Unit 4: Affective Assessment

Topic 2: Designing Affective Assessment

Time Allotment: 3 hours

Learning Objectives
Upon the completion of this topic, you are expected to:
 Identify assessment tools to measure affective learning;
 Discuss how to use affective assessment in measuring affective
traits; and
 Develop an assessment tool to measure affective outcomes of
learning.

Presentation of Content

Assessment Tools for Affective Learning

Measurement of affective traits is more challenging compared to
measuring cognitive and psychomotor dimension of learning. Such
measurement maybe direct or indirect. The direct assessment of
affective learning outcomes is more attainable at the lower levels in the
affective learning taxonomy.

The following assessment tools can be used to measure affective

learning:
1. Self- Report
As the name implies, self-report or self-inventory is a type of
assessment where the respondent is asked to answer a question
about himself/herself his or her behavior, emotions, feelings or
views. It serves many purposes including diagnosis of students’
mental and emotional state.

a. Likert Scale
This measuring tool, invented by Rensis Likert, is a series of
questions or items that requires the respondent to select on a
scale a rating reflecting the level of agreement or
disagreement on items that are related to a particular topic,
experience, or issue. The responses, both in descriptive and
numeric form range from one extreme to another, such as
strongly agree to strongly disagree where 5 is the numerical
value of the extreme positive feeling and “1” for the extreme

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negative. This kind of scaling gives deeper insight into what

the students are thinking and feeling.

Example:
Attitude toward Speaking

Directions: the statements below are designed to identify your attitudes

toward speaking. Each item has seven possible responses. The
responses range from 1 (strongly disagree) through 4 (neither disagree
nor agree) to 7 (strongly agree). Mark the one response that most clearly
represents your degree of agreement or disagreement of that statement.
Use the scale below:

1 (strongly disagree) 5 (slightly agree)

2 (moderately disagree) 6 (moderately agree)
3 (slightly disagree) 7 (strongly agree)
4 (neither agree nor disagree)

Statements Scale
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Affect – Students’ Feeling Towards Speaking
I feel uncertain when I have to do a speaking
task.
I get frustrated going over speaking tests in class.
I am under stress during a speaking class.
I enjoy attending my classes that require
speaking tasks.
I like expressing my thoughts through speaking.
I enjoy discussing my assignments with my peers.

Cognitive competence – students’ attitudes

about their intellectual knowledge when
applied to speaking
I find it difficult to express my thoughts in class
during recitations.
I stammer for words whenever I am asked to
discuss things in class.
I make a lot of speaking errors especially in
pronunciation.
I can learn and develop speaking skills easily.
I can speak fluently using the English language.
I am aware of the words that I am uttering.

Value – students’ attitudes about the

usefulness, relevance, and worth of reading in
personal and professional life.
Speaking skills are worthless.
I have no application for speaking skills in my
daily activities.
Lessons derived from speaking have no
importance to me.
Speaking skills make me more skilled.

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I develop confidence as I communicate with

others.
I have a high self – esteem whenever I speak with
others.

Difficulty – students’ attitude about the

difficulty of reading as a skill
Speaking inside the class is difficult.
Generally, speaking is a difficult task.
I can’t express myself in speaking.
Developing speaking skills requires a great deal of
discipline and practice.
Most students have to learn ways of expressing
one’s thoughts to succeed in speaking.
Speaking skills are quickly learned by most
students.

Interest – students’ level of individual interest

in speaking
I refuse to speak before the class.
I don’t want to join activities that require me to
speak.
I hate to speak before any kind of audiences.
I am interested in discussing things with other
people.
I am interested in speaking my thoughts aloud.
I am interested in joining choral recitations and
poetry recitations.

