Dr.

Mya Pyae Sone Kyaw

What are fundamental differences between
the concepts of test and assessment?
Meaning of Assessment

*Assessment is the process of collecting data and information

about learning, relative to a known quantity.

*It is the process of systematically gathering information as part of

an evaluation.

*Assessment is carried out to see what children and young people

know, understand and are able to do.
Meaning of Assessment

*Assessment is very important for tracking progress, planning next

steps, reporting and involving parents, children and young people

in learning.

*In education, the term assessment refers to the wide variety of

methods that educators use to evaluate, measure, and document the

academic readiness, learning progress, and skill acquisition of

students from preschool through college and adulthood.

PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENT

1. Teaching and Learning

*The primary purpose of assessment is to improve students’

learning and teachers 'teaching as both respond to the

information it provides.

* Assessment for learning is an ongoing process that arises out

of the interaction between teaching and learning.
2. System improvement
Assessment can do more than simply diagnose and identify students’
learning needs; it can be used to assist improvements across the education
system in a cycle of continuous improvement:

Students and teachers can use the information gained from assessment
to determine their next teaching and learning steps.

 Parents and families can be kept informed of next plans for teaching
and learning and the progress being made, so they can play an active role
in their children‘s learning.

 School leaders can use the information for school-wide planning, to

support their teachers and determine professional development needs.
2. System improvement

Communities and Boards of Trustees can use assessment

information to assist their governance role and their decisions about
staffing and resourcing.

 The Education Review Office can use assessment information to

inform their advice for school improvement.

The Ministry of Education can use assessment information to

undertake policy review and development at a national level, so that
government funding and policy intervention is targeted
appropriately to support improved student outcomes.
CLASSIFICATION OF ASSESSMENT
There are three types of assessment:

1. Diagnostic

2. Formative

3. Summative
Diagnostic Assessment:

Diagnostic assessment can help you identify your students‘

current knowledge of a subject, their skill sets and
capabilities, and to clarify misconceptions before teaching
takes place.

Knowing students‘ strengths and weaknesses can help you

better plan what to teach and how to teach it.
Types of Diagnostic Assessments:

* Pre-tests (on content and abilities)

* Self-assessments (identifying skills and competencies)

* Discussion board responses (on content-specific prompts)

* Interviews (brief, private, 10-minute interview of each student)

Formative Assessment

• Formative assessment provides feedback and information during the

instructional process, while learning is taking place, and while learning
is occurring.

• Formative assessment measures student progress but it can also assess

your own progress as an instructor.

• A primary focus of formative assessment is to identify areas that may

need improvement.

• These assessments typically are not graded and act as a gauge to

students’ learning progress and to determine teaching effectiveness
(implementing appropriate methods and activities).
Types of Formative Assessment:

Observations during in-class activities

 Homework exercises as review for exams and class discussions
 Reflections journals that are reviewed periodically during the
semester

Question and answer sessions, both formal—planned and informal—

spontaneous

 Conferences between the instructor and student at various points in

the semester

 In-class activities where students informally present their results

Student feedback collected by periodically
Summative Assessment

*Summative assessment takes place after the learning has been

completed and provides information and feedback that sums up

the teaching and learning process.

* Typically, no more formal learning is taking place at this stage,

other than incidental learning which might take place through the

completion of projects and assignments.

* Types of Summative Assessment
* Examinations (major, high-stakes exams)
* Final examination (a truly summative assessment)
* Projects (project phases submitted at various completion points could be
formatively assessed)

* Portfolios (could also be assessed during its development as a formative

assessment)

* Performances
* Student evaluation of the course (teaching effectiveness)
* Instructor self-evaluation
Meaning of Test

*A test is a specific form of assessment that is carried out in a

controlled environment.

* ‘All tests are assessments, but not all assessments are tests’.

*A test is set by the teacher to assess students’ knowledge of a

subject and level of learning performance.
Criterion-referenced test and Norm-referenced test

*There are two main ways to measure the achievements of

students’ learning.

*The first and historically most used is norm-referenced testing,

where students are compared against each other.

*The second is criterion-referenced testing where performance is

measured against a goal, and no comparison is made with other
students.
Norm-referenced test

*NRT has been the standard method for assessing students in

educational institutions across the world for many years.

*NRT is useful if you wish to rank the achievements of students

against each other.

*Some universities require students to sit for entrance exams. As there

is a limited number of places available, a cut-off score cannot be
used to accurately determine the number of students to be admitted
as there is no guarantee how many candidates will attain that score.
Norm-referenced test

* Using NRT, students would be ranked and then the top students
(depending on how many places are available) will be considered to
have passed the test.

* NRT does not ensure that learning has occurred or that learning
outcomes have been achieved.

* Under the rules of NRT there will always be a ‘top of the class’ and a
‘bottom of the class’ regardless of how good or bad the actual scores are.

* NRT tests are generally neither too difficult nor too easy. The questions
are of an ‘average difficulty’ to enable the test results to be interpreted
across a wide range of test takers.
Criterion-referenced tests (CRT)

*CRT measures the knowledge, skills and understanding of students

and their attainment of learning outcomes after a period of learning

against a pre-determined set of criteria.

* Each student is assessed in exactly the same way and is graded

using the same method.

* Most importantly, they are assessed on individual merit, not against

the achievements of other students.
* A good example of CRT is the driving test. Typically a
learner driver will have to pass various written and practical
tests to obtain their driving licence.

* Each learner driver will be tested in a very similar

environment and will only acquire their driving licence if
they pass the tests to an agreed level.

*The number or level of other students taking the test will

have no bearing or influence on their opportunity to pass.
*The results from using this type of assessment are easy to
record and can be used to establish the success of a teacher or
school.

