Assessment
Educational assessment is the process of documenting,
usually in measurable terms, knowledge, skills, attitudes, and beliefs.
Assessment can focus on the individual learner, the learning community (class,
workshop, or other organized group of learners), the institution, or the
educational system as a whole (also known as granularity).
Types
The term assessment is generally used to refer to all
activities teachers use to help students learn and to gauge student
progress.[2] Though the notion of assessment is generally more complicated than
the following categories suggest, assessment is often divided for the sake of
convenience using the following distinctions:
1.
initial, formative, and
summative
2.
objective and subjective
3.
referencing
(criterion-referenced, norm-referenced, and ipsative)
4.
informal and formal
Initial,
formative and summative
Assessment is often divided into initial, formative, and
summative categories for the purpose of considering different objectives for
assessment practices.
Initial assessment - Also referred to as
pre-assessment or diagnostic assessment, initial assessments are conducted
prior to instruction or intervention to establish a baseline from which
individual student growth can be measured.
Formative assessment - Formative assessment is
generally carried out throughout a course or project. Formative assessment,
also referred to as "educative assessment," is used to aid learning.
In an educational setting, formative assessment might be a teacher (or peer) or
the learner, providing feedback on a student's work and would not necessarily
be used for grading purposes. Formative assessments can take the form of
diagnostic, standardized tests.
Summative assessment - Summative assessment is
generally carried out at the end of a course or project. In an educational
setting, summative assessments are typically used to assign students a course
grade. Summative assessments are evaluative.
Objective
and subjective
Assessment (either summative or formative) is often
categorized as either objective or subjective. Objective assessment is a form
of questioning which has a single correct answer. Subjective assessment is a
form of questioning which may have more than one correct answer (or more than
one way of expressing the correct answer). There are various types of objective
and subjective questions. Objective question types include true/false answers,
multiple choice, multiple-response and matching questions. Subjective questions
include extended-response questions and essays. Objective assessment is well
suited to the increasingly popular computerized or online assessment format.
Norm-referenced,
criterion-referenced and ipsative assessment
Norm-referenced assessment.
This is assessment that is based on comparing the relative
performances of students, either by comparing the performances of individual
students within the group being tested, or by comparing their performance with
that of others of similar age, experience and background
Criterion-referenced assessment.
Here, the performance of students or trainees is assessed
against pre-determined criteria, without regard to their performance relative
to one another. Such assessment generally involves determining whether the
student or trainee can carry out specific tasks or activities, within a
particular situation or context, and to a set minimum standard
Ipsative assessment.
In this mode of assessment, a person's performance is
compared with their own earlier performance, with a view to determining whether
any improvement has been made, or any 'added value' brought about. Such
assessment might involve setting a learner the same test prior to and after
undertaking a course or unit thereof, keeping track of how a student's average
percentage mark or overall grade average changes as they progress through an
entire course, or seeing how an athlete's 'personal best' time, distance, etc
improves with training.
Evaluation
Educational evaluation is the evaluation process of
characterizing and appraising some aspect/s of an educational process.
There are two common purposes in educational evaluation
which are, at times, in conflict with one another. Educational institutions
usually require evaluation data to demonstrate effectiveness to funders and
other stakeholders, and to provide a measure of performance for marketing
purposes. Educational evaluation is also a professional activity that
individual educators need to undertake if they intend to continuously review
and enhance the learning they are endeavoring to facilitate.
Reference
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