Introduction to Assessment

ACTVITY 2.1
What is Assessment?

Assessment is the shared

process of gathering
purposeful and systematic
measurement for
documentation, reflection and
improvement of both student
learning and school practices
Why is assessment Caption
important
Assessment helps children learn, teachers improve instruction,
administrators decide how to allocate resources and also helps
students know what to work on more.
 The Purpose of Assessment.
• The purpose of assessment in the intermediate phase is to:
 IMPROVE TEACHING
 TO PROVIDE INFORMATION ABOUT LEARNERS, TEACHERS AND
SCHOOLS.
 TO DRIVE THE CURRICULUM AND TEACHING.
 TO ACT AS A SELECTION AND CERTIFYING DEVICE (Dreyer, 2014)

• Caption
LEARNER CENTERD APPROACH.
• A learner-centered approach views learners as active agents. They bring their
own knowledge, past experiences, education and ideas, and this impacts how
they take on board new information and learn.
• Each learning theory has its own school of thought, but one point seems to
crop up again and again: the more engaged employees are in the learning
process, the more they will retain when they get back to work.
• LEARNER CENTERED ACTIVITIES ARE:

ROLE PLAY, GAMIFY LEARNING, HOLDING A DEBATE, HOLDING A

COMPETITION, STAGE PRESENTATIONS AND FOSTERING
COLLABORATION WITH GROUP PROJECTS.
A learner-centered approach views
learners as active agents. They bring
their own knowledge, past experiences,
education, and ideas – and this impacts
how they take on board new information
and learn. It differs significantly from a
traditional instructor-centered approach

WHY THEY MATTER??

 ASSESMENT FOR, OF & AS LEARNING!!
• FOR LEARNING • AS LEARNING
assessment for learning is a Assessment as learning
continuous assessment that helps to develop and
allows teachers to observe encourage learners by
learners on a daily basis and giving chances for them
change their teachings based to demonstrate their
on the learners' requirements understanding (Killen,
(Dreyer, 2014). 2015).
OF LEARNING.

• Assessment of learning is a post-

learning assessment that
determines whether or not
learners grasp concepts and can
apply them in different situations
(Dreyer, 2014).
 ROLE ASSESSMENT AS & FOR PLAY IN LEARNER
PERFORMANCE AND ACHIEVEMENT
ASSESSMENT FOR
LEARNING
• This assessment is ongoing
since it is an essential aspect
of the teaching and learning
process through previous
knowledge (Dreyer, 2014).
• The ability of learners to
comprehend knowledge,
understand concepts, and
teach effectively is used to
assess progress (Killen,
ASSESSMENT AS LEARNING
• This assessment also is
ongoing since it occurs
during the class using
observation and process
feedback (Killen, 2015).
• The learner's development
is determined both
independently and by the
teacher through observation
and differentiated
instruction (Killen, 2015).
 COMPARISSON
• This assessment has an impact on the
daily lesson objectives because when
the information does not reach the
learners in the preferred way, the
teacher must continually change to help
ensure the concepts are correctly
understood (Killen, 2015).
• This assessment gives continual
feedback to the individuals involved
directly in \the process of teaching and
learning since the teacher can track
learner needs and learners may find
gaps in their knowledge (Dreyer, 2014)
• This assessment has an impact on
the learner's metacognition
because it allows the learner to self
assess and self-reflect, allowing the
learner to change to new methods
of comprehending new concepts
(Killen, 2015).
When used as a method to develop
metacognition through constant peer
and self-assessment, learners are
able to correct their mistakes and
improve their understanding on their
own (Killen, 2015).
Requirements of a School based assessment.

• In the intermediate phase the school based

% component is 75% and end of year
examination component is 25%.
• This 75% consists of assessments like
TEST’S, ASSIGNMENTS, INVESTIGATIONS,
PROJECTS AND ORALS.
 SCHOOL BASED ASSESSMENT.

• The most important characteristic of

school based assessment in
intermediate phase is that it is
developed by teachers at their school
level, the assessment is created by
the teacher, marked by the teacher
but moderated internally (DBE, 2012).
• Moderation should make sure that
the expected quality and standard of
the school based assessments meet
the requirements of the grade4
onwards CAPS document
How the different types of assessments support learning
• Different types of assessments can help you understand student
progress in various ways. This understanding can inform the teaching
strategies you use, and may lead to different adaptations.
In classrooms, assessments generally have one of three purposes:
• Assessment of learning
• Assessment for learning
• Assessment as learning

Which were highly discussed on the previous slides.

