essay on assessment

Essay About Assessment: Top 5 Examples Plus Prompts

Assessment is crucial for improving oneself or one’s work; if you are writing an essay about assessment, these examples should inspire you.

What does the word “assessment” mean? Whether in an educational, social, or business setting, assessment involves an evaluation or judgment of someone or something. Whether you are being assessed or the assessor, trying to achieve a goal is essential. It is an opportunity to practice your abilities and learn from the outcome.

If you are writing an essay about assessment, look at the examples, and helpful writing prompts featured below for inspiration. 

Are you looking for more? Check out our guide packed full of transition words for essays

1. Why You Should Make Time for Self-Reflection (Even If You Hate Doing It) by Jennifer Porter

2. grief therapy: how to identify loss in psychological assessments by edy nathan, 3. when feeling trapped, assess the situation by rita watson, 4. self assessment paper by naomi moody, 5. to promote inclusivity, stay away from personality assessments by quinisha jackson-wright, prompts on essay about assessment, 1. what is the importance of assessment, 2. can assessment have a negative impact on students, 3. what are some critical applications of assessment, 4. what’s the difference between reflection and assessment, 5. how can you better assess yourself, your peers, and your surroundings.

“At its simplest, reflection is about careful thought. But the kind of reflection that is really valuable to leaders is more nuanced than that. The most useful reflection involves the conscious consideration and analysis of beliefs and actions for the purpose of learning. Reflection gives the brain an opportunity to pause amidst the chaos, untangle and sort through observations and experiences, consider multiple possible interpretations, and create meaning.”

Porter explains the importance of the occasional self-assessment. She also gives tips about properly assessing your thoughts and actions, including keeping a schedule and asking for help from others. By assessing yourself, you can be more productive, give your life purpose, and improve on your weaknesses. 

“Ten of my colleagues shared how they didn’t mention grief but instead discussed the presenting issues, like anxiety or depression, and helped clients stay focused on responding to the symptoms through self-talk and staying present in the face of their issues..”

This essay relates to psychological assessments. Nathan gives her fellow therapists tips on assessing patients’ feelings of grief, loss, anxiety, loneliness, and depression. When talking to someone affected by these, it is helpful not to mention these words outright. Nathan also recommends reminding others that you are there for them, and they can talk to you anytime. Therapists need to be able to assess people well, help them address their issues, and handle grief calmly, professionally, and charitably. 

“Assessing the situation is like looking at a roadmap after making a serious effort at information gathering. It is a time to examine facts, emotions, and every bit of practical advice in order to make the best decision you can at the time.”

Watson’s essay discusses the importance of assessing one’s situation and surroundings: it can help you become more confident and prepared for the future. Like Porter, she gives tips for assessment, including self-reflection, doing research, and looking at the situation from all perspectives. In addition, she provides excellent insight on assessing situations and how it is helpful to do so, including one in which students feel lonely in college without their childhood/teenage friends.

“My area of strength is my drive and determination to complete anything I start and my willingness to keep persevering. I have always held on to the statement that nobody has to become the product of their environment.”

Moody assesses her strengths and weaknesses in this brief essay. She has improved communication, time management, assertiveness, and assertiveness. She wants to work on writing and composition skills. As a career in mental health services, she aims to be able to translate her thoughts onto paper.

“When trying to gauge an employee’s work style and how they will fit in and work with others, a personality assessment offers little more insight than a “Which Game of Thrones Character Are You?” Facebook quiz.”

Jackson-Wright discusses why “personality assessments” are inaccurate criteria for hiring; they are supposedly biased towards attributes prevalent in some cultures and not others. In addition, personality differences lead to only certain types of people getting hired. 

She points out the unfairness of this system: people are rejected without any opportunity to prove themselves. It is not a test that proves someone’s worth; it is the work they contribute. 

This essay will delve into the importance of assessment in different scenarios—Research the importance of assessment in school, in the workplace, and when learning any new skill. 

Provide analysis of how assessments can help a person grow in learning and provide an understanding of areas that require improvement. Pick a side of the argument and decide if assessment helps or hinders learning. Use research statistics to back up your opinion for a compelling essay.

One opinion of assessment is that it can be detrimental to students’ success. This essay examines the negative effects of assessment in school or college. Gather opinions and data showing if environments with higher or lower assessment levels create more successful students. An interesting topic to look into is whether assessment creates perfectionism and anxiety in students or perhaps it creates healthy competition and drive.

An assessment can be made almost everywhere for yourself or your surroundings. Critical assessment describes the evaluation of a theory, situation, or statement. For example, you can critically assess a scientific theory that is yet to be proven. In addition, critical assessment is vital for the analysis of hypotheticals and situations. Another example of critical assessment is a judge ruling in court. The judge critically assesses the situation and decides the ruling based on their analysis.

In your essay, write about the benefit of critical assessment, research its applications, and delve into why it is essential in society.

The essay examples show that reflection and assessment can be used. Reflection refers to looking at a situation, assessing if there are ways to improve it, and taking action yourself. 

Assessment refers to a test of sorts- where you are graded, evaluated, and given feedback.

In your essay, compare reflection and assessment, and decide which is more critical for self-improvement. Back up your opinion with research, data, or interviews for a compelling essay,

Assessment helps you find room for improvement in specific areas. In this essay, think about the ways assessment could improve your life. Look into how assessment could help you grow as a person and how your peers and surroundings could also benefit from this.

You can write about certain practices people can use to assess themselves better, others, situations, and surroundings. However, note that “too-high” standards are not ideal. 

If you’d like to learn more, in this guide, our writer explains how to write an argumentative essay .

Martin is an avid writer specializing in editing and proofreading. He also enjoys literary analysis and writing about food and travel.

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Conceptual analysis article, the past, present and future of educational assessment: a transdisciplinary perspective.

• 1 Department of Applied Educational Sciences, Umeå Universitet, Umeå, Sweden
• 2 Faculty of Education and Social Work, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

To see the horizon of educational assessment, a history of how assessment has been used and analysed from the earliest records, through the 20th century, and into contemporary times is deployed. Since paper-and-pencil assessments validity and integrity of candidate achievement has mattered. Assessments have relied on expert judgment. With the massification of education, formal group-administered testing was implemented for qualifications and selection. Statistical methods for scoring tests (classical test theory and item response theory) were developed. With personal computing, tests are delivered on-screen and through the web with adaptive scoring based on student performance. Tests give an ever-increasing verisimilitude of real-world processes, and analysts are creating understanding of the processes test-takers use. Unfortunately testing has neglected the complicating psychological, cultural, and contextual factors related to test-taker psychology. Computer testing neglects school curriculum and classroom contexts, where most education takes place and where insights are needed by both teachers and learners. Unfortunately, the complex and dynamic processes of classrooms are extremely difficult to model mathematically and so remain largely outside the algorithms of psychometrics. This means that technology, data, and psychometrics have become increasingly isolated from curriculum, classrooms, teaching, and the psychology of instruction and learning. While there may be some integration of these disciplines within computer-based testing, this is still a long step from where classroom assessment happens. For a long time, educational, social, and cultural psychology related to learning and instruction have been neglected in testing. We are now on the cusp of significant and substantial development in educational assessment as greater emphasis on the psychology of assessment is brought into the world of testing. Herein lies the future for our field: integration of psychological theory and research with statistics and technology to understand processes that work for learning, identify how well students have learned, and what further teaching and learning is needed. The future requires greater efforts by psychometricians, testers, data analysts, and technologists to develop solutions that work in the pressure of living classrooms and that support valid and reliable assessment.

Introduction

In looking to the horizon of educational assessment, I would like to take a broad chronological view of where we have come from, where we are now, and what the horizons are. Educational assessment plays a vital role in the quality of student learning experiences, teacher instructional activities, and evaluation of curriculum, school quality, and system performance. Assessments act as a lever for both formative improvement of teaching and learning and summative accountability evaluation of teachers, schools, and administration. Because it is so powerful, a nuanced understanding of its history, current status, and future possibilities seems a useful exercise. In this overview I begin with a brief historical journey from assessments past through the last 3000 years and into the future that is already taking place in various locations and contexts.

Early records of the Chinese Imperial examination system can be found dating some 2,500 to 3,000 years ago ( China Civilisation Centre, 2007 ). That system was used to identify and reward talent wherever it could be found in the sprawling empire of China. Rather than rely solely on recommendations, bribery, or nepotism, it was designed to meritocratically locate students with high levels of literacy and memory competencies to operate the Emperor’s bureaucracy of command and control of a massive population. To achieve those goals, the system implemented standardised tasks (e.g., completing an essay according to Confucian principles) under invigilated circumstances to ensure integrity and comparability of performances ( Feng, 1995 ). The system had a graduated series of increasingly more complex and demanding tests until at the final examination no one could be awarded the highest grade because it was reserved for the Emperor alone. Part of the rationale for this extensive technology related to the consequences attached to selection; not only did successful candidates receive jobs with substantial economic benefits, but they were also recognised publicly on examination lists and by the right to wear specific colours or badges that signified the level of examination the candidate had passed. Unsurprisingly, given the immense prestige and possibility of social advancement through scholarship, there was an industry of preparing cheat materials (e.g., miniature books that replicated Confucian classics) and catching cheats (e.g., ranks of invigilators in high chairs overlooking desks at which candidates worked; Elman, 2013 ).

