Beyond Tests: Alternatives in Assessment

AWANG INDRA S. / 107835010 BEYOND TESTS ALTERNATIVES IN ASSESSMENTThis chapter tries to discuss alternative in sagacity and the problems found in alternative in assessments. Performance Based Assessment Performance found assessment implies point of intersectionive, observable skills, much(prenominal) as speaking and writing of content valid tasks.According to Omalley and Valdez Pierce (1996), the characteristics of motion assessment atomic number 18 1) school-age childs generate a constructed response, 2) They engage in higher order thinking, with open-ended tasks, 3) tasks are meaningful, engaging and authentic, 4) tasks call for the integration of language skills, 5) both wreak and product are assessed, 6) depth of a scholarly persons mastery is show over breadth. Portfolios One of the most popular alternatives in assessment, especially in spite of appearance a framework of communicative language teaching, is portfolio development.Portfolios include materials such as a . Essays and compositions in draft and closing forms, b. Reports, project outlines, c. Poetry and creative prose, d. Artwork, photos, newspaper publisher or magazine clippings, e. Audio and/or video recordings of presentations, demonstrations, etc, f. Journals, diaries, and other person-to-person reflection, g. Test, test scores, and written homework exercises, h. Notes on lecturer, i. Self-and consort- assessments-comments, and checklists. Journals A journal is a log or account of matchlesss thoughts, feelings, reactions, assessment, ideas, or throw out toward goals, usually written with little attention to structure, form, or correctness.Categories or purposes in journal writing, such as the following a. Language learning logs, b. Grammar journals, c. Responses to readings, d. Strategies found learning logs, e. Self-assessment reflections, f. Diaries of attitudes, feelings, and other affective factors, g. Acculturation logs. Conferences Conferences are non confine to draf ts of written work including portfolios and journals. Conferences must assume that the teacher plays the role of a facilitator and guide, not of an administrator, of a formal assessment. Conferences are by nature formative, not summative and their primary purpose is to offer positive washback.Interviews This term is mean to denote a context in which a teacher interviews a student for a designated assessment purpose. Interview may have one or more of several thinkable goals in which the teacher1. Assesses the students oral production, 2. Ascertains a students need before designing a course of curriculum, 3. Seeks to discover a students learning style and preferences, 4. Asks a student to assess his or her own performance, 5. Requests an evaluation of a course.ObservationsAll teachers, whether they are sensitive of it or not, observe their students in the classroom almost constantly. One of the objectives of such observation is to assess students without their awareness (and possib le consequent anxiety) of the observation so that the naturalness of their linguistic performance can be maximized. 7. Self and look Assessments Most successful learners extend the learning process well beyond the classroom and the presence of a teacher or tutor, autonomously mastering the graphics of self-assessment. Where peers are available to render assessment, the advantage of such additional arousal is obvious. According to Brown (2004), there are five categories of self and peer assessment1.Assessment of performance, in this category, a student typically monitors him or herself in either oral or written production and renders some affable of evaluation of performance.2. Indirect assessment of competence, indirect assessment targets larger slices of age with a view to rendering an evaluation of general ability as opposed to one to one specific, relatively time constrained performance.3. Metacognitive assessment for setting goals, some kind evaluation are more strategical in nature, with the purpose not just of viewing past performance or competence but of setting goals and maintaining an eye on the process of their pursuit.4. Socioaffective assessment, yet another type of self and peer assessment comes in the form of methods of examining affective factors in learning. Such assessment is quite contrary from looking at and planning linguistic aspects of acquisition.5. Student generated tests, a final type of assessment that is not usually classified strictly as self or peer assessment is the technique of engaging students in the process of constructing tests themselves. Guidelines for self-and peer assessmentSelf-and peer assessment are among the best possible formative types of assessment and possibly the most rewarding, but they must be carefully designed and administered for them to reach their potential. Four guidelines will help teachers put down this intrinsically motivating task into the classroom successfully.Tell students the purpose of as sessmentDefine the task clearlyEncourage unprejudiced evaluation of performance or abilityEnsure beneficial washback through follow up tasks