Assessment Tools are the instruments used as techniques and tricks to evaluate. Teachers use these assessment tools to measure the student's academic performance, knowledge, and skills for a subject. It also helps in identifying the strategies for improving the learning capabilities and surging their skills towards academics. Teachers use the assessment tools for making informed decisions in curating the mind map of learning for students.
However, assessment tools are not just restricted to academic subjects. It also uses these tools to identify the behavioral, learning, and response patterns of the students. These techniques are simple and goal-oriented. These tools are examination, knowledge survey, written reports, portfolios, oral assessments, and technological assessment. The primary goal of the assessments is how well the students understood the topic and response to the problem-solving.
Teachers want to avoid using the assessment tools with stereotypical materials and mediocre methods. But it would be easy if teachers used some of the below assessment tools to evaluate the student's performance. Practical assessment and the right process will redirect the students to appropriate, meaningful and fair evaluations. The following assessments will minimise the errors and issues between students and teachers.
Assessment Tools can be of the following kinds:
- Formative Assessments:
Formative Assessments are curated to help teachers understand the academic progress of students. These formative assessments are not graded but are solely intended to guide a student to master the skills. It also helps the teachers know what topics students are weak on. Some examples of formative assessments Tools are interviews, placement tests, feedbacks, and teacher observation.
- Summative Assessments:
Summative tools focus on the curriculum and are used to find out whether they effectively understand the subject. Teachers take summative Assessment Tools as graded tests, quizzes, final exams, midterm exams, and thesis papers. Unlike the formative tools, teachers take these tools like tests and graded forms. These summative assessment tools fill the gap between learning targets and knowledge for students.
- Objective Assessments:
Objective assessment tools are used in terms of right and wrong answers. The objective assessment tools are used to test the student's knowledge of the particular figures and facts. Some examples of objective assessments are multiple-choice questions, yes/no, or true/false. The common subject which uses objective assessments is Math problems that have little room for facts and figures.
- Subjective Assessments:
Subjective assessment tools focus on goals to test the student's performance that are qualitative and complex. These tools are questionnaires that have over one correct answer or multiple answers. These subjective tools are trendy because they test complex problems and can be creative in curating the questions. Some of the subjective assessments are short answers, essays, and factually supported opinions. Subjective assessments are excellent for subjects, including reading, writing, political science, and literature.
Selecting the assessments strategies has become most challenging for the teachers. So apart from Assessment Tools, other factors are also crucial for the assessments of students:
- Monitor's the student's performance:
During the student assessments, teachers have to take the tests and communicate and monitor the student’s proliferation of knowledge. Experienced teachers are well experienced in determining the cognitive skills required for the students to improvise and be responsive for assessments. This understanding would benefit them in upskilling in various subjects.
- Teacher's observation:
Efficient and dedicated teachers observe their students promptly in their classrooms. Some teachers check on their students by greeting them and asking questions when they are not well. Gaining personal questions can help them identify the issues they are facing.
- Questioning:
Teachers can ask the instructional questions identifying the student's attention and promoting critical thinking. Good questions and adequate instructions will enhance the knowledge of the students. Some of the questions include planning and writing questions that you need to ask students. Make sure the questions match the level of questions of the student's knowledge.
- Identify the assessment tools:
Choosing the correct format of assessment used by teachers is essential to assess the students. Selected assessment tools do not just require recalling the facts and figures but also the proper understanding of concepts.
- Give a choice to learners in assessment tools:
Allowing the students to choose the assessment tools for the project work and essays will encourage motivation. This will give the learners a choice to manage the workload of assessments in terms of deadlines and submissions. Additionally, ask the students to provide feedback regarding assessment tools. Let the rest of the class decide what tools they want to use for their evaluation.
Conclusion
The goal is to select the assessment tools and define the learning goals in a representative and balanced way. If the learning goal is to make students understand the facts and figures, then curate the assessments in the basic questionnaires by assessing the subjective skills.
After that, unbiased and fair assessments use the conceptual questions to assess the students' performance. These questions can be on quantitative skills, analytics, and statistics that are some of the complex assessments. But to take the entire assessments according to the student's level and knowledge is crucial to keep students upskilled.
If the teachers plan the large-scale assessments, they first try out with a small group before implementing the entire class. Choose some students and test your questions to them, and understand the benefit of the assessment tools.
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