Effort – amount of work the students spend to

read
I am contented with my speaking skill.
I prefer to write my thought than to speak it up.
I don’t want to recite in class.
I love to join socialize recitations in class.
I keep on reading aloud to develop fluency in
speaking.
I practice speaking and delivering messages
orally in class.

b. Semantic Differential
This is a widely used scale that employs ratings of concepts
with contrasting adjectives placed at opposite ends of the
number scale. For example, the concept of “Problem Solving”
can be assessed using the following semantic differential
scale:

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Problem Solving

Difficult ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Easy

1 2 3 4 5
Interesting ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Boring
1 2 3 4 5
Useful ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Useless
1 2 3 4 5
Realistic ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Unrealistic
1 2 3 4 5
Rigid ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Loose
1 2 3 4 5

Note: In this example, the students are asked to express their

attitude toward problem solving. They need to make a check mark
on the scale indicating the degree of agreement they have with
the adjective listed. Similar to the Likert scale where there are
negative items, the position of the positive and negative
adjectives in semantic differential are reversed to balance the
scale and create a less biased measurement. The response could
then be summed, and a mean could be determined in each of the
adjectives pairs. In this way the concept “problem solving” would
be scaled on the various pairs of the adjectives.

c. Checklist
A checklist is a form of self –report that asks persons to
indicate whether they demonstrate a set of qualities or
behaviors. In particular, for affective assessment, it is a tool
for identifying the presence or absence of a feeling, attitude,
or behavior. The behaviors that are checked will reflect what
values and beliefs learner hold.
Example:

Name:__________________________________
Grade: __________________Date: ______________

Directions: Put a check mark on the options that correspond to your

answer to each item.

1. How would you like to be part of environmental issues and

programs?
___________ I volunteer to be part of the crusade
___________ I give donations
___________ I just let my parents pay their taxes
___________ I am not interested

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2. Do you follow any of the television shows about environmental

issues and programs?
___________ Yes, always
___________ Not regularly
___________ No

3. Which of the following waste materials do you segregate at

home?
___________ Papers, newspapers
___________ Glass and bottles
___________ Plastics
___________ Food leftovers
___________ I do not segregate

4. Do you read magazines and publication about environmental

issues?
___________ Yes, every time
___________ Sometimes
___________ Rarely
___________ No, not my interest

5. What is your reaction on the signing of Executive order 26 on

providing for the Establishment of Smoke-free Environments in
Public and Enclosed places?
__________ I support the executive order to protect the of
people
__________ I find the Executive Order as anti-poor
__________ It is not my concern
__________ I do not know what it is all about

6. What is your reaction to environmental polluters?

__________ I will report them to the concerned officials
__________ I will call their attention when I see them doing the
act
__________ I will tell others not to imitate them
__________ It is their concern, they are responsible for their
own action

7. Are you a member of any environmental organizations?

__________ Yes
__________ No
__________ Planning to do so

2. Interview
This is an oral assessment of student learning that is conducted
through spoken words and casual conversation. This assessment
tool allows the teacher to collect and explore more in-depth
information about the trait being assessed that cannot be
captured by written instrument nor even be observed. The
assessment data are not just answerable by “Yes” or “No” or other
predetermined responses. Through this assessment technique,
the teacher is able to probe responses that other forms of
assessment tool cannot. The students can qualify and expand

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their previous answers, which can be vague at the earlier part of

the conversation. It provides students opportunity to open other
thoughts and ideas and the teachers can be flexible to adapt
questions as the need arises. It can provide a powerful “moment
of sharing” where the learner is able to express face-to-face his
or her feelings and emotions. Prerequisite to achieve all of these
is the trust you have to build with the interviewee by
demonstrating care and respect.

Interviews may be structured or unstructured. In the structured

interview, there is a planned sequence of questions, which lead
to open ended discussions between the teacher and the student,
either done individually or by group. One limitation though of the
structured interview is that predetermined questions tend to limit
flexibility. Some important information about the learner on
constructs you want to pursue may be missed or ignored because
you can be controlled by the list of questions you need to
complete. On the other hand, informal interview will appear
to be natural, and it can create a more conversational
environment for sharing, where in the teacher will be able to elicit
more truthful information from students about themselves. In
many cases, even when trust has been established, students may
not also be comfortable talking about values and sharing feelings
when he/she is in a one-to-one conversation with the teacher.
This is especially true for young adolescents who are more
particular with the image they create with others. A group
interview may work better on older students to elicit most
authentic information. Younger children can be more candid and
honest with their answers whether the interview is done
individually or in a group.
For interview to be an effective assessment tool, the following are
general steps in developing and conducting interview:

 Select the assessment objectives.

