Principles_and_Practises_of_Assessment

Principles and Practices of Assessment 1.1 During the course of teaching or training learners, assessment will have to take place at one time or another. This test would be carried out to discover whether or not a learner could perform a specific task in the workshop, or to judge if the learner has mastered a new skill or the amount of theory or knowledge the learner can recall. With a huge variety of learners and courses, there is also a variety of assessment methods to accommodate. These could be to write essays, practical assignments, compiling evidence for portfolios. These assessment methods can be individualised, designed by their tutor or they can be identical assessment activities, for example a written or online test. Even though there is a large assortment of styles, the fundamental reason why assessment takes place is the same. Assessments allow us to find out if learning has taken place and it can help diagnose learner’s needs such as poor numeracy or literacy skills. It can also provide a way to evaluate learner programs and schemes of work, helping to make sure it fits the syllabus. It helps keep the learners motivated by showing their potential and can give learners the feeling of achievement when an assessment is passed. Assessment methods are used at different stages of the vocational course to help the tutor ascertain what level the students are, how the learners are progressing throughout the course and underpinning theory they may have learnt. These types of assessments are called initial, diagnostic, formative and summative. Initial assessment is used at the beginning of a vocational course and is given to provide information to determine a learners starting point. It can help the tutor ensure that the learners are on the correct program and level, and that they get proper support whilst on it. This can be beneficial to the tutor later on as he/she can effectively plan for each learner’s individual needs. There are many assessment methods that can used at this stage such as a group discussion getting to know the learner or any previous experience to key skills written exams in literacy, numeracy and IT. Diagnostic assessment is an evaluation of a learner’s skills up to that point, helping to identifying any strengths and weaknesses. This assessment can be given any time during the course and as many times as needed. It not only gives the tutor indications of the level of the learner but also any areas that need improving. The methods of giving this form of assessment could be in a 1 to 1 meeting with the tutor and learner making it more comfortable for the learner to speak more freely. Formative assessment takes place during the teaching or training program, and is an integral part of the learning process for the learners. It is an informal test that is carried out by the tutor, it can be in many forms and it is up to the tutor to decide what method is best for the group or whether it will be individual. Formative assessment provides feedback to both tutor and learner and the results will show the learners progress, whether they have good or weak knowledge or skills in certain areas, therefore highlighting areas of improvement. This will also make aware to the tutor if their teaching methods or resources need modifying. Summative assessment is given at the end of a course and can be set by the tutor or a governing body and usually ends with a pass or fail situation. If a pass is achieved the learners may receive a certificate and progress further with their training or career if they wish. Teachers and tutors use this assessment to determine what a learner has achieved during the course. Summative assessment is embodied into a formal situation either as a written or practical test. Assessments can be split into different groups such as; criterion-referencing, norm-referencing, self assessment, peer assessment and ipsative assessment. All of which are different styles on how we can assess learning. Norm-referencing is based on the assumption that during assessment there will be a small number of high achievers and a small number of low achievers and the rest are averagely passed. This would happen on all courses at any year. A quota would be made from the marks given thus giving a reference point. So the top 10% would get an A, the next 20% a B all the way to the bottom 10% who would get an F. If drawn in diagram form, it would show a gradually increasing curve starting low, going high and finishing low again. Known as a ‘bell curve’ This can help identify the cream of the crop, and so it is useful for selection purposes. But it can only work if all the learners are typical and that we can say that there will be the same number of learners that do achieve and don’t achieve. So basically learners would be assessed based on the norms of achievement of other learners, which gives a very unfair disadvantage. Criterion- referencing is based on setting out criteria in advance of the assessment, and then the learners are assessed on the level they have achieved them. The criteria needs to be fully understood by the learners as to what is being asked of them, and the tutors need to fully understand how to fully convey the criteria across so that each student has the same chance of passing therefore making it equal and reliable for everyone. For example my BTEC program shows me what a student must achieve to get a pass, a merit and a distinction. So the criteria gives us guidelines for what we expect a learner to be able to do to achieve a certain grade. Peer Assessment is where work is assessed by other learners.   Self Assessment involves learners making judgments about their own work.  