Traditional assessment v.s Alternative assessment

Chabahar Maritime University

Faculty of Humanities

By:

Z. Dehghan

Professor:

Dr. khoshsima

May 2014

Click to add title

•Click to add text

Introduction

Assessment and testing

• Testing is formal and often standardized

• Assessment is based on a collection of information about what students know and what they are able to do.

Assessment and testing

Assessment :“any method used to better understand the current knowledge that a student possesses”

Testing : “single-occasion, one-dimensional, timed exercise, usually in multiple choice or short-answer form”

Traditional assessment tools

The most widely used traditional assessment

tools are:

Multiple-choice tests

True/false tests

Short answers

Essays.

Alternative assessment tools

Portfolios

• Portfolios consist of student work that displays mastery of

skill of the task and expression .

• Paulson and Meyer define Portfolios “ a purposeful

collection of student work that exhibits the student’s efforts,

progress, and achievements in one or more areas.

• The collection must include student participation in selecting

contents, the criteria for judging merit, and evidence of

student self reflection”

• Because of their cumulative nature, portfolios require a lot

of input and responsibility of the student . Moreover, they

demand a great deal of time commitment from the teachers.

Portfolios

• Portfolios are an opportunity for students to provide

documentation of their learning activities, ideas and

reflections.

• Portfolios help students take more responsibility for

their own learning. By making decisions about what to

include in their portfolios.

• Students become knowledge producers rather than

knowledge receivers .Thus, portfolios help students

construct their own knowledge base (constructivism) as

opposed to reacting to a teaching stimulus provided by

the teacher (behaviorism).

Portfolios

• The portfolio is not supposed to be an easy

alternative to substitute for testing.

• If the portfolio is taken seriously, applied with

skill and intelligence, it can become a

teacher’s valuable tool.

Anecdotal Records

An anecdotal record is a collection of

written observations of students related to

their progress in learning.

This written account of observations may be

kept in a separate notebook or included in a

student’s portfolio. Teacher notes to students,

weather offering criticism or encouragement.

Using this technique allows teachers the

opportunity to modify their instruction to

better meet the needs of their students.

Diaries and Writing Folders

• Students should be encouraged to write across the curriculum. Student writings may take several forms.

• Students may be encouraged to make dailyentries summarizing their progress in a particular study in a diary.

• Writing folders show the different styles of writing that students accomplish such as first drafts, current writing, finished drafts, new writing ideas, and student reflections on material being studied.

Peer conference

Teacher-student conference

Conferences

1) * Focusing on a body of work vs. a one off performance*

The portfolio process reviews a comparatively large body of a

learner’s work, rather than a one off performance, to evaluate

performance over a course of study.

2) * Being a truly authentic assessment*

Portfolios rely on direct observation ,therefore, can be

thought of as authentic assessment.

3) * Increasing the involvement of learners*

Portfolios necessitate the active participation of learners in

the evaluation process.

Alternative assessmentTraditional assessment

Continuous, longitudinal assessment

One-shot tests

Direct testsIndirect tests

Authentic testsInauthentic tests

Group projectsIndividual projects

Feedback provided to learnersNo feedback provided to learners

Untimed examsSpeeded exams

Contextualized test tasksDecontextualized test tasks

Criterion-referenced score interpretation

Norm-referenced score interpretation

Classroom-based testsStandardized tests

vs.

First,

they tend to simulate real-life contexts

Second,

Collaborative working is

encouraged.

Third,

Assist instructors to have a better

understanding of student learning

Advantages of alternative assessment

“A person who never made a mistake

never tried anything”

-Albert Einstein