introduction to educational measurement and assessment

What is Measurement?

—  Measurement refers to the process of assigning numerals to events, objects, etc., according to certain rules.

—  Here rules are two types i.e., fixed, obvious or explicit of rules; for example , when one is measuring the length of cloth in feet or meter, rules for assigning numerals are very clear or and explicit.

•       Transitory or implicit of rules, which means the procedure of measurement is not obvious, clear or fixed.

            For example, suppose one is measuring to the extroversion trait of personality or the intelligence of a child. Obviously, in such a situation the rules would not be clear as in the first example. (measuring psychological, sociological and educational attributes are generally vague and less explicit)

Kinds of Measurement

—  Physical Measurement – it is called as quantitative measurement which comprises the measurement of objects, things etc., which are often physically present in the world.

          -Usually, it is concerned with the measurement of height, weight, length, size, volume etc.

—  Psychological Measurement is called as qualitative measurement, which comprises the measurement of mental process, traits, habits, tendencies, and the like of an individual

Difference between Physical and Psychological Measurement

Physical Measurement

•       Quantitative in nature

•       Concerned with how much & how less, how big & how small, how great & how little,  and  how length & how width etc.

•       The unit of measure is fixed and constant throughout the measurement.

•       There is true zero point

•       It is more accurate, precise and objective.

•       It is direct measurement.

-          Entire quantity can be measured in it.      

Psychological Measurement

•       Qualitative in nature

•       Concerned with how good & how bad, how beauty & how ugly, and how sweet & how bitter  etc. -the unit of measure

•       The unit of measurement is not fixed and may not be constant through out the measurement.

•       There is an arbitrary zero point

•       It is inaccurate, subjective and relative in nature.

•       it is indirect measurement.

-          Entire quantity can’t be measured but only  a sample representing           that quantity or trait.            

What is Assessment?

—  Assessment is a systematic collection of data for the purpose of monitoring success of educational program in achieving intended students’ learning outcomes. Simply, assessment intends to increase quality of the program catered.

—  Assessment can be categorized into two types. One is traditional assessment and second one is competence-based assessment.

—  Competence-based assessment can be performed through the techniques of portfolio, project work, group activities, peer teaching, oral examination, written test, practical task, brief investigation and the like  

Distinction between traditional and competence-based assessments

Traditional Assessment

—  It is teacher centred

—  Goal is to measure acquisition of past knowledge

—  Encourages memorisation of correct answers

—   Curriculum directs assessment

—  Emphasis on developing a body of knowledge

—  Promotes ‘what’ knowledge

—  Provides a one-time snapshot of student understanding

Competence-based Assessment

—  It is learner-centred

—  Goal is to enhance development of meaningful skills

—  Encourages divergent thinking in generating possible answers

—  Assessment directs curriculum

—  Emphasis on ensuring proficiency at real world tasks

—  Promotes ‘how’ knowledge

—  Provides an examination of learning over time

    

What is Evaluation?

—  Evaluation is a process wherein, the parts, processes or outcomes of a program are examined or judged to see whether they have met its intended learning outcomes as per our expectations, or our own standard of excellence

—  On the other words, it is an integrated process in which measurement(testing) and/or non-measurement (informal observation) plus value judgment work for determining the nature and extent of learning and development.

Kinds of Evaluation

According to Airasian &Madaus Evaluation may be classified in terms of their functional role in classroom instruction such as:

—  Placement Evaluation

-To determine student performance at the beginning of instruction.

-Basically it is concerned with the students’ entry behavior or performance.

-It determines the position of each student in the instructional sequence and the mode of instruction that is most beneficial.

-Records of past achievement, pre test on course objective, observation and so on. 

•                  Formative Evaluation:

-          It is used to monitor learning progress during instruction.

-          It provides continuous feedback to both student and teacher concerning learning success and failures.

-          It provides first-aid treatment for simple learning problems.

