Principles_and_Practice_of_Assessment

Research the following points: a) Principles of assessment, different methods, strengths and limitations of these, relevant to your subject area, which can effectively meet the individual needs of learners. (350-500) Prior to discussing the assessment process it is significant to start with a definition from Gravells which states ‘Assessment is a way of finding out if learning has taken place. It enables you, the assessor; to ascertain if your learner has gained the required skills and knowledge needed at a given point towards a course or qualification” (Gravells, A 2009:7). There are different types of assessment, “initial (at the beginning) formative (ongoing) and summative (at the end)” (Gravells, 2009:21). Assessments are set internally (i.e. by you, your organisation) or externally (i.e. by an awarding/examining body), and are usually subject to quality assurance requirements. In this respect, whichever assessment type you decide to use you need to ensure that it adheres to the principles of assessment, in that it is valid/current (relevant/appropriate to the subject area/qualification being assessed), authentic (solely produced by the learner), sufficient (covers all the standards/learning outcomes), reliable (consistent across learners), fair (inclusive i.e. available to all learners) and ethical (upholds confidentiality and integrity, and maintains health and safety). (Gravells 2009:24 & Gravells 2010:62) There are a multitude of assessment methods at your disposal to assess learners and check their progress. These include observation, questions, portfolio/assignments, tests/exams, discussions/debates, simulation and tangible evidence. As you would expect each method has its own strengths and limitations, and we are going to look at a select few to highlight this. In terms of observations, their strength lies in their authenticity in that you as the assessor actually watch the learner performing a particular skill, and can assess for yourself their level of competency. However, in using this practical method of assessment 1) it may be more difficult to ascertain the learner’s theoretical knowledge 2) the logisitics could be difficult to organise and 3) given the potentially obtrusive nature of this method the learner could be affected by his/her nerves which could impair their ability to perform. With regards to discussions and debates, their advantage lies in their interactive, participatory element, where all learners have an opportunity to air their views and ask questions of one another. The disadvantages include learners digressing, the fact that it can be time consuming and also that some of the less confident and shy learners may not get involved, while others may take over and dominate. On this basis the teacher is required to be pro-active and keep the group focused and the task time limited. In relation to tests/exams their forte lies in the fact that they are specific, measurable, time limited and cost effective. However the invigilation/supervised conditions required can be difficult to attain and the learner may become anxious and pressured due to the time restraints, no consideration being given to their formative progress and a further weakness is that the feedback mechanism is often not immediate. In acknowledging and addressing the strengths and limitations of some of the methods of assessment, it evidences and highlights the importance of taking into consideration the learner’s different learning styles, as by doing so this will undoubtedly assist you in planning suitable/appropriate assessment activities. Nevertheless, I understand that this is not always possible given the external verification restrictions which often are a requirement and need to be adhered to. b) Peer and self-assessment; how these can promote learner involvement and personal responsibility (350-500 words) Assessment is often regarded as originating from ‘a teacher’ but it is important to identify that learners also have a significant role in formative assessment through both self-assessment/reflection and peer assessment. Self-assessment can be described as a process by which “learners decide how they have met the assessment criteria, or are progressing at a given time” (Gravells 2009:48) One method of self-assessment is through the use of a journal/diary, which is a medium by which learners can be encouraged to maintain a record of their thoughts, progress and reflections, with reference to the assessment criteria. Gravells (2009) explained that “enabling your learners to self- assess themselves against the relevant criteria will help them identify their own strengths and limitations, providing opportunities for further development if necessary” (Gravells, 2009:33). Infact this is evidenced by two experimental studies which were carried out by Fontana & Fernandes, (1994) and Frederikson & White (1997), which showed that “students who understand the learning objectives and assessment criteria and have opportunities to reflect on their work show greater improvement than those who do not (Fontana & Fernandes (1994) & Frederikson & White (1997)) (Boston, 2002:1) Some of the other benefits of self-assessment are that it requires learners to take responsibility for their learning and development, encouraging them to check out their own progress and identify gaps in their learning, it assists learners with the progression of their own communicative skills in terms of their language and literacy skills and it encourages learners to relate their theoretical knowledge to their practice. One of the limitations of self-assessment is that learners may perceive that they are meeting the required criteria, when the reality is that improvement is required, and this is why a learners self-assessment needs to be discussed with the teacher so that they can constructively challenge their views where necessary and identify future learning needs together. Peer assessment, can be defined as “an assessment method where candidates' peers are asked to provide information about their work performance”. www.dpc.nsw.gov.au/merit/glossary….. Peer assessment presents learners with the opportunity to gain skills and/or knowledge from their peers, which can be extremely useful as learners can sometimes place more credence on the views of their peers, than their teacher. It also has an interactive, participatory element to it, where learners work together and are supportive of one another to correct any misunderstandings so that their learning can be consolidated, which in turn can motivate learners. However, how productive the peer assessments will be will depend to a large extent on how carefully these sessions are managed, and the teacher will have to be clear about what each learner is looking for in their peers work, so that expectations are well-defined and understood, and a supportive learning environment created. In the event that the teacher is unprepared, incorrect information could be shared, and subjective feedback which becomes personal, could negatively impact on a learners self-esteem as opposed to promoting it. In summary, self and peer assessment “promote lifelong learning, by helping students to evaluate their own and their peers achievements realistically, not just encouraging them to always rely on (tutor) evaluation from on high”. (Brown, S, 1996 Assessment, in DeLiberations),, (http://www.Igu.ac.uk/deliberations/assessment/invite.html). This promotes both learning involvement and personal responsibility. c) How feedback and questioning contribute to the assessment process (350-500 words) There are many tools which can be utilised within the assessment process to ascertain information which can be used to alter both teaching and learning. We are going to specifically look at two of them, namely Feedback and Questioning and to consider how they contribute to the assessment process. Feedback is a vital part of education as it is “the fuel that drives improved performance” (Parsloe 1995, cited in NHS, 2011:5), and it can be formal, informal, written or verbal. Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick (2006) ask us to consider 7 points in relation to the positive aspects/principles of feedback and they are as follows. Firstly, feedback clarifies what good performance is, by informing the learner what is expected of them, so that they can assume some ownership of the desired goals. Secondly, it facilitates the development of self-assessment in learning, by recognising that “learners can play an important role in formative assessment through self-evaluation” (Fontana & Fernandes (1994) & Frederikson & White (1997)) (Boston, 2002:1). Thirdly, it can deliver high quality feedback to learners about their learning, and by “making the feedback (it) specific enables the learner to see what they need to do to improve” (Gravells & Simpson, 2010:63). Fourthly, it encourages teacher and peer dialogue around learning, and “feedback as a dialogue means that the student not only receives initial feedback, but also has the opportunity to engage the teacher in discussion about that feedback” (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006:210). Fifthly, it encourages positive motivation and self-esteem. As Gravells & Simpson stated “All learners need to know how they are progressing; this will help to encourage and motivate them” (Gravells and Simpson, 2010:62-63). Sixthly, it provides opportunities to close the gap between a learner’s current and desired performance, and can identify specific actions to achieve their goal and Finally, teachers can use feedback (from learners, colleagues and external bodies) to help them improve their teaching as it “helps you to identify any issues, or problems that can be overcome, thereby improving your teaching practice in future, and ultimately providing a better service for them” (Gravells 2008:113) Similarly, questioning can also contribute to the assessment process, as “questions can be used to assess knowledge and understanding” (Gravells, 2008:79), and similarly the benefits of questioning echo the points made by Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick (2006) in relation to the usefulness of feedback. However Daines (2006) warned that “The traditional question time at the end of a talk is often stilted and unsatisfactory” (Daines, 2006:109) inferring that learners should be encouraged to ask questions during sessions so that they have the opportunity to check out their learning. According to Curzon “Questions..require careful preparation, timing and delivery, and should be reasonable (i.e. not impossible to answer) and relevant (Curzon, 2004:277). In this sense teachers need to practice their questioning skills, ensuring that where possible they are open, clear and concise, inclusive, a stimuli for prompting, probing and praising and an opportunity for clarification and reinforcement. To conclude, “the lesson plan which does not allow for the testing of progress, which omits the use of any corrective device allowing the teacher to ‘keep on course’ , has a limited chance of success” (Curzon, 2004:144) d) The types of assessment records which would be used to meet organisational and external requirements (350-500 words). In discussing the centrality of the practical aspects of ‘assessment’ within the teaching role, it would be easy to overlook the importance of written records within this domain. However, the fact remains that without effective record keeping you cannot effectively monitor your learner’s development, as this information becomes inaccessible and without reference. Gravells (2009) asks the pertinent question, which is that if records were not kept “How would you know what your learners have achieved'” (Gravells 2009:66) i.e. which areas they may be performing well in and similarly where the gaps in their knowledge base are, which require improvement. In this sense I am in agreement with Gravells (2009) that “Record keeping and ensuring the authenticity of your learner’s work is of paramount importance. To satisfy all the stakeholders involved in your programme or qualification, you must be able to show a valid audit trail for all your decisions” (Gravells, 2009:70) With the expectation placed on teachers that they will keep records, they have a myriad of assessment records at their disposal. The type of assessment record which may be used initially with learners is the completion of the enrolment form, which identifies the starting point for the learner, and through further formative assessment using various assessment records such as assessment tracking sheets, observation reports and feedback and action plans, individual learning plans can be devised, which can be regularly reviewed to ensure that the learner continues to progress. If teaching staff were not to maintain records in respect of each learner, they may be unaware that they struggling, as it could be that it is not be picked up until it is too late to provide a particular learner with the individualised support and help which they require. Given that assessment records are personal to each student, it is ethical and significant to mention that they should be treated with the strictest confidence, and maintained in a safe and secure storage place, in accordance with The Data Protection Act (1998). Furthermore, when writing the assessment records you should always be mindful of the fact that learners can request to see the information which you hold about them under The Freedom of Information Act (2001), and therefore you need to think carefully about what you would like to communicate to any particular student, and if you would not make such comments to them ordinarily and in person then it is unwise to commit them to paper, where they may be challenged. Furthermore, it is also important to acknowledge that record keeping, whether kept electronically or in paper format, is essential to meet organisational and external requirements in terms of ensuring personal and organisation accountability and it also has an auditing and quality assurance function. Record assessments will be viewed by both an internal verifier( IV) and an external verifier (EV), and in this respect records need to be easily accessible and kept up to date so that either of the assessors will be able to check this data at a glance. In addition assessment records, can be used to provide statistical information which feeds in to where future finances are spent or it may support the need for existing services, staffing and resources to continue. In an increasingly unstable economy where many local authority posts are under increasing scrutiny in terms of whether they offer value for money, evidencing the good work teachers do through maintaining up-to-date records is paramount, and it’s importance should not be underestimated. In summary, it is my view that whilst the majority of teachers probably regard the direct contact with learners as the more enjoyable part of their job, often finding the paperwork less appealing, hopefully the information as outlined above reinforces the importance of assessment records, and reiterates that although it can be time consuming, it needs to be completed thoroughly and regularly.