Introduction: Assessment and Evaluation

The terms assessment and evaluation are used in a variety of contexts within higher education, and
often are used interchangeably. However they are quite different in how and when the review is
implemented, the focus of the review, and what is done with the findings of the review. Assessment
encompasses everything from institutional level assessments to an assessment of student learning
outcomes for an individual course. With regard to teaching and learning, assessment can be
considered as the systematic collection and analysis of information to improve both endeavors.

The differences between assessment and evaluation are given below:

Assessment Evaluation

Content: timing, primary Formative: ongoing, to improve Summative: final, to gauge quality
purpose learning

Orientation: focus of Process-oriented: how learning is going Product-oriented: what’s been learned
measurement

Findings: uses thereof Diagnostic: identify areas for Judgmental: arrive at an overall
improvement grade/score

Classroom assessment techniques:

Classroom assessment techniques (CAT) are relatively quick and easy formative evaluation
methods that help you check student understanding in “real time”. These formative evaluations
provide information that can be used to modify/improve course content, adjust teaching methods,
and, ultimately improve student learning. Formative evaluations are most effective when they are
done frequently and the information is used to effect immediate adjustments in the day-to-day
operations of the course.

When CATs are used frequently, they can have the following impacts for faculty:

 provide day-to-day feedback that can be applied immediately;

 provide useful information about what students have learned without the amount of time
required for preparing tests, reading papers, etc.;

 allow you to address student misconceptions or lack of understanding in a timely way;

  help to foster good working relationships with students and encourage them to understand
that teaching and learning are on-going processes that require full participation.

For students, CATs can:

 help develop self-assessment and learning management skills;

 reduce feelings of isolation, especially in large classes;

 increase understanding and ability to think critically about the course content;

 foster an attitude that values understanding and long-term retention;

 show your interest and support of their success in your classroom.

Steps involved in Evaluation: Following are the few steps involved

in the process of evaluation:

(i) Identifying and Defining General Objectives:

