Techniques of Assessment

UNIT 5 TECHNIQUES OF and Evaluation

ASSESSMENT AND
EVALUATION
Structure
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Objectives
5.3 Purpose of Assessment and Evaluation
5.4 Techniques of Assessment and Evaluation
5.4.1 Concept Tests
5.4.2 Self-report Techniques
5.4.3 Assignments
5.4.4 Observation Technique
5.4.5 Peer Assessment
5.4.6 Sociometric Technique
5.4.7 Portfolios
5.4.8 Project Work
5.4.9 Debate
5.4.10 School Club Activities

5.5 Assessment of Group Processes

5.5.1 Cooperative Learning and Social Skills
5.5.2 Seminar and Reports as Assessment Techniques

5.6 Let Us Sum Up

5.7 References and Suggested Readings
5.8 Answers to Check Your Progress

5.1 INTRODUCTION
In Unit 1, you have studied about the concepts of measurement, assessment
and evaluation and by now, you might be able to differentiate these terms from
one another. Assessment is an integral part and ongoing process in the educational
context. To learn effectively, students need to know as to how they are
performing. Similarly, to be an effective teacher, you must be informed about
what the student knows, feels, and can do, so that you can help him/her build
on her/his skills, knowledge, and attitudes. Therefore, you and your students
need continuous feedback on their progress and difficulties in order to plan
appropriate learning activities and to make adjustments to those already planned.
Assessment means the way by which teachers and other stakeholders involved
in students’ learning collect information systematically and then use it to know
their level of achievement in academic, behavioural and social areas. In this Unit,
you will study various techniques of evaluation.
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Techniques and Tools of
Assessment and Evaluation 5.2 OBJECTIVES
After going through this Unit you will be able to:
 describe the techniques of assessment and evaluation,
 explain the significance of self-report techniques,
 analyze students’ characteristics through observation,
 use interview as a tool of evaluation,
 recognize the use of assignment as an assessment technique,
 identify the importance of peer ratings,
 conduct socio-metric technique in classroom,
 evaluate project work by using a rubric,
 assess portfolios for understanding students’ progress, and
 evaluate the techniques used for group processes.

5.3 PURPOSE OFASSESSMENT AND

EVALUATION
Let us start with the discussion on the purpose of evaluation. Generally evaluation
is used for the following purposes:
 To assist in student learning: A good evaluation provides information
to teachers about the progress of students’ learning. For students also, it
draws a road map to understand their learning progress.
 To identify students’ strengths and weaknesses: Identification and
assessment of students’ strengths and weaknesses are necessary for two
reasons: i) to structure and restructure the learning activities and ii) to
restructure the curriculum.
 To assess the effectiveness of a particular instructional strategy: It
is important for a teacher to know as to how well a particular teaching
strategy helps to achieve the learning objectives.
 To assess and improve the effectiveness of curriculum programmes:
Components of the curriculum are continually assessed through formative
and summative assessments.
 To assess and improve teaching effectiveness: To enhance student
learning, teachers are continuously evaluated on the basis of a) their
commitment to the job, b) their ability to cope with students of a particular
age, c) their ability to show mastery of appropriate instructional techniques.
 To communicate with and involve parents and guardians in their
childrens’ learning: Parents, guardians and community need to share with
accountability for the effectiveness of learning of the students. Parents or
guardians are eager to know the progress of their children in school.
Evaluation feedback is necessary to communicate to parents, guardians and
the community. For example, distributing progress card of students by
6 conducting a parent-teacher meeting.
 Techniques of Assessment
Check Your Progress 1 and Evaluation
Note : a) Write your answer in the space given below.
b) Compare your answer with those given at the end of the
unit.
1. Why do teachers use assessment?
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5.4 TECHNIQUES OFASSESSMENT AND

EVALUATION
Assessing students’ performance is an integral part of the teaching-learning
process. For this, you need to adopt various techniques of evaluation. Choice
of evaluation techniques should be aligned with the learning objectives. Students
learn information at different pace. You, as a teacher, have to find out the
extent of students’ learning and the interventions required for facilitating rather
than to master the desired content.
When you assess your students, you collect information about their level of
performance where as in evaluation, you compare a student’s achievement with
other students with a set of standards. Effective assessment is a continuous
process and it is not simply that has to be done at the end of a Unit. Evaluation
is integrated into all aspects of the curriculum, thus providing both students
and teachers useful and relevant data to gauge progress of students. Not only
teachers but also students play an important role in assessing their own learning
progress. While assessing students, you need to keep the following points in
mind:
 Which technique should I use to get the adequate feedback?
 How will I apply this technique in my class?
 Will the assessment technique provides adequate information about what
students are learning in classrooms?
 Does the technique focus on various variables that can be changed to
promote better learning?
 Are the results derived from the use of a particular evaluation tool easy
to analyze?
 How will I know that the technique is useful or not to assess students?
 What effort should I make to arrange better teaching-learning practices
based on the information I received?
In the subsequent section, we will discuss about the various techniques
of evaluation. The various techniques of evaluation are summarized in the
Figure 5.1.
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Techniques and Tools of
Assessment and Evaluation  Concept Tests
 Assignments
 Self report techniques
Techniques of  Reflective Journal
Assessment and  Seminar
Evaluation  Debates
 Project work
 Club Activities
Figure 5.1: Techniques of Assessment and Evaluation
5.4.1 Concept Tests
Concept tests are informal and short tests are conducted by teachers to evaluate
students’ understanding of key concepts. These tests can be used to assess
students’ previous knowledge about a concept or after the instruction. In this
technique, class time is divided between short lectures and conceptual multiple-
choice questions. In the concept test, the understanding of students about the
basic concepts are evaluated. These questions are framed to assess students’
understanding of the principal concepts in the content. Next, let us discuss how
to design a concept test.
Frame a question that describes an event, problem or situation. Read the
following example:

Example: This problem is designed to help students understand the

functioning of the circulatory system in the human body. Suppose
you are staying on the second floor of the building and due to low
pressure of the water, the water reaching the taps in your floor is
not sufficient. Then you are advised to install water pump at your
house. Predict:
- What will happen?
- What if there is any blockage in the water pipes supplying water
to your house taps?
- Which concept is relevant here?
(Source: Dogra, B., 2010)

