Bulacan State UniversityCollege of Education

Bustos CampusBustos, Bulacan

In partial fulfilment for the subject Educ 313b Assessment of Student Learning 1

(Roles of Assessment in Making InstructionalDecisions)

(Principles of High Quality Assessment)

Submitted by:Janine Ariane Balmes

Nikka RizanoLady Jane San Agustin

Glorylyn VardeleonMayka BartolomeMadelyn ReyesRichalyn Rivera

Submitted to:Mr. John Eric A. Isidro

October 9, 2012

Table of Contents

II. Roles of Assessment in making instructional Decisions

2.1 Placement Purposes 2.2 Formative Purposes2.3 Diagnostic Purposes2.4 Summative Purposes

III. Principles of High Quality Assessment

III.1 Clarity of learning targets III.1.1 KnowledgeIII.1.2 ReasoningIII.1.3 SkillsIII.1.4 ProductsIII.1.5 Effects

III.2 Appropriateness of assessment methods

III.2.1 Objective tests III.2.2 EssaysIII.2.3 PerformanceIII.2.4 Oral QuestioningIII.2.5 ObservationIII.2.6 Self-reports

What is the role of Classroom Assessment? Classroom assessment, those assessments designed or selected and then administered by classroom teachers, play an essential role in an assessment system. It is through this assessment that classroom teachers can effectively target instruction in Academic Content Standards and arm students with the knowledge and skills they will need for future success, both in and out of the school.

What is the role of Assessment? Assessment purpose can be explained in terms of its functional role in the classroom. Some categories of assessment purpose in the order that they are likely to be used are as follows;

1. Placement Assessment to determine student performance at the beginning of instruction.

2. Formative Assessment to monitor learning progressed during instruction.3. Diagnostic Assessment to diagnose learning difficulties during instruction.4. Summative Assessment to assess achievements at the end of the instruction.

Placement Assessment Suppose that the two persons have the same opportunities to learn a job or develop a skill. They attend the same on-the-job training or classes, study the same material and practice the same length of time. One of them acquires the knowledge or skills easily; the other has difficulty and takes more time, if they ever master the skill. This two people differ in aptitude for this type of work or skill acquisition. Aptitude is variously define as innate learning ability, the specific ability needed to facilitate learning a job, aptness, knack, suitability, readiness, tendency, or natural or acquired disposition of capacity for a particular activity.

Formative Assessment is a part of the instructional process. When incorporated into classroom practice, it provides the information needed to adjust teaching and learning while they are happening. Formative assessment is student involvement. If students are not involved in the assessment process, formative assessment is not practiced or implemented to its full effectiveness. Students need to be involved both the assessors of their own learning and as resources to other students.

Diagnostic Assessment

Involves making judgements as how to a pupil is performing against a predetermined set of a criteria. This is a kind of assessment must be linked to further work which will tackle problem identified.

Effective diagnostic assessment improves learning and teaching.

There is some evidence that teachers do not adapt teaching as must as they might following diagnostic assessment.

Key Elements of Diagnostic Assessment

It must be linked to pre determined learning objectives It should be systematically built in to the curriculum It should identify next steps for the pupil Pupil should be involved in the identification of learning needs in this process The teachers should modify the course and or teaching approaches in light of the

assessment information However the assessment is done, care should be taken to ensure that it is adequate

in scope, valid, reliable, practical and acceptable to those involved Testing should be fair, taking account of equal opportunities issues A test’s instructions and administration must be clear and not distort results Diagnostic assessment may test key skills taught in the curriculum or it may test

key skills of a more basic or absolute nature, which the curriculum is expected to develop

Pupil should understand why and how they are to be tested

Summative Assessment

Is the formal testing of what has been learned in order to produce marks or grades which may be used for reports various types. This is different for formative assessment in which the emphasis is on on-going assessments of different types used to judge how to best to help pupils learn further.