Informal & Formal Assessments
ACTIVITY 2.2
 Comparison between informal & formal Assessments.
Formal assessments Informal assessments
• Formal assessments are systematic and data-driven. • Informal assessments are unplanned
They are used at the ending of each lesson to assess assessments that may be simply included into
what the learner has learned and how effectively they day-to-day classroom activities (Niall McNulty,
have learned it (Niall McNulty, 2021). 2021).
• Always used to make comparisons against certain • Informal assessments are used to evaluate the
assessment standards (Niall McNulty, 2021). knowledge and understanding the learner has
of the content and if the learner can grasp the
• Some examples are standardized tests and end of
content (Niall McNulty, 2021).
year examinations (Niall McNulty, 2021).
• Some examples are quizzes and worksheets or
homework (Niall McNulty, 2021).
• Formal assessment should offer teachers with • Informal assessments should be credible, trustworthy,
information about what their learners know and how and useful. It should also be relevant for the target
capable they are in relation to a necessary learning audience and aim, as well as fair to learners from
objective. They are measurable since they should diverse background. Informal evaluation must also
demonstrate the learner's grasp of the needed content. have well defined scoring systems. Informal
Formal assessments are often viewed as credible since assessment must continue to be relevant to the
they provide consistent outcomes across schools and material being taught. An effective informal assessment
throughout time. They should allow the learner enough activity should both encourage learners and provide
time to finish and display their understanding. These constructive comments to help them improve their
tests are thorough and cover all subjects discussed in performance (Niall McNulty, 2021).
class (Niall McNulty, 2021).
• Examples include QUIZ AND OBSERVATION
• Examples include TESTS AND YEAR END EXAMS QUESTIONS.
Continuous assessment can be referred to as an ongoing assessment that
takes place in the classroom though each learners academic year
(Horsthemke, Peggy, Walton, & Wolhuter, 2016). Purpose of Continuous
Assessment includes enhancing the learners learning process. Continuous
assessment also Improve teaching skills through continuous feedback and
reflection (Horsthemke, et al, 2016). further more continuous assessment
assists in Improving the education assessment system. the assessment
highlights the importance of diversity and differentiation (DBE, 2011).
Benefits of the continuous assessment involves learners feeling more
included in the learning process, it also acts as an early indicator of the
learners academic performance lastly it makes provision for qualitative
learning (DBE, 2011).
EXAMPLES OF INFORMAL & FORMAL
ASSESSMENTS
the use of Paper Toss in this method of informal
assessment , learners write questions for each other on a
piece of paper the papers are mixed and learners then pick
a question to answer this is a good method for assessment
(Katz, 2017).
The use of task such as crossword puzzles this is a stress-
free and fun informal assessment tool. for the introduction
of new content learners can easily learn definitions and
using descriptions as the clues (Katz, 2017).
*Effective teaching and learning only take place through a continuous feedback
(Hartman, 2017). Recording and reporting is therefore deemed important because,
learners progress can be tracked easily and people that are not directly involve in
the learning process can be involved through reports (Hartman, 2017).

* It is challenging when policies of the school based assessments are to be

implemented, this is because teaching in the classroom is not as easy and beautiful
as presented in the policy documents. Learners may take time to grasp concepts and
complete tasks making it difficult for the teacher to complete all the necessary
assessment documents on time.

*Most school Based content is informal assessments, it contribute 75% of practical

tasks and the 25% of it falls under Formal Assessments with is the end of year tests
and exams.
 The importance of informal Assessments.
Informal assessment allows teachers to measure student understanding
• Conducting informal assessments gives you an opportunity to find out what your students know. By
informally assessing students, you can discover whether each student in your class has a good
understanding of the content you’ve covered throughout the term. It can give you an indication of which
of your cherubs may need a little more attention and what topics may need to be revised by the whole
class.
It gives students who don’t perform under pressure a chance to shine!
• Performing informal assessments can also be beneficial for students! We all know some of our cherubs
don’t perform well in exam conditions. Informal assessment gives them the perfect opportunity to tell you
what they know! These students can recall their knowledge much more freely when they don’t feel
pressure. Allowing them to demonstrate their knowledge to you in a stress free environment also helps
to boost their confidence, which may even translate into the exam room one day.
Informal assessment helps teachers sharpen assessment skills
• Another benefit of informally assessing students is improving your own skills in
assessment. Performing an informal assessment helps you to further develop your
ability to translate your student’s capabilities into a specific grade. This skill will
become invaluable to you as you gain more experience in assessment and
progress in your career.

It allows teachers to write authentic reports

• It’s undeniable. Assessing students can help us to get to know our students and their
capabilities a little better. By conducting informal assessments more regularly throughout
the year, we can learn more about our students and their content understanding as well.
As our understanding of our students grows, so does our ability to write reports that truly
reflect each of our students.
 These pictures
show examples of
formal and
informal learning
taking place
Informal assessment board Game
 Board game instructions
• pick a time keeper and be in a groups of 4
STEP 1:
• the first learner to throw a 6 starts the game.
• At this point all the players have their counters on start on the board.

STEP 2:
• Once the die lands on a 6 that learner will go first, then all the other learners get an opportunity to
also play.
• you pick a card similar to the colour you landed on, the time keeper reads the question To you, the
number of questions answered determine the amount of spaces you have to move
• STEP 3
• The time keeper takes 10 seconds to read out the clues, the other learner has 10 seconds to say the
answer aloud b.
• If all questions are answered correctly within 20 seconds, you get another chance to pick another question
card.
STEP 4
• The number of questions that you are able to answer correctly within 20 seconds, will be the number of
spaces that you will move on the board with your counter.
• If another learner struggles with a question, the learner having a turn next may answer the question and
earn a point for themselves.
STEP 5
• The first learner with the most number of correctly answered questions will make it to the finish block first
making them the winners of the game.
THE END OF ACTIVITY 2.2