In contrast, as described by Encyclopedia Brittanica (2010a) , European educational assessment grew out of the literary and oratorical remains of the Roman empire such as schools of grammarians and rhetoricians. At the same time, schools were formed in the various cathedrals, monasteries (especially, the Benedictine monasteries), and episcopal schools throughout Europe. Under Charlemagne, church priests were required to master Latin so that they could understand scripture correctly, leading to more advanced religious and academic training. As European society developed in the early Renaissance, schools were opened under the authority of a bishop or cathedral officer or even from secular guilds to those deemed sufficiently competent to teach. Students and teachers at these schools were given certain protection and rights to ensure safe travel and free thinking. European universities from the 1100s adopted many of the clerical practices of reading important texts and scholars evaluating the quality of learning by student performance in oral disputes, debates, and arguments relative to the judgement of higher ranked experts. The subsequent centuries added written tasks and performances to the oral disputes as a way of judging the quality of learning outcomes. Nonetheless, assessment was based, as the Chinese Imperial system, on the expertise and judgment of more senior scholars or bureaucrats.

These mechanisms were put in place to meet the needs of society or religion for literate and numerate bureaucrats, thinkers, and scholars. The resource of further education, or even basic education, was generally rationed and limited. Standardised assessments, even if that were only the protocol rather than the task or the scoring, were carried out to select candidates on a relatively meritocratic basis. Families and students engaged in these processes because educational success gave hope of escape from lives of poverty and hard labour. Consequently, assessment was fundamentally a summative judgement of the student’s abilities, schooling was preparation for the final examination, and assessments during the schooling process were but mimicry of a final assessment.

With the expansion of schooling and higher education through the 1800s, more efficient methods were sought to the workload surrounding hearing memorized recitations ( Encyclopedia Brittanica, 2010b ). This led to the imposition of leaving examinations as an entry requirement to learned professions (e.g., being a teacher), the civil service, and university studies. As more and more students attended universities in the 1800s, more efficient ways collecting information were established, most especially the essay examination and the practice of answering in writing by oneself without aids. This tradition can still be seen in ordered rows of desks in examination halls as students complete written exam papers under scrutiny and time pressure.

The 20th century

By the early 1900s, however, it became apparent that the scoring of these important intellectual exercises was highly problematic. Markers did not agree with each other nor were they consistent within themselves across items or tasks and over time so that their scores varied for the same work. Consequently, early in the 20th century, multiple-choice question tests were developed so that there would be consistency in scoring and efficiency in administration ( Croft and Beard, 2022 ). It is also worth noting that considerable cost and time efficiencies were obtained through using multiple-choice test methods. This aspect led, throughout the century, to increasingly massive use of standardised machine scoreable tests for university entrance, graduate school selection, and even school evaluation. The mechanism of scoring items dichotomously (i.e., right or wrong), within classical test theory statistical modelling, resulted in easy and familiar numbers (e.g., mean, standard deviation, reliability, and standard error of measurement; Clauser, 2022 ).

As the 20th century progressed, the concepts of validity have grown increasingly expansive, and the methods of validation have become increasingly complex and multi-faceted to ensure validity of scores and their interpretation ( Zumbo and Chan, 2014 ). These included scale reliability, factor analysis, item response theory, equating, norming, and standard setting, among others ( Kline, 2020 ). It is worth noting here that statistical methods for test score analysis grew out of the early stages of the discipline of psychology. As psychometric methods became increasingly complex, the world of educational testing began to look much more like the world of statistics. Indeed, Cronbach (1954) noted that the world of psychometrics (i.e., statistical measurement of psychological phenomena) was losing contact with the world of psychology which was the most likely user of psychometric method and research. Interestingly, the world of education makes extensive use of assessment, but few educators are adept at the statistical methods necessary to evaluate their own tests, let alone those from central authorities. Indeed, few teachers are taught statistical test analysis techniques, even fewer understand them, and almost none make use of them.

Of course, assessment is not just a scored task or set of questions. It is legitimately an attempt to operationalize a sample of a construct or content or curriculum domain. The challenge for assessment lies in the conundrum that the material that is easy to test and score tends to be the material that is the least demanding or valuable in any domain. Learning objectives for K-12 schooling, let alone higher education, expect students to go beyond remembering, recalling, regurgitating lists of terminology, facts, or pieces of data. While recall of data pieces is necessary for deep processing, recall of those details is not sufficient. Students need to exhibit complex thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and analysis and synthesis. Assessment of such skills is extremely complex and difficult to achieve.

However, with the need to demonstrate that teachers are effective and that schools are achieving society’s goals and purposes it becomes easy to reduce the valued objectives of society to that which can be incorporated efficiently into a standardised test. Hence, in many societies the high-stakes test becomes the curriculum. If we could be sure that what was on the test is what society really wanted, this would not be such a bad thing; what Resnick and Resnick (1989) called measurement driven reform. However, research over extensive periods since the middle of the 20 th century has shown that much of what we test does not add value to the learning of students ( Nichols and Harris, 2016 ).

An important development in the middle of the 20th century was Scriven’s (1967) work on developing the principles and philosophy of evaluation. A powerful aspect to evaluation that he identified was the distinction between formative evaluation taking place early enough in a process to make differences to the end points of the process and summative evaluation which determined the amount and quality or merit of what the process produced. The idea of formative evaluation was quickly adapted into education as a way of describing assessments that teachers used within classrooms to identify which children needed to be taught what material next ( Bloom et al., 1971 ). This contrasted nicely with high-stakes end-of-unit, end-of-course, or end-of-year formal examinations that summatively judged the quality of student achievement and learning. While assessment as psychometrically validated tests and examinations historically focused on the summative experience, Scriven’s formative evaluation led to using assessment processes early in the educational course of events to inform learners as to what they needed to learn and instructors as to what they needed to teach.

Nonetheless, since the late 1980s (largely thanks to Sadler, 1989 ) the distinction between summative and formative transmogrified from timing to one of type. Formative assessments began to be only those which were not formal tests but were rather informal interactions in classrooms. This perspective was extended by the UK Assessment Reform Group (2002) which promulgated basic principles of formative assessment around the world. Those classroom assessment practices focused much more on what could be seen as classroom teaching practices ( Brown, 2013 , 2019 , 2020a ). Instead of testing, teachers interacted with students on-the-fly, in-the-moment of the classroom through questions and feedback that aimed to help students move towards the intended learning outcomes established at the beginning of lessons or courses. Thus, assessment for learning has become a child-friendly approach ( Stobart, 2006 ) to involving learners in their learning and developing rich meaningful outcomes without the onerous pressure of testing. Much of the power of this approach was that it came as an alternative to the national curriculum of England and Wales that incorporated high-stakes standardised assessment tasks of children at ages 7, 9, 11, and 14 (i.e., Key Stages 1 to 4; Wherrett, 2004 ).

In line with increasing access to schooling worldwide throughout the 20 th century, there is concern that success on high-consequence, summative tests simply reinforced pre-existing social status and hierarchy ( Bourdieu, 1974 ). This position argues tests are not neutral but rather tools of elitism ( Gipps, 1994 ). Unfortunately, when assessments have significant consequences, much higher proportions of disadvantaged students (e.g., minority students, new speakers of the language-medium of assessment, special needs students, those with reading difficulties, etc.) do not experience such benefits ( Brown, 2008 ). This was a factor in the development of using assessment high-quality formative assessment to accelerate the learning progression of disadvantaged students. Nonetheless, differences in group outcomes do not always mean tests are the problem; group score differences can point out that there is sociocultural bias in the provision of educational resources in the school system ( Stobart, 2005 ). This would be rationale for system monitoring assessments, such as Hong Kong’s Territory Wide System Assessment, 1 the United States’ National Assessment of Educational Progress, 2 or Australia’s National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy. 3 The challenge is how to monitor a system without blaming those who have been let down by it.

Key Stage tests were put in place, not only to evaluate student learning, but also to assure the public that teachers and schools were achieving important goals of education. This use of assessment put focus on accountability, not for the student, but for the school and teacher ( Nichols and Harris, 2016 ). The decision to use tests of student learning to evaluate schools and teachers was mimicked, especially in the United States, in various state accountability tests, the No Child Left Behind legislation, and even such innovative programs of assessment as Race to the Top and PARCC. It should be noted that the use of standardised tests to evaluate teachers and schools is truly a global phenomenon, not restricted to the UK and the USA ( Lingard and Lewis, 2016 ). In this context, testing became a summative evaluation of teachers and school leaders to demonstrate school effectiveness and meet accountability requirements.

The current situation is that assessment is perceived quite differently by experts in different disciplines. Psychometricians tend to define assessment in terms of statistical modelling of test scores. Psychologists use assessments for diagnostic description of client strengths or needs. Within schooling, leaders tend to perceive assessment as jurisdiction or state-mandated school accountability testing, while teachers focus on assessment as interactive, on-the-fly experiences with their students, and parents ( Buckendahl, 2016 ; Harris and Brown, 2016 ) understand assessment as test scores and grades. The world of psychology has become separated from the worlds of classroom teaching, curriculum, psychometrics and statistics, and assessment technologies.

