Mark Brian M. Mariño Activity No.

1
III - BSED Mathematics Assessment in Learning 1

1. What is assessment in learning? Give a clear definition of assessment.

Assessment in Learning is a teaching approach that generates feedback that

students can use to improve their performance. From a teacher’s perspective, this
could be as simple as observing class discussions, asking questions and
reviewing students’ work in progress.Assessment of Learning focuses on the
development and utilization of assessment tools to improve the teaching-learning
process. It emphasizes on the use of testing for measuring knowledge, comprehension
and other thinking skills. As part of the overall evaluation process, we need
specifically to find out if the learners are actually learning (changing their behavior)
as a result of the teaching. This will show us whether the teaching has been effective,
which is ultimately the most important issue Assessment is the process of gathering
and discussing information from multiple and diverse sources in order to develop a
deep understanding of what students know, understand, and can do with their
knowledge as a result of their educational experiences; the process culminates when
assessment results are used to improve subsequent learning.

2. Differentiate assessment and testing. Give examples to show their difference.

Testing and assessment are two different terms that are often used interchangeably
and wrongly confused to believe that both have the same definition as tests. However,
they are different from each other. Testing is actually one of the ways to assess
something. Test is formal and systematic instrument, usually paper and pencil
procedure designed to assess the quality, ability, skill or knowledge of the students by
giving a set of question in uniform manner. A test is one of the many types of
assessment procedure used to gather information about the performance of students,
Hence, testing is one of the different methods used to measure the level of
performance or achievement of the learners. Testing also refers to the administration,
scoring, and interpretation of the procedures designed to get information about the
extent of the performance of the students. Oral questionings, observations, projects,
performances and portfolios are the other assessment processes that will be discussed
later in detail.

A test is one form of assessment and refers to procedures used to measure a learners’
learning at a specific point in time and often involves collecting information in
numerical form. Common forms of tests are multiple choice questions and gap-fill or
close tests. In English classes, teachers also need to assess their students’ learning to
determine the effectiveness of their teaching and of the materials they use.
Assessment refers to any of the procedures teachers use to do this, which may include
interviews, observations, administering questionnaires and reviewing students’ work.
Assessment covers a broader range of procedures than testing and includes both
formal and informal measures.
Assessment actually means that to check the value of something using a variety of
different tools. Testing means to put a person or thing through trial in order to
determine its worth or quality.  There are various different types of assessments
including Educational assessment, health assessment, nursing assessment, political
assessment, psychiatric assessment, psychological assessment, etc. Similarly, there
are various different types of testing including software testing, education testing,
experimenting, etc. Most commonly tests and assessments are often used when it
comes to education and medical field. In both fields, testing is often used as one of the
tools to assess the person. Assessment can also be performed on various objects to test
its worth and value. These are often done on antiques to check their worth in the
market.

Though these terms have slight differences, they are often used synonymously in
many contexts.

3. How do assessment and grading differ from each other?

The goal of grading is to evaluate individual student performance against a set of
criteria for a given unit or course. Grades may or may not be an accurate measure of
student learning, depending on what is being evaluated. For example, attendance, on-
time assignment submission, formatting, and participation may not reveal a lot about
how much a student has learned, but they can offer indicators or signals for instructor
intervention. Grades alone, while useful as a standardized measurement, don’t provide
enough personalized feedback for what a student does or does not know and what
they need to do to further their learning. According to Thomas Guskey, when grades
are used alone, “even accurate, task-involving grades don’t lead to improved student
learning. Students get no direction for improvement from a letter, number, word,
phrase, or symbol attached to evidence of their learning. Only when grades are paired
with individualized comments that offer guidance and direction for improvement do
they enhance achievement and foster learning progress” (Guskey, 2019). 

The goal of assessment, on the other hand, is more expansive—because it is not solely

about grading and includes low-stakes formative assessments void of summative
evaluations—it can further student learning by including feedback and guiding
students towards next steps in learning. Assessment includes low-stakes, frequent
assignments that educators give students in class or as homework, in addition to
summative tests or exams. Qualitative feedback is also a component of assessment
that operates as a checkpoint in the student learning journey. Assessment does not
always include grades, but grading is always a part of assessment.

4. What are the different measurement frameworks used in assessment?

Classical test theory (CTT) is a body of related psychometric theory that predicts