In the above example, the teacher presented a situation and then asks some
questions related to prediction, problem-solving and clarification of concept. Such
kind of test helps you to know how much your students attain understanding
of concepts.
5.4.2 Self-report Techniques
Self-report techniques are data gathering tools where respondents provide
information about themselves. There are various self-reporting techniques such
as interview, diaries, questionnaire, reflective journal, etc. These techniques are
widely used to assess various traits or attitudes possessed by the individuals.
Though these are subjective techniques, they provide means for extracting the
hidden treasure of one’s own behaviours and patterns of personality. Let us
discuss in detail about the various self-reporting techniques such as interview,
focus group discussion, questionnaire and reflective journal.
Interview: An interview is a data collection method through which an interviewer
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asks questions to an interviewee on a particular topic. It can be semi-structured
or structured and may use different media (e.g., phone, e-mail, and in person). Techniques of Assessment
and Evaluation
In semi-structured interview, the interviewer has an idea about the types of
questions but the order and way of asking questions may vary. A structured
interview on the other hand, is a specified set of questions that are asked in
the same order during each interview. Interviewing is considered as an
interpersonal encounter. Establishing rapport is an important element in interviewing.
Keeping impartiality to the responses given by the interviewee is important;
otherwise it leads to bias responses.
During interviewing, you may know whether the student understands a particular
concept. The student may be asked to give a personal explanation of a specific
concept and to use that concept to solve a problem. Through this technique,
besides getting information, it is also possible to observe a student’s body
language and facial expressions. For assessment purpose, interview may serve
the following functions:
 to identify the areas of difficulty and gaps in understanding a concept among
students,
 to understand how students are able to apply their knowledge in new
situations,
 to examine how students’ understanding change with teaching-learning
process,
 to obtain verbal feedback about teaching techniques, new concepts, etc.
Through the feedback received from students, you may be able to refine your
teaching along with assessing the understanding level of students.
Focus group discussion: It is a systematically planned discussion led by the
teacher who acts as a moderator to collect detailed information on a particular
topic. In focus group discussion, a moderator leads the discussion with a small
group of individuals to analyze in detail the thinking and feeling of the group
members about a topic. It is called ‘focus group’ because the moderator keeps
the individuals in the group focused on a particular topic taken for discussion.
The moderator generates group discussion through the use of open-ended
questions, and he/she acts as a facilitator of the group process. It is used for
multiple purposes as follows:
 Generating new ideas and concepts,
 Obtaining general background information about a topic of interest,
 Generating research hypotheses that can be submitted to further research,
 Diagnosing the problem in a new way,
 Examining how respondents talk about the selected topic, and
 Interpreting previously obtained results.
You might be thinking how an interview differs from a focus group discussion.
In interview, the interviewer has a prominent role in asking specific questions.
The depth of information received from an interview is less. In the case of focus
group discussion, the number of participants varies from four to eight members
and you will get a great deal of information.
Questionnaire: A questionnaire is a self-report data collection technique that
each participant fills out in the given form. There are open-ended and closed-
ended questionnaires. Through questionnaires, one can obtain information about
the thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, values, perceptions, personality, and 9
Techniques and Tools of behavioural intentions of participants. Open-ended questions are valuable when
Assessment and Evaluation
the researcher needs to know what people are thinking. Such questions help
the interviewer to understand participants’ inner worlds in their natural languages
and categories.
When do we use questionnaires?
Questionnaires will be used for the following purposes:
 To collect feedback from a large number of students,
 To know students’ opinions, attitudes, feelings and perception about a
particular issue, and
 To allow each student to give anonymous feedback.
Reflective Journal: Reflective journal is a tool where students can reflect on
and write about their progress in learning. They can write their achievements
and difficulties in learning. Students can write whatever they found to be
innovative or what made them think and ponder about their learning experiences.
Journal writing is a non-threatening way to get information about students’ thinking
and feeling. The following points give you an idea about how to use and what
to be included in the journal.
 When should I use it?
 Daily or weekly
 How could I use it?
 As a self- assessment tool for students
 At the beginning or end of a unit, topic or project
 As a communication tool for students and teachers
 Why should I use it?
 It enhances higher order thinking
 It leads to self-assessment
 It sets goals for future learning
 It gives students a sense of ownership and control on their own learning
Students’ reflective thinking can be supported by giving opportunities to reflect
on their own learning and their own context of learning. Thereby, it promotes
students’ responsibility of learning. Reflective journal permits students to practice
their writing skill in a free environment that encourages critical thinking. In this
way, reflective journals can be used as an assessment tool that provides teachers
an insight into how students value their own learning and achievement.

Check Your Progress 2

Note : a) Write your answer in the space given below.
b) Compare your answer with those given at the end of the
unit.
2. Explain how self reporting techniques can be used as assessment tools.
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 Techniques of Assessment
5.4.3 Assignments and Evaluation

Assignments are teacher-assigned task that students are expected to complete

during or after the school hours and enable to assess students’ understanding.
It is essential to keep in mind that class-appropriate assignments may be chosen
for your students. For first-or second class students, hands-on-activities are more
preferable than paper-and-pencil assignments. The time required for assignments
should be set based on the age of the children. If you want to give a
comprehensive project as an assignment, consider breaking it into manageable
sections with due dates. The types of assignments you give should motivate
the students. Through this technique, you can find out students’ perspective,
their interest and learning levels. The students’ progress in learning, their
understanding and critical thinking can also be assessed through assignments.

