TYPES OF ASSESSMENT

CONTEXTUALIZED AND DECONTEXTUALIZED ASSESSMENT

Introduction:
 Assessment is a means of finding out what learning is taking place.
 The term assessment refers to the different components and
activities of different schools.
 An assessment can be used to student learning and in comparing
student learning with the learning goals of an academic program.
 Assessment is defined as an act or process of collecting and
interpreting information about student learning.
CONTEXTUALIZATION
Contextualization is a way of making learning and the assessment of
what has been learned, relevant to a student’s experience and
knowledge in current or anticipated situation.

CONTEXTUALIZED ASSESSMENT
 The focus is on the students’ construction of functioning
knowledge and the students’ performance in application of
knowledge in the real work context of the discipline area.
 Uses performance-based task which are authentic in measure.

 Assessments are authentic

 Realistic
 Require judgement and innovation
 Assess students’ ability to effectively use their knowledge or skills
to complete a task

 Describe assessment practices which measure skills and

knowledge in dealing with specific situations or perform specific
tasks which the students have identified as important and
meaningful to them.
 Application of the skills and knowledge must be in the context of
the real world as possible.
Examples:
Observation
Essay
Interviews
Performance tasks
Exhibition and demonstration
Portfolios
Journals

DECONTEXTUALIZED ASSESSMENT
 Decontextualized assessments do not involve the product. It
tends to focus more on abstract and conceptual areas.
 Includes written exams and term papers which are suitable for
assessing declarative knowledge, and do not necessarily have a
direct connection to a real-life context (Biggs, 2011).
 Focuses on declarative knowledge and/or procedural knowledge
in artificial situations detached from the real work context.

Examples:
Standardized Test
Midterm Examination
Final Examination

In summary, a contextualized assessment considers the application of

knowledge or skills in specific situations, while a decontextualized
assessment assesses general knowledge or skills without considering
any particular context.