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Assessment for learning

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In classrooms where assessment for learning, commonly called formative assessment,[1] is practised, students are encouraged to be more active in their learning and associated assessment. The ultimate purpose of assessment for learning is to create self-regulated learners who can leave school able and confident to continue learning throughout their lives. Teachers need to know at the outset of a unit of study where their students are in terms of their learning and then continually check on how they are progressing through strengthening the feedback they get from their learners. Students are guided on what they are expected to learn and what quality work looks like. The teacher will work with the student to understand and identify any gaps or misconceptions (initial/diagnostic assessment). As the unit progresses, the teacher and student work together to assess the student's knowledge, what she or he needs to learn to improve and extend this knowledge, and how the student can best get to that point (formative assessment). Assessment for learning occurs at all stages of the learning process.

Historical perspective

In past decades, teachers would design a unit of study that would typically include objectives, teaching strategies, and resources. The student's mark on this test or exam was taken as the indicator of his or her understanding of the topic. In 1998, Black & Wiliam produced a review that highlighted that students who learn in a formative way achieve significantly better than matched control groups receiving normal teaching.[2] Their work developed into several important research projects on Assessment for Learning by the King's College team including Kings-Medway-Oxfordshire Formative Assessment Project (KMOFAP), Assessment is For learning (Scotland), Jersey-Actioning-Formative assessment (Channel Islands), and smaller projects in England, Wales, Peru, and the USA.

Complex assessment

A complex assessment is the one that requires a rubric and an expert examiner. Example items for complex assessment include thesis, funding proposal, etc.[3] [4] The complexity of assessment is due to the format implicitness. In the past, it has been puzzling to deal with the ambiguous assessment criteria for final year project (FYP) thesis assessment. Webster, Pepper and Jenkins (2000)[5] discussed some common general criteria for FYP thesis and their ambiguity regarding use, meaning and application. Woolf (2004)[6] more specifically stated on the FYP assessment criterion weighting:‘The departments are as silent on the weightings that they apply to their criteria as they are on the number of criteria that contribute to a grade’. A more serious concern was raised by Shay (2004) who argued that the FYP assessment for engineering and social sciences is ‘a socially situated interpretive act’, implying that many different alternative interpretations and grades are possible for one assessment task. The problems with the FYP thesis assessment have thus received much attention over the decades since the assessment difficulty was discussed by Black (1975).[7]

Principles

Among the most comprehensive listing of principles of assessment for learning are those written by the QCA (Qualifications and Curriculum Authority). The authority, which is sponsored by England's Department for Children, Schools and Families, is responsible for national curriculum, assessment, and examinations. Their principal focus is on crucial aspects of assessment for learning, including how such assessment should be seen as central to classroom practice, and that all teachers should regard assessment for learning as a key professional skill.

The UK Assessment Reform Group (1999) identifies "The big 5 principles of assessment for learning":

  1. The provision of effective feedback to students.
  2. The active involvement of students in their own learning.
  3. Adjusting teaching to take account of the results of the assessment.
  4. Recognition of the profound influence assessment has on the motivation and self-esteem of pupils, both of which are critical influences on learning.
  5. The need for students to be able to assess themselves and understand how to improve.

In the United States, the Assessment For Learning Project] has identified four "core shifts" and ten "emerging principles" of assessment for learning:[8]

Core Shifts

  1. Purpose of Assessment: From exposing inequity to enacting equity
  2. Process of Assessment: From an isolated event to an integrated process
  3. Priorities of Assessment: From evaluating students to encouraging reflection and feedback
  4. Product of Assessment: From averages and scores to bodies of evidence of learning

Emerging Principles

  1. Meaningful Tasks, Worthy Evidence, and Authentic Validation
  2. Coherence Among Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment
  3. Clear and Transparent Learning Targets
  4. Accessible and Inclusive Design for All Learners
  5. Active Student Participation with Structured Reflection
  6. Specific, Actionable Feedback
  7. Support of Positive Mindsets and Identities
  8. Community-engaged Readiness Definitions
  9. Professional Expertise, Collaboration, and Calibration
  10. Systems of Assessments Designed from the Student Out

See also

References

  1. ^ "The Difference Between Assessment Of Learning And Assessment For Learning". November 1, 2018.
  2. ^ Black, P.; Wiliam, D. (1998). "Assessment and Classroom Learning". Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice. 5 (1): 7–74. doi:10.1080/0969595980050102.
  3. ^ Ho Sung Kim, Quantification for complex assessment: uncertainty estimation in final year project thesis assessment, European Journal of Engineering Education, 2013, pp 1-16 https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2012.742869
  4. ^ Ho Sung Kim, Uncertainty analysis for peer assessment final year project, European Journal of Engineering Education, Vol 39 (1), 2014, pp 68-83 https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2013.833171
  5. ^ Webster, F., D. Pepper, and A. Jenkins. 2000. “Assessing the undergraduate dissertation.” Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 25 (1): 71–80.
  6. ^ Woolf, H., 2004. “Assessment criteria: reflections on current practices.” Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 29 (4): 439–493.
  7. ^ Black, J., 1975. “Allocation and assessment of project work in the final year of engineering degree course at the University of Bath”. Assessment in Higher Education, 1 (1): 35–54.
  8. ^ "Assessment for Learning Project". Assessment for Learning Project.

Sources

  • Alberta Assessment Consortium (AAC)
  • Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B. & Wiliam, D. (2003) Assessment for learning: putting it into practice (Maidenhead, Open University Press).
  • Cooper, Damian. (2006). Talk About Assessment: Strategies and Tools to Improve Learning. Toronto, ON: Thomson Nelson.
  • Government of British Columbia
  • Goodman, J. (2012). Improving progress through AfL. Dr Joanna Goodman reflects on the role and application of Assessment for Learning. SecEd, 304:13.
  • Manitoba Education, Citizenship, and Youth. (2006) Rethinking Assessment with Purpose in Mind: assessment for learning, assessment as learning, assessment of learning Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada: MECY
  • O'Connor, Ken. (2002). How to Grade for Learning. Arlington Heights, IL: Skylight.
  • QCA
  • Stobart, G. (2008). Testing Times: The uses and abuses of assessment. Oxon: Routledge.
  • Wiggins, Grant. (1998). Educative Assessment. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.
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