5.4.4 Observation Technique

As prospective teachers, you might have observed students while they solve
problems, interact with peers in different learning situations or in the playground.
It provides insight into student learning and growth. Observation is used as a
technique to evaluate various aspects of behaviour in controlled or uncontrolled
situations. Through observation, behaviour is captured in a particular situation.
It is a means of first hand information as experienced at a specific moment.
It is pre-planned and purposeful activity that provides immediate recording of
events. With the help of observation checklists, teachers could record information
quickly. The reliability of observation can be increased by repeated observation
or through observation done by many individuals. While preparing observation
checklist, the following points may be kept in mind:
 Write down the criteria to be observed
 Inform students about the criteria to be observed
 Determine the specific outcomes to assess
 Develop a data gathering system such as checklist or rubric or anecdotal
points
 Target observation on one or two specific outcomes
 Record the date of observation
 Share observation details with individuals or target groups
 Use the collected information to modify your instruction.
Observation is an important technique of collecting information about people
because people do not always do what they say. This statement is equivalent
to the maxim in behavioural and social sciences that ‘attitudes and behaviour
are incongruent’. Generally there are two types of observation: i) Participant
observation, and ii) Non-participant observation.
i. Participant observation: In participant observation, the observer becomes
a member of the group. The participant observer plays a dual role such
as becoming a member of the group and observing the participants carefully.
This kind of observation provides reliable results. An advantage of this
technique is that, for ethical reasons, the researcher can request permission
to collect and record data as needed. In addition, the researcher can obtain 11
Techniques and Tools of feedback about his/her observations and tentative conclusions from the
Assessment and Evaluation
participants. A weakness is that the participants might not behave naturally
because they are aware that they are being observed.
ii. Non-participant observation: In non-participant observation, the observer
observes the group passively from a distance without his/her presence in
the group. Non-participant observation helps in recording and studying the
behaviour of a particular person or group in detail. It is considered as
an unobtrusive method of data collection to study focused aspects of a
setting in order to answer specific questions within a study.

5.4.5 Peer Assessment

It refers to one student or a group of students assessing other students. It
develops interpersonal skills and may help the student to develop an impartial
attitude, improve listening skills, inculcate team spirit, leadership quality and time
management. Students internalize the quality of the work by evaluating the work
of their peers. Peer assessment has its roots in theories of active learning. In
active learning, students involve in doing things and think about the things they
are doing. The learning environment in the classroom should be supportive for
effective peer evaluation. There must be a comfortable and trust atmosphere
to promote constructive feedback. The following table shows the benefits of
peer assessment.

Benefits of peer-assessment
 An educational process that installs autonomy in learners.
 Empowerment of the learner in a learning environment.
 Development of learner confidence in assessing/ marking peers (through
practice).
 Development of learner ability to self-evaluate and reflect.
 Greater understanding of what is required by tutors for assessment at
various levels.
 Interactive classes for marking/feedback.
 Reflection on recently completed assessments with full explanation of
the answer (improving information and understanding).
 Clear, open marking systems (seeing what is required and improving
work).
 Seeing standards set by peers as well as mistakes of others (and
avoiding them in the future).
 Gaining an ability to ‘stand back’ from own work for assessment
purposes (an essential ability of an ‘objective’, ‘unbiased’ scientist).
 Rapid way for a tutor to assess a large amount of student work and
provide specific feedback.
(Source: Langan, Mark A. & Wheater, P., 2003)
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 Techniques of Assessment
Check Your Progress 3 and Evaluation

Note : a) Write your answer in the space given below.

b) Compare your answer with those given at the end of the
unit.
3. List out the benefits of peer-assessment.
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5.4.6 Sociometric Technique

