UNIT 18. ASSESSMENT TYPES AND TASKS

ASSESSMENT TYPES AND TASKS

 

Through the study of this unit I learnt the different ways students can be assessed with and which tasks involve those assignments. Assessment tasks take many forms including written, oral, demonstrations or performances. They may be short tasks; or long assignments that students are given weeks to finalize. They may be informal or formal assessment. They may require individual or group assessment and be assessed by academic staff or via peer and self assessment.

Diagnostic, placement, progress, summative and proficiency tests are all examples of formal testing which are taken under exam-like conditions, one desk per student in silent and with time limit. These are the different assessment types and its main characteristics.

The Diagnostics test is taken at the beginning of the course to diagnose or find out what the learner knows and what he or she does not.

The Placement test is taken to know at which level learners are and should go to.

The Progress test is used when a course has finished and the teacher wants to know what students have learnt in a unit of a coursebook.

The Achievement test or also called summative test is taken at the end of a term of or a course to know how well students have learnt the content of the term or the whole course. Learners receive a score or mark.

And the proficiency test helps students to know how good they are at language, it measures the learners’ general skill or ability in the language as a whole.

Furthermore I learnt that when I was a student my teacher used the different ways of assessing, as for example: multiple-choice questions, interviews, gap-fill, table completion for listening, or reading for specific detail.

So definitely I also have used those ways of assessing with my students. And it is important to keep in mind that any testing task we apply to our students reflect what we have taught, also assessment must be fair it means that a test or a task must be about only the things that the teacher have taught to students, then feedback, students needs to know what things they have done wrong in order to correct themselves. Informal assessment is more suitable for assessing young learners and finally working with assessment criteria and bands help the teacher and he students know more about their real level of achievement. 

 EXTRA USEFUL MATERIAL

• Gibbs, G., Habeshaw, S. and Habeshaw, T, (1986). 53 Interesting Ways to Assess Your Students. Technical and Educational Services:Bristo, pp. 11-26.
• Erickson, B.L. and Strommer, D.W. (1991).Teaching College Freshmen. Oxford: Jossey-Bass, pp 145-148. References
• McKeachie, W.J. (1986). Teaching Tips: A guide for the beginning teacher. Lexington, Mass.: Heath.
• White, E.M. (1985). Teaching and Assessing Writing: Recent Advances in Understanding, Evaluating and Improving Student Performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.