Republic of the Philippines

PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY

Camarines Sur

College of Education

PCK5 – Assessment in Learning 2

Nature of Performance-based Assessment

A. INTRODUCTION
This topic covers lessons on the introduction of performance-based assessment. It
provides discussion on the nature, principles, types, advantages, and limitations of performance-
based assessment.
B. OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to:
a. define performance-based assessment;
b. identify the nature, principles, types and advantages and limitations of performance-based
assessment; and
c. analyze the nature and the essential characteristics of performance-based assessment.

C. CONTENT
Meaning and Characteristics of Performance-Based Assessment
• Performance-based assessment is one in which the teacher observes and makes a judgment
about the student’s demonstration of skill or competency in creating a product, constructing a
response, or making a presentation (McMillan, 2007). In this assessment, the emphasis is on
the student’s ability to perform tasks by producing their own authentic work with their
knowledge and skills.
• Performance-based assessment is an alternative form of assessment that moves away from
traditional paper-and-pencil tests (Fernan, 2005). It involves students producing a project,
whether an oral, written, individual or group performance where students are engaged in
creating a final project that exhibits understanding of concepts they have learned.
• Performance-based assessments process the creative aspect of the students in bringing out
what they know and what they can do through different performance tasks such as exhibits,
projects and work samples. Hands on experiences allow them to be more critical, motivated
and involved when they are allowed to perform on their own. Students can acquire and apply
knowledge, skills and work habits through the different performance tasks which are
meaningful and engaging to the students.
• Example of performance-based assessments are: writing a research report, solving and
conducting experiments and investigations, return demonstration, speech, skit, role playing,
constructing and implementing seminar plan and creating video presentation.
• As stipulated in DepEd Order No.7, s. 2012, the highest level of assessment focuses on the
performances(product) which the students are expected to produce through authentic
performance tasks. The assessment of this level should answer the question, “What product(s)
or performance(s) do we want students to produce as evidence of their learning or
understanding?” or “How do we want them to provide evidence that they can transfer their
learning to real life situations?”.
• According to Linn (1995), performance assessments provide a basis of teachers to evaluate
both the effectiveness of the process or procedure used and the product resulting from
performance of the tasks. Unlike simple tests of factual knowledge, there is unlikely to be a
single right or best answer. Rather, there may be multiple performances and problem solutions
that may be judged to be excellent. Problem formulation, the organization of the ideas, the
integration of multiple types of evidence, and originality are all important aspects of
performance that may not be adequately assessed by the paper-and-pencil tests.
• Performance products are outputs produced by the students that provide concrete examples
of their knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. These performances allow them
to demonstrate application of what they have learned not only in the four walls of the school
but also in doing field work, demonstrating rules and guidelines and engaging into extension
services.
• All educational institution expect students to demonstrate different skills in various learning
areas and most often subjected to classroom performance assessment. Some characteristics
of this assessment which can be observed in the actual classroom setting may include student

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 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Camarines Sur

performance, creation, construction and production of product which can assess deep
understanding and reasoning skills. The performance involves engaging ideas of performance
and substance which students can explain, justify and defend. Lastly, the performance should
be grounded in real-world contexts which calls for authenticity of the performance.

Types of Performance Tasks

The main objective of the performance task is to capture all the learning targets which shall
be aligned to the teaching and learning objectives, activities and assessment. Thus, the focus of
performance-based assessment is the final output that must be developed or completed. These
could be in a form of problem-solving, demonstration, tasks and other authentic experiences that
would influence the thinking process, skills and products required from the performance tasks.
Below are some performance-based assessment tasks according to Musial, 2009.
1. Solving Problem – Critical thinking and problem solving are important skills that need to be
sharpened and developed by the learners. Teachers may include activities and make sense of
complex authentic problems or issues to be solved by the students. This helps the students become
independent thinkers and learners for life, and help them meet the challenges of the 21st century.
2. Completing an inquiry – An inquiry task is one in which the students are asked to collect data in
order to develop their understanding about the topic or issue. Students determine what data are
needed and under what conditions that data should be collected, present data and develop
conclusions.
Examples are: science investigation, research-based activities, survey and interviews
independent studies
3. Determining a position – This task requires students to make decision or clarify a position.
Examples are: case analysis and issue related activities or debate
4. Demonstration task – This task shows how the students use knowledge and skills to complete
well-defined complex tasks. Students describe how something works or how to do something when
they perform these tasks. The focus of demonstration tasks is accuracy in clarifying the steps of
process as well as careful reasoning concerning the rationale for each step of the process.
Examples are: demonstrating steps or procedures of cooking, explaining the earthquake
safety procedures and demonstrating how to set up microscope for viewing slides.
5. Developing exhibits – Exhibits are visual presentations or displays that need little or no
explanation from the creators. An exhibit is offered to explain, demonstrate or showing something.
Examples are: exhibit of best works, pictures or paintings, projects or even portfolios
6. Presentation task – This is a work or task performed in front of an audience.
Examples are: storytelling, singing and dancing, musical play or theatrical acting
7. Capstone performance – These are tasks that occur at the end of a program of study and enable
students to show knowledge and skills in the context that matches the world of practicing
professionals.
Examples are: research paper, practice teaching, internship or on-the-job training.

Strengths and Limitations

As we explored the nature of performance assessment and examined the different types
of assessment tasks, several authorities discussed the advantages of performance assessments
over other assessments.
• Performance assessment clearly identifies and clarifies learning targets.
o Authentic performance tasks such as real world challenges and situations can
closely match with the various complex learning targets. This offers a direct way
to assess what the students know and can do within the variety of realistic
contexts.
• Performance assessment allows students to exhibit their own skills, talents, and
expertise.
o Tasks show integration of the student’s skills, knowledge and abilities, provide
challenge and opportunities to exhibit their best creation. This also assesses the
ability “to do” of the students.
• Performance assessment advocates constructivist principle of learning.
o Students are more engage in active learning and give more opportunities to
demonstrate their learning in different ways in complex tasks. Students use their

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 Republic of the Philippines
PARTIDO STATE UNIVERSITY
Camarines Sur

previous knowledge to build a new knowledge structures and be actively

involved in exploration and inquiry through different tasks.
• Performance assessment uses a variety of approaches to student evaluation.
o This offers students a variety of ways of expressing their learning and increases
the validity of student’s evaluation. Teachers may share criteria of assessment
before the actual evaluation so that students can use this criteria as well.
• Performance assessment allows the teachers to explore the main goal and processes of
teaching and learning process.
o Teachers may reflect and revisit learning targets, curriculum and instructional
practices, and standards as they utilize performance-based assessment. They
may use a variety of teaching strategies and techniques, and explore how
students will use the instructional material and resources given to them.
Limitations
Though performance assessments offer several advantages over traditional objective
assessment procedures, they have distinct limitations as well.
• Development of a high quality performance assessment is a tedious process.
o Performance assessment needs careful planning and implementation. It is very
time consuming to construct good tasks. Teachers have to make sure that the
performance tasks expected from the students are authentic and match the
outcome to be assessed and not with other qualities that are not part of the
outcomes to be assessed. Quality scoring rubrics are difficult to create as well.
• Performance assessment requires a considerable amount of time to administer.
o Paper-and-pencil takes 15 to 20 minutes per tasks to complete depending on the
number of items. Most authentic tasks take a number of days to complete. Most
of the time, performance assessment is administered to small groups of students
unlike traditional testing which is simultaneously administered to an entire class.
• Performance assessment takes a great deal of time to score.
o The more complex the process and performance, the more time you can expect
to spend on scoring. To reduce the scoring time, crafting a high quality rubrics is
recommended.
• Performance task score may have lower reliability.
o This resulted to inconsistency of scoring by teachers who interpret observation
quite differently. With complex tasks, multiple correct answers, and fast-paced
performances, scoring depends on teachers’ own scoring competence.
• Performance task completion may be discouraging to less able students.
o Some tasks that require students to sustain their interest for a longer time may
discourage disadvantaged students. They may have partial knowledge of the
learning target but may fail to complete the task because it does not allow them
to utilize this partial knowledge effectively and efficiently.

D. REFERENCES

Cajigal, R., & Mantuano, ML. (2014). Assessment of learning 2. Adriana Publishing Company Inc.

Rosaroso, R. (2015). Performance-based Assessment in Selected Higher Education Institutions in Cebu

City, Philippines. ResearchGate.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/295478873_Performance-
based_Assessment_in_Selected_Higher_Education_Institutions_in_Cebu_City_Philippines

Brualdi, A. (2000). Implementing Performance Assessment in the Classroom. Classroom Leadership.

(Volume 3, No. 5). http://www.ascd.org/publications/classroom-
leadership/feb2000/Implementing-Performance-Assessment-in-the-Classroom.aspx

Prepared by:

JOJI B. MIRAǸA, EdD

Associate Professor IV

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