Key of Elements of Summative Assessment

Motivation is seen as a compound of many factors

After summative assessment low achieving pupils had lower self-esteem than higher-achievers, whereas there had been no correlation between self-esteem and achiever before

Repeated practice tests reinforce law self-esteem of low achievers “Big bang” tests cause anxiety in pupils, especially girls Test do motivate some people Summative assessment promotes “extrinsic” motivation in which pupils

respond to the promise of some kinds of rewards rather that “intrinsic” motivation in which they perform because they are interested and want to do work

Secondary age low- achievers may deliberately underperform in summative assessments because they are failing anyway

Summative assessments can be limiting for the most able

CHAPTER 3

PRINCIPLES OF HIGH QUALITY ASSESSMENT

Assessment in Relationship to School Culture

The word assessment comes from Latin “ to sit beside". In this context, assessment might be viewed as thoughtful reflection. In a school setting, this reflection is sometimes done by the company of the student, sometimes by the teacher alone, and sometimes by the student alone.

The Importance of Beginning with Targets

What is the intended learning? That one question should drive all planning and assessment in schools today.

BENEFITS TO TEACHERS

Know what to assess Clarity on What Instructional Activities to Plan Ability to Balance “In Depth” with “Coverage” Know what your assessments reflect at a finer grain Accountability Ability to work collaboratively with other teachers

BENEFITS TO STUDENTS

Learning objectives Learning outcomes Success criteria

AUDIENCE- The audience is the learners that the objective is written for.

Behavior- the behavior is the verb describes what the learner (audience) will able to do after the instruction.

Condition- are the circumstances under which the objectives must be completed.

Degree- the degree identifies the standard that the learner must meet to reach acceptable performance.

What is Unit Plan? A unit plan is developed by the teacher and serves as a long- range plan.

Subject area ; Grade level What is subject area (s) and grade level (s) ang grade level (s) for which the unit is designed?

Unit Name What is the name of the unit of instruction?

Unit Goals Unit goals are long- range goals. What are the goals for this unit of instruction?

Specific ways to relate goal(s) to curriculum Describe how the unit goals relate to the team/ department , system and national frameworks.

Characteristics of the students List the needs for the students who this unit is intended in the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical areas.

Introductory procedures How will you introduce the unit and the goals to the students.

Materials/ media Identify the software, web sites, other materials and/or media needed to teach this lesson.

Assessment and evaluation Identify the methods that the teacher will use to identify the student learning levels and needs. Describe when these will be used during the unit.

Assessment instruments to outcomes Relate assessment instruments to the outcomes stated to the goals.

WHAT IS A LESSON PLAN?

A daily lesson plan is developed by the teacher to guide to the instruction. Planning the instruction is much more than delivering the instruction.

The Three Types of Learning

There is more than one type of learning. A committee of colleges, led by Benjamin Bloom (1956), identified three domains of educational activities:

Cognitive: mental skills (Knowledge) Affective: growth in feelings or emotional areas (Attitude) Psychomotor: manual or physical skills (Skills)

Since the work was produced by higher education, the words tend to be a little bigger than we normally use. Domains can be thought of as categories. Trainers often refer to these three categories as KSA (Knowledge, Skills, and Attitude). This taxonomy of learning behaviors can be thought of as “the goals of the learning process.” That is, after a learning episode, the learner should have acquired new skills, knowledge, and/or attitudes.

The committee also produced an elaborate compilation for the cognitive and affective domains, but none for the psychomotor domain. Their explanation for this oversight was that they have little experience in teaching manual skills within the college level (I guess they never thought to check with their sports or drama departments).

This compilation divides the three domains into subdivisions, starting from the simplest behavior to the most complex. The divisions outlined are not absolutes and there are other systems or hierarchies that have been devised in the educational and training world. However, Bloom's taxonomy is easily understood and is probably the most widely applied one in use today.

Cognitive Domain

The cognitive domain (Bloom, 1956) involves knowledge and the development of intellectual skills. This includes the recall or recognition of specific facts, procedural patterns, and concepts that serve in the development of intellectual abilities and skills. There are six major categories, which are listed in order below, starting from the simplest behavior to the most complex. The categories can be thought of as degrees of difficulties. That is, the first ones must normally be mastered before the next ones can take place.

Category Example and Key Words (verbs)

Knowledge: Recall data or information.

Examples: Recite a policy. Quote prices from memory to a customer. Knows the safety rules.

Key Words: defines, describes, identifies, knows, labels, lists, matches, names, outlines, recalls, recognizes, reproduces, selects, states.

