Assessment & Evaluation in the Teaching &

Learning of Mathematics
Outline:
1.Definition and dimensions of Assessment and
Evaluation
2. Modes and types of Assessment and Evaluation
practices in Secondary school Mathematics
3. Tests and Examinations: Construction,
Characteristics, Marking and correcting written
work
 What is Assessment?

• The word assessment is derived from another word

“assess” which means to judge or decide the
amount, value, quantity or importance of something
(Lakshmi and Majid, 2019).
• Therefore, assessment is the process of identifying,
gathering and interpreting information about
learners’ learning.
• It is a process of finding out how much the learner
achieved before, during and after instruction
process.
 Assessment involves Measurement and
Evaluation.
• Evaluation: Evaluation is a value judgment process of
determining the worth or quality of a learning process or
program.
For example, what does it mean to say that a student answered
eighty out of one hundred Mathematics questions correctly?

Depending on the rules used, it could mean that the student

has learnt that body of knowledge very well and is ready to
progress to the next unit of instructions or alternatively, that
the student has significant knowledge gaps and requires
additional instruction, (Gronlund, 1998).
 Measurement

• Measurement: Is a process of assigning

numerical values to certain attributes in the
assessment process or program.
 Modes of Assessment
• Assessment before learning (Diagnostic
assessment)
• Assessment for learning (Formative
assessment)
• Assessment of learning (Summative
assessment)
• Assessment as Learning (Self – assessment)
 Assessment before learning (Diagnostic assessment)

• This is a form of assessment carried out before instruction

(the teaching/learning process).
• The teacher is required to examine knowledge and
understanding levels of students in previously covered
material before adding new material.
• The teacher can carry out diagnostic assessment through:-
 Lesson introduction activities
 Competence tests
 Syllabus coverage
 Reading & Writing proficiency
 Assessment for learning (Formative assessment)

• This is a form of assessment that is carried out continuously at intervals to see

how a learner is progressing during the teaching/learning process.

• It is the form of assessment that monitors the learning process during

instruction by exposing the areas of excellence (success), failures and possible
causes.

• It supports the development of learning, formation of skills and understanding

through end of lesson activities, home works, weekly, monthly and end of topic
tests.

• In order for the formative assessment of the Mathematics written work to be

effective, the marking of such written work needs to be diagnostic and
supportive in nature.
 When does the marking become diagnostic in Mathematics?
 

The marking becomes diagnostic if:

 a cross is accompanied by an indication of
where a mistake has occurred or an indication
of what is wrong.
 the teacher becomes aware of the kinds of
mistakes the students make during their
written work in Mathematics.
 When does the marking become supportive in Mathematics?

The marking becomes supportive if:

 the teacher gives some explanation of what
was wrong in case of where a cross has been
used while marking the student’s work.
 the teacher prepares future lessons in light of
the students’ mistakes identified during the
marking of their written work in Mathematics.
 Assessment of learning (Summative assessment)

• Summative assessment is a form of assessment

carried out at the end of a course, term, year or
program.
• It is the kind of judgment of learning outcomes
done at the end of the learning program or
course e.g UCE or UACE.
• It is aimed at grading, certification, promotion
of a learner to a specified learning program /
course, level or class.
 Assessment as Learning (Self – assessment)

• This is assessment of learners by themselves and is a mode whose

use seems to increase as students are given more and more
responsibility for their own learning. All students should for example
be actively encouraged to monitor their own progress by on-going
checking of their performance against the objectives and learning
outcomes.

Note: Peer Assessment. This is the assessment of learners by other

learners and is a mode of assessment that is becoming increasingly
widely used in Schools, Colleges and Universities. Such peer assessment
can either be formative or summative. It is particularly used in
assessment of group work, where it enables the contributions of
individual members of the group being assessed.
 Validity and Reliability of assessment in Mathematics

• Validity:
• This refers to the use of tests and examinations so as to
measure the students’ Mathematical abilities.
• A test or an examination can be said to be valid if it
measures what it is supposed to do.
• To set valid tests and examinations, a teacher is expected
to find out whether a test or an examination is valid for a
certain set of students who are able to tackle it to an
acceptable level of success e.g a test or an examination
which everybody fails to attain a pass mark can be said to
be invalid for that class.
 Reliability

The term reliability in reference to assessment mostly

refers to the tests or examinations if they are able to
produce approximately the same results when given
to the same learners at different times e.g a test or an
examination can be unreliable if the same test or
examination, administered at different times, a
student who got 90% during the first time of its being
administered gets 20% during the second time of its
being administered.
 
