MY ASSIGNMENT 2: COMMON TERMINOLOGIES

 

HOW DO YOU DIFFERENTIATE ASSESSMENT FROM TESTING, MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION?

 

We can differentiate assessment from testing, measurement and evaluation by giving each concept’s definition and use in the teaching-learning environment. First, we have to revisit the fact that there is a constant need to gauge the outcome or the quality of responsiveness of the teaching and learning process in the field of education, and this important symbiotic process is generally referred to as assessment.

Assessment is the process of documenting knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs, usually in a measurable term, wherein the goal of assessment is to make improvements, as opposed to simply being judged. In an educational context, assessment is the process of describing, collecting, recording, scoring, and interpreting information about learning.  It is commonly done for summative purposes, where it tries to determine the extent which the learning objectives for the course are met and why; it can also be for diagnostic purposes if the teacher is interested in determining the gaps in learning with the hope of being able to bridge this gap; it can also be done for formative assessment, where it can guide the teacher on his/her day-to-day teaching activity, where it allows the teacher to redirect and refocus the course of teaching a subject matter. Now, Test, measurement, and evaluation are concepts used in education to explain how the progress of learning and the final learning outcomes of students are assessed.  Meaning, this three are all used to measure how much of the assigned materials students are mastering, how well student is learning the materials, and how well student is meeting the stated goals and objectives.

Test or conducting test, is one of the most commonly used assessment tools in education. Beyond being considered as an instrument, tests can also be seen as standard procedures used to systematically measure a sample of behavior by posing a set of questions. In educational practice, tests are methods used to determine the students' ability to complete certain tasks or demonstrate mastery of a skill or knowledge of content. Tests are designed to measure the quality, ability, skill or knowledge of a sample against a given standard, which usually could be deemed as acceptable or not whether in the form of multiple choices or a weekly spelling. Manichander, (2016 as cited by Adom, Dake and Mensah, 2020), adds that, although tests have been interchangeably used to mean assessment or even evaluation, the distinguishing factor of a test is the fact that is a form of assessment.

While, measurement has something to do with the assignment of quantifiable data by using one or more instruments such as a test or rating scale. When contextualized within education, a measurement can be referred to as a process used to glean the degree of an individual's competence in numerical terms. In other words, measurement is undertaken to quantify the level of knowledge or skills acquired by the learner. In addition to this, Kizlik, (2012 as cited by Adom, Dake and Mensah, 2020), conceptualizes measurement as the process of determining the attributes or dimensions of some physical object. The measurement process involves gathering information to monitor students' progress and possibly intervene should the need arise. The concern of measurement is with the application of its findings, thus calls for some judgement on the effectiveness or desirability of a product, process or progress in line with a set of generally acceptable objectives or values. From the expositions this far, an educational measurement can mean the standard procedures and the principles underpinning the application of the procedures used for tests.

 

Evaluation on the other hand, is the making of judgement or determining of the quality or worth about an object, subject or phenomenon. The concept to education, Coleman, (2001 as cited by Adom, Dake and Mensah, 2020), defines evaluation as the "determination of how successful a program, a curriculum, a series of experiments, (in education) -a teacher has been in achieving the goals he/she have laid out for it at the outset". Other terminologies used synonymously as "Evaluation" or other variants of the same include but not limited to: appraisal, analyses, assessment, critique, examination, grading, inspection, judgement, rating, ranking, and review.

Assessment tools such as tests are used during the evaluation process to determine the qualification based on set criteria. This means that the process of making judgments is based on criteria and evidence. Evaluation refers to the systematic acquisition of information and consequent assessment so that some useful feedback is provided regarding an initiative. That is to say with a well-undertaken evaluation, learners are enabled to reflect and hence are assisted to identify changes for the future.

 

According to Ajayi, (2018) there are two types of evaluation: one, is the Formative Evaluation which is a type of evaluation that is conducted before giving final Shape to an educational policy or program, curriculum, teaching method, teaching aid or evaluation method. Wherein, the evaluator first of all prepares the preliminary draft of the proposed educational policy, planning or program, curriculum, teaching method or evaluation method; then he/she analyses each of its steps and receives approval of the specialists. This approval is received with the help of interview, questionnaire or rating scale; second, is the Summative Evaluation that is conducted in order to test the utility of an already existing educational policy, planning or program, curriculum, teaching method, teaching aid or evaluation method. For it, the evaluator constructs the most suitable measurement tool or method based on interview, questionnaire or rating scale, for evaluation of the educational policy, planning or program, curriculum, teaching method, teaching aid or evaluation method. After this, he/she tests its utility on the basis of related standards (Norms) and statistical calculations. Finally, he/she decides whether such educational policy, planning or program, curriculum, teaching method, teaching aid or evaluation method should continue or not, and if it is to continue, what should be its form.

