PART 4
4.1 Assessment
According to Rixon (2012), assessment can be regarded as a systematic means to analyse learners’ level of knowledge or skills do discover and record how well they can do the reading, listening or writing tasks or perform while doing speaking activities. Depending on the aims, we can use formative or summative assessments. There is a differentiation between these two types. Formative assessment can be informal and provided without establishing tests conditions as in the case of formal assessment (Harris, M & McCann, 1994). It can be done over a period of time as a term, an academic year or like in my situation – during the intensive summer course. Whereas, the summative assessment is carried out by the end of the course and is conducted to demonstrate the progress or to check if we met the objectives During the academic year, at the British Council, we have formal testing at the beginning of a school year and the end of each term as these results are necessary to make a decision about the next level a student might move to. Therefore, validity and reliability of the tests are crucial to YLs future learning (McKay, 2006). Summer intensive course is a special period of studies for YLs when we need to minimise
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Summative assessment will be conducted during the last lesson in the form of a board game to assess speaking skills. There will be a range of questions or tasks covering grammar, vocabulary and topics. This type of assessment t will have face validity as SS will be assessed on their ability to speak against can-do assessment criteria which were developed in reference the course objectives (App. 2.7,2.8). An information gap activities with tasks similar to those done on the course before will be used to test reading and listening
Assessment plays a significant role in the learning experience of students. It determines their progression through their programmes and enables them to demonstrate that they have achieved the intended learning outcomes. It is assessment that provides the main basis for public recognition of achievement, through the awarding of qualifications and/or credit.
In 1989 a group of voluntary researchers named the Assessment Reform group (ARG) were formed by the British Educational Research Association (BERA). The group had the task to take account of relevant research and evidence in regards to assessment for policy and practice. In 1996 BERA’s support ceased and was taken over by the Nuffield Foundation till the ARG dissolved in 2010. It was in 1996 that the foundation funded Paul Black and Dylan Wiliam members of the ARG to review literature on the use of assessment to help with learning. As a result, evidence was found that ‘formative assessment’ could help to improve learning and the findings were published under the title ‘Inside the black box’. The ARG was one of significant influences on the design of Scotland’s Assessment is for Learning (AfiL) initiative which aimed to develop assessment in learning in Scottish schools. This essay will discuss and explore how effective formative assessment of pupils’ progression can be carried out.
Assessment, both formative and summative, plays a significant part in the learning experience as it determines progression and enables learners to demonstrate that they have achieved their desired learning outcomes.
There is a large variety of assessment methods available for assessing learners’ achievements. These include observation; questioning the learner; examining product evidence; discussion; witness testimony; looking at learner statements; recognising prior learning; simulated environment; skills tests; oral and written examinations; assignments; case studies and projects. Choosing the most appropriate assessment methods is vitally important, to help and support the learner and to ensure the job of the assessor is as straightforward, reliable and problem-free as possible.
Haydn (2009 cited in Capel et al 2009 page 329) defines assessment as "all those activities which are undertaken by teachers, and others, to measure the effectiveness of teaching and learning".
Assessment is carried out through formative (checks throughout the course), ipsative (to test against previous marks), and/ or summative (at end of course) activities to help the learner see their development whilst allowing the Assessor to give valuable feedback when appropriate. It’s purpose is to measure the learners understanding of the subject against the anticipated outcomes set by the criteria.
Through the identification of these assessment methods, I will analyse their purpose and the role that they play in my learner’s development; and how these are used to identify learner progress and confirm their knowledge and understanding. I will explore theories and principals of assessment, covering formative and
Assessments are the process of evaluating an individual’s learning. They involve generating and collecting evidence of a learner’s attainment of knowledge and skills and judging that evidence against defined standards. Formative Assessments (quizzes and practical tests) are used to
Assessment is defined as any practice or task that is used to produce information about student learning, and is categorized as either formative or summative (Wallace & White, 2014). There is a distinct difference between the various types of assessments, specifically formative and summative. Formative assessments are informal quizzes that are used to guide instruction
The function of assessment in learning and development is to provide a measurable way of planning and supporting students’ progress. Assessment is carried out by means of checks and tests carried out throughout the course. Assessors should provide feedback throughout ensuring that learning is occurring and the learner is at the correct level. It is also important that assessor’s decisions are also consistently reviewed and internally and externally verified.
The primary types of assessment are formative and summative assessments. Formative assessments take the form of
Assessment for learning is any assessment for which the first priority in its design and practice is to serve the purpose of promoting further student learning and enabling improved student learning through purposeful interaction and providing meaningful feedback. Formative assessment is specifically intended to generate feedback and feed forward on performance to improve, accelerate and enable learning (Sadler, 1998). Formative assessment can and should occur throughout a daily class, through implementation of learning and teaching strategies that lead to both oral and written feedback. The Formative assessment approach is equitable and reliable, producing some significant indicator of student developed understanding that links directly to the syllabus outcomes. This then allows the teacher or other students to respond by trying to
Evaluation is central to clinical supervision to perform as gatekeeping functions that require responsibility placed on supervisors (Bernard and Goodyear, 2014). Evaluation provides clear distinction between counseling and supervision (Inskipp, 1996). Distinction between formative and summative evaluation is key when supervising (Bernard and Goodyear, 2014). Formative evaluations provide direct and observational skill based feedback through weekly documentation for supervisors to assess supervisees’ effectiveness as a professional in training (Bernard and Goodyear, 2014). Summative evaluations provide an overall picture to decide whether goals and progress met standards and expectations of supervisors (Bernard and Goodyear, 2014). Summative evaluations used mostly in educational settings, seek to make decisions among supervisees. In conjunction with supervisors and education coordinators making decisions about the supervisee, the amount of time invested filling out evaluations is crucial to present clear and distinct assessments for those being evaluated (Bernard and Goodyear, 2014).
Recently, whenever I hear current teachers discussing about assessing students, ‘Formative Assessment’ is sure to be highlighted. Nowadays this method (formative assessment) is becoming popular among schools and is being applied widely in schools including my own school. Loughland and Kilpatrick (2015) identified in the few past decades, formative assessment has turned out to be the main goal for teachers and educational systems. On the foundation of Loughland and Kilpatrick (2015) findings and from my experience in the field of teaching, I found out nowadays teachers and school stakeholders strongly feel that formative assessment is the best method to assess in order to enhance students’ learning. For these evident reasons, I am interested in finding
Students may not take it as seriously as summative assessment. It can be a time taking process. Students need different kinds of formative assessment at different stages in their learning.[2]