Comprehension: Understand the meaning, translation, interpolation, and interpretation of instructions and problems. State a problem in one's own words.

Examples: Rewrites the principles of test writing. Explain in one's own words the steps for performing a complex task. Translates an equation into a computer spreadsheet.

Key Words: comprehends, converts, defends, distinguishes, estimates, explains, extends, generalizes, gives an example, infers, interprets, paraphrases, predicts, rewrites, summarizes, translates.

Application: Use a concept in a new situation or unprompted use of an abstraction. Applies what was learned in the classroom into novel situations in the work place.

Examples: Use a manual to calculate an employee's vacation time. Apply laws of statistics to evaluate the reliability of a written test.

Key Words: applies, changes, computes, constructs, demonstrates, discovers, manipulates, modifies, operates, predicts, prepares, produces, relates, shows, solves, uses.

Analysis: Separates material or concepts into component parts so that its organizational structure may be understood. Distinguishes between facts and inferences.

Examples: Troubleshoot a piece of equipment by using logical deduction. Recognize logical fallacies in reasoning. Gathers information from a department and selects the required tasks for training.

Key Words: analyzes, breaks down, compares, contrasts, diagrams, deconstructs, differentiates, discriminates, distinguishes, identifies, illustrates, infers, outlines, relates, selects, separates.

Synthesis: Builds a structure or pattern from diverse elements. Put parts together to form a whole, with emphasis on creating a new

Examples: Write a company operations or process manual. Design a machine to perform a specific task. Integrates training from several sources to solve a problem. Revises and process to improve the outcome.

Key Words: categorizes, combines, compiles, composes, creates, devises,

Affective Domain

The affective domain (Krathwohl, Bloom, Masia, 1973) includes the manner in which we deal with things emotionally, such as feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasms, motivations, and attitudes. The five major categories are listed from the simplest behavior to the most complex:

Category Example and Key Words (verbs)

Receiving Phenomena: Awareness, willingness to hear, selected attention.

Examples: Listen to others with respect. Listen for and remember the name of newly introduced people.

Key Words: asks, chooses, describes, follows, gives, holds, identifies, locates, names, points to, selects, sits, erects, replies, uses.

Responding to Phenomena: Active participation on the part of the learners. Attends and reacts to a particular phenomenon. Learning outcomes may emphasize compliance in responding, willingness to respond, or satisfaction in responding (motivation).

Examples:  Participates in class discussions.  Gives a presentation. Questions new ideals, concepts, models, etc. in order to fully understand them. Know the safety rules and practices them.

Key Words: answers, assists, aids, complies, conforms, discusses, greets, helps, labels, performs, practices, presents, reads, recites, reports, selects, tells, writes.

Valuing: The worth or value a person attaches to a particular object, phenomenon, or behavior. This ranges from simple acceptance to the more complex state of commitment. Valuing is based on the internalization of a set of specified values, while clues to these values are expressed in the learner's overt behavior and are often identifiable. 

Examples:  Demonstrates belief in the democratic process. Is sensitive towards individual and cultural differences (value diversity). Shows the ability to solve problems. Proposes a plan to social improvement and follows through with commitment. Informs management on matters that one feels strongly about.

Key Words: completes, demonstrates, differentiates, explains, follows, forms, initiates, invites, joins, justifies, proposes, reads, reports, selects, shares, studies, works.

Organization: Organizes values into priorities by contrasting different

Examples:  Recognizes the need for balance between freedom and responsible

values, resolving conflicts between them, and creating an unique value system.  The emphasis is on comparing, relating, and synthesizing values. 

behavior. Accepts responsibility for one's behavior. Explains the role of systematic planning in solving problems. Accepts professional ethical standards. Creates a life plan in harmony with abilities, interests, and beliefs. Prioritizes time effectively to meet the needs of the organization, family, and self.

Key Words: adheres, alters, arranges, combines, compares, completes, defends, explains, formulates, generalizes, identifies, integrates, modifies, orders, organizes, prepares, relates, synthesizes.

