Week 8 – Assessment
Assessment is “collecting information or evidence on learners and making judgements about it” – Hall,
2014
Purpose of assessment
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Monitoring learner progress
Establishing level of understanding, knowledge or skills
Documenting learner progress
Comparing learners
Facilitate decision making
Screening
Diagnostic purposes
Enhancing teacher effectiveness
Accountability
Formative and summative assessment
Formative
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Supporting learning
Monitoring progress
Helping students to improve
Guides future learning
Giving feedback to teachers
Usually regular and ongoing
Assessment FOR learning
The importance –
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Black & William 1998: formative assessment is the most effective way to improve achievement
Black 2003: feedback comments alone most important
Summative
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Summing up attainment
Measuring outcomes
Often occurs at the ‘end’ and/or at pre-defined points
Establishing level of achievement
Often high-stakes assessment
Assessment OF learning
Types of assessment
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Criterion-reference
Norm-reference
Class-based assessments
Assessment characteristics
Reliability
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Trustworthiness
Dependability
Consistency of results over time?
Validity
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Meaningfulness
Does the assessment measure what it is supposed to?
Authentic assessment?
Why are students tested as individuals, when the world of work requires people who can work well in a
team?
Why do we test memory, when in the real world engineers and scientists never rely on memory? If
they’re stuck, they look things up.
Why do we use timed tests when it is usually far more important to get things done right than to get
things done quickly?
Wiliam (2001), quoted from Hall 2014.
Summary
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Assessment is an integral part of learning design
Helps focus activity: determines what should be learned, how it should be learned, and
measures how much learning has taken place
To be effective, assessment needs to be designed carefully and appropriately for the course,
level and learners.
Assessment criteria, marking guidelines and moderation processes help to ensure that
assessment is fair and consistent
Feedback is a key part of the learning process – ensuring that assessment is a learning activity
that informs future performance.