Assessment Techniques In Education

The Four Major Assessment Techniques And Methods In The Classroom And Education Are:

1. Assessing Prior Knowledge, Recall And Understanding
2. Assessing Skill In Synthesis And Creative Thinking
3. Assessing Skill In Application And Performance
4. Assessing Skill In Analysis And Critical Thinking

Assessment Techniques Which Assess Prior Knowledge, Recall And Understanding

This Technique Is Designed To Collect Specific And Useful Feedback On Students' Prior Learning.

"Background Knowledge Probes" Are Short, Simple Questionnaires Prepared By Instructors At The Beginning Of A Course At The Start Of A New Unit Or Lesson, Or Prior To Introducing An Important New Topic.

Such "Probes" May Require Students To Write Short Answers, To Circle The Correct Responses To Multiple-Choice Questions, Or Both.

They Can Be Used As Both Pre- And Post- Assessments: Before Instruction, To Find Out The Students' "Baseline" Knowledge Level; And Immediately After, To Get A Rough Sense Of How Much And How Well They Have We Learned The Material.

Techniques Which Assess Skill In Synthesis And Creative Thinking

The Instructor Asks Students To Answer The Questions About A Given Topic: "Who Does What To Whom, When, Where, How And Why"?

Then The Student Is Asked To Transform Responses To Those Questions Into A Single, Grammatical Sentence. Faculty Gauges The Extent To Which Students Can Summarize A Large Amount Of Information Concisely And Completely.

Students Are Constrained By The Rules Of Sentence Construction And Must Also Think Creatively About The Content Learned. Students Practice The Ability To Condense Information Into Smaller, Interrelated Bits That Are More Easily Processed And Recalled.

Techniques Which Assess Skill In Application And Performance

The Instructor Asks Students To Paraphrase Part Of A Lesson For A Specific Audience And Purpose, Using Their Own Words.

This Is Especially Useful For Pre-Professional Students Who Will Be Asked In Their Careers To Translate Specialized Information Into Language That Clients Or Customers Can Understand.

This Technique Allows Faculty To Examine Students' Understanding Of Information And Their Ability To Transform It Into A Form That Can Be Meaningful To Specific Audiences Other Than The Student And Instructor.

This Task Is More Complex Than Simple Paraphrasing In That The Faculty Member Directs The Student To Speak/Write To A Particular Audience And Purpose.

Analytic Memo Of Assessing Skill In Analysis And Critical Thinking

The Analytic Memo Is Basically A Simulation Exercise. It Requires Students To Write A One- Or Two-Page Analysis Of A Specific Problem Or Issue.

The Person For Whom The Memo Is Being Written Is Usually Identified As An Employer, A Client, Or A Stakeholder Who Needs The Student's Analysis To Inform Decision Making.

This Technique Assesses Students' Ability To Analyze Assigned Problems By Using The Discipline Specific Approaches, Methods, And Techniques They Are Learning.

In Addition, It Assesses Students' Skill At Communicating Their Analyses In A Clear And Concise Manner.