What Do We Mean by Testing, Assessment, and Evaluation?

When defined within an educational setting, assessment, evaluation, and testing are all used to
measure how much of the assigned materials students are mastering, how well student are
learning the materials, and how well student are meeting the stated goals and objectives. Although
you may believe that assessments only provide instructors with information on which to base a
score or grade, assessments also help you to assess your own learning.

Education professionals make distinctions between assessment, evaluation, and testing. However,
for the purposes of this tutorial, all you really need to understand is that these are three different
terms for referring to the process of figuring out how much you know about a given topic and that
each term has a different meaning. To simplify things, we will use the term "assessment"
throughout this tutorial to refer to this process of measuring what you know and have learned.

In case you are curious, here are some definitions:

 A test or quiz is used to examine someone's knowledge of something to determine what he

or she knows or has learned. Testing measures the level of skill or knowledge that has been
reached.

 Evaluation is the process of making judgments based on criteria and evidence.

 Assessment is the process of documenting knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs, usually
in measurable terms. The goal of assessment is to make improvements, as opposed to
simply being judged. In an educational context, assessment is the process of describing,
collecting, recording, scoring, and interpreting information about learning.

Why is Assessment Important?

Hopefully by this point in your life you have discovered that learning can be fun! You have probably
also realized that you are constantly learning, whether you are in a classroom, a car, or a kitchen.

Assessment helps you build confidence in your ability to learn.

Perhaps you have heard that the global work culture is changing. Unlike your grandfather, you will
probably have a number of different jobs and careers during your lifetime. In order to be
successful, you will need to have confidence in your ability to learn and you will need to become a
lifelong learner. Assessment plays a key role in developing your confidence in your ability to learn,
as well as in developing your lifelong learning skills.

You may be thinking that learning to bake cookies and learning something like chemistry aren't the
same at all, and, in a way, you are right. But, the information you get from assessing what you
have learned is the same. Brian used what he learned from each batch of cookies to improve the
next batch. You learn from every homework assignment you complete and every quiz you take
what you still need to study in order to know the material.

Another really good way to understand the importance of assessment is to think about learning
skills. When playing basketball, for example, you get immediate feedback about how well you are
doing, and this tells you how to adjust to get the ball in the hoop next time. When you are learning
a skill, feedback (assessment) is automatic. When you are learning chemistry, the feedback
process needs to be made visible through assessment.

Assessment doesn't have to be a written exam. You can determine if you have successfully learned
something in a number of different ways, depending on what you are trying to learn. Recognizing
that there are many different ways to assess learning and becoming skillful at self-assessment are
important lifelong learning skills.
What is the meaning of Tabulation?
Tabulation is the systematic and logical representation of figures in rows and columns to ease
comparison and statistical analysis. It eases comparison by bringing related information closer
to each other and helps further in statistical research and interpretation. In other words,
tabulation is a method of arranging or organizing data in a tabular form. The tabulation process
may be simple or complex depending upon the type of categorization. 

Tabulation Definition
Tabulation is defined as the process of placing classified data in tabular form. A table is a
systematic arrangement of statiscal information in rows and columns. The rows of a table are
the horizontal arrangement of data whereas the columns of a table are the vertical arrangement
of data.
 
What are the Essential Parts of a Table?
To tabulate data correctly, one must learn about the eight essential parts of a table. These are
as follows – 
1. Table Number – 
This is the first part of a table and is given on top of any table to facilitate easy
identification and for further reference.
2. Title of the Table – 
One of the most important parts of any table is its title. The  title is either placed just below
the table number or at its right.It is imperative  for the title to be brief, crisp and carefully-
worded to describe the tables’ contents effectively.
3. Headnote –
The headnote of a table is presented in the portion just below the title. It provides
information about the unit of data in the table, like “amount in Rupees” or “quantity in
kilograms”, etc.
4. Column Headings or Captions – 
 The headings of the columns are referred to as the caption. It consists of one or more
column heads. A caption should be brief, short, and self-explanatory, Column heading is
written in the middle of a column in small letters.
5. Row Headings or Stubs – 
The title of each horizontal row is called a stub.
6. Body of a Table – 
This is the portion that contains the numeric information collected from investigated facts.
The data in the body is presented in rows which are read horizontally from left to right and
in columns, read vertically from top to bottom.
7. Footnote – 
Given at the bottom of a table above the source note, a footnote is used to state any fact
that is not clear from the table’s title, headings, caption or stub. For instance, if a table 
represents the profit earned by a company, a footnote can be used to state if said profit is
earned before, or after tax calculations.
8. Source Note – 
As its name suggests, a source note refers to the source from where the table’s
information has been collected.