Again, measurement involves assigning scores to individuals so that they represent some characteristic of the individuals. Researchers or educators will know if the scores actually represent the characteristic if they will conduct research using the measure to confirm that the scores make sense based on their understanding of the construct being measured. And in evaluating a measurement method, educators consider two general dimensions: validity and reliability, which are topics to be discussed soon.

 

DISCUSS WHAT IS MEANT BY:

·         Assessment of Learning

-       Checks what has been learned to date. It is designed for those not directly involved in daily learning and teaching meaning it does not involve the student and is presented in a formal report.

-       This usually summarize information into marks, scores or grades and compares student’s learning with either other students or the “standard” for a grade level.

-       An example of this is a Summative Assessment

 

·         Assessment as Learning

-       Actively involves student reflection on learning, monitoring of his/her own progress, and supports them in critically analyzing learning related to curricular outcomes;

-       It is a student-driven with teacher guidance kind of assessment that occurs throughout the learning process.

-       Examples of this are Collecting information, the strategic use of questioning and giving feedback.

 

·         Assessment for learning

-       Is designed to assist teachers and students, meaning it needs to involve the student (the person most able to improve the learning.

-       This is usually in responding to student work and in conversation. It is detailed, specific, and has descriptive feedback in words and in relation to criteria that has been set. Focuses on improvement, compared with the student’s ‘previous best’ and progress toward a standard

-       It’s more of like a formative Assessment like requiring students to draw a concept map in class to represent their understanding of a topic.

 

 

B. Choose a topic/lesson of a certain subject. Give your own example of each:

A.   A. ESSAY

Write a 3,000 word-essay explaining clearly the language testing models found in p. 12, Figure 1.1, Correspondence between language use and language performance and in p.22, Figure 2.3, Construct validity of score interpretations (Bachman and Palmer, 2004).

B.   OBJECTIVE TYPE OF TEST (3 OF EACH)

ü  TRUE OR FALSE

Write T if the statement is TRUE and F if the statement is FALSE on the space provided.

_______1. According to Mehta, 2011 Item analysis is the process of examining students’ responses to individual test items in order to assess the quality of those items and the test on a whole.

_______2. A mediocre question can separate the performing from the non-performing student.

_______3. The difficulty index measures the proportion of examinees who answered the item correctly.

 

ü  SENTENCE COMPLETION

1.    Kuder – Richardson Formula 20 OR KR20 is a _________ test with a binary variable (i.e. answers that are right or wrong).

 

2.    The _______ is used for items that have varying difficulty.

 

3.    In Kuder-Richardson formula 20, ______ is the proportion of the examines who got the item correct.

 

ü  MATCHING TYPE

Match each variable on the box to make sense of Kuder-Richardson formula 20

 

____ 1. is the number of tests

_____2. is the proportion of the examines who got the item correct.

_____3. is the proportion of the examinees who got the item incorrect

_____4. is the variance (var) of the scores

_____5. is the summation of the product of p and q

ü  MULTIPLE CHOICE

1.    It is the process of generating evidence to support the well-roundedness of inferences concerning trait from test scores, i.e., essentially, testing should be concerned with evidence-based validity.

a.    Test Validation

b.    Test

c.    Construct

d.    Evaluation

 

2.    Its concerns are really on placing judgment as to the performance of the students solely looking into whether they passed or failed, performing or not performing, and then providing the rating. 

a.    Test Validation

b.    Test

c.    Construct

d.    Evaluation

 

3.    It is a form of assessment that varies in construction and administration.

4.    Test Validation

5.    Test

6.    Construct

7.    Evaluation

 

ü  ALTERNATE RESPONSE TYPE OF TEST (MODIFIED TRUE OR FALSE)

Read the following statements below. Write TRUE if the statement is correct. If not, UNDERLINE the word/phrases that make the statement incorrect and write the correct answer in the space provided.

_______1. According to Mehta, 2011 Item evaluation is a process of examining students’ responses to individual test items in order to assess the quality of those items and the test as a whole.

 

_______2. An excellent question can separate the performing from the non-performing student.

 

_______3. The feasible index measures the proportion of examinees who answered the item correctly.