Lecture 1 Why We Need to Assess? Brown, 2004 p. 1-5 Prepared by: Dr. Reem Aldegether Dr. Njwan Hamdan

 Understand why we need to assess  The role of assessment in teaching. Lecture’s objective

 Is an assessment important?  Why or why not?  Who wants to know about the assessment results?  What is the specific role of assessment in teaching. Important questions to consider in this lecture

 Assessment is always miss used and misunderstood term in education.  Tests and assessment are not the same.  Tests is a method of measuring a person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain.” (Brown, p3). It is the process of measuring something with the purpose of assigning a numerical value. A test requires scoring which is assigning a numerical value to assessment task.  “Assessment is ongoing process that encompasses a much wider domain.” p, 3 TESTS and ASSESSMENT What is the difference?

 The word assessment comes from the Latin verb ‘assidere’ meaning ‘to sit with’. In assessment, one is supposed to sit with the learner. This implies that it is something we do with and for students and not to the students (Green, 1998). The Goal: Assessment for Learning NOT of Learning

 When you assess your individual students, you gather information about their level of performance, their level of understanding, and learning.  Examples: whenever a student respond to questions, offers a comment, writes an essay, or presents an idea the teacher is always monitoring and assessing students’ performance.  Tests then are subset of assessment. They are not the only form of assessment.

 Does this mean that you have to assess your students all the time during class. Of course not.  Think of a tense player, before their final (tournament), he has to practice with out thinking of judgment. He is practicing in terms of trial and error.  So, give your students the opportunity and the freedom to practice and try on their own without judging them. Let’s them play with the language without formally grading them.

The relationship between Teaching, Assessment, & Tests p,5 Teaching Assessment Tests

 From the activities and practices that you will give to your students in class you will “ observe students’ performances and making various evaluation of each learner: How did the performance compare to previous performance? Which aspects of the performance were better the others? Is the learner performing up to an expected potentials? How does the performance compare to that of others in the same learning community?  In the ideal classroom, all these observations should feed into the way the teacher provides instructions to the students.” p,5 The Goal: Assessment for Learning NOT of Learning The role of assessment in teaching

Effective assessmentEffective assessment is a continuous process. It's not simply something that's done at the conclusion of a unit of study or at the end of a lesson. Effective assessment is integrated into all aspects of the curriculum, providing both teachers and students with relevant and useful data to gauge progress and determine the effectiveness of materials and procedures. Here are some criteria to consider for your own classroom: Effective assessment is a continuous, on-going process. Much more than determining the outcome of learning, it is rather a way of gauging learning over time. Learning and evaluation are never completed; they are always evolving and developing. A variety of assessment tools is necessary to provide the most accurate assessment of students' learning and progress. Dependence on one type of tool deprives students from valuable learning opportunities.

 Policy makers, school administrators, and parents need to know how their students are performing compared to other. Are the results reflect the national and international standards. Is teaching promotes the knowledge base as well as the thinking skill among students that are reflected in the assessment results.  Assessment ‘s results will be used to determine student placements, reinforce differentiated curriculum tracking, and allocate rewards and sanctions to schools. Assessment results primarily will be used to enhance teaching and learning and to increase educational opportunity for all the students.” Luchat,2013 Who wants to know about the assessment results?

 The provided YouTube clip highlights the key issues/topics we will talk about during the course. Watch & listen carefully to the provided video clip and write down these key points/topics.

 Testing, assessing, and Teaching p, 5-17 Next week

 Brown, H. Douglas, Language Assessment: Principles and classroom practices. Pearson Education, Inc.  Reference