Art & Science of Assessment

Many people new to the field of teaching may think of assessment as simply tests. Assessment is so much more, and even in the context of ‘tests’ there is much to be considered. Welcome to our issue focusing on assessment. In this issue, we’ll explore different aspects of assessment including student-driven assessment, self-assessment, rubrics, authentic assessment, and virtual labs.

Before we explore these topics, however, let’s get an overview of assessment by looking at general categories of assessment and some considerations to keep in mind related to assessment strategies.

Assessment is a critical component of education because it has implications for student satisfaction, effective learning, and academic integrity.

Let’s start with a working definition:
Assessment is the evaluation or estimation of the nature, quality, or ability of someone or something.¹

Formative and Summative

Many methods may be employed in the name of assessment to produce an estimation or evaluation. And in the field of teaching and learning, not all assessment is aimed strictly at evaluation. Sometimes the goal of assessment is to promote student learning and practice, to bridge learners, and bring them along toward learning goals. This is referred to as formative assessment.

While formative assessment is aimed at student learning, growth, and exploration, it also provides feedback to instructors on student comprehension and progress. Distinguished from formative assessment is summative assessment. Summative assessment is more akin to our ‘traditional idea’ of a test in that it is designed to evaluate and measure student progress and mastery of course content, skills, and learning objectives. Typically, there is very little room to receive feedback and make corrections in a summative assessment situation.

Examples of formative assessment include discussions, self-check quizzes, low-stakes group work, peer evaluation, reflection writing assignments, homework assignments, surveys, drafts of papers or projects, and active learning strategies generally. Active learning strategies require students to analyze and apply what they are learning, preferably in mocked real-world applications. Self-assessment is also formative. Please see the article in this issue about self-assessment.

Examples of summative assessment include final reports, essays, presentations, and projects, instructor created exams and standardized tests.²

Validity

Validity is extremely important. Validity in assessment requires that the assessments in a course address all of the requirements (learning objectives) in a sufficient way and over a sufficient number of times to confirm repeatability of performance.³

A rule of thumb in sound teaching and learning practice is that students should have three application opportunities for the learning objectives. This can be a combination of formative and summative assessment. Typically, students may be bridged up to course learning objectives through a combination of module-level activities, discussions, and assignments. This can be followed with cumulative assignments or quizzes. The third application, or summative assessment at the end of the course, may the take the form of final reports, projects, or presentations.

Student Satisfaction and Success

Student satisfaction is a critical element of successful learning and has been correlated to assessment strategies chosen for your course.⁴ Research shows that students, especially career-oriented students, appreciate authentic learning opportunities.⁵ Authentic learning opportunities lean on active learning strategies which are strongly promoted and encouraged for EP courses. Scenario-based learning is an example of active learning and authentic assessment. At right, we present a Five-Dimensional Framework for Authentic Assessment.

There are appropriate uses for ‘traditional testing’ such as quizzes and exams that rely on student memory and problem solving. However, a broad perspective for assessment strategy that includes authentic opportunities best serves most students.

In closing, consider some general principles related to assessment: reliability, fairness, and flexibility.⁶

• Reliability means that under the same conditions for the same unit of competency, all graders should reach the same decision. This is achieved by having a grader guide, aka a rubric.
• Fairness is achieved in assessment when the evaluation process is clearly understood and agreed upon by students.⁷ Clear guidelines in the syllabus and rubrics can go a long way to ensuring fairness.
• Flexibility refers to contextualization of assessments. Assessments should be designed so they can be applied to the type of work students will need to perform. Care should be taken to ensure that tasks also address the learning objectives.⁸

We hope you have found this overview of assessments helpful. Dig deeper by reading other articles in this issue that explore student driven assessment, self-assessment, rubrics, authentic assessment, and virtual labs.

¹ Oxford English Dictionary. (Retrieved 7/13/21). Oxford Languages/Oxford University Press. https://languages.oup.com/dictionaries/
² Yale Poorvu Center for Teaching and Learning. (2021). Formative and Summative Assessments. https://poorvucenter.yale.edu/Formative-Summative-Assessments
³ Welton, 2017.
⁴ Brophy, J. (1999). Toward a model of the value aspects of motivation in education: Developing appreciation for particular learning domains and activities. Educational Psychologist, 34, 75–85.
⁵ James, L. T., R. Casidy. (2018)2010). Authentic assessment in business education: its effects on student satisfaction and promoting behaviour. Studies in Higher Education. 43(3): 401-415
⁶ Welton, S. (2017). Principles of Assessment. International Teacher Training Academy Australia, retrieved from https://ittacademy.net.au/principles-assessment-part-1/
⁷ Welton, 2017.
⁸ Welton, 2017.