EDUC 144 - Education and Evaluation

Key Concepts in Education and Evaluation

• Teaching

• Learning

• Evaluation

Teaching, Learning, and Evaluation

• interdependent aspects of the education process

• help students achieve a set of learning outcomes in their intellectual, emotional, and psychomotor domains

Education

• formalization of Teaching (T) and Learning (L)

• assimilation or integration of experiences

• transmission from earlier to younger

• nurture of human personality

• investment in human capital

Teaching

provision of conditions that promote effective learning

Learning

• changes in observable behaviour (Kimble, 1961)

• any activity that develops new knowledge and abilities in the individual who carries them out, or cause old knowledge and abilities to acquire new qualities (Glaperin, 1965)

• occurs when a person makes sense out of what he encounters or experiences in interacting with self, with others, and with the environment (Brubaker, 1982)

Evaluation

• systematic process of collecting and analyzing data in order to make decisions

• summing-up process in which value judgements play a large part, as in grading and promoting students

• involves interpretation of what has been gathered through measurement, in which value judgements are made

• yields information regarding the worthiness, appropriateness, goodness, or validity or something for which a reliable measurement or assessment has been made

Example:

• Test

• Testing

[Evaluation] Test

a set of items or an instrument designed to measure any quality, ability, skill, or knowledge

[Evaluation] Testing

use of tests to determine a certain quality, or trait, or a series of qualities or traits under specific conditions

Assessment (Classroom)

• process by which information is obtained relative to a goal/objective

• done to determine whether the goal/objective has been attained

• broad term that includes testing

• does not necessarily involve quantification or use of numbers

  • Person A may be assessed as “young” or “attractive” by Person B but Person C may not passess Person A as such

  • Person A is “tall and skinny”

  • Person A is 6’4 talls and weighs 160 lbs

Measurement

• process by which attributes of some physical object are determined

• proceess by which traits, characteristics, or behavior are differentiated

• complete measurement use the language of numbers; more valid

• process of quantifying degree to which someone or something possesses a trait, i.e. quality, characteristic or feature

• permits more objective description concerning traits and facilitates comparison

Measurement vs. Evaluation

consists of the administration and scoring of a test

Measurement vs. Evaluation

a judgement about what the test scores mean

Evaluation vs. Assessment

• done in one moment in time

• measurement of outcomes to goals

• grade, value, and mark

• follows assessment

• provides closure

• is judgemental

• is applied against standards

• shows shortfalls

Evaluation vs. Assessment

• on-going process

• systematic collection of data to inform instruction

• data and methods

• precedes evaluation

• is positive

• is individualized

• provides feedback

Evaluation and Assessment

• require criteria

• use measures

• are evidence-driven

Purpose of Assessment

to increase quality

Purpose of Evaluation

to judge quality

Beneficiaries of Assessment

the assessee (the person whose performance is assessed)

Beneficiaries of Evaluation

• external stakeholders

• decision-makers

The Teaching-Learning (TL) Process

• a series of planned activities to facilitate comprehension and mastery of the knowledge, skills, and/or methods

• requires stimuli that are carefully chosen, and each response prepares the ground for the next instruction, or is used as a bridge to the next stage in the instructional sequence

Teaching-Learning (TL) Process Frameworks

• Instruction-Influenced

• Assessment-Influenced

[TL Process Framework] Instruction-Influenced

Educational Objectives → Learning Experiences → Assessment Procedures

• teacher is guided by the curriculum

• plans instructional activities based on the curriculum objectives

• then asseses students

[TL Process Framework] Assessment-Influenced

Educational Objectives → Assessment Procedures → Learning Experiences

• teacher starts with instructional objectives set in the curriculum

• creates assessment based on those objectives

• then plans instructional activities

Elements of the Teaching-Learrning (TL) Process

• a series of learning objectives

• a sequence of S-R (stimulus-response)