This brief history bringing us into early 21 st century shows that educational assessment is informed by multiple disciplines which often fail to talk with or even to each other. Statistical analysis of testing has become separated from psychology and education, psychology is separated from curriculum, teaching is separated from testing, and testing is separated from learning. Hence, we enter the present with many important facets that inform effective use of educational assessment siloed from one another.

Now and next

Currently the world of educational statistics has become engrossed in the large-scale data available through online testing and online learning behaviours. The world of computational psychometrics seeks to move educational testing statistics into the dynamic analysis of big data with machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms potentially creating a black box of sophisticated statistical models (e.g., neural networks) which learners, teachers, administrators, and citizens cannot understand ( von Davier et al., 2019 ). The introduction of computing technologies means that automation of item generation ( Gierl and Lai, 2016 ) and scoring of performances ( Shin et al., 2021 ) is possible, along with customisation of test content according to test-taker performance ( Linden and Glas, 2000 ). The Covid-19 pandemic has rapidly inserted online and distance testing as a commonplace practice with concerns raised about how technology is used to assure the integrity of student performance ( Dawson, 2021 ).

The ecology of the classroom is not the same as that of a computerised test. This is especially notable when the consequence of a test (regardless of medium) has little relevance to a student ( Wise and Smith, 2016 ). Performance on international large-scale assessments (e.g., PISA, TIMSS) may matter to government officials ( Teltemann and Klieme, 2016 ) but these tests have little value for individual learners. Nonetheless, governmental responses to PISA or TIMSS results may create policies and initiatives that have trickle-down effect on schools and students ( Zumbo and Forer, 2011 ). Consequently, depending on the educational and cultural environment, test-taking motivation on tests that have consequences for the state can be similar to a test with personal consequence in East Asia ( Zhao et al., 2020 ), but much lower in a western democracy ( Zhao et al., 2022 ). Hence, without surety that in any educational test learners are giving full effort ( Thorndike, 1924 ), the information generated by psychometric analysis is likely to be invalid. Fortunately, under computer testing conditions, it is now possible to monitor reduced or wavering effort during an actual test event and provide support to such a student through a supervising proctor ( Wise, 2019 ), though this feature is not widely prevalent.

Online or remote teaching, learning, and assessment have become a reality for many teachers and students, especially in light of our educational responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. Clearly, some families appreciate this because their children can progress rapidly, unencumbered by the teacher or classmates. For such families, continuing with digital schooling would be seen as a positive future. However, reliance on a computer interface as the sole means of assessment or teaching may dehumanise the very human experience of learning and teaching. As Asimov (1954) described in his short story of a future world in which children are taught individually by machines, Margie imagined what it must have been like to go to school with other children:

Margie …was thinking about the old schools they had when her grandfather's grandfather was a little boy. All the kids from the whole neighborhood came, laughing and shouting in the schoolyard, sitting together in the schoolroom, going home together at the end of the day. They learned the same things so they could help one another on the homework and talk about it.

And the teachers were people...

The mechanical teacher was flashing on the screen: "When we add the fractions ½ and ¼ -"

Margie was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days. She was thinking about the fun they had.

As Brown (2020b) has argued the option of a de-schooled society through computer-based teaching, learning, and assessment is deeply unattractive on the grounds that it is likely to be socially unjust. The human experience of schooling matters to the development of humans. We learn through instruction ( Bloom, 1976 ), culturally located experiences ( Cole et al., 1971 ), inter-personal interaction with peers and adults ( Vygotsky, 1978 ; Rogoff, 1991 ), and biogenetic factors ( Inhelder and Piaget, 1958 ). Schooling gives us access to environments in which these multiple processes contribute to the kinds of citizens we want. Hence, we need confidence in the power of shared schooling to do more than increase the speed by which children acquire knowledge and learning; it helps us be more human.

This dilemma echoes the tension between in vitro and in vivo biological research. Within the controlled environment of a test tube (vitro) organisms do not necessarily behave the same way as they do when released into the complexity of human biology ( Autoimmunity Research Foundation, 2012 ). This analogy has been applied to educational assessment ( Zumbo, 2015 ) indicating that how students perform in a computer-mediated test may not have validity for how students perform in classroom interactions or in-person environments.

The complexity of human psychology is captured in Hattie’s (2004) ROPE model which posits that the various aspects of human motivation, belief, strategy, and values interact as threads spun into a rope. This means it is hard to analytically separate the various components and identify aspects that individually explain learning outcomes. Indeed, Marsh et al. (2006) showed that of the many self-concept and control beliefs used to predict performance on the PISA tests, almost all variables have relations to achievement less than r  = 0.35. Instead, interactions among motivation, beliefs about learning, intelligence, assessment, the self, and attitudes with and toward others, subjects, and behaviours all matter to performance. Aspects that create growth-oriented pathways ( Boekaerts and Niemivirta, 2000 ) and strategies include inter alia mastery goals ( Deci and Ryan, 2000 ), deep learning ( Biggs et al., 2001 ) beliefs, malleable intelligence ( Duckworth et al., 2011 ) beliefs, improvement-oriented beliefs about assessment ( Brown, 2011 ), internal, controllable attributes ( Weiner, 1985 ), effort ( Wise and DeMars, 2005 ), avoiding dishonesty ( Murdock et al., 2016 ), trusting one’s peers ( Panadero, 2016 ), and realism in evaluating one’s own work ( Brown and Harris, 2014 ). All these adaptive aspects of learning stand in contrast to deactivating and maladaptive beliefs, strategies, and attitudes that serve to protect the ego and undermine learning. What this tells us that psychological research matters to understanding the results of assessment and that no one single psychological construct is sufficient to explain very much of the variance in student achievement. However, it seems we are as yet unable to identify which specific processes matter most to better performance for all students across the ability spectrum, given that almost all the constructs that have been reported in educational psychology seem to have a positive contribution to better performance. Here is the challenge for educational psychology within an assessment setting —which constructs are most important and effectual before, during, and after any assessment process ( Mcmillan, 2016 ) and how should they be operationalised.

A current enthusiasm is to use ‘big data’ from computer-based assessments to examine in more detail how students carry out the process of responding to tasks. Many large-scale testing programs through computer testing collect, utilize, and report on test-taker engagement as part of their process data collection (e.g., the United States National Assessment of Educational Progress 4 ). These test systems provide data about what options were clicked on, in what order, what pages were viewed, and the timings of these actions. Several challenges to using big data in educational assessment exist. First, computerised assessments need to capture the processes and products we care about. That means we need a clear theoretical model of the underlying cognitive mechanisms or processes that generate the process data itself ( Zumbo et al., in press ). Second, we need to be reminded that data do not explain themselves; theory and insight about process are needed to understand data ( Pearl and Mackenzie, 2018 ). Examination of log files can give some insight into effective vs. ineffective strategies, once the data were analysed using theory to create a model of how a problem should be done ( Greiff et al., 2015 ). Access to data logs that show effort and persistence on a difficult task can reveal that, despite failure to successfully resolve a problem, such persistence is related to overall performance ( Lundgren and Eklöf, 2020 ). But data by itself will not tell us how and why students are successful and what instruction might need to do to encourage students to use the scientific method of manipulating one variable at a time or not giving up quickly.

Psychometric analyses of assessments can only statistically model item difficulty, item discrimination, and item chance parameters to estimate person ability ( Embretson and Reise, 2000 ). None of the other psychological features of how learners relate to themselves and their environment are included in score estimation. In real classroom contexts, teachers make their best efforts to account for individual motivation, affect, and cognition to provide appropriate instruction, feedback, support, and questioning. However, the nature of these factors varies across time (cohorts), locations (cultures and societies), policy priorities for schooling and assessment, and family values ( Brown and Harris, 2009 ). This means that what constitutes a useful assessment to inform instruction in a classroom context (i.e., identify to the teacher who needs to be taught what next) needs to constantly evolve and be incredibly sensitive to individual and contextual factors. This is difficult if we keep psychology, curriculum, psychometrics, and technology in separate silos. It seems highly desirable that these different disciplines interact, but it is not guaranteed that the technology for psychometric testing developments will cross-pollinate with classroom contexts where teachers have to relate to and monitor student learning across all important curricular domains.

It is common to treat what happens in the minds and emotions of students when they are assessed as a kind of ‘black box’ implying that the processes are opaque or unknowable. This is an approach I have taken previously in examining what students do when asked to self-assess ( Yan and Brown, 2017 ). However, the meaning of a black box is quite different in engineering. In aeronautics, the essential constructs related to flight (e.g., engine power, aileron settings, pitch and yaw positions, etc.) are known very deeply, otherwise flight would not happen. The black box in an airplane records the values of those important variables and the only thing unknown (i.e., black) is what the values were at the point of interest. If we are to continue to use this metaphor as a way of understanding what happens when students are assessed or assess, then we need to agree on what the essential constructs are that underlie learning and achievement. Our current situation seems to be satisfied with everything is correlated and everything matters. It may be that data science will help us sort through the chaff for the wheat provided we design and implement sensors appropriate to the constructs we consider hypothetically most important. It may be that measuring timing of mouse clicks and eye tracking do connect to important underlying mechanisms, but at this stage data science in testing seems largely a case of crunch the ‘easy to get’ numbers and hope that the data mean something.

