Overview
Assessment and Evaluation Overview
"Assessment is a process that focuses on student learning, a process that involves reviewing and reflecting on practice as academics have always done, but in a more planned an careful way." ("Assessment Essentials", Palomba and Banta) Assessment is different from evaluation. Evaluation means to describe a value to—course grades are an evaluation of learning.
Evaluation and assessment of student performance is one of the most difficult and least understood elements of our job. Often, we have little confidence that our grading systems accurately discriminate between different levels of achievement and they differ widely on the components that should constitute a final grade. Part of the problem with grading arises from the fallibility of the tests and assignments used to measure student performance. This section contains information on developing material to evaluate and assess performance.
A
good evaluating (i.e.: grading) system must meet three criteria:
- It
should accurately reflect differences in student performance.
- It
should be clear to students so they can chart their own progress.
- It should be fair.
Performance can be defined either in relative or
absolute terms (comparing students with each other or measuring their
achievement against a set scale), and each system has its defenders.
But whichever grading scheme you use, students should be able to
calculate (at least roughly) how they are doing in the course at any
point in the semester.
For more information, click here .