Assessment is “the process of collecting, synthesizing, and interpreting information to aid in decision making” (Airasian, 2000, p. 10). Similarly, Payne (2003) defines assessment as “the interpretive integration of application tasks (procedures) to collect objectives-relevant information for educational decision making and communication about the impact of the teaching-learning process” (p.9). This means that assessment is a form of collecting data which has meaning when making judgments on students’ learning. It is an effective way to assist students’ learning, identify their weaknesses and strengths and also to recover the effectiveness of curriculum programs. On the other hand, Moon (2000) suggests that assessment is “a way of providing feedback on learning and teaching” (p.148).
These authors highlight two different purposes in assessing students. One purpose of assessment is collecting data and information in order to measure students’ progress and achievement. Teachers also collect data from students’ work in order to give them feedback on their learning. Therefore there are t...
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Show MoreQuizzes are also a valuable tool to use after a lesson, to help measure where the students are in the material covered. These quizzes are corrected but the grades are not recorded, they are used only so the students can know how well they did. After quizzes are given,...
Assessments have always been a tool for teachers to assess mastery and for a long time it was just to provide a grade and enter it into the grade book or report card. Through resources in and out of the course, there has been a breath of new life into the research on how to use assessments. They take many forms and fall within the summative or formative assessment category. Sloan (2016) addresses how formative assessments has traditionally been used by teachers to modify instruction, but when we focus on a classroom that is learner-centered “it becomes assessment for learning as opposed to assessment of learning” (slide 4). The fact is, the students are the ones that should be and are the ones using the data we collect through assessments, since it is our way of providing feedback in order
Assessments are an important part of teaching. Assessments are a good way for teachers to monitor students’ learning and understanding. Knowing students’ level of understanding can help teachers improve students’ learning and guide their instructions. In the future, I plan to continue assessing students in multiple ways such as, asking questions, illustrations and writing to adjust my instruction. I also plan to encourage students to assess their own work so they are involved in their own learning as well as look for ways to “employ technology to support assessment
Assessment has been the greatest challenge in my development as a professional. My coursework as supported my growth in this area, especially in understanding the broad range of assessments used to support students’ growth and development. My courses have also supported my understanding of how ongoing observational assessment and standards-based measures can be used to inform instruction and support the cycle of observation, reflection and planning. Coursework
The formative assessment for the learning objectives includes a class discussion, writing a five body paragraph essay and a group discussion. The class discussion assesses a student’s comprehension and their speaking skills. The speaking skills include listening, and pronunciation. Next, the students will be asked to write a five body paragraph essay. Writing an essay allows the teacher to see if the student understands the main points and the character’s development in the story that they had read. Lastly, group discussion allows the students to enhance their social skills. The social skills include if students are able to form a communication with their peers. Also, having a group discussion will allow students to share ideas about the task
It is an integral part of the overall assessment procedure. It serves to measure the learning of multiple units and concepts. They should be constructed before the course begins which allows the teacher to develop final learning goals and what students should be able to do when reaching these goals. A second, and more recent approach, suggests teachers form summative assessments towards the end of the course to take into account fluctuations and changes in the content taught. Grading assessments are important but should not be the only defining assessment for grading a student. Other grading criterion such as portfolios, projects, reports, and behavioral objectives should be taken into account. Grading and reporting should report accurate, quality information about what students have learned, what they can do, and whether their learning status is in line with expectations for that level. Grading and reporting methods should enhance not hinder teaching and
The evaluation of distance learning and classroom training are equally important to ensure that effective learning occurs, even though the measures used for evaluating both types of training differ quite substantially. The reason for the difference lies in the vastly different infrastructure components required by each. Despite the infrastructure differences, it is the outcomes of training that matter most, since the outcomes determine if effective learning took place (Lockee, Moore, & Burton, 2002).
Formative assessment is a critical part of education as it measures learning and provides valuable information to teachers about student comprehension and mastery. When the words formative assessment and professional develop are uttered in the same sentence, a collective groan can often be heard bellowing from the staff office. This month, I was charged with the task of encouraging colleagues to make assessments a little more tolerable and dare I say fun? With articles such as 56 Examples of Formative Assessments and 55 Digital Tools and Apps for Formative Assessment Success, the options for making formative assessment more enjoyable seem more exhausting than exciting.