To address this concern, we need to develop for education’s sake, assessments that have strong alignment with curricular ambitions and values and which have applicability to classroom contexts and processes ( Bennett, 2018 ). This will mean technology that supports what humans must do in schooling rather than replace them with teaching/testing machines. Fortunately, some examples of assessment technology for learning do exist. One supportive technology is PeerWise ( Denny et al., 2008 ; Hancock et al., 2018 ) in which students create course related multiple-choice questions and use them as a self-testing learning strategy. A school-based technology is the e-asTTle computer assessment system that produces a suite of diagnostic reports to support teachers’ planning and teaching in response to what the system indicated students need to be taught ( Hattie and Brown, 2008 ; Brown and Hattie, 2012 ; Brown et al., 2018 ). What these technologies do is support rather than supplant the work that teachers and learners need to do to know what they need to study or teach and to monitor their progress. Most importantly they are well-connected to what students must learn and what teachers are teaching. Other detailed work uses organised learning models or dynamic learning maps to mark out routes for learners and teachers using cognitive and curriculum insights with psychometric tools for measuring status and progress ( Kingston et al., 2022 ). The work done by Wise (2019) shows that it is possible in a computer assisted testing environment to monitor student effort based on their speed of responding and give prompts that support greater effort and less speed.

Assessment needs to exploit more deeply the insights educational psychology has given us into human behavior, attitudes, inter- and intra-personal relations, emotions, and so on. This was called for some 20 years ago ( National Research Council, 2001 ) but the underlying disciplines that inform this integration seem to have grown away from each other. Nonetheless, the examples given above suggest that the gaps can be closed. But assessments still do not seem to consider and respond to these psychological determinants of achievement. Teachers have the capability of integrating curriculum, testing, psychology, and data at a superficial level but with some considerable margin of error ( Meissel et al., 2017 ). To overcome their own error, teachers need technologies that support them in making useful and accurate interpretations of what students need to be taught next that work with them in the classroom. As Bennett (2018) pointed out more technology will happen, but perhaps not more tests on computers. This is the assessment that will help teachers rather than replace them and give us hope for a better future.

Author contributions

GB wrote this manuscript and is solely responsible for its content.

Support for the publication of this paper was received from the Publishing and Scholarly Services of the Umeå University Library.

Acknowledgments

A previous version of this paper was presented as a keynote address to the 2019 biennial meeting of the European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction, with the title Products, Processes, Psychology, and Technology: Quo Vadis Educational Assessment ?

Conflict of interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: assessment, testing, technology, psychometrics, psychology, curriculum, classroom

Citation: Brown GTL (2022) The past, present and future of educational assessment: A transdisciplinary perspective. Front. Educ . 7:1060633. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2022.1060633

Received: 03 October 2022; Accepted: 25 October 2022; Published: 11 November 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Brown. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Gavin T. L. Brown, [email protected] ; [email protected]

This article is part of the Research Topic

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Learn How to Support Stressed and Anxious Students.

Formative, Summative, and More Types of Assessments in Education

All the best ways to evaluate learning before, during, and after it happens.

When you hear the word assessment, do you automatically think “tests”? While it’s true that tests are one kind of assessment, they’re not the only way teachers evaluate student progress. Learn more about the types of assessments used in education, and find out how and when to use them.

Diagnostic Assessments

Formative assessments, summative assessments.

• Criterion-Referenced, Ipsative, and Normative Assessments

What is assessment?

In simplest terms, assessment means gathering data to help understand progress and effectiveness. In education, we gather data about student learning in variety of ways, then use it to assess both their progress and the effectiveness of our teaching programs. This helps educators know what’s working well and where they need to make changes.

There are three broad types of assessments: diagnostic, formative, and summative. These take place throughout the learning process, helping students and teachers gauge learning. Within those three broad categories, you’ll find other types of assessment, such as ipsative, norm-referenced, and criterion-referenced.

What’s the purpose of assessment in education?

In education, we can group assessments under three main purposes:

• Of learning
• For learning
• As learning

Assessment of learning is student-based and one of the most familiar, encompassing tests, reports, essays, and other ways of determining what students have learned. These are usually summative assessments, and they are used to gauge progress for individuals and groups so educators can determine who has mastered the material and who needs more assistance.

When we talk about assessment for learning, we’re referring to the constant evaluations teachers perform as they teach. These quick assessments—such as in-class discussions or quick pop quizzes—give educators the chance to see if their teaching strategies are working. This allows them to make adjustments in action, tailoring their lessons and activities to student needs. Assessment for learning usually includes the formative and diagnostic types.

Assessment can also be a part of the learning process itself. When students use self-evaluations, flash cards, or rubrics, they’re using assessments to help them learn.

Let’s take a closer look at the various types of assessments used in education.

Diagnostic assessments are used before learning to determine what students already do and do not know. This often refers to pre-tests and other activities students attempt at the beginning of a unit.

How To Use Diagnostic Assessments

When giving diagnostic assessments, it’s important to remind students these won’t affect their overall grade. Instead, it’s a way for them to find out what they’ll be learning in an upcoming lesson or unit. It can also help them understand their own strengths and weaknesses, so they can ask for help when they need it.

Teachers can use results to understand what students already know and adapt their lesson plans accordingly. There’s no point in over-teaching a concept students have already mastered. On the other hand, a diagnostic assessment can also help highlight expected pre-knowledge that may be missing.

For instance, a teacher might assume students already know certain vocabulary words that are important for an upcoming lesson. If the diagnostic assessment indicates differently, the teacher knows they’ll need to take a step back and do a little pre-teaching before getting to their actual lesson plans.

Examples of Diagnostic Assessments

• Pre-test: This includes the same questions (or types of questions) that will appear on a final test, and it’s an excellent way to compare results.
• Blind Kahoot: Teachers and kids already love using Kahoot for test review, but it’s also the perfect way to introduce a new topic. Learn how Blind Kahoots work here.
• Survey or questionnaire: Ask students to rate their knowledge on a topic with a series of low-stakes questions.
• Checklist: Create a list of skills and knowledge students will build throughout a unit, and have them start by checking off any they already feel they’ve mastered. Revisit the list frequently as part of formative assessment.

Formative assessments take place during instruction. They’re used throughout the learning process and help teachers make on-the-go adjustments to instruction and activities as needed. These assessments aren’t used in calculating student grades, but they are planned as part of a lesson or activity. Learn much more about formative assessments here.

How To Use Formative Assessments

As you’re building a lesson plan, be sure to include formative assessments at logical points. These types of assessments might be used at the end of a class period, after finishing a hands-on activity, or once you’re through with a unit section or learning objective.

Once you have the results, use that feedback to determine student progress, both overall and as individuals. If the majority of a class is struggling with a specific concept, you might need to find different ways to teach it. Or you might discover that one student is especially falling behind and arrange to offer extra assistance to help them out.

While kids may grumble, standard homework review assignments can actually be a pretty valuable type of formative assessment . They give kids a chance to practice, while teachers can evaluate their progress by checking the answers. Just remember that homework review assignments are only one type of formative assessment, and not all kids have access to a safe and dedicated learning space outside of school.

Examples of Formative Assessments

• Exit tickets : At the end of a lesson or class, pose a question for students to answer before they leave. They can answer using a sticky note, online form, or digital tool.
• Kahoot quizzes : Kids enjoy the gamified fun, while teachers appreciate the ability to analyze the data later to see which topics students understand well and which need more time.
• Flip (formerly Flipgrid): We love Flip for helping teachers connect with students who hate speaking up in class. This innovative (and free!) tech tool lets students post selfie videos in response to teacher prompts. Kids can view each other’s videos, commenting and continuing the conversation in a low-key way.
• Self-evaluation: Encourage students to use formative assessments to gauge their own progress too. If they struggle with review questions or example problems, they know they’ll need to spend more time studying. This way, they’re not surprised when they don’t do well on a more formal test.

Find a big list of 25 creative and effective formative assessment options here.

Summative assessments are used at the end of a unit or lesson to determine what students have learned. By comparing diagnostic and summative assessments, teachers and learners can get a clearer picture of how much progress they’ve made. Summative assessments are often tests or exams but also include options like essays, projects, and presentations.

How To Use Summative Assessments

The goal of a summative assessment is to find out what students have learned and if their learning matches the goals for a unit or activity. Ensure you match your test questions or assessment activities with specific learning objectives to make the best use of summative assessments.

When possible, use an array of summative assessment options to give all types of learners a chance to demonstrate their knowledge. For instance, some students suffer from severe test anxiety but may still have mastered the skills and concepts and just need another way to show their achievement. Consider ditching the test paper and having a conversation with the student about the topic instead, covering the same basic objectives but without the high-pressure test environment.

