Assessment can mean appraisal
or judgment of worth.
It implies that there are relevant criteria or benchmarks. Assessment that is based on explicit criteria, standards or benchmarks is often known as "criterion-referenced."
Assessment also implies that there is some evidence that can be assessed. Evidence
is information, materials, or products that show whether or not a student has the skills. For example, you could:
The assessment procedures in this workbook apply to all kinds of learning. In training, assessment is used to determine whether or a student is competent in a particular skill. On the other hand, many campus programs teach through lectures and tutorials, give essays for assignments, and use written examinations. If you teach and assess this way, you will need to see how these principles apply to you.
Note: The term evaluation is used to refer to determining the quality of a whole program, so it now usually means something different from assessment.
The two main kinds of assessment are formative and summative. They have quite different purposes, but in practice formative leads into summative.
Formative assessment: Assessing to find out how well the student is progressing and whether he/she needs help for any learning weaknesses. This includes diagnostic assessment and ordinary monitoring of classroom performance. This kind of assessment is part of the teaching process.
Summative assessment: Assessing to determine whether the student's work meets certain criteria, for example, with the purpose of gaining a qualification. This might be at the end of a course, or it could be assessing what the student has learnt through his own personal study and work experience. This kind of assessment is quite separate from teaching and learning.
People take assessments for many purposes, for example:
The most interesting point is that you could use the same process for more than one purpose:
Scenario 1
John was applying for a position in a new company. When he was shortlisted, he was asked to submit a full portfolio and take some other assessments. Part way through, he was told that he could gain a qualification as part of the process.
He not only got the job, but also got admission to a higher qualification. The HR manager sat down with him and discussed his professional development plan. It could prepare him for a promotion and a higher qualification.
Scenario 2
Beth was applying for membership of a professional association. The association conducted a rigorous assessment because the academic requirements were minimal and were not uniform across the profession. Most applicants had done a course of some kind in a related field and had then learned on the job.
Beth was invited to apply for the qualification as part of the admission process, so she was both admitted to the association and awarded the qualification.
Accreditors and academic deans might perceive a gap between:
| The institution's written outcome statements | and | Making specific assessment decisions with real students |
|---|
They are concerned about assessment decisions being judgment calls made by assessors. For example, if a student appeals, can you prove your assessment was correct? Or was it just your best guess?
A great deal has been done to close the gap and take any guesswork out of the assessment decision. Nevertheless, solutions to the guesswork problem have been a constant theme in assessment practice:
The result for each unit will depend on the insitutional policy. For example:
Even then, ambiguities abound because most of these are arbitrary conventions:
passmight be A-, B, or C, depending on the qualification.
For you, simply check your institution's policy and follow it.
The evidence is usually a direct correlate of the assessment mode. There are three kinds of evidence, although assessment authorities seldom agree on definitions:
| Kind | Key feature | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Direct evidence | Direct observation in a real situation. | As assessor, you directly observe the student performing the skill in a real or simulated situation. (To be called a simulation, an assessment must be realistic enough to qualify as direct evidence.) |
| Indirect evidence | Assessor infers competence. | As assessor, you infer competence from what the student has done (such as samples or written work). This may also include classroom-based assessments, and performance of conceptual skills in an interview or a test. |
| Supplementary evidence | You rely on someone else to inform your decision. | This includes third party reports, references, and professional licenses. However, the assessor is still responsible for the final assessment decision. |
Supplementary evidence is excellent and in no way inferior. Original signed documents with detailed statements of competence from responsible, competent persons are very appropriate. Those documents need to be either issued independently or authenticated, and need to be free of conflict of interest. They usually take the form of references or professional licenses from credible bodies with established standards. It is good practice to follow up references with a phone call, because people will often tell you things in person that they wouldn't put in writing.
Of course, some third party evidence lacks detail or credibility, and is best used simply to corroborate other evidence.
Some authorities list the student's claims to competence (CV, self-assessments, etc.) in supplementary evidence. They are not real evidence and should not much determine assessment results. They are most useful for establishing an appropriate assessment. In a taught program, they monitor the students' readiness for assessment. In an RPL situation, they indicate areas and level of ability and possible sources of third-party evidence.
Below are the main points of a code of practice for assessors, most of which reflect ethics in some way.
*Careful, confidential use of assessment results is imperative; an unwisely released Not yet competent
result can have severe career ramifications for the student. There is no special exemption for the student's parents or employers, even if they have paid for the course.
Conflict of interest issues are a whole can of worms:
owe a favor?
In some cases, you might have been so involved in helping a student assemble a portfolio or in supervising a project that you can no longer be the sole assessor. You can either get someone else to assess, or get their input to check your assessment.
Other legal and ethical issues can affect assessment. For example:
It is also unethical to:
Your surgeon might be licensed to give you brain surgery, but would you want him to do it if he knew that he couldn't?
Don’t assess outside your area of ability even if you have appropriate qualifications. If you know that a topic is outside your current abilities, then it is normally unethical for you to assess it alone. You might get advice or have a co-assessor.
Find out your own limits. For example, you may have limitations related to your ability in assessment procedures, quality processes or your own competency level. There can also be related legal responsibilities that you cannot meet.
Your insitution might also put some constraints on you: