Assessment & Evaluation adapted from a presentation by Som Mony Day 1 Rada start

Discussion What is the difference between assessment and evaluation? What is a test? How many kinds of test are there? What are the qualities of a good test?

Testing, Assessing, and Teaching Assessment vs. Evaluation As teachers, when we carry out assessment, we have to measure the performance of our students and progress they make. We also need to diagnose the problems they have and provide our learners with useful feedback. Evaluation involves looking at all the factors that influence the learning process, such as syllabus objectives, course design, materials, methodology, teacher performance and assessment.

What is a test? A test, in simple terms, is a method of measuring a person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in a domain. (Brown, 2004)

Assessment and Teaching TESTS ASSESSMENT TEACHING

What is teaching? Teaching is guiding and facilitating learning, enabling the learner to learn, setting conditions for learning. (Brown, 2007)

Types of Assessment Informal Assessment Carried out by the teacher not under special test conditions, but in the normal classroom environment Can take a number of forms, starting with incidental, unplanned comments and responses, along with impromptu feedback to the student What are some examples of informal assessment?

Formal Assessments exercises or procedures specifically designed to tap into a storehouse of skills and knowledge. Systematic, planned sampling techniques constructed to give teacher and student an appraisal of student achievement. All tests are formal assessments, but not all formal assessment is testing. What are some examples of formal assessment?

Formative Assessment Summative Assessment Evaluating students in the process of forming their competencies and skills with the goal of helping them to continue that growth process. Primarily focuses on the ongoing development of the learner’s language. All kinds of informal assessment are formative. Summative Assessment Aims to measure, or summarize, what a student has grasped. Typically occurs at the end of a course or unit of instruction.

Task Do TKT Worksheet 1 & 2 Rada finish

Kinds of Tests Placement Tests Diagnostic Tests Achievement Tests The purpose of the test is to place into a particular level or section of a language curriculum or school. Diagnostic Tests As the name suggests, this type of test is used to find out problem areas. Achievement Tests Progress achievement tests are intended to measure the progress that students are making. Final achievement tests are those administered at the end of a course of study. Hanita starts

Proficiency Tests Proficiency tests are designed to measure people’s ability in a language regardless of any training they may have had in that language. Proficiency tests enable students to have some proof of their language ability in a language.

Task Do TKT Worksheet 3 & Sample Task Ex 4 Hanita ends

Designing Classroom Language Tests Qualities of a good test Reliability Validity Practicality Heidi start

There are three aspects to reliability: Reliability: Does the test give fair and consistent results every time it is used? There are three aspects to reliability: Test taking circumstances How the test is marked The uniformity of the assessment it makes Circumstances: if half of the Ss took the revision test in this room and half of you took it outside in the hot sun or in a very noisy room, it wouldn’t be a reliable measurement. Marking: With T/F Qs reliable marking is easy, but marking an essay question is harder. If I was in a really bad mood when I marked half, and in a really good mood when I marked the other half (and so marked them differently) this would not be a reliable assessment (this is why its useful to have rubrics or specifically things you are looking for) Uniformity of the assessment it makes: what does the test measure? Does it measure each student’s knowledge fairly and similarly?

Validity: Does the test measure what it is intended to measure? Content validity: concerned with what goes into the test. Does the test reflect the syllabus? Face validity: concerned with what teachers and students think of the test. Does the test look good? Practicality: Is the test usable for the teacher? Not excessively expensive Stays within appropriate time constraints Relatively easy to administer, and Has a scoring/evaluation procedure that is specific and time-efficient Content: does it test what was learned in the course? And in even measure – e.g. if your revision test was just about teaching pronunciation and nothing else it would not have content validity. Face: does it appear to teachers and students to test what was learned in the course?

Common Test Items Translate: Kh—Eng or Eng – Kh Matching True/False Essay writing task Speaking task Fill-in blanks (also called cloze) Multi-choice Open comprehension / short answer Qs Sentence completion task Sentence ordering task Odd one out task TASK: Do TKT WS 4 Ex 1

Task Do TKT Worksheet 4, exercise 1 Heidi finishes HW: Read pg. 290 & do Task 12.6

Objective Test Questions: Only 1 possible answer Subjective Test Questions: Many possible answers; Ss can include their own ideas

Task Do TKT Worksheet 4, exercise 2

Summary Tests are only 1 type assessment, and assessment is only 1 part of teaching Ongoing informal formative assessment is just as important as formal summative assessment When designing any test, consider: is it reliable? valid? practical? When designing a language test, there are common items you can use. Consider your goals and subjectivity/objectivity as you choose your items.

Homework Read Scrivener pg. 290-291 & do Task 12.6 Optional: read Scrivener pg. 294-296 to read more about test items (we will discuss specifics about test items in more detail tomorrow) Heidi finishes