Summative assessments are often used for grades, but they’re really about so much more. Encourage students to revisit their tests and exams, finding the right answers to any they originally missed. Think about allowing retakes for those who show dedication to improving on their learning. Drive home the idea that learning is about more than just a grade on a report card.

Examples of Summative Assessments

• Traditional tests: These might include multiple-choice, matching, and short-answer questions.
• Essays and research papers: This is another traditional form of summative assessment, typically involving drafts (which are really formative assessments in disguise) and edits before a final copy.
• Presentations: From oral book reports to persuasive speeches and beyond, presentations are another time-honored form of summative assessment.

Find 25 of our favorite alternative assessments here.

More Types of Assessments

Now that you know the three basic types of assessments, let’s take a look at some of the more specific and advanced terms you’re likely to hear in professional development books and sessions. These assessments may fit into some or all of the broader categories, depending on how they’re used. Here’s what teachers need to know.

Criterion-Referenced Assessments

In this common type of assessment, a student’s knowledge is compared to a standard learning objective. Most summative assessments are designed to measure student mastery of specific learning objectives. The important thing to remember about this type of assessment is that it only compares a student to the expected learning objectives themselves, not to other students.

Many standardized tests are criterion-referenced assessments. A governing board determines the learning objectives for a specific group of students. Then, all students take a standardized test to see if they’ve achieved those objectives.

Find out more about criterion-referenced assessments here.

Norm-Referenced Assessments

These types of assessments do compare student achievement with that of their peers. Students receive a ranking based on their score and potentially on other factors as well. Norm-referenced assessments usually rank on a bell curve, establishing an “average” as well as high performers and low performers.

These assessments can be used as screening for those at risk for poor performance (such as those with learning disabilities) or to identify high-level learners who would thrive on additional challenges. They may also help rank students for college entrance or scholarships, or determine whether a student is ready for a new experience like preschool.

Learn more about norm-referenced assessments here.

Ipsative Assessments

In education, ipsative assessments compare a learner’s present performance to their own past performance, to chart achievement over time. Many educators consider ipsative assessment to be the most important of all , since it helps students and parents truly understand what they’ve accomplished—and sometimes, what they haven’t. It’s all about measuring personal growth.

Comparing the results of pre-tests with final exams is one type of ipsative assessment. Some schools use curriculum-based measurement to track ipsative performance. Kids take regular quick assessments (often weekly) to show their current skill/knowledge level in reading, writing, math, and other basics. Their results are charted, showing their progress over time.

Learn more about ipsative assessment in education here.

Have more questions about the best types of assessments to use with your students? Come ask for advice in the We Are Teachers HELPLINE group on Facebook.

Plus, check out creative ways to check for understanding ..

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What Is Formative Assessment and How Should Teachers Use It?

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17.6: What are the benefits of essay tests?

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• Jennfer Kidd, Jamie Kaufman, Peter Baker, Patrick O'Shea, Dwight Allen, & Old Dominion U students
• Old Dominion University

Learning Objectives

• Understand the benefits of essay questions for both Students and Teachers
• Identify when essays are useful

Introduction

Essays, along with multiple choice, are a very common method of assessment. Essays offer a means completely different than that of multiple choice. When thinking of a means of assessment, the essay along with multiple choice are the two that most come to mind (Schouller).The essay lends itself to specific subjects; for example, a math test would not have an essay question. The essay is more common in the arts, humanities and the social sciences(Scouller). On occasion an essay can be used used in both physical and natural sciences as well(Scouller). As a future history teacher, I will find that essays will be an essential part of my teaching structure.

The Benefits for Students

By utilizing essays as a mean of assessments, teachers are able to better survey what the student has learned. Multiple choice questions, by their very design, can be worked around. The student can guess, and has decent chance of getting the question right, even if they did not know the answer. This blind guessing does not benefit the student at all. In addition, some multiple choices can deceive the student(Moore). Short answers, and their big brother the essay, work in an entirely different way. Essays remove this factor. in a addition, rather than simply recognize the subject matter, the student must recall the material covered. This challenges the student more, and by forcing the student to remember the information needed, causes the student to retain it better. This in turn reinforces understanding(Moore). Scouller adds to this observation, determining that essay assessment "encourages students' development of higher order intellectual skills and the employment of deeper learning approaches; and secondly, allows students to demonstrate their development."

"Essay questions provide more opportunity to communicate ideas. Whereas multiple choice limits the options, an essay allows the student express ideas that would otherwise not be communicated." (Moore)

The Benefits for Teachers

The matter of preparation must also be considered when comparing multiple choice and essays. For multiple choice questions, the instructor must choose several questions that cover the material covered. After doing so, then the teacher has to come up with multiple possible answers. This is much more difficult than one might assume. With the essay question, the teacher will still need to be creative. However, the teacher only has to come up with a topic, and what the student is expected to cover. This saves the teacher time. When grading, the teacher knows what he or she is looking for in the paper, so the time spent reading is not necessarily more. The teacher also benefits from a better understanding of what they are teaching. The process of selecting a good essay question requires some critical thought of its own, which reflects onto the teacher(Moore).

Multiple Choice. True or False. Short Answer. Essay. All are forms of assessment. All have their pros and cons. For some, they are better suited for particular subjects. Others, not so much. Some students may even find essays to be easier. It is vital to understand when it is best to utilize the essay. Obviously for teachers of younger students, essays are not as useful. However, as the age of the student increase, the importance of the essay follows suit. That essays are utilized in essential exams such as the SAT, SOLs and in our case the PRAXIS demonstrates how important essays are. However, what it ultimately comes down to is what the teacher feels what will best assess what has been covered.

Exercise \(\PageIndex{1}\)

1)What Subject would most benefit from essays?

B: Mathematics for the Liberal Arts

C: Survey of American Literature

2)What is an advantage of essay assessment for the student?

A) They allow for better expression

B) There is little probability for randomness

C) The time taken is less overall

D) A & B

3)What is NOT a benefit of essay assessment for the teacher

A)They help the instructor better understand the subject

B)They remove some the work required for multiple choice

C)The time spent on preparation is less

D) There is no noticeable benefit.

4)Issac is a teacher making up a test. The test will have multiple sections: Short answer, multiple choice, and an essay. What subject does Issac MOST LIKELY teach?

References Cited

1)Moore, S.(2008) Interview with Scott Moore, Professor at Old Dominion University

2)Scouller, K. (1998). The influence of assessment method on students' learning approaches: multiple Choice question examination versus assignment essay. Higher Education 35(4), pp. 453–472

Essay on Learning Assessment

Students are often asked to write an essay on Learning Assessment in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Learning Assessment

What is learning assessment.

Learning assessment is a way teachers check what students understand. It’s like a snapshot of a student’s knowledge at a certain time. Assessments can be tests, quizzes, or even class participation.

Types of Assessments

There are different kinds of assessments. Some happen during learning, called formative assessments. Others occur at the end, known as summative assessments. Projects and presentations can also be used to assess learning.

Why Assessments Matter

Assessments help teachers know if students are learning what they should. They show which areas students are good at and which need more work. This helps teachers decide what to teach next.

Feedback from Assessments

After assessments, students get feedback. This means teachers tell students how they did and how they can improve. Good feedback helps students learn better and feel confident.

In conclusion, learning assessment is important in education. It guides teachers and helps students understand their progress. It’s a key part of the learning process.

250 Words Essay on Learning Assessment

Learning assessment is like a teacher using a map to find out how far a student has traveled on their education journey. It’s a way to see what a student knows and can do after a lesson or a series of lessons. Think of it as a progress report that helps teachers and students understand more about the learning process.

There are two main types of assessments: tests and projects. Tests are usually a set of questions that you answer to show what you remember and understand. Projects, on the other hand, are like big tasks where you create something, like a model or a report, to show your skills and knowledge.

Assessments are important because they give feedback. Feedback is like getting directions on what to do next. It tells you what you’re good at and what you need to work on. This helps you learn better and helps teachers know how to help you.

How Assessments Help Students

When you get your test or project back, you can see your mistakes and learn from them. This is how you grow and get better at different subjects. Assessments also help you get ready for the next class or the next grade by showing you what you need to practice more.

In conclusion, learning assessment is a key part of school. It’s not just about getting grades. It’s about understanding your strengths and areas to improve. This way, both you and your teacher can work together to make sure you’re learning and growing every day.

500 Words Essay on Learning Assessment

Learning assessment is a way to find out what students know and how well they understand what they have been taught. It’s like a teacher using a measuring tape to see how much a student has grown in their knowledge. This can be done through tests, quizzes, projects, or even by watching and talking to students.

Types of Learning Assessments

There are two main types of assessments: formative and summative. Formative assessments are like practice runs. They happen while students are still learning, and they help teachers see where students might need more help. Examples are quick quizzes or in-class activities. Summative assessments are like the final race. They measure what students have learned after a period of teaching. These are usually big tests or final projects at the end of a unit or term.

Why are Assessments Important?

Assessments are important because they help students and teachers in many ways. For students, they show what they have learned and what they still need to work on. For teachers, assessments give information to plan their lessons better and help each student improve. They also let parents know how their children are doing in school.

