Name: Rujean Romy P.

Guisando
Subject: Assessment of Student Learning I
Basic Concepts in Assessment
1. Define the terms: assessment, evaluation, measurement, test, testing, formative assessment,
placement assessment, diagnostic assessment, summative assessment, portfolio assessment and
performance assessment.
a. Assessment: It is a systematic process of gathering, interpreting, and using this information about
student learning. It emphasizes on individual student or groups of individuals and on the academic
program of a certain educational institution. It is a general term that includes different ways that the
teachers used to gather information in the classroom.
b. evaluation: refers to the process of judging the quality of what is good and what is desirable. It is the
comparison of data to a set of standard or learning criteria for the purpose of judging the worth or quality.
Evaluation occurs after the assessment data has been collected and synthesized because it is only in this
time where teacher is in the position to make judgement about the performance of the students. Teachers
evaluate how well or to what extent the students attained the instructional outcomes.
c. measurement: is a process of quantifying or assigning number to the individuals intelligence,
personality , attitudes and values, and achievement of the students. In other words, it expresses the
assessment data in terms of numerical values and answers the question, how much?
d. test: is a formal and systematic instrument, usually paper and pencil procedure designed to assess the
quality, ability, skill or knowledge of the students by giving a set of question in uniform manner. A test is
one of the many types of assessment procedure used to gather information about the performance of
students.
e. testing: is one of the different methods used to measure the level of performance or achievement of the
learners. It also refers to the administration, scoring, and interpretation of the procedures designed to get
information about the extent of the performance of the students.
f. formative assessment: is a type of assessment used to monitor the learning progress of the student
during instruction. The purpose is provide immediate feedback to both students and teacher regarding the
success and failures of learning ; to identify the learning errors that are in need of correction; to provide
teachers with information on how to modify instruction; and also to improve learning and instruction.
g. placement assessment: The purpose of this assessment is to determine the prerequisite skills, degree
of mastery of the course objectives and the best mode of learning. Placement assessments provide a
convenient starting place for determining a students level of academic skill mastery within a specific
domain.
h. diagnostic assessment: . Diagnostic assessment measures a student's current knowledge and skills for
the purpose of identifying a suitable program of learning. Self-assessment is a form of diagnostic
assessment which involves students assessing themselves. Forward-looking assessment asks those being
assessed to consider themselves in hypothetical future situations.
I. summative assessment: In an educational setting, summative assessments are typically used to assign
students a course grade. Summative assessments are evaluative. The summative assessments are made to
summarize what the students have learned, to know if they understand well. This type of assessment is
graded and often counts, it can be in form of tests, final exams, projects, etc. These assessments are

important because they decide if the student passed or fails the class. If teachers only do summative
assessments, the learners will know how well they acquired too late.
j. portfolio assessment: A portfolio is a purposeful collection of student work that tells the story of
achievement or growth (Arter, Spandel, & Culham, 1995). Portfolios benefit instruction by developing
student skills in self-reflection, critical thinking, responsibility for learning, and content area skills and
knowledge (Arter et al., 1995). They benefit assessment because collecting multiple samples of student
work over time enables educators to 1) develop an in-depth look at what students know and can do, 2)
base assessment on authentic work, 3) supplement standardized tests, and 4) communicate student
progress (Arter et al., 1995).
k. performance assessment: Performance-based assessment is similar to summative assessment, as it
focuses on achievement. It is often aligned with the standards-based education reform and outcomesbased education movement. Though ideally they are significantly different from a traditional multiple
choice test, they are most commonly associated with standards-based assessments which use free-form
responses to standard questions scored by human scorers on a standards-based scale, meeting, falling
below or exceeding a performance standard rather than being ranked on a curve. A well-defined task is
identified and students are asked to create, produce or do something, often in settings that involve realworld application of knowledge and skills.
2. Differentiate between assessment, testing, measurement, and evaluation.
Assessment is a general term that includes different ways that the teachers used to gather
information, information that aids the teachers to understand their students. The information gain could be
used to plan and monitor their classroom instruction. Testing is one of the different methods used to
measure the level of performance or achievement of the learners. Testing refers to the administration,
scoring, and interpretation of the procedures designed to get information about the extent of the
performance of the students.
While measurement is a process of quantifying or assigning number to the individuals
intelligence, personality, attitudes and values, and achievement of the students. Assessment data are
expressed in terms of numerical values.
Evaluation is the process of judging the quality of what is good and what is desirable. It is the
comparison of data to a set of standard or learning criteria for the purpose of judging the worth or quality.
3. Discuss the different purpose of assessment.
The purpose of assessment practices in education depends on the theoretical framework of the
practitioners and researchers, their assumptions and beliefs about the nature of human mind, the origin of
knowledge, and the process of learning. The final purpose of assessment is to improve student learning.
Assessment achieves this purpose by gathering pieces of evidence over a period of time.