 In the evaluation process first step is to determine what to evaluate, i.e., to

set down educational objectives. What kind of abilities and skills should be
developed when a pupil studies, say, Mathematics, for one year? What type
of understanding should be developed in the pupil who learns his mother
tongue? Unless the teacher identifies and states the objectives, these
questions will remain unanswered.
 The process of identifying and defining educational objectives is a complex
one; there is no simple or single procedure which suits all teachers. Some
prefer to begin with the course content, some with general aims, and some
with lists of objectives suggested by curriculum experts in the area.
 While stating the objectives, therefore, we can successfully focus our
attention on the product i.e., the pupil’s behaviour, at the end of a course of
study and state it in terms of his knowledge, understanding, skill,
application, attitudes, interests, appreciation, etc.
 (ii) Identifying and Defining Specific Objectives:
 It has been said that learning is the modification of behaviour in a
desirable direction. The teacher is more concerned with a student’s
learning than with anything else. Changes in behaviour are an indication of
learning. These changes, arising out of classroom instruction, are known as
the learning outcome.
 What type of learning outcome is expected from a student after he has
undergone the teaching-learning process is the first and foremost concern
of the teacher. This is possible only when the teacher identifies and defines
the objectives in terms of behavioural changes, i.e., learning outcomes.
 These specific objectives will provide direction to teaching-learning
process. Not only that it will also be useful in planning and organising the
learning activities, and in planning and organising evaluation procedures
too.
 Thus, specific objectives determine two things; one, the various types of
learning situations to be provided by the class teacher to his pupils and
second, the method to be employed to evaluate both—the objectives and
the learning experiences.
 (iii) Selecting Teaching Points:
 The next step in the process of evaluation is to select teaching points
through which the objectives can be realised. Once the objectives are set
up, the next step is to decide the content (curriculum, syllabus, course) to
help in the realisation of objectives.
 For the teachers, the objectives and courses of school subjects are ready at
hand. His job is to analyse the content of the subject matter into teaching
points and to find out what specific objectives can be adequately realised
through the introduction of those teaching points.
 (iv) Planning Suitable Learning Activities:
 In the fourth step, the teacher will have to plan the learning activities to be
provided to the pupils and, at the same time, bear two things in mind—the
objectives as well as teaching points. The process then becomes three
 dimensional, the three co-ordinates being objectives, teaching points and
learning activities. The teacher gets the objectives and content readymade.
 He is completely free to select the type of learning activities. He may
employ the analytico-synthetic method; he may utilise the inductive-
deductive reasoning; he may employ the experimental method or a
demonstration method; or he may put a pupil in the position of a
discoverer; he may employ the lecture method; or he may ask the pupils to
divide into groups and to do a sort of group work followed by a general
discussion; and so on. One thing he has to remember is that he should
select only such activities as will make it possible for him to realise his
objectives.
 (v) Evaluating:
 In the fifth step, the teacher observes and measures the changes in the
behaviour of his pupils through testing. This step adds one more
dimension to the evaluation process. While testing, he will keep in mind
three things-objectives, teaching points and learning activities; but his
focus will be on the attainment of objectives. This he cannot do without
enlisting the teaching points and planning learning activities of his pupils.
 Here the teacher will construct a test by making the maximum use of the
teaching points already introduced in the class and the learning
experiences already acquired by his pupils. He may plan for an oral lest or
a written test; he may administer an essay type test or an objective type of
lest; or he may arrange a practical test.
 (vi) Using the Results as Feedback:
 The last, but not the least, important step in the evaluation process is the
use of results as feedback. If the teacher, after testing his pupils, finds that
the objectives have not been realised to a great extent, he will use the
results in reconsidering the objectives and in organising the learning
activities.
 He will retrace his steps to find out the drawbacks in the objectives or in
the learning activities he has provided for his students. This is known as
 feedback. Whatever results the teacher gets after testing his pupils should
be utilised for the betterment of the students.

Evaluation plays a vital role in teaching learning experiences. It is an integral part

of the instructional programmes. It provides information’s on the basis of which
many educational decisions are taken. We are to stick to the basic function of
evaluation which is required to be practiced for pupil and his learning processes.

Evaluation has the following functions: 1. Placement Functions:

a. Evaluation helps to study the entry behaviour of the children in all respects.

b. That helps to undertake special instructional programmes.

c. To provide for individualisation of instruction.

d. It also helps to select pupils for higher studies, for different vocations and
specialised courses.

2. Instructional Functions:
a. A planned evaluation helps a teacher in deciding and developing the ways,
methods, techniques of teaching.

b. Helps to formulate and reformulate suitable and realistic objectives of

instruction.

c. Which helps to improve instruction and to plan appropriate and adequate

techniques of instruction.

d. And also helps in the improvement of curriculum.

e. To assess different educational practices.

f. Ascertains how far could learning objectives be achieved.

g. To improve instructional procedures and quality of teachers.

h. To plan appropriate and adequate learning strategies.

3. Diagnostic Functions:
a. Evaluation has to diagnose the weak points in the school programme as well as
weakness of the students.

b. To suggest relevant remedial programmes.

c. The aptitude, interest and intelligence are also to be recognised in each

individual child so that he may be energised towards a right direction.

d. To adopt instruction to the different needs of the pupils.

e. To evaluate the progress of these weak students in terms of their capacity,

ability and goal.

4. Predictive functions:
a. To discover potential abilities and aptitudes among the learners.

b. Thus to predict the future success of the children.

c. And also helps the child in selecting the right electives.

5. Administrative Functions:
a. To adopt better educational policy and decision making.

b. Helps to classify pupils in different convenient groups.

c. To promote students to next higher class,

d. To appraise the supervisory practices.

e. To have appropriate placement.

f. To draw comparative statement on the performance of different children.

g. To have sound planning.

h. Helps to test the efficiency of teachers in providing suitable learning

experiences.

i. To mobilise public opinion and to improve public relations.

j. Helps in developing a comprehensive criterion tests.