How to Make Assessments Fair and Useful

A good assessment should be fair, which means every student has an equal chance to show what they know. It should also be clear, so students understand what is being asked of them. Teachers should make sure that tests match what they have been teaching. They should also give feedback, which is like giving advice on how to do better next time.

Challenges with Assessments

Sometimes, tests can make students feel nervous, and they might not do as well as they could. Also, some students might be good at taking tests but not as good at other important things like working in groups or being creative. It’s important for schools to use different kinds of assessments to get the full picture of what a student can do.

Technology and Assessment

Technology is changing how we do assessments. Now, students can take tests on computers, and teachers can use apps to check homework quickly. This can make learning more interesting and give teachers more time to help students instead of grading papers.

The Future of Assessments

In the future, assessments might look very different. Schools are starting to understand that knowing facts is not the only important thing. Being able to solve problems and work with others is also key. So, we might see more assessments that look at these skills, too.

In conclusion, learning assessment is a tool that helps students grow and succeed. It’s not just about giving grades but about understanding and improving the learning journey. By making assessments fair, clear, and varied, we can make sure they are helpful for everyone involved.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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Assessing student writing, what does it mean to assess writing.

• Suggestions for Assessing Writing

Means of Responding

Rubrics: tools for response and assessment, constructing a rubric.

Assessment is the gathering of information about student learning. It can be used for formative purposes−−to adjust instruction−−or summative purposes: to render a judgment about the quality of student work. It is a key instructional activity, and teachers engage in it every day in a variety of informal and formal ways.

Assessment of student writing is a process. Assessment of student writing and performance in the class should occur at many different stages throughout the course and could come in many different forms. At various points in the assessment process, teachers usually take on different roles such as motivator, collaborator, critic, evaluator, etc., (see Brooke Horvath for more on these roles) and give different types of response.

One of the major purposes of writing assessment is to provide feedback to students. We know that feedback is crucial to writing development. The 2004 Harvard Study of Writing concluded, "Feedback emerged as the hero and the anti-hero of our study−powerful enough to convince students that they could or couldn't do the work in a given field, to push them toward or away from selecting their majors, and contributed, more than any other single factor, to students' sense of academic belonging or alienation" (http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~expos/index.cgi?section=study).

Source: Horvath, Brooke K. "The Components of Written Response: A Practical Synthesis of Current Views." Rhetoric Review 2 (January 1985): 136−56. Rpt. in C Corbett, Edward P. J., Nancy Myers, and Gary Tate. The Writing Teacher's Sourcebook . 4th ed. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2000.

Suggestions for Assessing Student Writing

Be sure to know what you want students to be able to do and why. Good assessment practices start with a pedagogically sound assignment description and learning goals for the writing task at hand. The type of feedback given on any task should depend on the learning goals you have for students and the purpose of the assignment. Think early on about why you want students to complete a given writing project (see guide to writing strong assignments page). What do you want them to know? What do you want students to be able to do? Why? How will you know when they have reached these goals? What methods of assessment will allow you to see that students have accomplished these goals (portfolio assessment assigning multiple drafts, rubric, etc)? What will distinguish the strongest projects from the weakest?

Begin designing writing assignments with your learning goals and methods of assessment in mind.

Plan and implement activities that support students in meeting the learning goals. How will you support students in meeting these goals? What writing activities will you allow time for? How can you help students meet these learning goals?

Begin giving feedback early in the writing process. Give multiple types of feedback early in the writing process. For example, talking with students about ideas, write written responses on drafts, have students respond to their peers' drafts in process, etc. These are all ways for students to receive feedback while they are still in the process of revising.

Structure opportunities for feedback at various points in the writing process. Students should also have opportunities to receive feedback on their writing at various stages in the writing process. This does not mean that teachers need to respond to every draft of a writing project. Structuring time for peer response and group workshops can be a very effective way for students to receive feedback from other writers in the class and for them to begin to learn to revise and edit their own writing.

Be open with students about your expectations and the purposes of the assignments. Students respond better to writing projects when they understand why the project is important and what they can learn through the process of completing it. Be explicit about your goals for them as writers and why those goals are important to their learning. Additionally, talk with students about methods of assessment. Some teachers have students help collaboratively design rubrics for the grading of writing. Whatever methods of assessment you choose, be sure to let students in on how they will be evaluated.

 Do not burden students with excessive feedback. Our instinct as teachers, especially when we are really interested in students´ writing is to offer as many comments and suggestions as we can. However, providing too much feedback can leave students feeling daunted and uncertain where to start in terms of revision. Try to choose one or two things to focus on when responding to a draft. Offer students concrete possibilities or strategies for revision.

Allow students to maintain control over their paper. Instead of acting as an editor, suggest options or open-ended alternatives the student can choose for their revision path. Help students learn to assess their own writing and the advice they get about it.

Purposes of Responding We provide different kinds of response at different moments. But we might also fall into a kind of "default" mode, working to get through the papers without making a conscious choice about how and why we want to respond to a given assignment. So it might be helpful to identify the two major kinds of response we provide:

• Formative Response: response that aims primarily to help students develop their writing. Might focus on confidence-building, on engaging the student in a conversation about her ideas or writing choices so as to help student to see herself as a successful and promising writer. Might focus on helping student develop a particular writing project, from one draft to next. Or, might suggest to student some general skills she could focus on developing over the course of a semester.
• Evaluative Response: response that focuses on evaluation of how well a student has done. Might be related to a grade. Might be used primarily on a final product or portfolio. Tends to emphasize whether or not student has met the criteria operative for specific assignment and to explain that judgment.

We respond to many kinds of writing and at different stages in the process, from reading responses, to exercises, to generation or brainstorming, to drafts, to source critiques, to final drafts. It is also helpful to think of the various forms that response can take.

• Conferencing: verbal, interactive response. This might happen in class or during scheduled sessions in offices. Conferencing can be more dynamic: we can ask students questions about their work, modeling a process of reflecting on and revising a piece of writing. Students can also ask us questions and receive immediate feedback. Conference is typically a formative response mechanism, but might also serve usefully to convey evaluative response.
• Written Comments on Drafts
• Local: when we focus on "local" moments in a piece of writing, we are calling attention to specifics in the paper. Perhaps certain patterns of grammar or moments where the essay takes a sudden, unexpected turn. We might also use local comments to emphasize a powerful turn of phrase, or a compelling and well-developed moment in a piece. Local commenting tends to happen in the margins, to call attention to specific moments in the piece by highlighting them and explaining their significance. We tend to use local commenting more often on drafts and when doing formative response.
• Global: when we focus more on the overall piece of writing and less on the specific moments in and of themselves. Global comments tend to come at the end of a piece, in narrative-form response. We might use these to step back and tell the writer what we learned overall, or to comment on a pieces' general organizational structure or focus. We tend to use these for evaluative response and often, deliberately or not, as a means of justifying the grade we assigned.
• Rubrics: charts or grids on which we identify the central requirements or goals of a specific project. Then, we evaluate whether or not, and how effectively, students met those criteria. These can be written with students as a means of helping them see and articulate the goals a given project.

Rubrics are tools teachers and students use to evaluate and classify writing, whether individual pieces or portfolios. They identify and articulate what is being evaluated in the writing, and offer "descriptors" to classify writing into certain categories (1-5, for instance, or A-F). Narrative rubrics and chart rubrics are the two most common forms. Here is an example of each, using the same classification descriptors:

Example: Narrative Rubric for Inquiring into Family & Community History

An "A" project clearly and compellingly demonstrates how the public event influenced the family/community. It shows strong audience awareness, engaging readers throughout. The form and structure are appropriate for the purpose(s) and audience(s) of the piece. The final product is virtually error-free. The piece seamlessly weaves in several other voices, drawn from appropriate archival, secondary, and primary research. Drafts - at least two beyond the initial draft - show extensive, effective revision. Writer's notes and final learning letter demonstrate thoughtful reflection and growing awareness of writer's strengths and challenges.

A "B" project clearly and compellingly demonstrates how the public event influenced the family/community. It shows strong audience awareness, and usually engages readers. The form and structure are appropriate for the audience(s) and purpose(s) of the piece, though the organization may not be tight in a couple places. The final product includes a few errors, but these do no interfere with readers' comprehension. The piece effectively, if not always seamlessly, weaves several other voices, drawn from appropriate archival, secondary, and primary research. One area of research may not be as strong as the other two. Drafts - at least two beyond the initial drafts - show extensive, effective revision. Writer's notes and final learning letter demonstrate thoughtful reflection and growing awareness of writer's strengths and challenges.

A "C" project demonstrates how the public event influenced the family/community. It shows audience awareness, sometimes engaging readers. The form and structure are appropriate for the audience(s) and purpose(s), but the organization breaks down at times. The piece includes several, apparent errors, which at times compromises the clarity of the piece. The piece incorporates other voices, drawn from at least two kinds of research, but in a generally forced or awkward way. There is unevenness in the quality and appropriateness of the research. Drafts - at least one beyond the initial draft - show some evidence of revision. Writer's notes and final learning letter show some reflection and growth in awareness of writer's strengths and challenges.

