Beyond Tests: Alternatives in Assessment

AWANG INDRA S. / 107835010 BEYOND TESTS ALTERNATIVES IN ASSESSMENTThis chapter tries to discuss alternative in perspicacity and the problems found in alternative in judgments. Performance ground Assessment Performance based assessment implies productive, observable skills, such as speaking and writing of content valid tasks.According to Omalley and Valdez Pierce (1996), the characteristics of act assessment ar 1) scholarly persons make a constructed response, 2) They engage in high order thinking, with open-ended tasks, 3) tasks be meaningful, engaging and authentic, 4) tasks call for the integration of phraseology skills, 5) both process and product are assessed, 6) depth of a learners mastery is emphasized over breadth. Portfolios One of the around ordinary alternatives in assessment, especially within a framework of communicative spoken communication teaching, is portfolio development.Portfolios include materials such as a. Essays and compositions in draft and final f orms, b. Reports, acoustic projection outlines, c. Poetry and creative prose, d. Artwork, photos, newspaper or magazine clippings, e. Audio and/or video recordings of presentations, demonstrations, etc, f. Journals, diaries, and other personal reflection, g. Test, test scores, and indite homework exercises, h. Notes on lecturer, i. Self-and peer- assessments-comments, and checklists. Journals A journal is a log or account of whizzs thoughts, feelings, reactions, assessment, ideas, or progress toward goals, ordinarily written with little circumspection to structure, form, or correctness.Categories or purposes in journal writing, such as the adjacent a. Language tuition logs, b. Grammar journals, c. Responses to readings, d. Strategies based acquirement logs, e. Self-assessment reflections, f. Diaries of attitudes, feelings, and other affective factors, g. socializing logs. Conferences Conferences are not limited to drafts of written work including portfolios and journals. Co nferences must come in that the instructor plays the role of a facilitator and guide, not of an administrator, of a formal assessment. Conferences are by nature formative, not summative and their primary purpose is to lead positive washback. querys This term is intended to denote a context in which a teacher interviews a student for a designated assessment purpose. Interview may have one or more of several mathematical goals in which the teacher1. Assesses the students oral production, 2. Ascertains a students convey before designing a course of curriculum, 3. Seeks to discover a students learning style and preferences, 4. Asks a student to assess his or her own performance, 5. Requests an military rank of a course.ObservationsAll teachers, whether they are aware of it or not, observe their students in the schoolroom almost constantly. One of the objectives of such observation is to assess students without their awareness (and likely consequent anxiety) of the observation so that the naturalness of their lingual performance asshole be maximized. 7. Self and Peer Assessments Most successful learners extend the learning process well beyond the classroom and the presence of a teacher or tutor, autonomously mastering the art of ego-assessment. Where peers are available to render assessment, the avail of such additional input is obvious. According to Brown (2004), there are five categories of self and peer assessment1.Assessment of performance, in this category, a student typically monitors him or herself in either oral or written production and renders some kind of rating of performance.2. Indirect assessment of competence, corroboratory assessment targets larger slices of time with a view to rendering an paygrade of general ability as opposed to one to one specific, comparatively time constrained performance.3. Metacognitive assessment for place goals, some kind evaluation are more strategic in nature, with the purpose not that of viewing past p erformance or competence but of setting goals and maintaining an eye on the process of their pursuit.4. Socioaffective assessment, yet another type of self and peer assessment comes in the form of methods of examining affective factors in learning. much(prenominal) assessment is quite different from looking at and planning linguistic aspects of acquisition.5. Student generated tests, a final type of assessment that is not usually classified strictly as self or peer assessment is the technique of engaging students in the process of constructing tests themselves. Guidelines for self-and peer assessmentSelf-and peer assessment are among the best possible formative types of assessment and possibly the most rewarding, but they must be carefully designed and administered for them to reach their potential. 4 guidelines will help teachers bring this intrinsically motivating task into the classroom successfully.Tell students the purpose of assessmentDefine the task clearlyEncourage imparti al evaluation of performance or abilityEnsure safe washback through follow up tasks