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EDCU 2013
ASSESSMENT
Laila N. Boisselle
8 July 2017 1
CLASSROOM
ASSESSMENT
Laila N. Boisselle
2
8 July 2017
What is assessment?
 Any activity used to obtain evidence of students’
learning?
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8 July 2017
Contemporary Shifts in Assessment
 Assessment of Learning: A summative form of assessment
to determine how much is learnt and mainly used for
certification
 Assessment for Learning: An assessment that is continuous
throughout a course and mainly uses alternative methods
of assessments
 Assessment as Learning: development of metacognition in
students so that they become the critical connector
between learning and assessment.
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Assessment can be:
 Diagnostic: used to identify students’ needs
 Formative: used to get information on the learning taking
place during the teaching session
 Summative: used to obtain evidence of students’ learning after
completing a unit.
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Types of Assessment/ Characteristic
Formative
Summative
Purpose
To provide ongoing feedback and adjustments
to instruction
To document student learning at the end of an
instructional segment
When conducted
During instruction and after instruction
After instruction
Student involvement
Encouraged
Discouraged
Student Motivation
Intrinsic, mastery-oriented
Extrinsic, performance-oriented
Teacher Role
To provide immediate, specific feedback and
instructional correctives
To measure student achievement and give
grades
Learning Emphasized
Deep understanding, application, and
reasoning
Knowledge and comprehension
Level of Specificity
Highly specific and individual
General and group oriented
Flexible, adaptable
Rigid, highly structured
Informal
Formal
Strong, positive, long-lasting
Weak and fleeting
(McMillan, 2008)
Structure
Techniques
Impact on Learning
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
Traditional Assessment
Authentic Assessment
(Caruth-Blake, 2010)
Generally relies on forced-choice, written measures
Promotes integration of various written and performance measures
Relies on proxy measures of student learning to represent target skills
Relies on direct measures of target skills
Encourages memorization of correct answers
Encourages divergent thinking in generating possible answers
Goal is to measure acquisition of knowledge
Goal is to enhance development of meaningful skills
Curriculum directs assessment
Assessment directs curriculum
Emphasis on developing a body of knowledge
Emphasis on ensuring proficiency at real-world tasks
Promotes “what” knowledge
Promotes “how” knowledge
Provides a one-time snapshot of student understanding
Provides an examination of learning over time
Emphasizes competition
Emphasizes cooperation
Targets simplistic skills or tasks in a concrete, singular fashion
Prepares students for ambiguities and exceptions that are found in
realistic problem settings
Priority on summative outcomes or product
Priority on the learning sequence or process
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Laila N. Boisselle
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Main Uses of Assessment

Norm Referenced Assessment
An assessment in which students’
Criterion Referenced Assessment
A system of assessment which:
 Identifies the skills required
 Assesses understanding of
concepts and principles –
mastery of criterion
scores are compared with other
students’ scores to determine
whether performance is above
average, average or below average
according to set criteria.
Limitations:
Limitations
Needs a range of assessment
technique to adequately assess
criterion
 Cannot measure effectiveness of
curricula
 Does not indicate what the
student is or is not able to do after
being exposed to the curriculum
(King, 2010)
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Popularity of Norm Referenced Tests
 High stakes assessment and its impact
 In instances of limited job and educational opportunities high
stake assessments become the means to identify meritocracy
Impact on curriculum
 Determining the legitimacy and level of importance given to
areas of the curriculum
 Teaching to the test
 Defining the learned curriculum
(King, 2010)
General Principles of Assessment
 Assessment is an integrated process for determining the nature and
extent of student learning and development. This process will be most
effective when the following principles are considered.
 Clearly specify what is to be assessed.
 Select an assessment procedure that is relevant to the characteristics
or performance to be measured.
 Use a variety of assessment procedures.
 Be aware of the limitations of assessment procedures.
 Remember, assessment is a means to an end, not an end in itself.
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General Principles of Assessment
 Validity – assessment instrument measures what it says it
will and does so consistently i.e. the instrument is reliable
 Reliability – assessment instrument is consistent in
measuring the constructs it intended to measure
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Issues of Fairness
Assessment and evaluation processes should consider
 language – should students be penalized for not being able
to write and speak standard English?
 Cultural content – avoid statements and questions that
may imply cultural bias
 Students’ special needs – plan for the assessment of
special needs students
(King, 2010)