Internalizing values (characterization): Has a value system that controls their behavior. The behavior is pervasive, consistent, predictable, and most importantly, characteristic of the learner. Instructional objectives are concerned with the student's general patterns of adjustment (personal, social, emotional).

Examples:  Shows self-reliance when working independently. Cooperates in group activities (displays teamwork). Uses an objective approach in problem solving.  Displays a professional commitment to ethical  practice on a daily basis. Revises judgments and changes behavior in light of new evidence. Values people for what they are, not how they look.

Key Words: acts, discriminates, displays, influences, listens, modifies, performs, practices, proposes, qualifies, questions, revises, serves, solves, verifies.

Psychomotor Domain

The psychomotor domain (Simpson, 1972) includes physical movement, coordination, and use of the motor-skill areas. Development of these skills requires practice and is measured in terms of speed, precision, distance, procedures, or techniques in execution. The seven major categories are listed from the simplest behavior to the most complex:

Category Example and Key Words (verbs)

Perception: The ability to use sensory cues to guide motor activity.  This ranges from sensory stimulation, through cue selection, to translation.

Examples:  Detects non-verbal communication cues. Estimate where a ball will land after it is thrown and then moving to the correct location to catch the ball. Adjusts heat of stove to correct temperature by smell and taste of food. Adjusts the height of the forks on a forklift by comparing where the forks are in relation to the pallet.

Key Words: chooses, describes, detects, differentiates, distinguishes, identifies, isolates, relates, selects.

Set: Readiness to act. It includes mental, physical, and emotional sets. These three sets are dispositions that predetermine a person's response to different situations (sometimes called mindsets).

Examples:  Knows and acts upon a sequence of steps in a manufacturing process. Recognize one's abilities and limitations. Shows desire to learn a new process (motivation). NOTE: This subdivision of Psychomotor is closely related with the “Responding to phenomena” subdivision of the Affective domain.

Key Words: begins, displays, explains, moves, proceeds, reacts, shows, states, volunteers.

Guided Response: The early stages in learning a complex skill that includes imitation and trial and error. Adequacy of performance is achieved by practicing.

Examples:  Performs a mathematical equation as demonstrated. Follows instructions to build a model. Responds hand-signals of instructor while learning to operate a forklift.

Key Words: copies, traces, follows, react, reproduce, responds

Mechanism: This is the intermediate stage in learning a complex

Examples:  Use a personal computer. Repair a leaking faucet. Drive

skill. Learned responses have become habitual and the movements can be performed with some confidence and proficiency.

a car.

Key Words: assembles, calibrates, constructs, dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes, grinds, heats, manipulates, measures, mends, mixes, organizes, sketches.

Complex Overt Response: The skillful performance of motor acts that involve complex movement patterns. Proficiency is indicated by a quick, accurate, and highly coordinated performance, requiring a minimum of energy. This category includes performing without hesitation, and automatic performance. For example, players are often utter sounds of satisfaction or expletives as soon as they hit a tennis ball or throw a football, because they can tell by the feel of the act what the result will produce.

Examples:  Maneuvers a car into a tight parallel parking spot. Operates a computer quickly and accurately. Displays competence while playing the piano.

Key Words: assembles, builds, calibrates, constructs, dismantles, displays, fastens, fixes, grinds, heats, manipulates, measures, mends, mixes, organizes, sketches.

NOTE: The Key Words are the same as Mechanism, but will have adverbs or adjectives that indicate that the performance is quicker, better, more accurate, etc.

Adaptation: Skills are well developed and the individual can modify movement patterns to fit special requirements.

Examples:  Responds effectively to unexpected experiences.  Modifies instruction to meet the needs of the learners. Perform a task with a machine that it was not originally intended to do (machine is not damaged and there is no danger in performing the new task).

Key Words: adapts, alters, changes, rearranges, reorganizes, revises, varies.

Origination: Creating new movement patterns to fit a particular situation or specific problem. Learning outcomes emphasize creativity based upon highly developed skills.

Examples:  Constructs a new theory. Develops a new and comprehensive training programming. Creates a new gymnastic routine.

Key Words: arranges, builds, combines, composes, constructs, creates, designs, initiate, makes, originates.