4. What are the different roles of assessment in the instructional decisions?

Assessment plays a number of roles in making instructional decisions.
Summative Role an assessment may be done for summative purposes as in the illustration given for
Grade VI mathematics achievement.
Diagnostic Role assessment may be done for diagnostic purposes. There is interest in determining the
gaps in learning or learning processes, hopefully, to be able to bridge these gaps.

Formative Assessment in this role, assessment guides the teachers on his/her day-to-day teaching
activity.
Placement The final role of assessment in curricular decisions concerns placement. Assessment plays a
vital role in determining the appropriate placement of a student both in terms of achievements and
aptitude.
Aptitude refers to the area or discipline where a student would most likely excel or do well.

5. How does diagnostic assessment differ from placement assessment?

Diagnostic assessments (also known as pre-assessments) provide instructors with information
about student's prior knowledge and misconceptions before beginning a learning activity. They also
provide a baseline for understanding how much learning has taken place after the learning activity is
completed. While placement assessment is designed to improve your chances for success. When you are
starting college, it is important to be placed in the right courses. Placement assessment helps to place you
in courses matching your current abilities.
6. Identify some characteristics that differentiate norm-referenced interpretation from criterionreferenced interpretation.
Criterion-referencing, is used to describe student performance according to a specified domain
of clearly defined learning tasks. This method of interpretation is used when the teacher wants to
determine how well the students have learned specific knowledge or skills in a certain course or subject
matter.
As the name implies, involves determining a students grade by comparing his or her
achievements with clearly stated criteria for learning outcomes and clearly stated standards for particular
levels of performance. Unlike norm-referencing, there is no pre-determined grade distribution to be
generated and a students grade is in no way influenced by the performance of others.
The goal of criterion-referencing is to report student achievement against objective reference
points that are independent of the cohort being assessed. Criterion-referencing can lead to simple pass-fail
grading schema, such as in determining fitness-to-practice in professional fields. Criterion-referencing
can also lead to reporting student achievement or progress on a series of key criteria rather than as a
single grade or percentage.
Norm-referenced Interpretation is used to describe student performance according to relative
position in some known group. In this method of interpretation it is assumed that the level of performance
of students will not vary much from one class to another class.
7. Compare the different types of assessment.
Assessment can be divided into three stages: baseline assessment, formative assessment,
diagnostic assessment and summative assessment.
Baseline assessment establishes the "starting point" of the student's understanding. This is given
at the beginning of instruction. Formative assessment provides information to help guide the instruction
throughout the unit, it is the type of assessment used to monitor the learning progress of the students
during instruction. Summative assessment informs both the student and the teacher about the level of
conceptual understanding and performance capabilities that the student has achieved. Diagnostic
Assessment is a type given at the beginning of instruction or during instruction: it aims to identify the
strengths and weaknesses of the students regarding the topics to be discussed. The purpose of this
assessment is to determine the level of competence of the students.

