Module 3: Guiding Principles for the Assessment of Student Learning

Lesson 1. Principles of Clarity Learning Targets, Appropriateness of Methods and Balance

OVERVIEW

In your previous module, you have learned how tests serve to influence sound
instructional decisions. In outcome-based education, teachers must be guided by the
principles of assessment to ensure the quality and credibility of assessment tools used to
measure learning outcomes. In this subject, you will study twelve (12) principles of
assessment which will be presented in three modules. Module 3 (part 1) deals with the
principle of clarity and appropriateness of learning targets, principle of appropriateness of
methods and principle of balance. In 2015, De Guzman and Adamos emphasized that
assessment methods and tools should be parallel to the learning targets or outcomes to
provide learners with opportunities that are rich in breadth and depth and promote deep
understanding.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this module, you are expected to:

1. match learning outcomes with the appropriate assessment methods.

LET US EXPLORE

Activity 1

Why are you assessing? This question is about the purpose of assessment which
you have learned in module 2. Do you know what the two questions are all about?

1. What do you want to assess?

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

2. How are you going to assess?

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Module 3: Guiding Principles for the Assessment of Student Learning

Lesson 1. Principles of Clarity Learning Targets, Appropriateness of Methods and Balance

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
CONTENT FOCUS
Principle 1 – CLARITY AND APPROPRIATENESS OF LEARNING TARGETS
 A learning target is defined as a description of a performance that includes what
learners should know and be able to do.
 Learning targets should be clearly stated, specific and centered of what is truly
important.
 Assessment methods and tools should be parallel to the learning targets or outcomes
to provide learners with opportunities that are rich in breadth and depth that promote
deep understanding. Not all assessment methods are applicable to every type of
learning outcomes and teachers have to be skillful in the selection of assessment
methods.
 An organized set of learning outcomes helps teachers plan and deliver
appropriate instruction and design valid assessment tasks and strategies.

Learning targets
(Mc. Millan, 2007; Staginess, 2007)
Knowledge Students mastery of substantive subject matter
Reasoning Students ability to use knowledge to reason and solves
problems
Skills Students ability to demonstrate achievement-related skills
Products Students ability to achievement-related products
Affective/disposition Students attainment of affective states such as attitudes,
values, interests and self-efficacy.

Principles 2- APPROPRIATENESS OF METHODS

 Learning targets are measured by appropriate assessment methods.
 The teacher must use the taxonomy of learning domains in order to categorize
learning outcomes which is crucial in designing and developing assessment.
Consider this learning outcome in science: “Design an experiment to determine
the factors that affect the strength of an electromagnet”. Now consider this
multiple choice item:

Which of the following factors does not affect the strength of an

electromagnet?
a. Diameter of the coil.
b. Direction of the windings
c. Nature of the core material
d. Number of turns in the coil
The item does not allow learners to attain the level of performance expressed in the learning
outcome. The performance verb “design” calls for constructed response assessment
(performance/product) not a selected response test. Therefore, the multiple choice item is
NOT appropriate to the stated learning outcome.

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Module 3: Guiding Principles for the Assessment of Student Learning

Lesson 1. Principles of Clarity Learning Targets, Appropriateness of Methods and Balance

Types of Assessment Methods

1. Selected response format – students select from a given set of options to answer a
question or a problem. Because it has only one correct or best answer, selected
response items are objective and efficient. It is easy to grade and the teacher can
assess a great deal of content quickly. Ex. Multiple choice test, true/false, matching
type.
2. Constructed response format – (subjective) demands that students create or
prouce their own answer in response to a question, problem or task. It has the
following categories:
2.1 brief-constructed response items – require short answers. Ex. Completion type,
answering math problem
2.2 performance assessment - students need to come up with a more extensive or
elaborate answer or response. It is also called authentic or alternative
assessment because students are required to demonstrate what they can do
thru activities, problems or exercises. As such, they can be a more valid indicator
of students’ knowledge and skills. A scoring rubric containing performance criteria
is needed when scoring performance tasks.
2.3 Essay assessment - allows students to express themselves and demonstrate
their reasoning in answering question or proposition in written form. A rubric is
used to score essays.
2.4 Oral questioning – common assessment method during instruction to check
understanding.
3. Teacher observations – usually done in combination with oral questioning.
Information gathered from observations reveal the strengths and weaknesses of the
individual students which can serve as basis for planning and implementing new
support for learning.
4. Student Self-assessment – it is a process where the students are given a chance to
reflect and rate their own work and judge how well they have performed in relation to
a set of assessment criteria. Students track and evaluate their own progress or
performance.

ASSESSMENT METHODS
Objective Objective Essay Performance Oral Observation Self-report
Supply Selection Based Questioning
Short Multiple Restricted Presentation Oral Informal Attitudes
answer choice response Papers Examinations /formal Survey
Completion Matching Extended Project Conferences Sociometric
test type response Athletics Interviews Devices
True/false Demonstrations Questionnaire
Exhibition Inventories
Portfolios

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Module 3: Guiding Principles for the Assessment of Student Learning

Lesson 1. Principles of Clarity Learning Targets, Appropriateness of Methods and Balance

LEARNING TARGETS AND THEIR APPROPRIATE ASSESSMENT METHODS

ASSESSMENT METHODS
Objective Essay Performance- Oral Observation Self-
TARGETS based questioning report
Knowledge 5 4 3 4 3 2
Reasoning 2 5 4 4 2 2
Skills 1 3 5 2 5 3
Products 1 1 5 2 4 4
Affect 1 2 4 4 4 5
Note: higher number indicate better matches (e.g. 5=high, 1=low)

MODES OF ASSESSMENT

Mode Description Examples Advantages Disadvantages

Traditional The paper-and Standardized Scoring is Preparation of the
pen-test used tests objective. instrument is time
in assessing Teacher-made Administration is consuming.
knowledge and tests. easy because Prone to
thinking skills. students can guessing/cheating
take the test at
the same time
Performance A mode of Practical test Preparation of Scoring tends to
assessment Oral and aural instrument is be subjective
that requires test relatively essay. without rubrics.
actual Projects, etc. Measures Administration is
demonstration behavior that time consuming.
of skills and cannot be
creations of deceived as they
products of the are
learning. demonstrated
and observed
Portfolio A process of Working Measures Development is
gathering portfolios student’s growth time consuming.
multiple Show and Rating tends to be
indicators of portfolios development subjective without
student Documentary Intelligence-fair rubrics
progress to portfolios
support course
goals in
dynamic,
ongoing and
collaborative
process.