Other Psychomotor Domain Taxonomies

As mentioned earlier, the committee did not produce a compilation for the psychomotor domain model, but others have. The one discussed above is by Simpson (1972). There are two other popular versions:

Dave's (1975):

Imitation — Observing and patterning behavior after someone else. Performance may be of low quality. Example: Copying a work of art.

Manipulation — Being able to perform certain actions by following instructions and practicing. Example: Creating work on one's own, after taking lessons, or reading about it.

Precision — Refining, becoming more exact. Few errors are apparent. Example: Working and reworking something, so it will be “just right.”

Articulation — Coordinating a series of actions, achieving harmony and internal consistency. Example: Producing a video that involves music, drama, color, sound, etc.

Naturalization — Having high level performance become natural, without needing to think much about it. Examples: Michael Jordan playing basketball, Nancy Lopez hitting a golf ball, etc.

Harrow's (1972):

Reflex movements — Reactions that are not learned. Fundamental movements — Basic movements such as walking, or grasping. Perception — Response to stimuli such as visual, auditory, kinesthetic, or tactile

discrimination. Physical abilities — Stamina that must be developed for further development

such as strength and agility. Skilled movements — Advanced learned movements as one would find in sports

or acting.

No discursive communication — Effective body language, such as gestures and facial expressions.

Bloom's Revised Taxonomy

Lorin Anderson, a former student of Bloom, revisited the cognitive domain in the learning taxonomy in the mid-nineties and made some changes, with perhaps the two

most prominent ones being, 1) changing the names in the six categories from noun to verb forms, and 2) slightly rearranging them (Pohl, 2000).

This new taxonomy reflects a more active form of thinking and is perhaps more accurate:

PERFORMANCE TESTS

Performance tests can be administered individually or by groups. They are seldom used in college and in universities because they are logistically difficult to set up, hard to score. If you used performance tests do the following:

- Specify the criteria to be used in rating or scoring.

- State the problem so that students know exactly what they are supposed to do.- Give students a chance to perform a task more than once.

Create –a-game exams

Ask students to create either a board game, trivia game or a word game that are related to your course.

ALTERNATIVE TESTING MODES

TAKE HOME EXAM - take home exam also permit longer and more involved questions, without sacrificing valuable class time for exam. Problem sets, short answers, and essays are the most appropriate kinds of take home exam.

OPEN BOOK TESTS - they use resources to solve problems, prepare reports or write memos. Students who are lacking in basic knowledge may waste to much of their time consulting their references rather than writing, it reduce the students motivation to study.

GROUP EXAMS – some faculties have experimented with group exams, either in class or as take home projects. If you assign problems, have each students work a problem and then compare results.

PAIRED TESTING- pairs can be self- selected or assigned. A variation is to have students work in teams but submit individual answer sheet.

PORTFOLIO- Is not a test but rather a cumulative collection of students work.

CONSTRUCTION OF EFFECTIVE EXAMS.

Prepare a new exam each time you teach a course.

Ask students to submit test question.

Prepare a clear instruction.

Include ea few words of advice and encouragement on the exams.

Put some easy items first.

Challenge the best students.

Try out the timing.

ORAL QUESTIONING

Oral questioning is the most commonly- used of all forms of assessments. Is extremely time-consuming. There is no direct and permanent “product” of oral questioning.

Appropriateness of Assessment Method

TESTING

Are powerful educational tools . Helps to evaluate students and assess whether they are learning what you are

expecting them to learn. Can help you understand how successfully you are presenting the materials. Can reinforce learning by providing students with indicators of what topics or

skills they have not yet mastered and should concentrate on.

GENERAL STRATEGIES

1. Spend adequate amounts of time developing your test.2. Match your test to the content you are teaching.3. Try to make your test valid, reliable, and balance.4. Use a variety of testing methods.5. Write question that test skills other than recall.6. If your course has graduate student instructors (GSIs)

Take precaution to avoid cheating.

OBJECTIVE TYPES OF TESTS

Multiple-choice tests-can be used to measure both knowledge and complex concepts.involve the selection more than one answer from a list.

True-false tests-required students to assess whether a statement is true or not.

