What is assessment?
The process of systematically collecting and using information to increase students' learning and development
Assessment is a form of data-based decision making. We make decisions about programs continually (e.g., Should one course be a prerequisite for another? Should there be more emphasis on one component of a program? Is there a more effective way to teach a concept?) The assessment process is a systematically way of collecting and using data to help answer questions and make decisions related to student learning and development.
Why should we make assessment?
We should make assessment
· To measure how much our students have learned up to a particular point in time
· To evaluate attainment of course goals
For every course we teach, we make decisions about what we want our students to know and be able to do by the end of the semester. Though we might not always formalize these goals by writing them down, we still make decisions about the curriculum, the instructional methods, and the assessment techniques we will employ. In terms of curriculum, we decide which topics to cover, and how they connect with previous and forthcoming topics. We also decide which instructional methods we will use to deliver the curriculum, be they lectures, group activities, readings, homework assignments, etc.
What are the forms of assessment?
Types of assessment
· summative assessments are conducted after a unit or certain time period to determine how much learning has taken place.
· formative assessments — support learning during the learning process
· group assessment
· individual assessment
The forms of assessment are Objective assessment designed to test not only knowledge, but the ability to organize and present thoughts under pressure. An essay test is where you are asked to respond to a question by assimilating the information, digesting it, thinking it through, and then writing your thoughts down in an organized, logical, and meaningful way that reflects your knowledge of the subject matter.
According to the text, when should we make assessment?
Assessment is an ongoing process and should not be only when the reports are due!Assessment of student learning is never completed! We continually make decisions about programs, teaching and services (Do we leave things the same? Do we make changes, and if so how and in what way?) so we need to collect, analyze and review information regularly. Assessment reports provide a snapshot of the assessment process at one point in time. In one sense they cannot ever be “finalized” because assessment is an ongoing process.
How should you make the assessment if your aim or objective is to refer one achievement with other achievement in learning (Objective or subjective)?
Objectives Assessment :
Multiple Choice Items
Multiple choice questions contain two major parts, the stem which presents the problem and several alter-native answers. The following checklist can be used to create or evaluate multiple choice questions.
· The stem, not the responses, should introduce what is expected of the student.
· The stem should be free of irrelevant material.
· All the options should be plausible and homogenous.
· All the options should be grammatically consistent with the stem.
· Obvious verbal associations between the stem and the correct answer should be eliminated.
· Overlapping options should be eliminated.
· All options should be approximately the same length.
True-False Items
A true-false test item is written in the form of a declarative sentence. The student must judge whether the sentence is a true or a false statement.
Use the following checklist to create or evaluate true/false items.
1. The language of the items should be simple and clear.
2. The statement should be specific enough to allow a judgement to be made.
3. The statement should be clearly true or false.
4. Specific determiners (e.g., always, never, sometimes, ever) should be avoided.
5. Use only a single idea in each statement.
6. The number of true statements and false statements should be approximately equal.
Matching Items
The matching item is a modification of the multiple choice question. In a matching test item, a list of words or phrases is presented in a column, generally on the left side of the page.
Following are suggestions for writing matching test items.
1. Clearly explain the basis on which the matching is to be made in the directions.
2. Make sure that the directions make clear whether each response can be used only once or not at all. It is usually better to have more responses than premises and to state that each response may be used more than once and that some responses may not be used at all.
3. Keep the lists of premises and responses short (5 or 6). If the lists are too long, the items will be testing the students memory and reading skills.
4. Keep the lists of premises and responses relatively homogeneous.
5. Write the responses in the form of short phrases, single words, numbers, or symbols and arrange them in an obvious order--alphabetical, chronological, etc.
Subjective assessment → Essay test:
For example, the objectives of our essay test are:
1. Students write an organized paragraph
2. Students show logical development of ideas
3. Students use correct grammar and mechanics
4. Students demonstrate style and quality of expression.
In line way UN were formed, why should are they formed in objective not subjective?
Because UN is A test consisting of factual questions requiring extremely short
answers that can be quickly and unambiguously scored by anyone with an answer key, thus minimizing subjective judgments by both the person taking the test and the person scoring. There is only one correct answer.