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Module 3: Guiding Principles for the Assessment of Student Learning

Lesson 1. Principles of Clarity Learning Targets, Appropriateness of Methods and Balance

Principle 3: BALANCE
 A balanced assessment sets targets in all domains of learning (cognitive,
affective and psychomotor) or domain of intelligence (verbal-linguistic, logical-
mathematical, body-kinesthetic, visual-spatial, musical-rhythmic,
intrapersonal-social, interpersonal-introspection, physical world-natural,
existential-spiritual)
 A balanced assessment makes use of both traditional and alternative
assessments.

Each of the learning targets below is provided with a test item. Study the learning target and
indicate whether it matches with the test item. Encircle your answer.

In case the test item does not

match with the learning target,
Match? suggest an appropriate test item.
Write your answer on the space
below.
Learning target: Given a list of words, the
student will circle the nouns with 90%
accuracy.
Yes No
Test item: Give 10 examples of nouns and
10 examples of verbs.
Learning target: Using their own non-digital
watches, the students will tell time to the
quarter hour with 90% accuracy.
Yes No
Test item: Look at the digital clock on my
desk and write down the correct time when I
ask.
Learning target: Given a written story, list the
main events in chronological order.
Yes No
Test item: From the story provided, list the
main events in chronological order.
Learning target: Using your text as
reference, recognize the names of the
various components of the central nervous
system. Yes No

Test item: From memory, list the various

components of the central nervous system.

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Module 3: Guiding Principles for the Assessment of Student Learning

Lesson 1. Principles of Clarity Learning Targets, Appropriateness of Methods and Balance

LET US WRAP UP

Activity 2
To sum up what you have learned in this module, describe in your own words
the following:
Principle of clarity of learning targets
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Principle of appropriateness of methods

___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Principle of balance
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

Activity 3
Below is a learning plan for Grade 7 Mathematics. The topic is “Describing data
through statistical measures”. The learning competencies in the Basic Education curriculum
guide were adapted. These are enumerated below:
At the end of the unit, the students should be able to:
1. explain the basic concepts, uses and importance of statistics;
2. pose questions and problems that can be answered using statistics;
3. gather statistical data and organize data in a frequency distribution table according to
some systematic considerations and

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Module 3: Guiding Principles for the Assessment of Student Learning

Lesson 1. Principles of Clarity Learning Targets, Appropriateness of Methods and Balance

4. use appropriate graphs to represent organized data.

Assessment Evidences
Performance Task 1 (Group): Class Data
After your teacher taught statistics, you imagined how it would like to collect, organize and
present data. You decided to measure the height and weight of your classmates.
The class is to be divided in groups of 15 members. You are to measure your classmate’s
height (in cm) and weight (in kg). Organize and present the collected data by constructing a
steam-leaf plot, frequency distribution table and histogram for each set of data and a scatter
plot to show the relationship between the variables. Provide a short description for each.
Each graphic organizer is placed on a 1/8 illustration board with appropriate labels and
complementary designs. You shall be graded based on the following criteria: correctness,
completeness and neatness.
Other evidences: assignment, seatwork, board work, quiz

Directions: Answer the following questions:

1. Which learning competencies are targeted by the performance task?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

2. Is the performance task a good measure of student understanding of the topic? Why
or why not?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

3. Are the assessments enumerated under the “other evidences” appropriate in meeting
the learning targets? What other assessments can you recommend?
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

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Module 3: Guiding Principles for the Assessment of Student Learning

Lesson 1. Principles of Clarity Learning Targets, Appropriateness of Methods and Balance

LET US ASSESS

Directions: Determine if the following assessment methods and learning outcomes

match. Explain briefly in one or two sentences. Suggest an appropriate assessment
method for items that do not match.
1. Learning outcome: Demonstrate the generation of electricity by movement of
a magnet through a coil.
Assessment method: Essay
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

2. Learning outcome: Use verbs in simple present tense.

Assessment method: Oral question
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

3. Learning outcome: Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that plants

can manufacture their own food.
Assessment method: Performance based
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

4. Learning outcome: Create a one act play showing the principles of

dramatization.
Assessment method: Selected response
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

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Module 3: Guiding Principles for the Assessment of Student Learning

Lesson 1. Principles of Clarity Learning Targets, Appropriateness of Methods and Balance

5. Learning outcome: Explain how fossil records, comparative anatomy, and

genetic information provides evidence for evolution.
Assessment method: Oral question
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________

ANSWER KEY

REFERENCES

De Guzman and Adamos (2015) Assessment of Learning 1. Adriana Publishing

Company, Inc. Philippines.

Kubiszyn and Borich (2003) Educational Testing and Measurement Classroom

Application and Practice. 7th Edition. John Wiley and Sons (Asia) Pte. Ltd.

Rico (2011) Assessment of Student Learning A Practical Approach. Assessment of

Students’ Learning A Practical Approach. Anvil Publishing, Inc. Philippines.

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