Matching tests-involve linking items in one list to items in a second list. Short-answer tests-defending on your objectives, short answer question

can call for one or two sentence or a long paragraph. Problem sets-in courses in mathematics and the science, your test can

include problem sets/ Oral exams-though common at the graduate level are rarely used for

undergraduates except in foreign language classes Essay tests-the students is given a somewhat general directive to discuss

one or more related ideas according to certain criteria.

Peer Observation for Teaching Assessment

An Overview of the Five Part System Practice ObservationObservers can look for a number of things that do not require a pre-observation

conference. Essentially, the observer wants to gain a ‘sense’ of being in someone else’s classroom, and the instructor wants to become comfortable with having an observer in the classroom. Part 1: Identification

The identification portion of peer observation is designed to help participants understand the instructional goals associated with a particular course, session, and instructor. Remember that goals include the learner behaviours and the instructor strategies. Part 2: Dialogue One

The pre-observation conference helps the observer understand the context for the instructor’s particular class. The primary goal of this first meeting is to engage in a dialogue to review the instructor’s course/class goals, teaching strategies, learning objectives, past problems, perceived strengths etc. This first dialogue will also identify the role the observer will take during the observation.Part 3: The Observation

The actual observation is the primary part of the system designed to improve teaching. The observer and instructor will have discussed what specific behaviours the instructor wants to observe to look for during the class session. Keep in mind that for the instructor to make effective teaching related decisions the observer’s data collection must

be: specific, accurate, and descriptive, contain irrefutable evidence, and relate to the goals that are defined by the instructor being observed.Part 4: Dialogue Two

The post-observation dialogue is designed to allow the instructor and observer to review the observations regarding the goal the instructor set for that day’s class session. The dialogue should take place as close to the time of the observation as possible. In

order for the instructor to make effective changes to teaching, peer feedback should be: specific, focused, concrete, action oriented, accurate, clear, honest, and positively phrased.Part 5: Post-Observation Write-ups & Action Plans

The peer observation write-up generates a set of action steps that will positively affect an instructor’s teaching. The post-observation write-up is a result of the dialogue between the observer and the observed, and should be written collaboratively.This document should: descriptive not evaluative, specific, focuses on behaviour, take into account the needs of the receiver and the giver of feedback, and include only the amount of information the receiver can process.

Self-ReportsIn the rehabilitation context, self report is a term used to describe subjective or

personal information that is collected directly from the individual client. Two sources of self-reports are interviews and questionnaires. Self-reports are usually used in combination with formal clinical testing. The degree of reliance on self reports depends on a number of factors including the stage of rehabilitation, the cognitive status of the individual, and the nature of the information being collected.

Self-reports are the primary means of gathering particular types of information pertinent to rehabilitation such as the individual’s premorbid lifestyle, preferences abilities. Self-report is the primary means of gaining access to information on an individual’s internal processes such as pain and subjective responses such as feelings.

Self-Report by InterviewThe clinical interview is central to the rehabilitation process. A clinical interview

in which the individual provides a self-report is usually the first step of any consultation with a rehabilitation practitioner. While an initial interview is often a formal process, less formal interviews with clients are a repeated and regular component of a rehabilitation program.

Self-Report QuestionnairesA plethora of self-report questionnaires exists for use in rehabilitation research

and clinical practice. Some are well-established with excellent psychometric properties while others are less so. Questionnaires are a popular means of data collection because they are relatively low cost and quick to administer and have the potential to assess a wide range of personal, functional and environmental dimensions.

Self questionnaires provide a standardised means of accessing clients’ perspectives on subjective factors. They allow information to be quantified about

environmental variables and participation outcomes that are not able to be observed in the clinical environment.

Collateral Reports It is not always possible to obtain an accurate self report from a client. Therefore

it is standard practice in rehabilitation to obtain collateral reports from significant of

others. This is particularly the ease when the information will be used to inform important decisions. Family members and primary care givers will often have a different perspective than clients about issues, and can be used to verify the accuracy of self-reported information.

Reliability and Validity of Self-ReportsCriticisms of self-report measures related to their reliability data and validity. The

reliability of self-reports of clients in neurological rehabilitation is particularly questionable if cognitive impairments and reduced insight is present. Reliability is likely

to be grater for clients in the later stages of rehabilitation who have developed a greater understanding of their current status.