University of D ar es Salaam CT 100: Introduction to Teaching

1. University of Dar es SalaamCT 100: Introduction to Teaching Module 6: Assessment and Evaluation Instructor: Mr. M. Likinjiye

2. Definition of concepts • Measurement • Any quantitative description of performance • Testing is only one part of measurement • Measurement involve counting, enumerating, ordering or categorizing

3. Cont… • Assessment • Refers to the collection of data to describe or better understand an issue • A strategic process that uses measurements as one of the means for collecting, and analyzing information for decision making • It involve quantitative descriptions and qualitative descriptions of performance

4. Cont… • Evaluation: • Stated most simply, to evaluate is to place a value upon-to judge • Is a processes of obtaining information and using it to form judgments that, in turn, are used in decision making • Evaluation refers to the comparison of data to a standard for the purpose of judging worth or quality

5. Why assessment and evaluation? • Evaluation as a means of informing parents • Evaluation for promotion to a higher class or higher level • Evaluation for students motivation • Evaluation for guidance and counseling • Evaluation to assess the effectiveness of the teaching strategy • Evaluation as a basis for school marks or grades by teachers • Evaluation for employment purposes

6. Types of assesments A. Formative assessment • Occurs during instruction • Establish whether students have achieved sufficient mastery of skills and whether further instruction is needed • The purpose is to determine what adjustment should be made • Is based on continuous informal techniques like; listening, questioning to probe understanding, and watching students behaviors • Is also based on formally developed techniques like; quizzes, seat work, homework and tests

7. Cont… B. Summative assessment • Occurs at the end of a unit or a year • Is used to certify students achievement and assign end of term grades • Used for promoting students to other levels • Its role is not to establish students proficient with each skill but to provide an overview of achievement across a number of skills

8. Cont… C. Diagnostic evaluation • Is concerned with the persistent learning difficulties • The main purpose is to learning difficulties and their causes

9. Cont…. D. Placementevaluation • Is concerned with entry performance • Focuses on questions like; • Does the pupil poses the knowledge and skills needed to begin the planned program • to what extent has the pupil already mastered the objectives of the planned instruction

10. Assessment tools • A. Check list • Is basically a list of criteria (or “things to look for”)for evaluating some performance or end product • Helps to simply check those criteria that are met • Document the existence or non-existence of a particular behavior, trait or skill

11. Cont… • B. Rating scale • Tells the quality of a performance or end product • Used to describe the degree to which behaviors, traits or skills are believed to be present

12. Cont… C. Portfolio assessment • A purposeful, systematic and organized collection of a student’s work • The work demonstrates progress over a span of time and across several tasks • Portfolios can include different types of work like; • Writing samples of different nature • Videotapes and pictures taken across time

13. Cont…. • Teacher’s comments accumulated overtime and on different situations • Interviews and test results accumulated overtime and on different subjects

14. Cont… • D. Tests • Tests are assessments made under contrived circumstances especially so that they may be administered

15. Types of test items Test items can be grouped into objective and subjective items • Objective test items • are the type of test items with a single best answer • There is no (or very little) dispute about the correct response • No professional judgment is required to score them

16. Cont… • Objective test items includes; • True-false items • Matching items • Multiple choice items • Completion items

17. Cont… • True-false items • statements that are either definitely true or definitely false where the examinee has to respond whether each is true or false • They are quick and easy to write • Can cover large materials • Gives a student a 50% chance of guessing • Limited to outcomes in the knowledge level

18. Cont.. • Multiple choice items • Consist of a statement portion called ‘stem’ and answer choices called ‘options’ Strengths • Can measure higher level cognitive objectives • A broad spectrum of abilities and areas can be sampled • Incorrect alternatives provide diagnostic information

19. Cont… Limitations • Constructing good items is time consuming • It often difficult to find equally plausible distracters • Ineffective in measuring problem solving, organization and expressive behavior • Scores can be influenced by reading ability

20. Cont….. • Match items • Consist of two parallel columns with each word, number, or symbol in one column being matched with a word, sentence or phrase in the other column Advantages • Measure a large amount of related factual materials in a relatively short time • Easy to construct Limitation • Restricted to measurement of factual information based on rote learning

21. Cont.. • Subjective test items • Short answers • Essays • Measures complex learning outcomes like; organize, integrate ideas, ad express oneself in writing. • Can be restricted or extended response questions(long essays)

22. Cont… • Advantages of essay • It provides measure of complex learning outcomes • Easy to construct • Limitations of essays • Can not cover large amount of materials • Unreliability of the scoring • Consumes time in scoring

23. Quality of assessment information • Three terms are used to describe the quality of assessment information • Reliability • A test is said to be reliable when it produces dependable, consistent scores for persons for take it more than once over a period of time • Validity • A test is said to be valid when it measures what it claims to measure • Fairness • A test is said to be fair if it offers all students the same chance of doing well

24. Designing classroom tests • Ask questions like; • Why testing the students • What shall be assessed and why? • Ask how many and what type of items should be in; • Types of content knowledge covered • Types of mental abilities to be covered • Use table of specification/test blue print to get a representative sample of performance

25. Cont…