LESSON 1

ASSESSMENT IN PHYSICAL
SCIENCES

HMPS 031
29 January 2024
13h00 to 14H40 1
HMPS031 : ASSESSMENT IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE

MAMASHELA MD
DMSTE Bld
Office 1009
DAY TIME VENUE

MONDAY 13H00 TO 14H40 BIOLOGY LAB

FRIDAY 09H20 TO 11H00 MATHS LAB

CONSULTATION TIMES
WEDNESDAYS 9H00 TO 16H00

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 MODULE CONTENT
• Assessment in Physical Science as per policy with
specific emphasis on forms, methods and techniques,
tools like rubrics and rating scales, self and peer
assessment.
• Assessing subject related investigations, process skills
for individuals and groups.

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 MODULE OUTCOMES
At the end of the module learners will be expected to:
• Describe and analyse when to assess, what to assess,
how to assess in Physical Science
• Identify, analyse and critique norm and criterion reference
assessment.
• Identify, select, design and apply appropriate assessment
tool aligned to a given task or skills.
• Prepare and evaluate test items in a given topic.

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 ASSESSMENT METHODS
• Tests
• Assignments
• Examination
• Quizzes
• Presentations

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 ASSESSMENT WEIGHTINGS
Min Formative Assessment mark for
40%
exam admission (%)

% Formative
60%
Final mark = Assess Mark

% Summative
40%
Assess Mark

Min Final Assessment mark to pass (%) 50%

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 HMPS 031

QUESTIONS
?

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GENERALLY: What is Assessment?

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GENERALLY: What is Assessment?
a continuous planned process of identifying, gathering
and interpreting information about the performance of
learners, using various forms of assessment
*(CAPS)

process of gathering data to better understand the

strengths and weaknesses of learners’ learning
*(Harris and Hodges, 1995)

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GENERALLY: What is Assessment?
“The assessment process is an effective tool for
communicating the expectations of science education system
to all concerned with science education. Assessment
practices and policies provide operational definitions of
what is important”
National Academies Press

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GENERALLY: What is Assessment?
Assessment plays an important role in the process of
learning and motivation
The types of assessment tasks that we ask our learners to do
determine how learners will approach the learning task and
what study behaviours they will use.
In the words of higher education scholar John Biggs,
“What and how learners learn depends to a major
extent on how they think they will be assessed.”
(1999, p. 141)

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GENERALLY: What is Assessment?
• Learners are motivated to learn by success and competence
• Assessment can be a motivator, not through reward and punishment,
but by stimulating learners’ intrinsic interest
 emphasizing progress and achievement rather than failure
 providing feedback to move learning forward
 reinforcing the idea that learners have control over, and responsibility for,
their own learning
 building confidence in students so they can and need to take risks
 being relevant, and appealing to learners’ imaginations
 providing the scaffolding that learners need to genuinely succeed

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GENERALLY: What is Assessment?
Given the importance of assessment for learner learning, it is
important to consider how to best measure the learning that you want
your learners to achieve.
Assessment should integrate grading, learning, and motivation for
your learners.
Well-designed assessment methods provide valuable information
about learner learning: they tell us what learners learned, how well
they learned it, and where they struggled.
Assessment then becomes a lens for understanding learner
learning, identifying invisible barriers, and helping us to improve
our teaching approaches.

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 GENERALLY
Questions to ALL of YOU
WHY do we assess?

WHEN do we assess?

WHAT do we assess?

HOW do we assess?

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 The “WHY” question of assessment
This question asks about the purposes of
assessment
1. Assessment FOR learning

2. Assessment AS learning

3. Assessment OF learning

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 The “WHY” question of assessment:AfL
• aka Formative Assessment
• AfL has become an integral element of the curriculum, and it is
understood as an element which can actually enhance, not simply
measure, the achievement of the curriculum
*(Stiggins and Arter, 2007).
Purpose : educational, diagnostic, helping learners to learn and
improve, helping learners to achieve their learning goals
It’s about: feedback, guidance, motivation, diagnosis, monitoring
learning
When: whenever useful; during the teaching process
Role of teacher: diagnose problems and identify learning needs; provide
feedback; clarify intended outcomes and standards; advise learners on how to
improve; enhance motivation

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 The “WHY” question of assessment: AfL
Throughout a lesson there are many opportunities to assess
learners, through:
• questioning
• talking and listening to learners while they are working
• judging learners’ body language and facial expressions.
• More???

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 The “WHY” question of assessment: AaL
• is also Formative Assessment
• AaL learners become critical analysts of their own learning
Purpose : learning to learn; learners monitor their own learning
process; to learn metacognitive skills
It’s about: self and peer assessment; reflection; learners setting their
own goal; stimulating responsibility for learning
When: during teaching process
Role of teacher: model and teach skills for self- assessment; provide
guidance for monitoring learning processes and to deal with
uncertainties; help learners set goals and develop criteria for good
practice

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 The “WHY” question of assessment: AoL
• aka Summative Assessment
• AoL learners become critical analysts of their own learning
Purpose: for making judgement on the learning of the learner; to
measure and show competency; for accountability to stakeholders; for
progressing learners; for reporting
It’s about: grading; certification; progression; maintaining standards
When: at the end of a term or year to report to stakeholders; interim and
final exams;
Role of teacher: uses evidence of learners’ learning to make judgements
on their achievement against goals and standards; gives grades (accurate,
fair, based on valid evidence: important because of impact)

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 The “WHY” question of assessment
• If we want to enhance learning for all learners, the role of
FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT, i.e. AfL and AaL, takes on a much
higher profile than SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT i.e. AoL

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