their practicality, selection response assessments can cover large amounts of material.
For this reason, many educators use response assessments when seeking summative
assessment. Summative assessment is designed to evaluate learning at the end of a distinct
instructional time frame. For instance, a unit multiple choice test on the Greek Empire could
include questions ranging from politics to philosophy. It could quiz on Greek rulers to Greek
playwrights.
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Lastly, for today's selection response list, they can be used to ensure foundation material has been
mastered. For instance, before a chemistry teacher begins dolling out test tubes and chemicals, he
needs to make sure his students know the symbols of the elements. After all, confusing something
like sodium hydride with sodium chloride could be rather disastrous. In such a case, a matching
test on the periodic table just might prudently fit the bill.
Now, onto supply response assessments. Again, these assessment tools require students to supply
or construct their own responses and answers. For this reason, supply response assessments are
also referred to as constructed response assessments.
Rather than filling in a bubble or choosing true or false, students must demonstrate mastery or
understanding by supplying the evaluator with something. Whether it be a short answer or an hour
long presentation, they must construct their own product or answer. No, this doesn't require
scantron bubbles, but it's still assessment.

First, let’s get the definitions straight. A learning objective is the instructor’s purpose for creating
and teaching their course. These are the specific questions that the instructor wants their course to
raise. In contrast, learning outcomes are the answers to those questions. They are the specific,
measurable knowledge and skills that the learner will gain by taking the course.
It might help you to think about the difference in terms of perspective. Learning objectives are
usually viewed from the instructor’s perspective (what does the instructor want to accomplish?)
while learning outcomes are seen more from the learner’s perspective (what will the course teach
me, as a learner?). Of course, the two are closely related, because a trainer’s objectives will
ultimately be translated into the learner’s outcomes, as long as the course successfully serves its
purpose.
For instructors and content authors, focusing on outcomes is a great way to improve
the effectiveness of your course. That’s because it encourages you to put yourself in the learner’s
shoes. By consciously putting learning outcomes into words, you gain a clearer understanding of
your purpose as an instructor.
They are also valuable because they give instructors, learners and administrators clear, measurable
criteria for assessing whether a course has done its job and if you need to improve your approach
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to the material. If you start with a clear learning outcome in mind but find that the course fails or
struggles to achieve this outcome, then you know that you need to rethink your approach.
If you are a training manager, you will probably also think of learning outcomes in financial terms.
After all, your organization is investing valuable resources in its training program, so it’s important
that the training content delivers a good return on that investment. Learning outcomes are precisely
that return on investment.
That means clear, measurable learning outcomes are essential for evaluating whether a specific
training activity is worth the time and money. If a course fails to deliver on learning outcomes, it’s
time to try a new strategy.
Lastly, let’s look at how clear learning outcomes improve the learning experience for the three
main stakeholders of any learning program: the learners, the instructors, and the
administrators/managers:
Benefits for learners
 They give learners a better understanding of the specific knowledge and skills they will
acquire during the course.
 Focusing on outcomes from the beginning places greater emphasis on the relevant,
practical knowledge and skills to be gained.
 This makes learning more effective because learners have a clear sense of what the desired
outcome looks like.
 Clear learning outcomes also help learners see why content and assessments are relevant
to them.
Benefits for educators
 Focusing on learning outcomes puts trainers more in touch with the learner’s perspective.
It also gives them a clearer sense of purpose when creating their course.
 They help course creators choose the best assessment techniques.
 With them, trainers have a measurable standard for judging the success of their course.
Benefits for administrators/management
 When learning outcomes are defined, it gives managers a clear mark for measuring whether
a specific course, resource or activity has delivered a good return on investment.
 They enable administrators to evaluate the effectiveness of their training program as a
whole.
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 They act as a guide for evaluating the performance of course creators, so they can improve
methods and achieve better results when needed.
 Lastly, focusing on learning outcomes allows administrators to create a learner-focused
training program, in which all activities are centered on giving learners the knowledge and
tools they need for success.

It’s good to regularly review the advantages and disadvantages of the most commonly used test
questions and the test banks that now frequently provide them.
Multiple-choice questions
Advantages
o Quick and easy to score, by hand or electronically
o Can be written so that they test a wide range of higher-order thinking skills
o Can cover lots of content areas on a single exam and still be answered in a class period
Disadvantages
o Often test literacy skills: “if the student reads the question carefully, the answer is easy to recognize
even if the student knows little about the subject”
o Provide unprepared students the opportunity to guess, and with guesses that are right, they get
credit for things they don’t know
o Expose students to misinformation that can influence subsequent thinking about the content
o Take time and skill to construct (especially good questions)
True-false questions
Advantages
o Quick and easy to score
Disadvantages
o Considered to be “one of the most unreliable forms of assessment”
o Often written so that most of the statement is true save one small, often trivial bit of information
that then makes the whole statement untrue
o Encourage guessing, and reward for correct guesses
Short-answer questions
Advantages
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o Quick and easy to grade
o Quick and easy to write
Disadvantages
o Encourage students to memorize terms and details, so that their understanding of the content
remains superficial
Essay questions
Advantages
o Offer students an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge, skills, and abilities in a variety of ways
o Can be used to develop student writing skills, particularly the ability to formulate arguments
supported with reasoning and evidence
Disadvantages
o Require extensive time to grade
o Encourage use of subjective criteria when assessing answers
o If used in class, necessitate quick composition without time for planning or revision, which can
result in poor-quality writing
Questions provided by test banks
Advantages
o Save instructors the time and energy involved in writing test questions
o Use the terms and methods that are used in the book
Disadvantages
o Rarely involve analysis, synthesis, application, or evaluation (cross-discipline research documents
that approximately 85 percent of the questions in test banks test recall)
o Limit the scope of the exam to text content; if used extensively, may lead students to conclude that
the material covered in class is unimportant and irrelevant
We tend to think that these are the only test question options, but there are some interesting
variations. The article that promoted this review proposes one: Start with a question, and revise it
until it can be answered with one word or a short phrase. Do not list any answer options for that
single question, but attach to the exam an alphabetized list of answers. Students select answers
from that list. Some of the answers provided may be used more than once, some may not be used,
and there are more answers listed than questions. It’s a ratcheted-up version of matching. The
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approach makes the test more challenging and decreases the chance of getting an answer correct
by guessing.
References:
1. http://entreassess.com/2018/05/23/reflective-assessment/
2. https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/education/written-tests/2-types-of-written-tests-a-
close-view/64788
3. https://resources.depaul.edu/teaching-commons/teaching-guides/course-
design/Pages/course-objectives-learning-outcomes.aspx
4. https://libguides.ccsu.edu/c.php?g=736249&p=5262504
5. https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/statistics-2/essay-test-types-advantages-and-
limitations-statistics/92656