The sociometric technique gives an objective picture of social relationships in
a classroom. Jacob Levy Moreno developed this technique to study the
relationship between social structures and psychological well-being. The words
‘sociometry’ is originated from Latin word ‘socius’ meaning companion and
‘metrum’ meaning measure. The main purpose of a sociogram is to find out
the basic network of friendship patterns. Another type of information that can
be obtained from a sociogram is to know the relation of any one child to the
group. Through sociogram, you will get greater understanding of group behaviour.
We can construct sociogram in a variety of ways. Now, let us learn the procedure
of constructing a sociogram. The following questions may be asked to the group
members to collect information:
 Who are your three best friends in your class?
 Which three friends in the class would you like to work with in a small
group in your class?
 Which three friends would you like to sit with at lunch time?
 Which three friends would you like to go with for a picnic?
The above questions are examples of a ‘fixed positive nomination technique’.
The term fixed is used in the sense that in the questions, the choices are restricted
to three friends. Through these questions, it is possible to find interpersonal
acceptance among students. In order to find interpersonal rejection, the following
questions may be asked:
 Which three friends do you like the least?
 Which three friends you don’t like to include in your group work?
 Which three friends you don’t like to go with for a picnic?
The study of rejection helps a teacher to know the unfavourable emotional
reaction of students. The graphical representation of relationships between a
specific group is known as sociogram. It is a chart to know the interrelationships
within the group. An example of a sociogram is depicted below:

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Techniques and Tools of
Assessment and Evaluation A

C
D
H

E
F
B

Figure 5.2: Sociogram Showing Pattern of Choices

In the figure 5.2, you notice that student ‘B’ is not selected by others. Hence,
‘B’ is considered as an isolate. Students ‘A’, ‘D’ and ‘E’ choose each other
and thus form a clique. Student ‘E’ is liked by most, thus becoming a star.
Sociogram also provides details about the relationship among the members of
the group. The sociogram, thus helps the teacher to build a supportive learning
environment. Between students ‘C’ and ‘H’, reciprocity is both sided while for
‘E’ and ‘F’ it is one-sided only. Sociometry is thus an important technique for
peer ratings.

Sociometric technique as an assessment technique: You might be thinking

how sociometric technique can be used for assessment purposes. As an
assessment technique, sociometry is useful to assess social behaviour, relatedness
and interpersonal trust that exists within the group. You can use the results of
sociometry for studying social patterns in the group such as acceptance, status,
cohesiveness and different roles. Through sociogram, you can locate sub-groups
and mutual attraction patterns of your classroom. It also helps you to know
interpersonal acceptance-rejection among students. Through sociogram, you will
be aware of the impact of friendships within your classroom, and how it will
affect students’ academic motivation and achievement. While going through the
interpersonal rejection, problems related with academic and socio-emotional
adjustment could be found out. Moreover, peer rejection can be treated as
a predictor of academic dysfunction.

5.4.7 Portfolios
The details of portfolio have been discussed in Unit-7 of this Block. A portfolio
is a systematically organized collection of a student’s work that covers a specific
period of time. It proved to be an excellent vehicle for gathering together student
writing and displaying the changes in the proficiency over a period of time.
Portfolio assessment represents a blend of the instructional process and the
evaluation process. You might know that portfolio is not something static but
it is an ongoing dialogue between teacher and student and, often, between the
individual student and others in the class or between the students and parents.
Components of portfolios will vary depending on the subject that is being taught
and preferences of teachers and students. Portfolios can contain the following
14 items:
 Techniques of Assessment
 Completed assignments and Evaluation

 Journal writings
 Reflections on discussions that have been held in or out of class
 Photos, sketches, and other visuals
 Summary statements made at different points regarding what has been
learned

