Session 6: Lesson planning (b)
Focus on objectives / assessment methods (questioning and others) and their relationship
with lesson objectives.
Introduction:
Assessment is an inevitable part of teaching. It is the process of determining the worth of a
child’s academic career. The teacher must ensure that all aspects of learning are assessed at
various stages in the process of teaching to improve the quality of both teaching and learning.
A good lesson plan needs to include all of the important elements which need to be well aligned
and appropriate to the target audience:
o
o
o
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the objectives
assessments
class activities
use of technology
Aims and objectives:
By the end of the tutorial and observations you should:
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o
o
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be able to distinguish between objectives and methods of assessment
understand why assessment should be aligned with learning objectives
identify different types of activities which can be used to assess student learning
distinguish between summative and formative assessment.
After writing learning objectives, the teacher should think about how to assess the students’
achievement of the different learning objectives. Assessment should provide teachers and
students with evidence of how well the students have learned what teachers have intended them
to learn. What teachers wish students to learn and to be able to do should guide the choice and
design of the assessment.
o Different learning objectives define the aim and methods of assessment
o One needs to relate different levels of objectives with assessment instruments and all
items that are graded. This will help you achieve your specific objectives
o Students need to know what they must do to achieve in the subject – what are the
assignments? What are the projects? How will they be graded?
What you teach should determine how you need to assess learning. For example, if you have set
your objectives to teach problem-solving, you should design your instruction and learning
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activities to teach or demonstrate problem-solving, and you should assess the students at
problem-solving level. This will make sure you are measuring what you are teaching.
There are two major reasons for aligning assessments with learning objectives:
o Alignment increases the probability that you will provide students with the opportunities
to learn and practise the knowledge and skills that will be required on the various
assessments teachers design.
o When assessments and objectives are aligned, ‘good grades’ are more likely to translate
into ‘good learning’. When objectives and assessments are misaligned, many students
will focus their efforts on activities that will lead to good grades on assessments, rather
than focusing their efforts on learning what teachers believe is important.
Tutorial activity 1:
Ask your collaborating teacher to give you a list of five instructional objectives, across different
subjects, which she has set for her / students during one particular week. Decide on how to best
assess this learning, aligning this assessment with each specific objective.
There are many different types of activities that can be used to assess students’ proficiency on a
given learning objective, and the same activity can be used to assess different objectives. To
ensure accurate assessment of student proficiencies, it is recommended that you use different
kinds of activities so that students have multiple ways to practise and demonstrate their
knowledge and skills. Learning goals can be assessed through:
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Independently performed worksheets
Cooperative learning activities
Hands-on experiments
Oral discussion
Question-and-answer sessions
Illustrations or graphic organizers
Quizzes
Tests
It is important to ensure that the assessment activity is directly and explicitly tied to the stated
learning objectives. Student performance informs future lessons and where you will take your
students next.
When deciding on what kind of asessment activities to use, it is helpful to keep in mind the
following questions:
o What will the students’ work on the activity tell the teacher about their level of
competence on the targeted learning objectives?
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o How will my assessment of their work help guide students’ practice and improve the
quality of their work?
o How will the assessment outcomes for the class guide the teaching practice?
The following table presents examples of the kinds of activities that can be used to assess
different types of learning objectives, and the ways that teachers can analyse or measure
performance to produce useful feedback for teaching and learning. The categorisation of learning
objectives is taken from the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy.
Type of Learning Objective
Remember
Students will be able to:
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recall
recognize
Understand
Students will be able to:
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o
o
o
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interpret
exemplify
classify
summarize
infer
compare
explain
Apply
Students will be able to:
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execute
implement
Analyze
Students will be able to:
o
o
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differentiate
organize
attribute
Evaluate
Students will be able to:
o
check
Examples of Types of Assessment
Objective Test items that require students to recall or recognize
information:
Fill-in the Blank
Multiple Choice items with question stems such as, “what is a…”, or
“which of the following is the definition of”
Labelling diagrams
Reciting (orally, musically, or in writing)
Papers, oral/written exam questions, problems, class discussions, concept
maps, homework assignments that require (oral or written):
Summarizing readings, films, speeches, etc.
Comparing and/or contrasting two or more theories, events, processes,
etc.
Classifying or categorizing cases, elements, events, etc., using
established criteria
Paraphrasing documents or speeches
Finding or identifying examples or illustrations of a concept, principle
Activities that require students to use procedures to solve or complete
familiar or unfamiliar tasks; may also require students to determine
which procedure(s) are most appropriate for a given task. Activities
include:
Problem sets, performances, labs, Prototyping, Simulations
Activities that require students to discriminate or select relevant from
irrelevant parts, determine how elements function together, or determine
bias, values or underlying intent in presented materials. These might
include:
Case studies, Critiques, Labs, Papers, Projects, Debates, Concept Maps,
A range of activities that require students to test, monitor, judge or
critique readings, performances, or products against established criteria
or standards. These activities might include:
Journals, Diaries, Critiques, Problem Sets, Product Reviews, Case
Studies.
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o
critique
Create
Students will be able to:
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o
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generate
plan
produce
Research projects, musical compositions, performances, essays, business
plans, website designs, prototyping, set designs
Table adapted from: http://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/howto/basics/objectives.html
Once the students have completed the given assessment activity, take some time to reflect upon
the results. Ask yourself whether the learning objectives were achieved adequately. If not, you
will need to revisit the lesson in a different manner. Therefore, it is important to assess the final
outcome of the lesson and to what extent the final objectives were achieved.
Assessment is not separate from the interaction that takes place in a normal classroom situation.
Rather, it is an integral and vital aspect of the teaching - learning process and the teacher is the
key person in the curriculum implementation process. Assessment can be seen as the process of
investigating the status or standard of learners’ attainment, with respect to extended outcomes
that must have been specified as objectives.
School-based assessment leads to a teacher’s self-assessment of her / his techniques or methods
from time to time. This can lead to great improvement in the teaching methods. The teacher can
also get feedback about her / his teaching and discover the strategies that will help in achieving
the desired goals.
There are two main types of assessment: summative and formative.
Summative assessment – this is carried out at the end of the course or term; it is used to
determine how much the set goals are achieved. It is also referred to as assessment of learning.
Formative assessment – this occurs in the classroom. It is sometimes referred to as educational
assessment or assessment for learning. It is used in the course of teaching to collect feedback
early and often on how well pupils are learning. The purpose is to provide the teacher and pupils
with information and insights needed to improve teaching effectiveness and learning quality. It is
also referred to as assessment for learning.
Tutorial activity 2:
During the tutorial, brainstorm and come up with a list of activities / tasks which can be used for
assessment. Divide them into two groups – those which are summative and those which are
formative.
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Observation session:
Take note of all the identifiable objectives which you can observe throughout the days. Then
note in which ways, if any, the teacher assesses these objectives. Compile two lists.
Post-observation session:
In your tutorial group discuss:
o Were the objectives easily identified?
o Were these objectives fappropriate for the level of ability / competence of the students
concerned?
o Were these objectives assessed in an effective manner?
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