When done naturally, student learning and assessment go hand in hand. It becomes a natural part of the teaching and learning cycle when we assess for learning.
A hot topic in education these days is assessment. Everywhere teachers are concerned that assessing student knowledge has made us overly preoccupied. We should instead refocus on what really matters by flipping the switch. We need to focus on student learning. This can be achieved when we learn to use the types of assessment as a tool to help our students.
When done naturally, student learning and assessment go hand in hand. It becomes a natural part of the teaching and learning cycle when we assess for learning. This allows teachers to use assessments as feedback and guidance for the next steps through the idea of assessing for learning. Assessments can give us a single measurement among a broad profile of what a child knows and can do when used sparingly. We begin to unravel the true learning experience when we put the emphasis on these kinds of assessments.
Education has different types of assessments. There are different purposes during and after the the instruction of all assessment methods. Here are the types of assessment which are important during the development and implementing the teacher’s instruction.
Types of Assessment of Learning
Diagnostic Assessment (as Pre-Assessment)
It is necessary to know for what kind of students you’re creating the instruction before creating the instruction. Your ultimate goal is to get to know the strengths, weaknesses and the skills and knowledge your student possesses before taking the instruction. You can create your instruction based on the data you’ve collected. This assessment is apparently the first type of assessment of learning.
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Formative Assessment
In the first attempt at developing instruction, Formative assessment is used. Here, the goal is to monitor student learning to deliver feedback. In your instruction, it helps in to identify the first gaps. You’ll know what to focus on for further expansion for your instruction based on this feedback. A manner to think about it is to assess a student’s performance during instruction. It generally occurs regularly throughout the instruction process.
Summative Assessment
Another type of assessment of learning is Summative assessment. It is aimed at assessing the extent to which the most important outcomes at the end of the instruction have been reached. But this type of assessment measures more, including, the effectiveness of learning, reactions on the instruction and the benefits on a long-term base. You are able to observe whether and how they use the learned knowledge, skills, and attitudes. This assessment is a way of measures a student’s achievement at the end of instruction.
Confirmative Assessment
the next type of assessment of learning is confirmative assessment. It is still necessary to take the assessment when your instruction has been implemented in your classroom. Your ultimate goal with confirmative assessments is to discover if the instruction is still a success after a year, for instance, and if the way you’re teaching is still on point. You could speak that a confirmative assessment is an extensive form of a summative assessment.
Norm-Referenced Assessment
The fifth type of assessment of learning is Norm-Referenced Assessment. In this assessment student’s performance are compared against an average norm. This could be the average national norm for the subject History, for instance. Another instance is when the average grade of a student is compared against the average grade of the entire school by the teacher. Broadly, it compares a student’s performance against other students. It can also be called as a Group or “Demographic” assessment.
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Criterion-Referenced Assessment
Criterion-Referenced Assessment measures student’s performances against a fixed set of predetermined criteria or standards of learning. At a specific stage of the student’s education, it checks what students are expected to know and will be able to do. Criterion-referenced tests are used in order to evaluate a specific body of knowledge or skill set. It measures the performance of a student against a goal, specific objective, or standard. It is a test to evaluate the curriculum taught in a course.
Interim/Benchmark Assessment
Another type of assessment of learning is the Interim Assessment. At periodic intervals, it evaluates the performance of the student. It is frequently done at the end of a grading period. On end-of-the-year summative assessments, it can predict the performance of the student.
In the learning processAssessment is a critical step. The learning objectives of the course are determined by assessment. These different types of assessment of learning affect many facets of education. These might include student grades, placement, and advancement as well as curriculum, instructional needs, and school funding, etc. the performance of the student is measured and analyzed which helps them improve in the long-run.
Assessment of learning and its types are a key component of learning as they help students learn. It boosts the confidence and motivates the students in a way. It helps the students to learn, gain and grow, with their heads held high.