A "D" project discusses a public event and a family/community, but the connections may not be clear. It shows little audience awareness. The form and structure is poorly chosen or poorly executed. The piece includes many errors, which regularly compromise the comprehensibility of the piece. There is an attempt to incorporate other voices, but this is done awkwardly or is drawn from incomplete or inappropriate research. There is little evidence of revision. Writer's notes and learning letter are missing or show little reflection or growth.

An "F" project is not responsive to the prompt. It shows little or no audience awareness. The purpose is unclear and the form and structure are poorly chosen and poorly executed. The piece includes many errors, compromising the clarity of the piece throughout. There is little or no evidence of research. There is little or no evidence of revision. Writer's notes and learning letter are missing or show no reflection or growth.

Chart Rubric for Community/Family History Inquiry Project

All good rubrics begin (and end) with solid criteria. We always start working on rubrics by generating a list - by ourselves or with students - of what we value for a particular project or portfolio. We generally list far more items than we could use in a single rubric. Then, we narrow this list down to the most important items - between 5 and 7, ideally. We do not usually rank these items in importance, but it is certainly possible to create a hierarchy of criteria on a rubric (usually by listing the most important criteria at the top of the chart or at the beginning of the narrative description).

Once we have our final list of criteria, we begin to imagine how writing would fit into a certain classification category (1-5, A-F, etc.). How would an "A" essay differ from a "B" essay in Organization? How would a "B" story differ from a "C" story in Character Development? The key here is to identify useful descriptors - drawing the line at appropriate places. Sometimes, these gradations will be precise: the difference between handing in 80% and 90% of weekly writing, for instance. Other times, they will be vague: the difference between "effective revisions" and "mostly effective revisions", for instance. While it is important to be as precise as possible, it is also important to remember that rubric writing (especially in writing classrooms) is more art than science, and will never - and nor should it - stand in for algorithms. When we find ourselves getting caught up in minute gradations, we tend to be overlegislating students´- writing and losing sight of the purpose of the exercise: to support students' development as writers. At the moment when rubric-writing thwarts rather than supports students' writing, we should discontinue the practice. Until then, many students will find rubrics helpful -- and sometimes even motivating.

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Reflective Essay on Assessment

2019, International Research Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy (IRJCP)

The goal of education is learning, and the vehicle used to accomplish this goal is teaching. In the learning-teaching process, the fundamental component which determines the degree of learner outcomes’ achievement is assessment. Assessment has the express objective of determining whether or not learners have learned what they are supposed to learn. This reflective essay on assessment looks at assessment and what it is, what assessment should not be, how to constructively align assessment to learning outcomes, and valid assessment practices, among others. It is based on my personal experiences in the learning-teaching arena, from the secondary institution system to the tertiary institution system, and how my assessment practices have been transformed since having completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching. It is underscored that since assessment should send the right messages to learners, it should be done carefully in order to give an accurate picture of student learning. Keywords: assessment, learning and teaching, learning, teaching, learner(s).

Related Papers

The Repercussions of Assessment on the Teaching and the learning Process

Mahmoud Sultan Nafaa

Abstract. This paper explores profoundly the pivotal role that assessment plays in the educational process from different perspectives. Firstly, it defines the concept of assessment and points out the differences between assessment and evaluation. Moreover, explicates the impacts of assessment on the educational process and investigates the different levels of assessment and the role of each level in enriching the educational process. Furthermore, states the characteristics of an effective and efficient assessment tool and the practical ways of designing and implementing exams in a constructive and engaging educational environment. Additionally, this article differentiates between assessments in order to make use of them effectively.

Journal of Educational and Social Research

Hera Soliman

Assessment is indispensable component of curriculum practice. In systems of education, one of the prime considerations of administrators, teachers, and students alike are the outcomes of learning, what ability students can demonstrate because of increase in their knowledge and changes in understanding because of experiences in school or college. Concern for how learning takes place in higher learning institutes and how instruction and assessment affect the quality of learning is desirable, for students need to acquire knowledge and competencies that can be transferable in the work place. Therefore, educators need to think carefully about the quality of curriculum practice and learning assessment in higher education. Much of current teaching and assessment in higher learning institutes seems to induce passive, reproductive form of learning that is contrary to the aims of instructors themselves. Most of the time instructors emphasize on factual knowledge, bind students too firmly within currently acceptable theoretical framework, and do the same while assessing learning. To the contrary, transferable skills valued by employers such as problem solving, communication skills, and working effectively with others are highly essential. Educators are suggesting that instructors will be more effective if assessment is integral to teaching and how learning activities are structured. Performance assessment, portfolios, authentic assessment and student self and peer assessment together with feedback and comments have been advocated as procedures that align assessment with current constructivist theories of learning and teaching. For instance, teachers are responsible for providing feedback that students need in order to re-learn and refine learning goals. Hence, this article reviews, roles of assessment in operating and experiencing the curriculum, importance of continuous assessment for enhancement of student learning, and the roles of feedback and comments for curriculum practice and learning enhancement.

Emon Raupan

Prof Abdulai Abukari

Danica Gondová

Assessment has got many purposes and may serve various formative and summative functions. In our paper we deal with assessment for learning which is process-oriented, helps learners improve and enhance their learning and understand it better. In order to achieve that learners need to know their learning objectives and the criteria which are used to assess their performance, they should be given a lot of descriptive feedback and have many opportunities to self-assess. In our study we analyze if assessment for learning is implemented at gymnasia in Slovakia, how students are assessed, if the focus of assessment is on the product (summative assessment) or on the process (formative assessment) and if teachers facilitate self-assessment. The results which we arrived at indicate that assessment for learning is not done at the observed schools, the feedback students get on their learning is evaluative and as such it does not help them improve their learning, succeed in achieving the object...

Johnson Waweru

The success of the teaching and learning process depends on the ability of the teacher to use appropriate methods in the teaching process as well as assessment. With a wide range of assessment methods, every teacher must carefully select the right method in order to determine the progress of each learner before the end of the lesson, session, unit or course. Despite the differences or similarities in the assessment methods, it is crucial to remember that the assessment process should have goals that include improving the learning process for the sake of the learner. For this assignment, I will be comparing the Formative and Benchmarking methods of assessment as experienced and witnessed in my career.

Tom S . Cockburn

Ghazala Siddiqi

Assessment Practices in Education "We plan. We develop. We deliver. We assess and evaluate the results of the assessment. We revise, deliver the revised material, and assess and evaluate again. Perfection is always just out of reach; but continually striving for perfection contributes to keeping both our instruction fresh and our interest in teaching piqued."-E.S. Grassian Assessment is a fundamental element in the process of teaching and learning and is instrumental in enhancing its overall quality. Well designed assessment sets clear expectations, establishes a reasonable workload-one that does not drive students into rote reproductive approaches to study, and offers myriad opportunities for students to self-monitor, rehearse, practise and receive feedback. It is an integral component of a coherent and a sound educational experience. The paper attempts to highlight some of the foundational concepts and principles of assessment, assessment strategies and assessment literacy-in other words, what it is, why it is important to a teacher and how it is practised with reference to a good Language test. We have this notion that assessment often hinders the flow of teaching; but it is not so. There are so many assessment techniques that we consciously and unconsciously incorporate in our teaching strategies, however, at times we are unaware of the specific terminologies that go with them. The term raises some questions in my mind: How good or effective an assessor am I? Am I neglecting assessments while I teach? Am I able to draw a line between a smooth flow of instructions and at the same time keep an eye on the effect of instructions on the learners? Are these one to three hour tests actually valid form of assessment? If a learner fails a test does that mean that his assessment is negative? A commendable aspect of assessment is that it focuses on what students know, what they are able to do, and what values they have when they graduate to higher pastures in their academic journey. Let us not judge our students simply on what they know. That is the philosophy of the quiz programme. Rather let them be judged on what they can generate from what they know — how well they can leap the barrier from learning to thinking.-Jerome Bruner (Harvard Educational Review, 1959) Assessment does not stand in isolation from other acts that are a part of the process of learning, unlearning and relearning. Introducing multifaceted learning strategies in class would open up numerous vistas for learners with multiple intelligences and would certainly validate the process of assessments that are employed by the teachers. There is an urgent need to have a more constructive approach towards assessment planning and strategies.

Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice,

Harry Torrance

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A PGT guide to essays and assessments 

Before your dissertation, you likely have other assessments to worry about. If you’re looking for some support for nailing that coursework, keep reading! If you are wanting support with your dissertation, you can find some top tips here .

Uni Support

There’s a vast amount of academic and wellbeing support available to you, so make sure you really make the most of it.

• My Learning Essentials’  online resources to help you tackle assignments
• My Learning Essentials’  workshops on tackling assignments
• The Library’s online chat facility,  Library chat  (see the little yellow box to the right of the screen)
• Academic support resources
• Academic Success Programme  can help you brush up on your academic language skills.
• Academic phrasebook for internationally recognised academic writing style  Academic-Phrasebank-Sample-PDF-2018.pdf 
• Advice on how to avoid mal-practice .
• Mental health support

Apps to facilitate your work

• BioRender & other diagram-making sites

If you are a STEM student, diagrams are vital to effective learning. Using visual aids to learn enables better understanding and can help clearly display your results in papers. 

