Assessment

Assessment Review and evaluate the assessment methods and processes used in the teaching sector Introduction For most teachers assessment serves the purpose of grading the attainment of learning and gives an indication of the need for intervention to target weakness. Assessment measures the effectiveness of teaching and helps set goals for learning. 1. Review the assessment methods available in teaching Assessment processes are controversial. In his book ‘Teaching Today’, Geoff Petty (2001), supports this view. Not all learning is easily measurable, which may result in not all learning being accurately assessed. Sometimes the results of assessment can cause students to become de-motivated if they fall below the level of their peers. G. Petty (1993) page 337 Despite the many arguments for and against, assessment remains an integral part of out society for many different purposes and is currently highly depended upon within our educational structure. For the purpose of this assignment I shall consider some of the assessments that are used within the field of Further Education generally. Prior assessment These are assessments that are carried out before a course of learning is agreed or under-taken e.g. Entrance tests, interviews, accredited prior learning, references from employers and schools, diagnostic assessment. Norm-referenced assessment Compares students with each over, and rewards the best. The marks show how the student does compared with the norm, or average, for all the students (Norm-referenced assessment only works effectively for examinations with at least a few hundred students). Criterion referenced assessment Determines learning objectives mastered without comparing with others, awarding a pass if they can do it, and a fail if they cannot. This method of assessment is only reliable if the criteria are well defined. Criterion referenced assessment is the method used where the recording of learning is portfolio based. Formative assessment Interim feedback on performance to date. Geoffrey Petty (1993) points out that if you routinely use norm-referenced testing, the weakest 30% to 40% of students would fail practically every assessment set, and might well give up. He also argues that most day-to-day assessment should be criterion-referenced. Talent, excellence and flair need to be recognized, this is easily done without demotivating the weaker students. Ipsative assessment Comparing student’s performance with previous performance. Summative assessment Assessment at the end of a course or academic year. Summative assessment in school and post-school education is in the middle of a turbulent revolution at present Objective assessment Not influenced by personal opinion Subjective assessment A decision influenced by personal opinion The Validating Bodies These exist to provide and maintain standards within the assessment processes and are responsible for carrying out a structured approach that aims to ensure thoroughness and accuracy by the use of moderation, internal and external verification and sampling. Moderation involves To involve checking other departments work to ensure a common standard in the marking process is achieved. Internal verification is Internal verification is the process by which marking takes place by the nominated internal verifiers. External verification is The representatives of the awarding bodies carry out external verification. The Process of accreditation and verification Assessment is the process of measuring a candidate’s skill, knowledge and understanding against the standards set in the qualification. Internal Verification Each candidate is required to create a portfolio of evidence, which demonstrates achievements of all learning outcomes associated with each unit. Learning outcomes specify what each candidate has to achieve and are included with each unit. Assessment guidance is provided for each unit although assessors may use alternative methods, which are equally valid, reliable and maintain the integrity of the assessment is: observation of performance, simulated activity, projects/assignment, questioning, candidate report, and witness testimony, accreditation of prior experience and learning (APEL)/ accreditation of achievement (APA), formal testing. External verification When successful external verification has been completed, the centre will be able to submit claims for certification. Claims may be made for candidates who complete their programs after external verifier’s visit, provided that • Their work has been subject to the supervision of internal verifiers whose work was sampled at the time of visit • The candidate is claiming for certification in the area, that was subject to external verification during the visit. This means that not all candidates need necessarily have completed their programmes at the time of the external verifiers visit. If it is not possible for the external verifier to agree the achievement of candidates as claimed, then the awarding body will not be able to award certification to any candidates until a successful external verification has occurred. External verifiers will not be ‘passing’ individual candidates or the work of individual assessors. It may be that only the decisions of specific internal verifiers or assessors are in doubt, in which case certification might be awarded to candidates whose work has been verified by other internal verifiers. Centres should however operate a whole centre policy with systems in place to prevent such an occurrence. Purpose of external verification • Awarding bodies represented by external verifiers will be seeking to confirm that the judgements of the centre assessors and internal verifiers are consistent with national standards. Process of