outcomes of psychological testing such as the difficulty of items or the ability of test-
takers. It is a theory of testing based on the idea that a person's observed or obtained
score on a test is the sum of a true score (error-free score) and an error
score.Generally speaking, the aim of classical test theory is to understand and improve
the reliability of psychological tests.
Classical test theory may be regarded as roughly synonymous with true score theory.
The term "classical" refers not only to the chronology of these models but also
contrasts with the more recent psychometric theories, generally referred to
collectively as item response theory, which sometimes bear the appellation "modern"
as in "modern latent trait theory".
Classical test theory as we know it today was codified by Novick (1966) and
described in classic texts such as Lord & Novick (1968) and Allen & Yen
(1979/2002). The description of classical test theory below follows these seminal
publications
In psychometrics, Item Response Theory (IRT) (also known as latent trait
theory, strong true score theory, or modern mental test theory) is a paradigm for the
design, analysis, and scoring of tests, questionnaires, and similar
instruments measuring abilities, attitudes, or other variables. It is a theory of testing
based on the relationship between individuals' performances on a test item and the test
takers' levels of performance on an overall measure of the ability that item was
designed to measure. Several different statistical models are used to represent both
item and test taker characteristics. Unlike simpler alternatives for creating scales and
evaluating questionnaire responses, it does not assume that each item is equally
difficult. This distinguishes IRT from, for instance, Likert scaling, in which "All items
are assumed to be replications of each other or in other words items are considered to
be parallel instruments". By contrast, item response theory treats the difficulty of each
item (the item characteristic curves, or ICCs) as information to be incorporated in
scaling items.

5. What are the different types of assessment in learning?

The six types of assessment in learning are: formative assessment, summative
assessment, diagnostic assessment, placement assessment, traditional assessment,
and authentic assessment.

6. Define the following:

a. Formative Assessment
Formative Assessment is a type of assessment used to monitor the learning
process of the students during instruction. The purposes of formative
assessment are the ,following: to provide immediate feedback to both student
and teacher regarding the success and failures of learning; to identify the
learning errors that are in need of correction; to provide teachers with
information on how to modify instruction; and also to improve learning and
instruction.

b. summative assessment
Summative Assessment is a type of assessment usually given at the end of a
course or unit. The purposes of summative assessment are to determine the
extend to which the instructional objectives have been meet; to certify student
mastery of the intended learning outcomes as well as use it for assigning
grades; to provide information for judging appropriateness of the instructional
objectives; and to determine the effectiveness of instruction.
c. diagnostic assessment
Diagnostic Assessment is a type of assessment given at the beginning of
instruction or during instruction. It aims to identify the strengths and
weaknesses of the students regarding the topics t be discussed. The purpose of
diagnostic assessment are to determine the level of competence of the
students; to identify the students who already have knowledge about the
lesson; to determine the causes of learning problems that cannot be revealed
by formative assessment; and to formulate a plan for remedial action.

d. placement assessment
Placement assessments are used to “place” students into a course, course
level, or academic program. For example, an assessment may be used to
determine whether a student is ready for Algebra I or a higher-level algebra
course, such as an honors-level course.
e. traditional assessment
It is a type of assessment in which the students choose their answer from a
given list of choices. Examples of this type of assessment are multiple-choice
test, standard true/ false test, matching type test, and fill-in-the-blank test. In
traditional assessment, students are expected to recognize that there is only
one correct or best answer for the question asked.

f. authentic assessment
Authentic assessment is a course evaluation method where the students apply
their knowledge to unique real-life contexts or situations. Jon Mueller
describes it as a form of assessment in which students are asked to perform
real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential
knowledge and skills.

7. What are the different principles in assessing learning?

These principles are again, "adapted" from Corpus and Salandanan, 2007)

1. Teaching and learning is never complete without assessment. This means that

assessment is an integral part of the teaching-learning process. We need to test how
far the learners have learned, either before, during or after instruction, in line with our
objectives. Thus, if learners are made to realize about this, negative attitudes about
assessment will be minimized since the quizzes and tests will be just "usual" to them.
They will come to realize the purpose of assessment, that is, to check how far they
have learned.

2. Assessment tool and objectives must be colinear. The test/quiz or any assessment
techniques must be in line with the objectives. This also includes the type of
assessment appropriate for a certain objective.

3. Assessment results should be fed back to the students. This is one of the mortal sins
of some of the teachers. They will give quizzes, tests, projects, etc yet they fail to
return these to the students, or to just inform the grade/score the students acquired.
The purpose of assessment is to give learners a feedback to what extent their learning
is. How will the learners learn this if the teacher won't give their scores or return their
papers?

4. In assessment, consider learners' multiple intelligences and learning styles. The

traditional paper and pencil test puts verbally and linguistically intelligent students at
the advantage. Let us take into account the learners multiple intelligence and learning
styles in assessment. Give various assessment techniques in order to cater individual
differences.

5. It is wise to give some positive feedback as well as constructive criticisms. Don't

forget to praise the students on a job well done. This can boost their morale to study
and appreciate the value of success. Further, let's give them some
constructive criticisms on the areas they need to improve. Remember that the biggest
room in the world is the room for improvement.

6. Emphasize self-assessment. Assessment must be intracomparative rather than

intercomparative. In short, if learning is as well a personal process, then, let the
learners assess their performance on their own against a certain criteria Let them be
aware of and reflect on their own progress. Rather than comparing themselves with
other people, let them compare their "then" self to their "now" self. Competitive
nature of learning must be as much as possible avoided. If there is a competition, let
this be between the students and their own prior performance. One thing more, always
remember that self assessment must also be in line with teacher assessment. This can
avoid overestimation or underestimation of students' performance on themselves.