 Self-assessment statements

Use of portfolios is consistent with reflective teaching. There is an ongoing

dialogue between the teacher and student that takes the form of written comments
about the materials in the portfolios. Portfolio assessment focuses evaluation of
students’ progress, processes, and performance over a period of time. Generally
there are two basic types of portfolios:
 Process portfolio is used for classroom-level assessment. It reflects both
formative and summative assessments.
 A product portfolio is more summative in nature. It is meant for a major
evaluation and is accompanied by an oral presentation of its contents.
A variety of tasks that elicit planned performance for a variety of purposes
are included in both types of portfolios and demonstrate reflection about learning,
including goal setting and assessment. Portfolios can be used to demonstrate
processes and growth in relation to the selected learning objectives. They can
be used to display 21st century skills such as problem-solving, creativity, and
information literacy. It can also reflect strengths and weaknesses, time management
skills, and meta-cognitive abilities.
On the point of assessment, a portfolio exhibits the progress of students and
provides teachers, students as well as parents the evidence of learning progress.
The overall aim of a portfolio is to provide evidence about a set of learning
objectives mastered by a student. It is a like a personal album containing various
tasks and achievements of a student. It is a symbolic representation of what
the student does know. Student portfolios promote and support student learning
in three ways:
 Students’ is participation in the selection of contents
 Students’ written reflection about learning
 Students’ communication with teachers regarding their reflections

5.4.8 Project Work

Project work allows students to think beyond the limits of classroom and develop
among them various skills, behaviours, inquisitiveness and confidence. Providing
learning environments that allows students to question, analyze, evaluate leads
them to higher-order thinking. The learning that occurs during the process of
project work assesses the skills of collaboration, problem-solving, decision-
making, and communication. As a teacher or prospective teacher, you can also
assess work quality and understanding of students throughout the project-building
process. 15
Techniques and Tools of For example, for Class IX, you have given a group project work on ‘Indian
Assessment and Evaluation
Rivers and Their Uses’. After assigning the task, you must be continuously
observing the progress of the project work. Next, you have to assess the project
report. How would you assess it? Assessment doesn’t happen at the end of
the task or unit. It is linked with all three learning aspects namely the content,
the process, and the product. It is performance-based and on-going one. We
should give multiple opportunities to students to reflect on their learning. For
assessing a project report, you may develop a rubric. You should not forget
that assessing the project is equally important that of assessing students’
achievement. Hence, your assessment rubric should match to the content and
format of your instruction. The rubric for project work may contain the following
questions:
 Did your rubric contain criteria related with learners’ engagement in a real-
world task?
 Did your rubric have criteria to assess group work?
 Did your rubric assess students’ use of higher-order thinking and problem-
solving skills?
 Did your rubric evaluate the students’ progress throughout the task?
A format of a rubric related to a project work is given below:
Table 5.1: Rubric for ‘Indian Rivers and their Uses

Descriptive Excellent VeryGood Good Poor

Indicators
Content

Different The content is The content is Content has Content is

rivers and its of high quality complete little cover- irrelevant
tributaries and utilizes age
are covered many sources.

Maps Maps are Maps are Maps are No maps are

showing drawn complete vague to prepared
potential properly and understand
uses of rivers include new
and useful
information.
Symbols are
correctly used

Relevance of Content is up- Content is Content lacks No up-to-date

the Content to- date and complete and latest content
creatively have a few information
written. There grammatical and has
are few or errors. numerous
minor gram- grammatical
matical errors. errors.

Process

Use the Students Students Students Students do not

Internet to express the collect the search have the ability
search ability to information content with to use internet to
relevant search for a through minimal search for
information topic by using internet assistance content.
concerning several search
rivers and its engines.
uses
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 Techniques of Assessment
Descriptive Excellent VeryGood Good Poor and Evaluation
Indicators

Group All the The Some No group

participation members in the participation of students did participation
group take part group not participate
in the project members is up to their
work satisfactory level
effectively

Outcome/
Product

Presentation Complete Descriptions Incomplete Improper

of content coverage of are complete, presentation presentation of
content, clear and have few and with content
writing, errors. several
relevant grammatical
examples, and errors.
have very few
errors.