external verification Verification will normally involve a visit, although it may be postal. The external verifier will expect, as the major focus of any visit, to have available: • Records of enrolment, registration, certification ( where already claimed) • A complete record of all evidence completed by candidates which has been assessed and which has undergone the internal verification process • The short tasks and portfolios of evidence or assignments of all candidates for whom the centre intends to seek certification, including the means of accessing items such as videotapes, cassettes, etc. • The log books (or other agreed recording systems) which allow the verifier to find the evidence for any sub-skill being claimed • A record of which assessors have been responsible for which groups • Assessors’ feedback to candidates • IV sampling plan and matrix to show the sampling completed • A record of which internal verifiers have been responsible for verifying which work (if there is more than one internal verifier) and internal verifier feedback to assessors. For any given element of the standards, the verifier will expect to find: • Evidence for all requirements of the scheme(including for example witness statements, records of supplementary questioning, where necessary) • That all evidence in the portfolio relates to the achievement of the individual candidate, that any contribution to group work is clearly identified and that duplicated notes, ‘hand-outs’ and unacknowledged copying from texts are not claimed as evidence • Extra visits If, as a result of the processes not being carried out within the centre, an extra external verification visit is required, this may be subject to the availability of a suitably qualified external verifier. Internal Moderation Internal moderation is a process of ensuring that everyone who assesses a particular unit in a centre is assessing to the same standards. It is the responsibility of Internal Moderators are also responsible for supporting Assessors by offering advice and guidance. External Moderation External moderation of internal assessments is carried out to ensure that assessment decisions are in line with required standards. External moderation is carried out by Moderators, who are appointed, trained and monitored by the awarding bodies. External Moderators are responsible for monitoring and sampling candidates’ evidence to ensure that internal assessment decisions are valid, reliable, fair and consistent with national standards. Centres are notified of their external moderators contact details on approval. 3. Evaluate how the use of assessment results can be used to influence learning programme development. Assessment serves to provide the teacher with information of the prior learning of the student. It helps to build a profile, subjectively, of the student’s own potential ability and opportunity for learning and his responses to it. This is useful to the teacher who needs to understand the students motivation for learning and the levels at which he is currently functioning. It provides an indication of where the student is in his learning in relation to his peers and how this information impacts upon the students own self-perception. Once the results of assessments are available to the teacher they can be interpreted and used to identify the levels of attainment students have reached within their particular educational setting, not only in relation to their peers but also to national standards. Assessment results may indicate where improvements in learning and similarly, in teaching, may need to be made. Such results may therefore serve to identify new learning targets. By identifying specific areas of difficulty a teacher can focus where best to place additional support for the learners as required. Learning effort can be redirected and issues requiring change can be discussed. Hence the assessment process impacts greatly upon future planning and programming. Without the benefit of assessment results, it could be argued that future planning would be blind and may prove to be both inappropriate if not pitched at the learner’s individual need, or ineffective if not based on the knowledge of prior learning Assessment procedures can be tiresome and demanding of time and commitment on behalf of both the teacher and the learner. Learners can easily become de-motivated if they do not appreciate the need for assessment or if they fall below expected standards. This is especially true of examinations. It is therefore important to have accurate and regular assessment in the early stages of learning to ensure the student has reached the required level prior to final exams or assessments. The actual content of the assessment may not accurately test the learner’s breadth of knowledge or ability which may lead to the outcome of the assessment being misleading not giving a true picture of the student’s abilities. The use of Moderation could be seen to be unfair to the higher achieving students whose individual scores may be downgraded if a larger proportion of the tested population falls below his standard. Where subjectivity is present a whole range of issues may influence the scoring... There may be discord between the student and the assessor. The student although bright and a high achiever may present with poor attitude or challenges within the learning environment, this could influence the subjective tester. The tester himself may be inconsistent in his observations or reporting and this could impact on the outcome for the student. The student plays a passive role in subjective testing and has no immediate control over the outcome References Geoffrey Petty (1993) Teaching Today, A Practical Guide. Stanley Thomas (Publishers) Limited.