Assessment Evaluation adapted from a presentation by Som

Assessment & Evaluation adapted from a presentation by Som Mony Day 1

Discussion 1. What is the difference between assessment and evaluation? 2. What is a test? 3. How many kinds of test are there? 4. What are the qualities of a good test? 2

Testing, Assessing, and Teaching Assessment vs. Evaluation ü As teachers, when we carry out assessment, we have to measure the performance of our students and progress they make. We also need to diagnose the problems they have and provide our learners with useful feedback. ü Evaluation involves looking at all the factors that influence the learning process, such as syllabus objectives, course design, materials, methodology, teacher performance and assessment. 3

What is a test? A test, in simple terms, is a method of measuring a person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in a domain. (Brown, 2004) 4

Assessment and Teaching TESTS ASSESSMENT TEACHING 5

What is teaching? Teaching is guiding and facilitating learning, enabling the learner to learn, setting conditions for learning. (Brown, 2007) 6

Types of Assessment Informal Assessment • Carried out by the teacher not under special test conditions, but in the normal classroom environment • Can take a number of forms, starting with incidental, unplanned comments and responses, along with impromptu feedback to the student What are some examples of informal assessment? 7

Formal Assessments • exercises or procedures specifically designed to tap into a storehouse of skills and knowledge. • Systematic, planned sampling techniques constructed to give teacher and student an appraisal of student achievement. • All tests are formal assessments, but not all formal assessment is testing. What are some examples of formal assessment? 8

Formative Assessment • Evaluating students in the process of forming their competencies and skills with the goal of helping them to continue that growth process. • Primarily focuses on the ongoing development of the learner’s language. • All kinds of informal assessment are formative. Summative Assessment • Aims to measure, or summarize, what a student has grasped. • Typically occurs at the end of a course or unit of instruction. 9

Task • Do TKT Worksheet 1 & 2

Kinds of Tests ü Placement Tests • The purpose of the test is to place into a particular level or section of a language curriculum or school. ü Diagnostic Tests • As the name suggests, this type of test is used to find out problem areas. ü Achievement Tests • Progress achievement tests are intended to measure the progress that students are making. • Final achievement tests are those administered at the end of a course of study. 11

ü Proficiency Tests • Proficiency tests are designed to measure people’s ability in a language regardless of any training they may have had in that language. • Proficiency tests enable students to have some proof of their language ability in a language. 12

Task • Do TKT Worksheet 3 & Sample Task Ex 4

Designing Classroom Language Tests Qualities of a good test üReliability üValidity üPracticality 14

ü Reliability: Does the test give fair and consistent results every time it is used? There are three aspects to reliability: • Test taking circumstances • How the test is marked • The uniformity of the assessment it makes 15

ü Validity: Does the test measure what it is intended to measure? • Content validity: concerned with what goes into the test. Does the test reflect the syllabus? • Face validity: concerned with what teachers and students think of the test. Does the test look good? ü Practicality: Is the test usable for the teacher? • • Not excessively expensive Stays within appropriate time constraints Relatively easy to administer, and Has a scoring/evaluation procedure that is specific and time-efficient 16

Common Test Items • Translate: Kh—Eng or Eng – Kh • Matching • True/False • Essay writing task • Multi-choice • Open comprehension / short answer Qs • Sentence completion task • Speaking task • Sentence ordering task • Fill-in blanks (also • Odd one out task called cloze)

Task • Do TKT Worksheet 4, exercise 1

Objective Test Questions: Only 1 possible answer Subjective Test Questions: Many possible answers; Ss can include their own ideas

Task • Do TKT Worksheet 4, exercise 2

Summary • Tests are only 1 type assessment, and assessment is only 1 part of teaching • Ongoing informal formative assessment is just as important as formal summative assessment • When designing any test, consider: is it reliable? valid? practical? • When designing a language test, there are common items you can use. Consider your goals and subjectivity/objectivity as you choose your items.

Homework • Read Scrivener pg. 290 -291 & do Task 12. 6 • Optional: read Scrivener pg. 294 -296 to read more about test items (we will discuss specifics about test items in more detail tomorrow)