Validation of Multiple Validation Efforts are There is no

findings validation techniques are made to validation of
techniques are good and validate the information
used that produce information
produce conclusive but are
summative results. inconclusive
conclusion

Develop a The plan is The plan is The plan is The plan

plan onhow complete, well nearly not currently suggested is not
toprotect organized, and complete and ready to be viable
rivers viable. minimum implemented.
viable.

5.4.9 Debate
Debate is a kind of dialogue about a significant topic. It acts as a useful technique
to promote independent learning about a topic selected for debating. Sometimes
you are familiar with this technique and its procedure. In this technique, you
have to play the role of a moderator. The first task is to decide the topic to
be debated. You have to give an overview of the topic prior to the task being
set. Then you should set the scene and allocate the team. Generally, the ideal
team size is 10, out of which 5 present a case in favour of the topic and the
rest 5 defend the topic. During the conduct of debate you, as a moderator,
can give clear guidelines on the structure of the debate, timings and the roles
to be performed.
The next task is how to evaluate the debate. For evaluation, you can prepare
a rating scale containing the following indicators:
 Relevance of the content
 Presentation style
 Clarity of the argument
 Logical approach
 Quality of the rebuttal
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Techniques and Tools of This technique develops skills such as listening, rapid response, speaking, and
Assessment and Evaluation
debating the issues in a professional manner. It also promotes skills such as
team spirit, synthesizing data, negotiation, argumentation, and rebuttal skills.

5.4.10 School Club Activities

You might be familiar with the club activities that have been initiated in your
school. Various disciplines have different school clubs such as literary, science,
social science, mathematics, sports, tourism, aesthetic, etc. Activities such as
quiz competition, seminar, debate, elocution competition, tour, field trip,
gardening, awareness campaigns, are undertaken by these various clubs. Through
these activities, you can assess students’ team spirit, general awareness, self-
discipline, individual and group responsibility, initiation, accountability, endurance,
time management, dignity of labour, sense of engagement and attachment to their
school. By joining clubs, students learn to work together towards a common
goal and learn to respect each other. It gives chance to relieve their stress and
gain confidence in performing various activities. Students will also understand
the process of planning and organizing work.

5.5 ASSESSMENT OF GROUP PROCESSES

Present day classroom instructional strategies emphasize on group work,
collaborative and co-operative learning. Through group work, students’ analytical
and cognitive skills, team work skills, collaborative skills, organizational and time
management skills can be assessed. In the next section, we will discuss how
co-operative learning and seminar help in assessing the students.

5.5.1 Cooperative Learning and Social Skills

The purpose of a cooperative learning group is that individuals within the group
must learn. The achievement of the group then depends on the learning of
individuals within the group. Rather than competing for rewards for achievement,
members of the group cooperate with each other by helping each other to learn.
When small groups of students of mixed backgrounds with their varied, skills
and capabilities work together, their likings and respect increase. As a result,
there is an increase in each student’s self-esteem and academic achievement.
Through cooperative learning, students learn several social skills such as
respecting others’ ideas, sharing materials, taking turns, providing encouragement,
paraphrasing, active listening, managing conflict and building consensus. Working
in groups can provide your students with valuable learning opportunities. They
learn to see other’s point of view and learn from others. Working collaboratively
is an important life skill. Problem-based learning frequently involves elements
of group work and enhanced student learning. During co-operative learning and
post collaborative learning activity, assessment takes place either at the individual
or group levels. While enacting each role, teacher can assess the behaviour
of students.

