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Assessing Student Performance
Types of Assessment
Classroom assessment falls into two major
categories: fact-based and performance-based. Both types are needed, but
in many disciplines, teachers have relied solely on providing a collection
of relevant facts and testing students on their ability to recall them.
Multiple-choice items, matching, and fill-in-the-blank are examples of
fact-based assessments.
These assessment tools are excellent for
some types of learning. There will always be batteries of facts that
students need to learn. However, with the number of facts doubling every
three years, it has become increasingly important to be able to process
information, not just to know the facts.
As we move further into the information
age with its burgeoning body of facts and fallacies, students need to be
able to think critically, analyze, make inferences, and solve problems.
They need to be able to discriminate between information that is valid and
reliable and that which is not. These higher-order thinking skills are
best evaluated using techniques other than traditional paper-and-pencil,
fact-based tests.
With performance-based assessment,
students are given problems or tasks that they might encounter in the
real world and are asked to make decisions about how best to perform
the tasks. As in the world of work, there will be many ways that students
could complete assignments successfully—not just one right answer.
Students' responses to the tasks may
involve presentations, demonstrations, written projects, etc., that
require students to use the information and skills that you want them to
master. These responses are the final product of students' work and
indicate how well students have internalized instruction. As in the work
world, it is the end result that is evaluated, not the process of getting
there.
Use of performance assessment will help
students see the relevancy of their class work, which in turn can enhance
their learning. Additional advantages of performance assessment are:
Teachers gain a clearer understanding of
what students know and what they still need to learn. Likewise,
students gain a clearer understanding of what is expected of them, both
in the classroom and in the future workplace.
Students are involved in their own
learning because they gain practice in applying what has been taught. Students claim
that evaluation is more interesting and relevant. |
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