CHAPTER 1

BASIC CONCEPTS IN ASSESSMENT

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the chapter, the students should able to:

1. Define the terms: assessment, evaluation, measurement, test, testing,

formative assessment, placement assessment, diagnostic assessment,
summative assessment, traditional assessment, portfolio assessment,
performance assessment;
2. Discriminate the different purposes of assessment;
3. Differentiate the different types of assessment;
4. Identify and discuss the general principles of assessment;
5. Discuss the different guidelines for effective student assessment; and
6. Differentiate norm-referenced from criterion-referenced interpretation

INTRODUCTION

Assessment of Learning focuses on the development and utilization

of assessment tools to improve the teaching-learning process. It emphasizes
on the use of testing for measuring knowledge, comprehension and other
thinking skills. As part of the overall evaluation process, we need specifically
to find out if the learners are actually learning (changing their behavior) as a
result of the teaching. This will show us whether the teaching has been
effective, which is ultimately the most important issue. Assessment is a
means of finding out what learning is taking place. As well as specific
knowledge and skills, we might also like to measure other changes in
behavior related to personality’, social skills, interests, learning styles,
among others

There is a lot of debate about how to assess learning, and especially

about how to evaluate performance. Our objective give us guidance on what
to assess, because they are written in terms of what the learners should be
able to do. Based on these objectives, it is very useful to identify all the
activities and skills which the learners will carry out, the conditions under
which they will perform these tasks and activities, the possible results which
might be obtained, and the standards by which their performance will be
measured.

The assessment itself can be done in different ways:

 1. Ask the learners to recall facts or principles) e.g.’ What is ‘x’?).
2. Ask the learner to apply given or recalled facts or principles (e.g.’
How does x help you solve this problem?).
3. Ask the learner to select and apply facts and principles to solve a
given problem (e.g.’ What do you know that will help you solve this
problem?).
4. Ask the learner to formulate and solve her own problem by
selecting, generating and applying facts and principles (e.g.What I
see as the problem here and how can I reach a satisfying solution?).
5. Ask the leaner to perform tasks that shows mastery of the learning
outcomes.

Once again, we need to stress the importance of participation, and this

is especially important in assessment and evaluation. Learners should be
actively involved in both the development o learning objectives, and as much
as possible in their own assessment. In many education systems,
assessment is used as a tool for sorting students for selection purposes
(progression to a higher level of education, higher rewards, among others).
Assessment where students are compared with other is known as norm-
referencing. It is much better if learners are aware of what they need to
learn and what they have learned, so they can set their own targets and
monitor their own progress. Of course, teachers and trainers should advise
the learners, and guide them in order to help them learn; this is the key role
if the teacher. Assessment of learners in relation to a particular target or
level of performance is called criterion-referencing.

DIFFERENT TERMINOLOGIES: ASSESSMENT, TEASTING,

MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION

Assessment, measurement and evaluation mean many different

things. These terms are sometimes used interchangeably in the field of
education. In this section, we shall point out the fundamental different of the
terms assessment, testing, measurement and evaluation.

The term Assessment refers to the different components and

activities of different schools. An assessment can be used to student learning
and in comparing student learning with the learning goals of a academic
program. Assessment is defined as an act or process of collecting and
interpreting information about student learning. Another source expands this
statement by adding that it is a systematic process of gathering,
interpreting, and using this information about student learning. It is a very
powerful tool for education improvement. It emphasizes on individual
student or groups of individuals and on the academic program of a certain
educational institution. There are different purposes of assessment such as:
to provide feedback to students and to serve as diagnostic tool for
instruction. For this purpose assessment usually answer the questions, “Was
the instruction effective?” and “Did the students achieve the intended
learning outcome?”

Assessment is a general term that includes different ways that the

teachers used to gather information in the classroom. Information that help
teachers understand their students, information that is used to plan and
monitor their classroom instruction, information that is used to a worthwhile
classroom culture and information that is used for testing and grading. The
most common form of assessment is giving a test. Since test is a form of
assessment, hence, it also answer the question, “how does individual
student perform?” Test is formal and systematic instrument, usually paper
and pencil procedure designed to assess the quality, ability, skill or
knowledge of the students by giving a set of question in uniform manner. A
test is one of the many types of assessment procedure used to gather
information about the performance of students, Hence, testing is one of the
different methods used to measure the level of performance or achievement
of the learners. Testing also refers to the administration, scoring, and
interpretation of the procedures designed to get information about the
extent of the performance of the students. Oral questionings, observations,
projects, performances and portfolios are the other assessment processes
that will be discussed later in detail.