These strategies involve more than using answer sheets, but give opportunities for exploration of the fundamentals of the assessment process, including various types of evaluation. The learners will require specific criteria if they are to peer and self assess otherwise how would they know what they are looking for. If the learners can learn from tutors and books and websites what’s to say they can’t learn from each other and their own experiences. Even though the learners may question the reliability of being assessed by their peers this helps give an understanding of how the assessment process works but also prepare them for real life situations where they will not have a teacher of trainer. These two assessment methods adopt a very humanistic approach by allowing the learners to feel comfortable and secure enough in self achievement. This refers back to Maslow’s theory of self actualization. “Ensuring the assessment environment meets your learner’s first level of needs will enable them to feel comfortable and secure enough to learn and progress to the higher levels”.... Gravells, A. (2009), ‘Principle and Practice of Assessment in the lifelong learning sector’. - Bell and Bain Ltd. - Glasgow. “If formative assessment is to be productive, pupils should be trained in self-assessment so that they can understand the main purposes of learning and thereby grasp what is to be achieved”. Black & William Ipsative assessment is an assessment against yourself, or more particularly against your own "personal best" performance. If tutors are to help learners improve their own learning and performance, we need to encourage them to think about their own progress, and to consider for themselves how they are doing. Encouraging pupils to beat their previous scores can take peer pressure out of situations and eliminates the competitive element associated with norm-based referencing. These assessment methods can take many forms within the classroom or workshop. There are formal assessments which could be planned assessments which have to adhere to strict procedures according to the governing body e.g. an exam. Informal could be as simple as a classroom discussion or as an observation to review learner progress during an exercise, and throughout a learner’s course informal assessment is going on all the time. Every time the learners answer a question or asks one, he/she is providing the tutor with feedback. These also tie into paper based or non paper based forms, which simply means either of these two assessment forms can also be paper based, visual or oral. In most cases our formal tests are in the form of a paper based exam (online). But the informal assessments can be in many forms to suit the group or individual learners. The main difference between formal and informal assessment is the issues surrounding them. Unlike formal assessment, informal still remains subjective even after standardisation. The main issues are validity, reliability, subjectivity, objectivity, safe and fair and power relationship. Validity is making sure that it is measuring what it is supposed to be measured therefore making it valid. For example it does not assess someone on their memory skills when it is supposed to be assessing problem solving. The validity is compromised if the questions are difficult for the learner’s to understand. This would therefore be assessing reading skills instead. The reliability of an assessment in a perfect situation should produce the same results if marked by another tutor or if that examiner unknowingly receives the same paper again. If different marks are given the assessment is consequently unreliable and proves that this assessment is subjective. This may not be the case if multi-choice paper based testing is used as there should be a standardised marking scheme but who’s to say that is reliable' Subjectivity, as before linked with a tutor’s personal opinions/decision. So the result could vary between work colleagues and the answer could be inaccurate as there are no definitive answers supplied. This is walking a fine wire as to the quality of the assessment, because the tutor’s answers not only depend on their opinion but also their history or relationship with that learner. This again makes this very unreliable and invalid. Objectivity is based around set criteria or answers which leaves no room for personal opinion. As a result this can be a reliable and valid method as it is measuring set criteria not personality. This will result in a pass or fail and gives no room for feedback so the tutor is unaware on what the learner failed on. For that reason the learner will keep making the same mistake over and over. Safe and fair relates to the learning environment being made safe and comfortable to help facilitate learning. This can also help with any confidential matters the learners have, which enables trust. This fulfils the learner’s basic needs according to Maslow’s theory. Power relationship refers to the tutor’s position in that group, and that is that every learner is different whether it is skin, race, beliefs, or abilities. The tutor has the power to decide what assessment method is suitable at any given time for any learner. Through using these many types of assessment methods, there are advantages and disadvantages with each of them. Essays are a very formal piece of assessment, and using them is useful for academic students to test not only their knowledge on the subject but also language and literacy skills. The downfall of using essays is that it is very time consuming, there could be problems with plagiarism and there is not normally a right or wrong answer therefore very subjective and difficult to grade. This is especially not suitable for lower level learners. Portfolios of evidence are good methods of assessment for learners who don’t like formal exams as the pressure is reduced. The portfolio can be compiled over a long period of time which gives the learner less urgency. This is learner centred and helps promote autonomy. Using puzzles and quizzes are a fun way of assessing learning in an informal way, enabling tutors to use fun activities to test knowledge or skills. This can be particularly good with low level learners to assess retention of facts. Using this to mature learners can seem childish and trivial and it does not assess the learner’s level of understanding or ability to apply their knowledge to situations. These games can be time consuming for the tutor to initially create. So there are many advantages and disadvantages to all the assessment methods as it can affect the outcome of the assessment and it is the tutor’s discretion to be able to identify the best course of assessment for that group or even particular learner. Therefore making it fair and reliable.