Assessment Practices

Question 1

learning involves _________

Answer 1

doing (Biggs, 1999a)

Question 2

________ is created by the students’ learning activities (Biggs, 1999a:13)

Answer 2

Meaning

Question 3

2 different cognitive levels of engagement with learning tasks

Answer 3

1. surface approach - low level of engagement - remember the body of knowledge
2. deep approach - high level of engagement - able to apply the knowledge

Question 4

Essential if assessment is to be valid

Answer 4

The match between learning objectives and assessment tasks

Question 5

____________are likely to arise when assessment tasks don’t match the desired learning outcomes

Answer 5

Unintended outcomes

Question 6

eight side effects of assessment

Answer 6

1. prejudicial aspects of assessment - resulting from student stereotyping
2. effects of knowing they are being assessed - performance limited
3. extrinsic rewards of assessment - students learn to play the system: minimizing risk and maximizing results for effort
4. competitive aspects of assessment - ‘Students generally have all been led to believe that they cannot all achieve a worthwhile level of learning.’ (Rowntree, 1987:52)
5. bureaucratic aspects of assessment - instrument of policy, depersonalizing the process
6. nature of specific assessment techniques - not suited to the performance on which they are applied
7. giving of grades - synthesizes student’s performance to a simplistic level
8. reporting of assessment results - not always an accurate indicator of performance to the wider community

Question 7

actually measures the performance of the intended learning outcomes specified. Validity is the concept that underpins the notion of ‘constructive alignment’ of the curriculum (Biggs, 1999a)

Answer 7

Valid assessment tasks

Question 8

extent to which other assessors would reach the same conclusions

Answer 8

Reliable assessment tasks

Question 9

If there is an opportunity for students to improve their performance on the same task, then the assessment is essentially ________

Answer 9

Formative

Question 10

three purposes of formative assessment

Answer 10

1) diagnosing student difficulties;
2) measuring improvement over time; and
3) providing information to inform students about how to improve their learning

Question 11

providing information about how to improve their performance before the point where a final measurement of achievement is made

Answer 11

Scaffolding

Question 12

When the assessment tasks take place in small increments with associated feedback to students, it may be hard to see the difference between assessment and ________

Answer 12

Effective teaching

Question 13

Summative assessment is sometimes known as a __________

Answer 13

terminal assessment

Question 14

Summative assessment allocates a _________ on an assessment task or an entire course

Answer 14

final grade

Question 15

two main approaches to assessing student performance

Answer 15

1 norm-referenced assessment
2 criterion-referenced assessment

Question 16

Assessment which suits subjects where the nature of knowledge is concrete and where answers are either objectively right or wrong. knowledge is declarative and tends to be lower-order.

Answer 16

norm-referenced assessment