Measurement is a process of quantifying or assigning number to the

individual’s intelligence, personality, attitudes and values, and achievement f
the students. In other words, express the assessment data in terms of
numerical values and answer the question, “how much?” Common example
of measurement is when a teacher gives scores to the test of the students
such as Renzelgot 23 correct answer out of 25 items in Mathematics test;
Princess Mae got 95% in her English first grading periodic test; Ronnick’s
score 88% in his laboratory test in Biology. In the examples, numerical
values are used to represent the performance of the students in different
subjects.

After collecting the assessment data, the teacher will use this to make
decisions or judgment about the performance of the students in a certain
instruction.
 Evaluation refers to the process of judging the quality of what is good
and what is desirable. It is the comparison of data to a set of standard or
learning criteria for the purpose of judging the worth or quality. Examples, in
judging the quality of an essay written by the students about their opinion
regarding the first state of the nation address of Pres. Benigno C. Aquino,
evaluation occurs after the assessment data has been collected and
synthesized because it is only in this time where teacher is in the position to
make judgment about the performance of the students. Teachers evaluate
how well or to what extent the students attained the instructional outcomes.

TYPES OF ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES

Classroom assessment procedures can be classified according to the

nature of assessment, format of assessment, use in the classroom
instruction and methods of interpreting the results (Gronlund and Linn,2000).

Nature of Assessment

1. Maximum Performance
It is used to determine what individuals can do when performing
at their best. Examples of instruments using maximum
performance are aptitude tests and achievement tests.
2. Typical Performance
It is used to determine what individuals will do under natural
conditions. Examples of instruments using typical performance
are attitude, interest, and personality inventories, observational
techniques and peer appraisal.

Format of Assessment

1. Fixed-choice Test
An assessment used to measure knowledge and skills effectively
and efficiently. Standard multiple-choice test is an example of
instrument used in fixed-choice test.
2. Complex-performance Assessment
An assessment procedure used to measure the performance of
the learner in context and on problems valued in their own right.
Examples of instruments used in complex-performance
assessment are hands-on laboratory experiment, projects,
essays, oral presentation.

CHAPTER 1
 BASIC CONCEPTS IN ASSESSMENT

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the chapter, the students should able to:

7. Define the terms: assessment, evaluation, measurement, test, testing,

formative assessment, placement assessment, diagnostic assessment,
summative assessment, traditional assessment, portfolio assessment,
performance assessment;
8. Discriminate the different purposes of assessment;
9. Differentiate the different types of assessment;
10. Identify and discuss the general principles of assessment;
11. Discuss the different guidelines for effective student assessment;
and
12. Differentiate norm-referenced from criterion-referenced
interpretation

INTRODUCTION

Assessment of Learning focuses on the development and utilization

of assessment tools to improve the teaching-learning process. It emphasizes
on the use of testing for measuring knowledge, comprehension and other
thinking skills. As part of the overall evaluation process, we need specifically
to find out if the learners are actually learning (changing their behavior) as a
result of the teaching. This will show us whether the teaching has been
effective, which is ultimately the most important issue. Assessment is a
means of finding out what learning is taking place. As well as specific
knowledge and skills, we might also like to measure other changes in
behavior related to personality’, social skills, interests, learning styles,
among others

There is a lot of debate about how to assess learning, and especially

about how to evaluate performance. Our objective give us guidance on what
to assess, because they are written in terms of what the learners should be
able to do. Based on these objectives, it is very useful to identify all the
activities and skills which the learners will carry out, the conditions under
which they will perform these tasks and activities, the possible results which
might be obtained, and the standards by which their performance will be
measured.

The assessment itself can be done in different ways:

 6. Ask the learners to recall facts or principles) e.g.’ What is ‘x’?).
7. Ask the learner to apply given or recalled facts or principles (e.g.’
How does x help you solve this problem?).
8. Ask the learner to select and apply facts and principles to solve a
given problem (e.g.’ What do you know that will help you solve this
problem?).
9. Ask the learner to formulate and solve her own problem by
selecting, generating and applying facts and principles (e.g.What I
see as the problem here and how can I reach a satisfying solution?).
10. Ask the leaner to perform tasks that shows mastery of the
learning outcomes.

