In Warner Brother’s 1973 motion picture Magnum Force, the lead character “Dirty Harry Callahan” says the often quoted line, “A man’s got to know his limitations.” This sentiment is very applicable to the assessment of student’s learning and the evaluation of instruction. Knowing your limitations through assessment and evaluation allows each group to know their strengths and weaknesses, and spend the appropriate amount of energy on capitalizing on the strengths and improving the weaknesses. It is especially applicable to assessment and evaluation problems in the arena of the many non-credit general interest courses that are taught at the community colleges in the province. Assessment and evaluation are particularly lacking here, usually being limited to a short check off course evaluation list at the end of the course. The student’s learning is never evaluated, as the institution gives no grading at the end of the course. What is missing is feedback to the students on how much and how well they were able to absorb the information presented in the course and meaningful feedback to the instructor on how they are performing their duties. Without this feedback the student has no independent method of assessing the level of their newly gained …show more content…
Waiting for the assessment to be done at the end of the course will increase the stress on the student, who will liken it to a final examination. More effort will be placed on trying to remember what happened early in the course rather than answering the question. This is not to say that the tests can not cumulative, indeed they should build upon the knowledge gained throughout the course. This repetition of ideas in the assessments will act as reinforcement to the learning of key ideas in the subject matter and allow the student to gain a deeper understanding of the
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.
It is always my aim to ensure that feedback is timely and given in a constructive and sensitive manner; and my approach can sometimes be influenced by what I have learned during initial assessment; and as I develop relationships with the learner. I have recently made efforts to encourage my learners to reflect and to self-assess their performance. I feel that this helps to pave the way for me to feedback to the individual and to reduce the risk of de-motivating them.
In my point of view feedback is an essential tool for learners’ progress. If the student is not assessing their work then they are not learning and given feedback are vital to ensure best practice is maintained and the learners are achieving to their full potential.
This is why assessments should be an ongoing process throughout the learning experience. Assessments are not only there to assess a learner to sit an exam to test a learner’s knowledge of the subject matter but to:
Is an essential part of the assessment cycle, feedback shows both learners and trainers how they are progressing. It is not a criticism and should be helpful to learners to understand their behaviour and actions.
There are many reasons why we assess learners. Assessments enable tutors to measure learner’s progress towards their goal. And feedback can be given to help them such as outlining their strengths and weaknesses. Feedback is used to help learners learn and improve, and is the most important aspect of formative assessment. This can be given in various ways such as written, oral, in the form of graded/marked assignment etc. When giving feedback it is good practice to bear in mind the following points. It is important to give immediate feedback if possible; turn negative comment into constructive comments such as what to improve on before the next assessment; make assessment criteria clear, accurate and available; feedback to be clear, accurate and recorded; praise learner on achievement; encourage positive attitudes and make further suggestions. Learners can be encouraged through communication of how well they are doing and what skills and knowledge they are developing.
An evaluation was achieved by interviewing the students after they completed their assessments. The interview questions were open-ended in order to facilitate a conversation regarding their feelings and thoughts regarding the various assessments they took. What they felt they learned about themselves, were the assessments informative and how will they use the information they learned about themselves to further their education, possible course selection and academic
To be sure that the message (knowledge of the subject) has reached the students (the receiver) with the same meaning, purpose and intention as was desired, the teacher has to get some acknowledgement from the students. Feedback is the process that ensures this. This can take the form of a mod, an acknowledgement, or doing something as expected by the students. Feedback provides a learning opportunity to the-teacher and the students both as it mirrors where the communication has gaps or inadequacies indicating the corrective action to be taken. In case of classroom teaching such feedback is essential for effective teaching. On the other hand if students act in conformity with the communicated items, they also need to know this from the teacher. This kind of feedback loop is the most essential principle of effective teaching. Positive and negative both kinds of feedback are necessary. They should, however be focused on specific action rather than on the individual student. Comments related to behavior are accepted more easily than those relating to an individual personality, attitudes, feelings etc. But it is necessary to tell the students where they are wrong. If they are not told this, the wrongs may perpetuate. Feedback, which is provided "Here and Now" is more meaningful than the delayed one. It is more effective to provide a feedback as a way of sharing information rather than insisting on the right way of doing things. For that reason the teacher
Assessment is carried out to ensure that learning has taken place. This is used to measures the learner’s knowledge and skills in their chosen area of learning. Assessment can be used to encourage learners to ask questions on anything they have not understood, learners at some point will have to know that they will have to prove their knowledge and understanding to the standards of the awarding body.
When helping Northern Arizona University (NAU) address Core Component 4. B, a colleague was overheard making a comment. The colleague said “We already do assessment. We give grade and course evaluations. If you want to know how much students are learning, look at their grades and course evaluations.” The following paper will describe why grades are not acceptable methods for student learning. Additionally, it will propose a few questions that will make course evaluation data more useful in addressing accreditation requirements. Lastly, it will outline how NAU can effectively address Core Component 4. B.
Moreover, it must be well-aligned to the material being taught. Like homework, it must be promptly scored and returned to students so that they can correct any mistakes or thinking errors before they become ingrained in their minds. Research shows that, “students who test frequently and are given prompt feedback have positive attitudes toward testing. They regard tests as facilitating learning, studying, and providing effective feedback(Cotton, 1988).”
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.
Feedback is a vital part of the assessment process as it gives the assessor an idea of if the learner has met the criteria set and if they haven’t, what action is needed to achieve the criteria.
If the purpose of feedback is to bridge the gap between attainment and target achievement then it might be expected that more feedback would be given where there is a bigger gap to bridge. Thus, it might be expected that the volume and or type of comments provided to students might differ