6. Guidance Functions:
a. Assists a person in making decisions about courses and careers.

b. Enables a learner to know his pace of learning and lapses in his learning.

c. Helps a teacher to know the children in details and to provide necessary

educational, vocational and personal guidance.

7. Motivation Functions:
a. To motivate, to direct, to inspire and to involve the students in learning.

b. To reward their learning and thus to motivate them towards study.

8. Development Functions:
a. Gives reinforcement and feedback to teacher, students and the teaching
learning processes.

b. Assists in the modification and improvement of the teaching strategies and

learning experiences.

c. Helps in the achievement of educational objectives and goals.

9. Research Functions:
a. Helps to provide data for research generalisation.
b. Evaluation clears the doubts for further studies and researches.

c. Helps to promote action research in education.

10. Communication Functions:

a. To communicate the results of progress to the students.

b. To intimate the results of progress to parents.

c. To circulate the results of progress to other schools.

Evaluation can be classified into different categories in many ways.

Some important classifications are as follows:

1. Placement Evaluation:
Placement evaluation is designed to place the right person in the right place. It
ensures the entry performance of the pupil. The future success of the
instructional process depends on the success of placement evaluation. This type
of evaluation is helpful for admission of pupils into a new course of instruction.

Examples:
i. Aptitude test

ii. Self-reporting inventories

iii. Observational techniques

iv. Medical entrance exam.

v. Engineering or Agriculture entrance exam.

2. Formative Evaluation:
Formative evaluation is used to monitor the learning progress of students during
the period of instruction. Its main objective is to provide continuous feedback to
both teacher and student concerning learning successes and failures while
instruction is in process.

The functions of formation evaluation are:

(a) Diagnosing:
Diagnosing is concerned with determining the most appropriate method or
instructional materials conducive to learning.

(b) Placement:
Placement is concerned with the finding out the position of an individual in the
curriculum from which he has to start learning.

(c) Monitoring:
Monitoring is concerned with keeping track of the day-to- day progress of the
learners and to point out changes necessary in the methods of teaching,
instructional strategies, etc.

Examples:
i. Monthly tests.

ii. Class tests.

iii. Periodical assessment.

iv. Teacher’s observation, etc.

3. Diagnostic Evaluation:
It is concerned with identifying the learning difficulties or weakness of pupils
during instruction. It tries to locate or discover the specific area of weakness of a
pupil in a given course of instruction and also tries to provide remedial measure

When the teacher finds that inspite of the use of various alternative methods,
techniques and corrective prescriptions the child still faces learning difficulties,
he takes recourse to a detailed diagnosis through specifically designed tests called
‘diagnostic tests’.

Diagnosis can be made by employing observational techniques, too. In case of

necessity the services of psychological and medical specialists can be utilised for
diagnosing serious learning handicaps.

4. Summative Evaluation:
Summative evaluation is done at the end of a course of instruction to know to
what extent the objectives previously fixed have been accomplished. In other
words, it is the evaluation of pupils’ achievement at the end of a course.

The main objective of the summative evaluation is to assign grades to the pupils.
It indicates the degree to which the students have mastered the course content. It
helps to judge the appropriateness of instructional objectives. Summative
evaluation is generally the work of standardised tests.

The functions of this type of evaluation are:

(a) Crediting:
Crediting is concerned with collecting evidence that a learner has achieved some
instructional goals in contents in respect to a defined curricular programme.

(b) Certifying:
Certifying is concerned with giving evidence that the learner is able to perform a
job according to the previously determined standards.
(c) Promoting:
It is concerned with promoting pupils to next higher class.

(d) Selecting:
Selecting the pupils for different courses after completion of a particular course
structure.

Examples:
1. Traditional school and university examination,

2. Teacher-made tests,

3. Standardised tests,

4. Practical and oral tests, and

5. Rating scales, etc.