*One useful feature of CRT is that there is a pass or fail

element to the test in that there is a cut-off score: any student
who scores below that score will fail.

*CRT is usually used in high-stakes testing, such as end of year

exams, as it is a more accurate reflection and assessment of
learning than NRT.
*
A teacher-made test

• A teacher-made test is an assessment created by an

individual teacher or a group of teachers to evaluate
students' understanding of specific learning objectives or
course material.

• These tests are typically tailored to the content covered in a

particular class or curriculum.
A teacher-made test

• Teacher made tests are designed by educators to evaluate

students' comprehension, knowledge, and skills in a
particular subject or topic.

• These tests can vary in format, including multiple-choice,

short answer, essay questions, and more.
The objectives of teacher-made tests are:

1. Assessing students' understanding of the material

taught.
2. Measuring students' ability to apply concepts and
skills.
3. Providing feedback to both students and teachers on
learning progress.
4. Identifying areas where students may need additional
support or instruction.
Standardized Tests

Steps for constructing Standardized Tests

 Standardized test are commercially prepared and have uniform

procedures for administration and scoring. They are meant for
gathering information on large groups of students in multiple
settings (Karmel and Karmel, 1978).

Standardized tests are carefully constructed tests with a uniform

procedure of scoring, administering and interpreting the test results.

They consist of items of high quality. The items are pretested and
selected on the basis of difficulty value, discrimination power, and
relationship to clearly defined objectives in behavioural terms.
Any person can administer the test as the directions for
administering, time -limits and scores are given.

These are norm-based tests. Norms are age, grade, sex etc.

Reliability and validity of a test are established beforehand.

 A manual is supplied which explains purposes and uses of the

test.
*Steps for construction of a Standardized test
1. Planning the test.
2. Preparing the test.
3. Try out of the test.
4. Reliability of the final test.
5. Validity of the final test.
6. Preparation of norms for the final test.
7. Preparation of manual and reproduction of test.
Objective tests

*Objective tests are called objective because their scoring

doesn't depend on the personal judgment or opinion of the
scorer.

*multiple – choice items (MCI),

* True / false items,
* matching items,
*transformation sentences,
* re-arrangement items
*fill in the blanks or gap filling.
*To answer an objective test, the student has to select his answer from
two, three, four or even more alternatives and objective test usually
have only one correct answer.

*Objective tests need much time and effort to write since the examiner
has to provide the answers as well as the questions so the objective test
requires more careful preparations

* Objective tests require recognition more than production

*In objective tests this type of test encourage guessing, simpler to
answer, easy to score, suit for a large number of students, and this type
of test can be scored by a machine.
Subjective tests

*Subjective tests are called subjective because their scoring

depends on personal judgment or opinion of the scorer.

*essay writing,
*composition writing,
* letter writing,
*answer these – question.
*Subjective test the examiner needs to write few question
without their answers.

*Subjective tests are used to test ideas, culture, coherence and

creating.

*Subjective test don't encourage guessing, easy to write,

difficult to score suit for a small number of students. And this
type of test it can't be scored by a machine.

*subjective test require production as well as recognition.

*An objective test depends on student's knowledge, it is a valid test
and students need a short time to answer in objective test.

*But in subjective test depends on student's experience, it is invalid

test and students need along time to answer in subjective test.

*Finally, A good class room test should be contained both subjective

and objective. Heaton (1997) says that "always remember that most
good test contain both objective and subjective types of item."
*
Paper – pencil Test

*In the world of education, assessments play a crucial role in

determining student progress, understanding their strengths and
weaknesses, and tailoring teaching methods accordingly.

*One of the most traditional and widely used methods for

conducting assessments is the paper-pencil test (PPT).

*Despite the rise of digital tools and alternative evaluation methods,

paper-pencil tests remain a cornerstone in education systems
worldwide.
Paper – pencil Test

*A paper-pencil test is a standardized method of assessing

students where they respond to questions on paper, typically
using a pencil (or pen).

* These tests are often designed to evaluate a student’s

knowledge, understanding, and cognitive skills.

*The aim is to measure the depth of understanding, retention

of knowledge, and ability to apply concepts in real-world
scenarios.
The format of these tests can vary, but they traditionally consist of

*multiple-choice questions (MCQs),

*true/false questions,
*short answer questions,
*essay-type questions.
*Paper-pencil tests are commonly used for both formative
assessments (ongoing evaluations during the learning process)
and summative assessments (final evaluations at the end of a
lesson, unit, or course).
 Why are paper and pencil tests so popular?
* Ease of Administration
* Cost – effective
* Standardized Scoring
* Cognitive Task Assessment
Challenges of paper-pencil tests

 Limited Assessment of Practical Skills

 Test Anxiety and Stress
 Limited Feedback
Performance-based assessment (PBA)

*Performance-based assessment (PBA) has gained much attention

from educators in recent times.

*PBA has numerous advantages to improve students’ performance

and student achievement, Gao [1] suggested that assessment

should be fused into planned instruction and relate to the

students’ real-world experiences.

Performance-based assessment (PBA)

*Paper – pencil tests are not enough to determine if students know

how to do something. Learning objectives and outcomes may call

for performance.

*The application of the knowledge is to a real-life situation.

Asamoah-Gyimah and Anane [6] proposed that PBA is effective as

a formative assessment.
Types of PBL

-Journals

-Performances

-Portfolio

-Individual or group Projects

Method of Observing, Recording and Scoring

*Systematic observation

*Checklists

*Rating scales

*Scoring Rubrics
What are advantages and disadvantages of PBL?
―Tell me about one sentence that you
remember”