-          Teacher made test from the instructed unit or chapter, Observation of Class performance.

—  Diagnostic Evaluation

-          It is concerned with the persistent or recurring learning difficulties that are left unresolved by the standard corrective prescription (use of alternative method of teaching, friends tutoring etc.) of formative evaluation or during instruction.

-          It searches causes of the of problem or hard spot of learning that do not respond to first aid treatment and formulate plan for remedial instruction.

-          It uses the service of educational, psychological or medical specialist to diagnose the most frequent problem and   develop the individualized educational plan (IEP) for the student.

—  Summative Evaluation:

-          To assess achievement at the end of instruction

-          It is designed to determine the extent to which the instructional objectives have been achieved.

-          It is used primarily for assigning course grades or for certifying students mastery of the intended learning outcomes. 

ASSESSMENT               

1. Reflective: Internally Defined Criteria/Goals
2. Diagnostic: Identify Areas for Improvement
3. Flexible: Adjust As Problems Are Clarified
4. Absolute: Strive for Ideal Outcomes
5. Cooperative: Learn from Each Other

EVALUATION

1. Prescriptive: Externally Imposed Standards
2. Judgmental: Arrive at an Overall Grade/Score
3. Fixed: To Reward Success, Punish Failure
4. Comparative: Divide Better from Worse
5. Competitive: Beat Each Other Out

What is Monitoring?

—  Monitoring is the systematic, regular and purposeful observation on how program activities are progressing or recording of activities taking place.

—  It is a process of routinely gathering and analyzing information on all aspects of the program for giving feedback about the progress of the program to the donors, implementer and beneficiaries and finally it gives chance to make decisions for improving the performance of the program.

What is Test?

•       In general, test is defined as a series of questions on the basis of which some information is sought.

•       In psychological or educational point of view- Test is a standardized procedure to measure quantitatively or qualitatively one or more than one aspects of trait by means of sample of verbal or non verbal behavior.

•       Simply, it is an instrument or systematic procedure for measuring a sample of behavior by posing a set of questions in a uniform manner. Because a test answer the question, “how well does the individual perform – either in comparison with others or in comparison with a domain of performance tasks”?

General Characteristics of a Test

—  It is a set of stimuli, which means that the stimuli (popularly known as items) in the test are organized in a certain sequence and are based upon some principles of test construction.

—  Usually, the items are placed in increasing order of difficulty and its procedure of administration is standardized to ensure maximum objectivity.

—  Both quantitative and qualitative measurements are possible through psychological and educational test (Sigh, 1998 p.14).

Purpose of Testing

•       to compare the same individual on two or more than two aspects of trait.

•       two or more than two persons   may be compared on the same trait.

•       To provide information for grading, reporting to parents and promoting students.

•       To motivate the students by evaluating the current status of the pupils

•       To select, classify, certify and place students by diagnosing their strengths and weaknesses

•       To collect information for effective educational and vocational counseling

Comparison between Standardized and Teacher-made Achievement Test

1. Sapling of Content; Sampling and content are both determined by classroom teacher

2. Construction; Test is constructed in a hurried and haphazard manner; often there is no test blue prints, no item tryouts or item analysis and revisions.

3. Norms; Only local classroom norms are available

4. Administration and Scoring; No uniform directions in this regard are available.

5. Purposes and Use; Best suited for measuring particular objectives set by teacher and for intra class comparisons.

1. Sapling of Content;Content are determined by experts after extensive investigations of existing syllabi, text books, and programs; sampling of content is done systematically.

2. Construction;Test is constructed after determining instructional objectives carefully; and involves test blue print, item tryouts, item analysis and revision.

3. Norms;Besides local, national, school, district norms are available

4. Administration and Scoring; Specific instructions, standardize administration and scoring procedures are available.

5. Purposes and Use; Best suited for measuring broader curriculum objectives and for inter-class , inter school and national level comparisons.