Assessment

Assessment Assessment by definition is a way of finding out if learning has taken place. It enables a teacher to ascertain if a student has gained the required knowledge and skills needed at any given point towards passing a course or gaining a qualification. We live in a time where the government have to make drastic cuts in spending across the board and Education has to make major cuts in expences. Because of this it is vital that the money spent on education is not wasted on bad teaching methods and poor quality assessing. It is so important we understand how people learn and train teachers to use good teaching methods and stratagies. Coupled with good teaching is good assessing. Good assessing enables a teacher to pin point where the student is at any given time during the learning process. It proves that learning is taking place and can very quickly, accurately and relatively cheaply tell the teacher what the student has learnt during a particular course or qualification. There are four types of assessment that we will discuss: 1. Initial 2. Formative 3. Summative 4. Criteria Initial Assesment The ‘Initial’ assessment is by definition the ‘first’ or ‘priminilary’ evaluation of a student. This could take place before a student begins a course or new job. Filling out an application form or attending an interview would fall into this category. It is useful to know at what level the student is at in order to effectively start/continue their studies. If I were to see a new student starting drums I would begin by asking the student to play a certain beat or fill to assess where they are. This is all part of initial assessment giving the tutor information about the learner’s current level of ability and helps plan future learning and assessment. Formative Assessment Formative assessment is defined as ‘shaping’ or ‘forming’ the student. This is an ongoing process throughout the learning experience. Formative assessment should improve learning by enabling progress to be regularly monitored and reviewed. The student can then see what they need to develop further as they progress in their studies. It is assessing the student on a regular basis in order to locate where the student may or may not need further development. It can also help students to monitor their own progress as they get feedback from their peers and the teacher. An example of a formative assessment in a musical enviroment may be audio and video recordings of the students progress. Summative Assessment A summative assessment summarizes the development of students at any given time, normally at the end of a year of end of a course. It is where a student is assessed on the totality of the subject they have been studying. For example, if the lesson(s) were toward a grade 8 classical guitar certificate the summative assessment would be the final grade 8 exam. It will usually lead to a pass or fail situation. Criteria Assessment Criterion-referenced assessment measures what the student can do, awarding a pass or a fail depending on whever they can do it or not. It will have a criterion or a checklist or a marking scheme. This kind of assessment is appropriate for mastering certain objectives. It is possible to take each of these objectives and break them down further meaning that the assessment criteria is what the candidate will be expected to achieve, in order to demonstrate that the learning outcome has been met. A musical example of a criterion-referenced assessment could be a learning objective of 4 tasks: 1.1 Research what information will be needed in order to plan a drum lesson on 4/4 drum fills. 1.2 Research where to find information and how to use this knowledge to plan a drum lesson on 4/4 fills. 1.3 Write the structure of the drum lesson. 1.4 Give the drum lesson The student will then be given a pass/fail depending on how well the criteria is met.