Assessment although being a critical part of the teaching and learning cycle may be one of the hardest areas for trainee teachers to address and understand but will crucially have a negative impact on children’s learning within any given classroom if not preformed effectively. The Department for Education and Science (1988:7) states ‘Promoting Children’s learning is a principal aim of schools. Assessment lies at the heart of this process. It can provide a framework in which educational objectives may be set and pupils’ progress charted and expressed. It can yield a basis for planning the next steps in response to children’s needs… It should be an integral part of the educational process, continually providing both feedback and feed forward’. To be able to have an understanding of how to assess children within the classroom firstly we must have a significant understanding of differen...
Assessment theories are based on knowledge (cognitive domain), skills (psychomotor domain) and attitudes (affective domain). Assessments differ from exams/tests, where results are graded or given a score. Assessments gauge learning that has taken place up to the point of administration and should have specific outcomes. This can then be evaluated to enhance/change a course if needed. Assessments should include informative feedback/feed forward between the learner and the teacher. John Hattie suggests that feedback should be focused, specific and clear. J.Hattie (2012).
Assessments allow for teachers to monitor the progress and growth of his/her students, help engage students and help guide teachers as well as students in their decision making. Teachers should know that tests are not the only way to assess students in the classroom. It is important for educators constantly assess their students on comprehension and progression.Teachers can take use of both formal and informal assessments so that they can engage students in their own learning, as well as monitor their comprehension and progress.
An effective teacher will constantly review their teaching practices, identifying the way students respond and their results from the programs administered by their teachers. By constantly administering assessments to review their teaching students will be less likely to struggle as content will be up to date and appropriate to the students. Assessment needs to be given to the students in a clam and collective manner. Teachers should strive to reduce the stress of assessments; this often limits student’s potential. Teachers need to incorporate both formative and summative assessment strategies. During the beginning of a lesson topic it is important to track the progress being made by the students. Teachers need to constantly assess what topics are the students grasping and moving forward with and on the other hand which areas is extra help or teaching required. This is the role of formative assessment, which ultimately plays the role of monitoring the learning progress (Gronlund, 1993, p.5). As for summative assessment, such as formal testing and the end of semester reports giving
Assessment is a tool used in the classroom every day. It is used to measure a student’s mastery of a skill or knowledge of a given subject. It is also what demonstrates to the teacher what the students have learned. Educators use that information to determine if they need to re-teach to a specific student, group, or the entire class. They can also use that information to determine the rate of their teaching. Assessments are important because, as teachers, we need to know what difficulties our students have and what needs to be refined for them. While I do believe in assessment and feel that it is one of the key components of teaching, I am more concerned with a child’s process of learning rather than the overall product that comes from it. This is where grades come in for me. Grades determine the students’ level of mastery on a subject, nothing more. Grades should not be the exclusive indicators that a student has learned the information that is presented to them. It is the things a student learns along the way that truly matter and sometimes cannot be measured.
Our second best practice, formative assessments, “provide insights into learning in progress. Timed well, they can reveal issues of misunderstanding or confusion before they become obstacles to student learning” (Martin-Kniep & Picone-Zocchia, 2009, p. 73). Most assessments should be formative and, if aligned to Learning Targets, useful for both the teacher and the student to better understand the knowledge and misunderstandings held about content, or strengths and gaps in skills. Marin-Kniep & Picone-Zocchia (2009) identify three characteristic of formative assessment; they occur during the course of student learning, not at the end; their purpose is to monitor student learning; and they provide data to the teacher to adjust instruction to better meet the learning needs of students (p. 74). Through this lens, formative assessments are another means to gain strategic data points for all students that allow a teacher to be proactive rather than reactive or inactive before a summative assessment occurs. After all, “the aim of teaching is not to master state tests, but to meet worthy intellectual standards. We must recapture the primary aim of assessment: to help students better learn and teachers to better instruct.” (Wiggins,
Assessment is included in evaluation which is the umbrella term referring to all the types of activities that require the exercise of judgement. Even though the terms have frequently been used interchangeably in the relative literature, Bachman (1990) argues that their distinctive characteristics render their separate definitions necessary. More particularly, evaluation is a broad concept “primarily about decision making” (Genesee & Upshur, 1996: 4). Although it “is a natural and recurring activity of our daily existence” (Karavas, 2004: 151), when we engage in evaluation in an educational setting, its consequences are serious, powerful and far reaching. Evaluation involves making a wide variety of choices concerning instructional plans, methodological approaches,...