5.5.2 Seminar and Report as Assessment Techniques

Seminar is an activity where the social skills of students can be enhanced. It
can be done individually or in group. The goal of the group may be pre-
determined by the facilitator or decide by the individual or the group
18 collaboratively. The use of seminar as an assessment tool can be done at three
phases: pre-seminar stage, seminar stage and post seminar stage. During pre- Techniques of Assessment
and Evaluation
seminar stage, students can ponder over the topic, drafting a good seminar topic
and think how to present. During the seminar stage, students present the topic
and in post-seminar stages they reflect on their ideas in the presence of an
audience and finally a seminar report will be prepared. Seminar report is used
as a self assessment tool or as a group assessment tool. While doing self
assessment, a student examines the feedback given by others and how his/her
paper could be improved for the next time. The facilitator’s assessment indicators
may consist of the following:
 Understanding of concept
 Critical thinking and reasoning
 Ability to build new knowledge
 Self-confidence and self-discipline
 Presentation style
After the seminar presentation, assessment of the reports can be made based
on the following indicators:
 Clarity of presentation
 Accuracy of report writing
 Organization of the report
 Analysis of team work (if the reports are made in group)
 Generation of new ideas

Check Your Progress 4

Note : a) Write your answer in the space given below.
b) Compare your answer with those given at the end of the
unit.
4. What points would you keep in mind while assessing a seminar?
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5.6 LET US SUM UP

In this Unit, the techniques of evaluation are discussed. You have read about
the various techniques of evaluation such as concept tests, self-reporting
techniques, observation technique, portfolios, peer assessment, assignments, and
project work. Though some of the generally used techniques such as assignments,
and concept tests are implemented by teachers, in this Unit you have learnt
about the details of how these techniques can be used for proper assessment.
While going through self- reporting techniques, you have found that they are
of different types such as interview, questionnaire, and reflective journal. By now,
you might have developed the ability to assess student learntly by using various 19
Techniques and Tools of self-reporting techniques. You might have understood how evaluation of your
Assessment and Evaluation
students is possible through observation, socio-metric technique, portfolios,
project work, debate and club activities. Also, you might have understood how
you can interpret group assessment techniques. In the last section, if was also
discussed how seminar and report can be used as an assessment tool.

5.7 REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS

Angelo, Thomas A., & Cross, K. Patricia. (1993). Classroom Assessment
Techniques: A Handbook for College Teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Retrieved from https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/assesslearning/CATs.html
on 15/02/2017.
Badders, William. (2000). Methods of Assessment. Retrieved from https://
www.eduplace.com/science/profdev/articles/badders.html.
Barbour, A.C. (2010). Learning at Home Prek-3: Homework Activities that
Engage Children and Families. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
British Colombia Institute of Technology (2010). Classroom Assessment
Techniques. Retrieved from http://www.northernc.on.ca/leid/docs/ja_assesstech.pdf
Dogra, Bharti. ( 2010). Constructivist Classroom Activities for Biology Learning.
‘Journal of Indian Education’ Volume XXXVI, 2, pp. 111-120.
Eberly Centre for Teaching Excellence and Educational Innovation. (2015).
Using Classroom Assessment Techniques. Retrieved from https://www.cmu.edu/
teaching/assessment/assesslearning/CATs.html 02/03/2017.
Field Tested Learning Assessment Guide (n.d.). Classroom Assessment
Techniques (CATs) - Overview. Retrieved from http://www.flaguide.org/cat/
cat.php on 22/02/2017.
Greenstein, Laura. (2012). Assessing 21st Century Skills. New Delhi: Sage
Publications India Pvt. Ltd.

5.8 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1. To assist in student learning, to identify students’ strengths and weaknesses,
to assess the effectiveness of a particular instructional strategy, to assess
and improve the effectiveness of curricular programmes, to assess and
improve teaching effectiveness and to communicate with and involve parents
and guardians in their childrens learning.
2. Self reporting techniques such as interview, focus group discussion,
questionnaire and reflective journal provide means for extracting the hidden
treasure of one’s own behaviours and patterns of personality.
3. Autonomy in learning, learner confidence, ability to self-evaluate and reflect,
improving information and understanding, improving one’s own work,
avoiding mistakes in future and able to assess a large amount of student
work.
4. Understanding of concept, critical thinking and reasoning, ability to build
new knowledge, self-confidence, self-discipline and presentation style.
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