BioRender makes visually pleasing yet understandable diagrams but there are other programmes such as Chemix, SmartDraw, and MolView for other scientific backgrounds.

https://www.biorender.com

https://chemix.org

https://www.smartdraw.com

https://molview.org

If while you’re researching for your coursework you have 50 different PDFs, papers and websites open, OneTab can be the solution to secure them safely in one place, without clogging up your browser. With a single click, you can select all or some of your tabs to be organised by theme into neat folders. When you need to access these, you can open them again one by one or open all tabs in one folder together. 

If you don’t want your laptop to whirr loudly in the library, this one might be worth looking into.

  one-tab.com

• Slidesgo/Canva for Presentations

If you need to make presentations for group projects, or if they help you to study, Slidesgo and Canva should be your go-tos for making presentations, their built-in templates are far superior to PowerPoint.

https://slidesgo.com

• Beanote for WEBSITE notetaking

If you’re looking at lots of papers or websites for sources when you’re researching, it might be arduous to copy sections into a word document and easy to lose track of where you found your sources or why you wanted to share them. 

Beanote allows you to highlight passages on a website and add comments on a sticky note – ideal to remind you why you’ve highlighted that passage or quotation. You can also download your annotations as a Word document, HTML or Evernote file to come back to later.

https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/beanote-note-taking-on-we/nikccehomlnjkmgmhnieecolhgdafajb

• Mendeley Reference Manager  

Writing references can be time consuming but you definitely don’t want to leave it to the last minute and risk forgetting where you found quotes or not having enough time to finish your references properly. Using a reference manager can really help (but make sure you check over them yourself too!) 

You can use the reference manager as you go to keep on top of it so that you don’t have to do your referencing in a mad rush at the end, or scramble to find a missing source. 

Mendeley reference manager  has an add-on to your internet browser and to Microsoft Word, so it is very convenient. It will also save the paper if there is a PDF version available on the web page, making it extra secure. 

Assignment writing tips

• Plan your time – give yourself plenty of time to do the work and plan for off days, including illness, lower motivation plus breaks and socialisation. Don’t plan to work flat out for a week when you can give yourself more time and have a good balance with your other commitments, as well.
• Reference as you go – use the Apps suggested above to collect your sources in one place, keep track of tabs and reference as you go, so it’s not stressful at the end when you’re coming to assemble your essay or assignment.
• Use resources to make things easier – if you’re going to be using ChatGPT, make sure you’re using it properly and don’t risk getting accused of plagiarism, learn more about the Uni’s stance here . It can be a great tool to help with essay planning, rephrasing over-complicated sentences or suggesting a structure with good flow for your coursework but never rely on it as the final draft, you’ll only be doing yourself a disservice as AI still cannot compete with your expertise and knowledge.
• Get all your research in one place – make sure you have your sources, research and papers all in one place so you can draw from them easily. If you are a visual learner you can lay out the essay into sections on a mind map and group your sources into topics. Otherwise, a table or brief paragraphs might work, find what’s best for you.
• Make a plan, before you start writing – start by writing a thesis statement, (a few sentences long and answers the question in brief, clear terms by outlining your argument). This forms the central thread of the rest of your essay and helps your keep track of your argument if you get lost. You can also do the same for non-essay subjects to have a clear idea of where you’re going. You can do this for each section of the assignment to help map out where you need to go before you reach the conclusion, don’t be afraid to jump between sections if you don’t work chronologically, just keep a note so you know what’s missing.
• Get feedback from your peers and lecturers – one of the best things you can do to improve your work is to receive regular feedback. Don’t leave it too late so that your lecturer doesn’t have time to look over your early drafts, make sure they can give you feedback and point out any errors or further avenues for exploration early on, to help guide the process. Coursemates and friends can also be great at pointing out useful research you might have missed, finding problems in your arguments or spotting any grammatical errors.

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Essay on Substance Use, Crisis, and Assessment

Assessment Tools and Assessment Methods by Educators Essay

Assessment tools, assessment methods.

In their article, Brodie and Irving (2007) argue that regardless of the type of learning to set, educators need to ensure that students will grasp all the important characteristics of learning including how to be a successful learner, what to learn about, the validity of learning, and the analysis of learning they have already done. To be able to critically reflect on learning experiences, the participants of the educational process have to use a variety of assessment tools. Below, a few strategies for assessing both individual learner mastery and continuous quality improvement of the instruction will be addressed. In addition, the way critical reflection is beneficial for instructors and learners will be evaluated.

First, addressing the way assessment can be used for individual mastery, it is important to note that in today’s conditions of the workforce market, a new kind of employee is needed. Particularly, only the specialists, who have acquired numerous practical skills during learning at higher educational establishments, will get their due place in the world of labor. This thought finds its reflection in the article by Brodie and Irving, who states that “the skills and abilities needed on graduation by today’s students are the same as those of employees already in the workplace, who seek to manage and adapt to change and the demands of complex employment situations” (2007, p. 12). Thus, assessment tools used for individual mastery should help learners and the instructor see the level of corresponding of the acquired knowledge to the standards, set in the workplace conditions. Among such assessment tools are presentation, reflective interview, and reflective portfolio (Brodie & Irving, 2007). All of these assessment tools oblige learners to develop evidence that upholds their claims for learning.

Next, speaking about the role of assessment tools for continuous quality improvement of the instruction, it is necessary to state that it is as significant as for individual mastery. In this vein, the three main components of assessment strategies (learning, critical reflection, and capabilities) are essential tools that help the instructor see the growth in the body of learners’ knowledge and practical skills acquisition (Brodie & Irving, 2007).

Finally, the importance of critical reflection for the educator and learners can be hardly underestimated. Particularly, through critical reflection, the educator can identify the progress of one’s learners, and help them recognize the areas, where they have to put more effort. Critical reflection is no less meaningful for learners as it helps them actualize their learning potential, learning progress, and future learning objectives that should be realized in case they want to become successful workers in the future. This idea is supported by the following comment in the article under consideration: “accreditation of prior experiential learning may form a significant part of the ‘learning repertoire’, with claims for learning supported by critical reflective accounts” (Brodie & Irving, 2007, p.). Today, critical reflection seems to be one of the most effective learning tools for students, which is explained by numerous facts. Not only the opportunity to identify one’s studying progress using critical reflection has an important role, but also the thing that there exist numerous ways, in which students can see their achievements through critical reflection. For example, students may experience the value of doing a critical evaluation of their work using their learning journals; they may benefit from peer critical reflection; and of course, a great value of instructors’ critical reflection is beyond doubts.

Today, a great variety of assessment methods is used by educators in the learning process to make research studies, aiming to identify more effective ways of teaching. Below, a few of them will be addressed in detail to identify how they may contribute to the further assessment of the instructional problem, studied within the frames of this course.

Researchers resort to the use of different data collection methods. According to Hansen and Brady (2011), in action research, the two data collection methods are especially effective – the quantitative one, which is in conducting surveys, and the qualitative one that is in using interviews. There exist many other effective methods to collect research data for the assessment of learning effectiveness. For example, these are writing reflective journals by the participants of research to discover what makes them motivated during the learning process; using a strategy for playing in isolation for assessing the educational needs of autistic children; having several reading sessions with a couple of students to identify their reading difficulties; and so on.

To further assess the instructional problem, researched during this course, which is in perceiving and understanding the material by students with different levels of learning and comprehension abilities, the following methods can be implemented: (1) a quantitative research strategy, based on conducting a written survey among students using reflective journals (Hansen & Brady, 2011), and (2) working with two students, who have different learning skills and abilities using offering them varied learning tasks and identifying their reaction. The first method implicates proposing students to participate in a series of answering questions and sharing their opinion regarding different learning tasks in their reflective journals with the subsequent analysis of their responses. As a result of this method, the instructor will be able to identify common answers of students, participate in the research, and develop a centralized theory, based on their answers. The second method will help the instructor concentrate on two different students to derive common variables in their learning abilities and the different ones. This will help the researcher to test one’s hypothesis regarding suggesting varied learning tools for different students for them to overcome their challenges in learning. After implementing the two research methods, the instructor may make a synthesis of one’s findings to see how trustworthy are the conclusions, and how they support or contradict each other.

Critically reflecting on the two proposed research methods based on Brodie and Irving (2007) findings, it is necessary to state that the two above-discussed approaches will meet my needs as the instructor in the future because they will help me identify common tendencies that students see in the educational process. In particular, I will be able to see which learning difficulties are the most challenging for students. Additionally, I will discover the ways, in which different students try to cope with their learning challenges. Besides, I will be able to identify why learners, who have the worst academic performance, have appeared in such a situation, and what can be changed in my teaching approaches to provide the necessary assistance for such students.

Brodie, P., & Irving, K. (2007). Assessment in work-based learning: investigating a pedagogical approach to enhance student learning. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 32 (1) , 11–19.

Hansen, J., & Brady, M. (2011). Solving Problems through Action Research. The LLI Review, 82-90.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Assessment Tools and Assessment Methods by Educators." March 24, 2024. https://ivypanda.com/essays/assessment-tools-and-assessment-methods-by-educators/.

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