Once again, we need to stress the importance of participation, and this

is especially important in assessment and evaluation. Learners should be
actively involved in both the development o learning objectives, and as much
as possible in their own assessment. In many education systems,
assessment is used as a tool for sorting students for selection purposes
(progression to a higher level of education, higher rewards, among others).
Assessment where students are compared with other is known as norm-
referencing. It is much better if learners are aware of what they need to
learn and what they have learned, so they can set their own targets and
monitor their own progress. Of course, teachers and trainers should advise
the learners, and guide them in order to help them learn; this is the key role
if the teacher. Assessment of learners in relation to a particular target or
level of performance is called criterion-referencing.

DIFFERENT TERMINOLOGIES: ASSESSMENT, TEASTING,

MEASUREMENT AND EVALUATION

Assessment, measurement and evaluation mean many different

things. These terms are sometimes used interchangeably in the field of
education. In this section, we shall point out the fundamental different of the
terms assessment, testing, measurement and evaluation.

The term Assessment refers to the different components and

activities of different schools. An assessment can be used to student learning
and in comparing student learning with the learning goals of a academic
program. Assessment is defined as an act or process of collecting and
interpreting information about student learning. Another source expands this
statement by adding that it is a systematic process of gathering,
interpreting, and using this information about student learning. It is a very
powerful tool for education improvement. It emphasizes on individual
student or groups of individuals and on the academic program of a certain
educational institution. There are different purposes of assessment such as:
to provide feedback to students and to serve as diagnostic tool for
instruction. For this purpose assessment usually answer the questions, “Was
the instruction effective?” and “Did the students achieve the intended
learning outcome?”

Assessment is a general term that includes different ways that the

teachers used to gather information in the classroom. Information that help
teachers understand their students, information that is used to plan and
monitor their classroom instruction, information that is used to a worthwhile
classroom culture and information that is used for testing and grading. The
most common form of assessment is giving a test. Since test is a form of
assessment, hence, it also answer the question, “how does individual
student perform?” Test is formal and systematic instrument, usually paper
and pencil procedure designed to assess the quality, ability, skill or
knowledge of the students by giving a set of question in uniform manner. A
test is one of the many types of assessment procedure used to gather
information about the performance of students, Hence, testing is one of the
different methods used to measure the level of performance or achievement
of the learners. Testing also refers to the administration, scoring, and
interpretation of the procedures designed to get information about the
extent of the performance of the students. Oral questionings, observations,
projects, performances and portfolios are the other assessment processes
that will be discussed later in detail.

Measurement is a process of quantifying or assigning number to the

individual’s intelligence, personality, attitudes and values, and achievement f
the students. In other words, express the assessment data in terms of
numerical values and answer the question, “how much?” Common example
of measurement is when a teacher gives scores to the test of the students
such as Renzelgot 23 correct answer out of 25 items in Mathematics test;
Princess Mae got 95% in her English first grading periodic test; Ronnick’s
score 88% in his laboratory test in Biology. In the examples, numerical
values are used to represent the performance of the students in different
subjects.

After collecting the assessment data, the teacher will use this to make
decisions or judgment about the performance of the students in a certain
instruction.
 Evaluation refers to the process of judging the quality of what is good
and what is desirable. It is the comparison of data to a set of standard or
learning criteria for the purpose of judging the worth or quality. Examples, in
judging the quality of an essay written by the students about their opinion
regarding the first state of the nation address of Pres. Benigno C. Aquino,
evaluation occurs after the assessment data has been collected and
synthesized because it is only in this time where teacher is in the position to
make judgment about the performance of the students. Teachers evaluate
how well or to what extent the students attained the instructional outcomes.

TYPES OF ASSESSMENT PROCEDURES

Classroom assessment procedures can be classified according to the

nature of assessment, format of assessment, use in the classroom
instruction and methods of interpreting the results (Gronlund and Linn,2000).

Nature of Assessment

3. Maximum Performance
It is used to determine what individuals can do when performing
at their best. Examples of instruments using maximum
performance are aptitude tests and achievement tests.
4. Typical Performance
It is used to determine what individuals will do under natural
conditions. Examples of instruments using typical performance
are attitude, interest, and personality inventories, observational
techniques and peer appraisal.

Format of Assessment

3. Fixed-choice Test
An assessment used to measure knowledge and skills effectively
and efficiently. Standard multiple-choice test is an example of
instrument used in fixed-choice test.
4. Complex-performance Assessment
An assessment procedure used to measure the performance of
the learner in context and on problems valued in their own right.
Examples of instruments used in complex-performance
assessment are hands-on laboratory experiment, projects,
essays, oral presentation.