 Mathematics Tests and Examinations:
Construction, Characteristics, Marking and correcting written work

• Testing is the act of administering written or verbal

questions to learners with the sole aim or purpose of
finding out the amount of knowledge, skills and values they
have achieved and retained from instruction on particular
segments of subject contents. (usually from a unit or topic)
• A test: Worthen et al (1987:302) defines a test as a
collection of items developed to measure some human,
educational or psychological attributes.
• Test item: This is an instrument used to illustrate or
determine the level of knowledge, ability, competence,
attribute or experience of a learner
 Construction of Mathematics tests & examinations

• Tests/Examinations need to be constructed in such

way that:-
 They are clear to the learners who are going to do
them.
 They test the learners on what they can do and not
what they cannot do.
 They cover, in case of Secondary School level, the six
levels of Bloom’s taxonomy i.e Knowledge,
Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Evaluation and
Creation.
 LEVELS OF COGNITION
• According to Benjamin Bloom, there are six
levels of cognition.
• The image below visually demonstrates the
hierarchy of Bloom’s taxonomy, separating
lower order thinking skills form higher order
thinking skills.
 Each of these levels of cognition have verbs that can be used in
stating lesson objectives in preparing to teach & setting test items

 Knowledge: remember or recall previous learned information.

Example:
recall Roman numeral values for 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500 & 1000
Verbs: define, repeat, list, name,

 Comprehension: demonstrate an understanding of the facts.

Example: summarize the story & make a sketch, explain the procedures for
solving a quadratic equation by completing squares method.
Verbs: explain, interpret, convert, estimate, …
 Application: apply knowledge to actual situations, use of a concept or
method.
Example: use a formula to solve a problem
Verbs: apply, develop, restructure, illustrate, modify,
 Continuation
 Analysis: break down objects/ideas into simpler parts and find evidence to generalize.
Example: explain the steps involved in solving a system of linear equations by row –
reduction to echelon form method.
Verbs: analyze, compare, examine, contrast, investigate, experiment, …

 Evaluation: make and defend judgments based on internal evidence or external criteria.
Example: make a judgment regarding an ethical dilemma
Verbs: evaluate, compose, criticize, appraise, defend, justify, support, …

 Creation: Compile component ideas into a new whole or propose alternatives.

Example: design a new solution to a problem that acknowledges the previous failures

Verbs: create, combine, compose, generate, reconstruct, rewrite, combine

 Construction of Mathematics
test items
• A good Mathematics test/examination should
be balanced. A balanced test at Secondary
School level covers the various cognitive
domains which have been discussed above.  
• This on the part of a Mathematics teacher
requires him/her to have an item register and
construct a table of specifications (a blue
print) before setting a test.
 What is an item register?

 An item register is a summary of content areas

/ syllabus content or learning outcomes to be
given a chance in a test.
 It can be topic based or theme/ aspect based.
 A topic based register is appropriate for
standardized tests but doesn’t favour
classroom tests.
 What is a table of specifications
(Blue print)?
 It is a test plan.
 It is a matrix containing topics, themes and the
levels of educational objectives tested.
 It is a table with specific frequencies
(educational objectives/learning outcomes ) or
topics to be tested.
 It is called a blue print simply because it is a
plan of exams put in black/blue and white.
 An example of a possible table of specifications for the Form 3
(Senior three) End of year Mathematics examination

Topic K C A A E C
Set Theory 1 2 - - 1 -
The Equation of a straight line - 1 1 - - -
Sine, Cosine &Tangent 1 1 - - - -
Data collection/Display - - - - 1 2
Vectors - - - - - 1
Business Mathematics - - - - 1 -
Matrices - - - 2 - -
Areas & Volumes of solids - - - - 1 1
 Marking guides in Mathematics
A marking guide or a marking scheme in Mathematics helps
teachers in marking the learners’ pieces of work systematically and
without undue bias.
On the other hand, when a teacher makes a marking guide for the
given questions in an intended test/examination, he/she is able to:-
• Detect errors, if any, that the question may have before it is
included in a test.
• Detect if such a question can be worked out by the learners.
• Know how many marks can approximately be awarded to the
question and how evenly they should be awarded.
 
 Types of marks used in marking
Mathematics
• M is a mark given for using the correct method.
• A is a mark given for obtaining the correct answer
by using a correct method.
• B marks are marks which are sometimes referred
to as factual marks because they are given for
writing down a piece of information correctly.
• CAO are marks which are awarded for the correct
answer only.
 Question

• In the diagram below, AB is parallel to DC. The perpendicular distance between AB and DC is 4cm. DC = 5.5cm and AB = 12.5cm

D 5.5cm C

4cm

A 12cm B

a)Give the correct geometrical name for quadrilateral ABCD.

b) Calculate the area of ABCD.
c) If all measurements were doubled. How many times bigger than the original area
would the new area be? What would the new area be?
d) If angle BCD = 1230, what is the size of angle ABC? (Total marks = 10 Marks)
 Solution & Its Marking Guide
  SOLUTION MARKS REMARKS
a). Quadrilateral ABCD is a Trapezium For stating a correct quadrilateral
b). Area =    
= For correct substitution in a correct
=   formula.
= 4cm 9cm    
=    
     
For getting a correct answer through a
correct working (CAO)

c). = Area scale factor For stating a correct fact in Mathematics

The new area will be = 4 times bigger than the    
original area    
The new area =   For multiplying the correct figures
= For getting the correct answer (CAO)
 

d). BCD + ABC = 1800 For stating a correct fact in Mathematics

1230 + ABC = 1800   For correct substitution &
ABC = 1800 - 1230 rearrangement
ABC = 570   For getting the correct answer(CAO)
 

  TOTAL 10 Marks