• reinforcement

• monitoring and evaluation

[TL Process Elements] A Series of Learning Objectives

• these are related to students’ anticipated and desired behavioral changes

• can be considered as “intended learning outcomes,” the level of attainment of which can be observed and measured

[TL Process Elements] A Sequence of S-R Situations

• these affect the teacher and learner, resulting in persistent and observabe changes in the learner’s behavior

• the teacher directs learning to enhance the students’ cognitive, affective, and psychomotor abilities

[TL Process Elements] Reinforcement

refers to an activity or something added to the learning situation by an individual other than the student

[TL Process Elements] Monitoring and Evaluation

the documentation and assessment of the learner’s changes in behavior concerning the objectives of the learning process

Advantages of Instruction-Influenced

• practical

• logical

Disadvantages of Instruction-Influenced

• assessment procedures can be unaligned

• evaluation of attainment of the objective might be questionable

Advantages of Assessment-Influenced

• alignment of assessment with the objectives

Disadvantages of Assessment-Influenced

• requires greater mastery of subject matter

• items in assessments might not be covered during actual instruction

• tedious

Functions of Measurements

1. Instructional

   1. Principle

   2. Secondary

2. Administrative/Supervisory

[Functions of Measurements] Instructional: Principal

basic purpose

• to determine what knowledge, skills, abilities, habits, and attitudes have been acquired

• to determine what progress or extent of learning attained

• to determine the strengths, weaknesses, difficulties, and needs of students

[Functions of Measurements] Instructional: Secondary

auxiliary functions for effective teaching and learning

• to help in study habits formation

• to develop the effort-making capacity of students

• to serve as aid for guidance, counselling, and diagnosis/prognosis

[Functions of Measurements] Administrative

• to maintain standards

• to classify or select for special purposes

• to determine teachers’ efficiency, effectiveness of methods, strategies used (strengths, weaknesses, needs); standards of instruction

• to searve as a basis or guide for curriculum making and development

• to searve as a guide in the educational planning of adnministrators and supervisors

• to set up norms of performance

• to inform parents of their children’s progress in school

• to searve as a basis for reaserch

Importance of Tests in Educational Evaluation

1. Objectivity

2. Elicit Behavior

3. Get a Sample of Performances

4. Measure Gains Relevant to Goals

5. Apprehend the Unseen

6. Detect the Characteristics of Behavior

7. To Predict Future Behavior

8. Other Reasons

   1. to assist in the guidance of students (career, life choices)

   2. to select students (i.e. groupings, entrance exams)

   3. to maintain standards—for both group and an individual

   4. to motivate students (both positive and negative

   5. to guide teaching (strengths and weaknesses of each student)

   6. to provide/furnish instruction to students (topics to focus on in studies)

   7. to evaluate educatoinal methods, facilitates, or procedures (strengths and weaknesses of the program and its components)

[Importance of Tests in Educational Evaluation] Objectivity

• we must constantly observe the changes

• measuring instruments need to be objective

• neutral vantage point

[Importance of Tests in Educational Evaluation] Elicit Behavior

• try to eliminate biases and the influence of other variables

• examples of controlled conditions: time and venue

[Importance of Tests in Educational Evaluation] Get a Sample of Performances

• people don’t demonstrate all their skills in all situations

• hench, the need to create a situation to sample specific capabilities

[Importance of Tests in Educational Evaluation] Measure Gains Relevant to Goals

• it is not enough to know a whether perosn can be something or not

• we have to measure how well one does something

• done using certain standards or criteria

[Importance of Tests in Educational Evaluation] Apprehend the Unseen

• need for special measuring instruments or equipment

• gives insight into what our naked eyes could not see

[Importance of Tests in Educational Evaluation] Detect the Characteristic of Behavior

• behavior is difficult to observe, per se

• need to break up or partition the behavior

[Importance of Tests in Educational Evaluation] To Predict Future Behavior

• if we can detect characteristics, we can predict related behavior

• therefore, we can prevent undesirable outcomes