8. Present and discuss the different guidelines for effective student assessment.
For an effective learning, one way is about showing the criteria of the evaluation before the test.
Another is about the importance of pre-assessment to know what the skill levels of a student are before
giving instructions. Giving a lot of feedback and encouraging are other practices.
Here are the guidelines for effective student assessment.
1. Assessment should help students to learn.
Educational assessment has at least two main functions: it is part of a system of accreditation
and it fosters student learning.
2. Assessment must be consistent with the objectives of the course and what is taught and
learnt.
The stated objectives of any given course of study in a university cover a wide range of
understandings, higher order intellectual skills and values. If the assessment tasks do not test
these outcomes, the statements remain empty.
3. Variety in types of assessment allows a range of different learning outcomes to be assessed.
It also keeps students interested.
Innovative and creative approaches to assessment can enhance student interest and motivation and are usually a lot more interesting and rewarded for academics to assess.
4. Students need to understand clearly what is expected of them in assessed tasks.
They need to understand the intellectual purpose & the practical purpose. The intellectual
purpose refers to the students clear knowledge about the aim, schedule, requirements of the
assessment process. For practical purpose, they must be aware of the means & resources to attain
their grades..
5. Criteria for assessment should be detailed, transparent and justifiable.
Clear, concise and reduced statements should be given for students to be aware in their
assessment status.
6. Students need specific and timely feedback on their work - not just a grade.
The primary focus of assessment is helping students to learn. A guiding principle is that students
should get feedback on one piece of work in time for this to be of benefit for the next. A useful
strategy for overwhelmed markers is to comment intensively on one section of a piece of work,
as an example of how the student should go about addressing any problems. This
7. Too much assessment is unnecessary and may be counter-productive.
A very heavy assessment load does not allow students time to comprehend and explore material:
it tends to push them into shallow, rote approaches to study, where they try to find shortcuts and
formulae for tasks, without really understanding underlying principles.
8. Assessment should be undertaken with an awareness that an assessor may be called upon
to justify a student's result.
Professionalism, practicality & for the sake of the students, it is highly advisable that an
individual assessor's judgement is confirmed by others outside the school.
9. The best starting point for countering plagiarism is in the design of the assessment tasks.
One way to counter plagiarism is to design a different set of questions every year. Students may
be required to reflect and comment on an issue on a context that is specific to the course.
10. Group assessment needs to be carefully planned and structured.

Group work is a valuable component of the higher education curriculum. It needs to be planned
and structured very carefully, and students have to be systematically prepared to undertake group
tasks.
11. When planning and wording assignments or questions, it is vital to mentally check their
appropriateness to all students in the class, whatever their cultural differences.
Consideration should be given to language & cultural barriers. Students disadvantaged in some
ways must be assisted. Care should be given in designing task are not unintentionally biased to
some students.
12. Systematic analysis of students' performance on assessed tasks can help identify areas of
the curriculum which need improvement.
The work submitted by students for assessment is a valuable source of feedback for staff on the
effectiveness of their teaching.
9. Differentiate norm-referenced interpretation from criterion-referenced interpretation
Norm-referenced assessment (colloquially known as "grading on the curve"), typically using a
norm-referenced test, is not measured against defined criteria. This type of assessment is relative to the
student body undertaking the assessment. It is effectively a way of comparing students. The IQ test is the
best known example of norm-referenced assessment. Many entrance tests (to prestigious schools or
universities) are norm-referenced, permitting a fixed proportion of students to pass ("passing" in this
context means being accepted into the school or university rather than an explicit level of ability).
Criterion-referenced assessment, typically using a criterion-referenced test, as the name
implies, occurs when candidates are measured against defined (and objective) criteria. Criterionreferenced assessment is often, but not always, used to establish a person's competence (whether s/he can
do something).
10. What are the issues related to the assessment of students' learning.
To start with, assessment must start with the institutions mission and core values. Assessment
works best when the program has a clear statement of objectives aligned with the mission and core values
of the school.
Assessment must be based on outcomes that focuses on student activities, and which will be
relevant after schooling concludes.
It requires attention not only to outcomes but also and equally to the activities and experiences
that lead to the attainment of learning outcomes.
Assessment works best when it is continuous, on-going and not episodic.
Assessment should be cumulative because improvement is best achieved through a linked series
of activities done over time in instructional cycle.