ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS’ LEARNING I

Educational Measurement

• In the field of educational measurement, the quantities and qualities are MORE ABSTRACT,
UNSEEN, and cannot be TOUCHED.

• These make measurement process more difficult.

Assessment, Evaluation, Testing, Marks

The term assessment, evaluation, testing and marks are term often used in determining the degree of
attainment of students learning outcomes. At times they are used interchangeably, it will be useful to
clarify their meaning to distinguish them from one another.

Assessment

• Assessment refers to the process of gathering data and information about what students
know and can do.

• Through assessment, the teacher can find out what students have learnt and are learning.

Evaluation

• Evaluation involves the task of interpreting, forming conclusions and making judgment about
the information which was gathered in the process of assessment.

Testing

• Testing is an instrument of assessment. A test paper is an assessment tool that reflects the
records of the students’ learning outcomes.

Marks

• Marks are reports of the result of evaluating information obtained in assessment process.
Marks have certain components related to the learning activities undertaken by the students.

ASSESSMENT FUNCTIONS

Assessment involves deciding how well students have learnt a given content or how far the objective
have been achieved quantitatively. The data obtained can serve various educational functions in the
school.

1. Classroom function

2. Guidance functions

3. Administrative functions

For any form of assessment to be able to serve the above functions, it cannot be a one shot kind of
assessment. It has to be an on-going exercise throughout the teaching and learning processes.

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PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENT

 Entrance assessment selects students to attend a class. It is usually done at the start of a course,
often as part of the 'identify needs' stage.
 Placement assessment puts students into the right level of class. It usually also happens as part
of the 'identify needs' stage.
 Diagnostic assessment provides information about students’ strengths and weaknesses. It is often
used to decide course content.
 Progress assessment measures how well students learn the things that you have been teaching.
It might involve weekly class quizzes, or regular homework assignments.
 Achievement assessment tells you how well students have learned material from an entire course
(or one semester). It might inform a final or mid-term course mark, or provide information to pass
or fail a student.

TYPES OF ASSESSMENT

• High-stakes and Low-stakes Assessment

• Formal and Informal Assessment

• Subjective and Objective Assessment

• Summative and Formative Assessment

High-stakes and Low-stakes Assessment

 High stakes means 'important'. High-stakes assessments are used to make important decisions
about students. The outcome will affect students a lot.
 Low-stakes assessment is less important. It is usually internal and often informal. In low-stakes
assessment, the outcome does not have a large effect on a student, although it might encourage
them to work harder or focus on different things.

Formal and Informal Assessment

 Formal assessment is used to give a grade. That grade is usually a numerical, letter or percentage
score. Often, formal assessment is part of a final grade.
 Informal assessment is usually not part of a final grade. It can include observation, checklists and
peer or self-assessment.

Subjective and Objective Assessment

 Subjective assessment assesses areas of students’ performance that are complex and qualitative,
using questioning which may have more than one correct answer or more ways to express it.
 Objective assessment is a form of questioning which has a single correct answer.

Summative and Formative Assessment

“When the cook tastes the curry, that’s formative assessment. When the guests taste the curry, that’s
summative assessment.”

CHARACTERISTICS OF GOOD QUALITY ASSESSMENT

 Practicality
 Reliability
 Validity

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DESIGNING PRACTICAL ASSESSMENTS

Practical assessment is easy to design, invigilate and mark. How easy it depends on a number of
factors, including:

• what the objectives of the assessment are;

• whether the assessment is high stakes or low stakes;

• how many students you are assessing;

• what resources you have (how many invigilators, markers, etc.)

DESIGNING RELIABLE ASSESSMENTS

For the same standard …..

• They should give similar results even if different people mark them, or if students sit them in
different locations or at different times of the day.

• They should give similar results if different students with the same knowledge and skills are
being assessed.

• Reliable assessments are consistent.

Errors in Assessment

• Errors can make your assessment unreliable.

• Errors lead to inaccurate assessment results.

• Errors can come from

• the assessment

• the assessor

• the student (or/and)

• the environment

DESIGNING VALID ASSESSMENTS

• A valid assessment assesses the things that it is supposed to assess.

• The assessor needs to identify the skills and knowledge to assess, and then design an
assessment that includes these things.

Discussion Questions

• What’s the difference between assessment and testing?

• What’s the difference between assessment and Evaluation?

• Can an assessment be reliable if it is not valid? How?

• Can an assessment be valid if it is not reliable? How?