 List the oral questions in sequence based on the
objectives. However, the sequence is not absolute,
instead, there should be a room for flexibility. Questions
should start with general questions followed by specific
ones.
 Make a report sheet or any form to record responses
 Conduct the interview. Start with statement that will make
the learner be at comfort level with the teacher.

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 Record the responses, both elicited responses and

responses that were aided by prompts. Record as well the
questions that were not answered, and additional
questions that were given during the probing process.
Record the wait time for response. It will also be worth
noting to record the nonverbal behavior like body
movements during the interview process.
Example:

Questions Teacher Notes

* How do you feel about your
participation in our class today?

* What do you think about the

story that we discussed?

*Did the story interest you?

* What is the part of the story that

caught most of your attention?
Why did it interest you most?

* What makes you read a book

without being told so by your
teacher?

* How do you like your reading

class? What makes you dislike it
if ever you feel so?

* What different approach should

your teacher use to help you and
your classmates better?

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3. Student journals – These are effective tools that can be used in

assessing and monitoring student thinking and attitudes. Journal
writing gives students guided opportunities to “think aloud”
through writing. It is special form of documentation that records
personal experiences and thoughts. It is a reflection of learners’
own perception about a problem, a situation or an activity they are
tasked with.

Journal writing opens the door for a face-to-face dialogue

between the teacher and student. It creates an environment of
partnership where teachers and students resolve issues and
conflicts of ideas and understanding in confidential manner.

In choosing journal writing as an assessment tool for affective

learning outcomes, here are some guide questions to consider:

 What is your purpose for the student journal writing (i.e.,

critical thinking, reflection, self-awareness, goal review,
developing self-confidence, overcoming anxiety)?
 What is the format? (i.e., handwritten free form, typed, full
sentences)
 What is the topic? What do you want the students to write
about?
 How much do you want your student write? (i.e., number of
pages, number of paragraphs, or number of words?
 How will the students be given feedback? (i.e., individual, with
small group, with the teacher)
 Who will read the journal (I.e., teacher only, with other
teachers, with selected students)
 How will the students be graded? (i.e., pass/fail. Rubric, no
scoring needed)

4. Observation
It is an assessment tool that involves looking out for the presence
or absence of behaviors of learners in a natural setting.
Observation allows the teacher to assess student behavior in the
actual setting and learning process unlike other forms of
assessment that require separate time with the student to answer
the measuring instrument. This method is a rich source of clues
that can be both obtrusive and unobtrusive measures of attitude,
beliefs, disposition character, etc.

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Like interview, observation maybe structured or unstructured. An

unstructured observation is open-ended, with no formal recording
of what is observed as assessment process is ongoing. This does
not mean though that it does not require planning. You have to be
very clear of what to observe and list the behaviors and actions
that will indicate the possession of the trait.

In the structured observation, you need to prepare a checklist or

rating form before the actual observation. The checklist defines
the positive and negative behaviors indicative of the trait you wish
to measure. The recording is straightforward as it just requires a
check on the “Yes” and “No” column for the presence or absence
of the behavior, respectively, or a check on the appropriate
numerical and descriptive scale if rating scale is used.
Example:

Rating Scale for Structured Observation in Science Class

Student/s Observed _____________________________________

Date ______________________ Time ______________________
Grade & Section _______________________________________
Observer_____________________________________________

Behavior Not Rarely Sometimes Most of Almost

at all the always
time
1. Raises hand
during class
discussions
2. Tells others that
the lesson is fun
3. Gives criticism
to classmates’
response to
teacher’s
questions
4. Ask questions
about issues
connected to the
science concepts
presented
5. Goes through
the laboratory
manual before
engaging in the
actual
experiments