An account of assessment in the LLS

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1Explain types of assessment used in lifelong learning.Initial assessmentThis takes place prior to the commencement of a particular programme or subject. Relevant initial assessment activities will give the teacher information regarding the learners, eg, any specific assessment requirements or needs they may have, their learning style, or any further training or support they may need.Formative Assessment.These take place continuously throughout a learner’s time under tuition and allows for development to take place.

Asking questions and observing actions can provide ongoing feedback to enable learners to develop further before a summative, or final assessment takes place. Assessing learners on a formative basis enables the teacher to assess their prospects in a summative assessment, and helps to highlight any areas they will need to develop further to produce a good result in the summative assessment.Summative Assessment.These usually occur at the end of a programme, unit or topic or are for a full qualification.

They are often very stressful for the students and can lead to a “fail” even though the learner is quite capable of passing under other circumstances.1.2Explain the uses of methods of assessment in Lifelong Learning.Assessment methods are different from assessment types; a method is how the assessment type will be used and is classed as formal or informal.

Methods used will depend upon what is being assessed – knowledge, skills, attitudes or for an award of a qualification.Each learner is an individual and any particular learner requirements must be taken into account along with the relevant equality and diversity factors no matter who is setting the assessment - the teacher or an awarding authority. Methods of assessment can be used to help determine a myriad of accomplishments, they can help:Assess a student’s mastery of content - knowledge gained after study. Assess reasoning proficiency; think analytically, comparatively, and critically. Assess any mastery of skills, i.e.

languages, arts, carpentry, etc. Assess the ability to create quality results, i.e. Writing, exam papers, technology products, crafts, arts, highlights the difference between high and low quality outcomes.Using observation and questions they are a way of assessing knowledge, skills, attitudes and competence,1.

3Compare the strengths and limitations of assessment methods to meet individual needs.Informal AssessmentsInformal assessments can provide teachers with a wealth of useful information that will help guide their instruction on a daily basis and teachers often conduct informal assessments without knowing it. StrengthsOne of the main strengths of informal assessments is that they can be done without a lot of planning and expense and are less stressful for students because they often do not realize they are undergoing an assessment. The data is immediate with the resultant concurrent lesson planning. slide 3 of 5WeaknessesStereotypes or prejudices within the person administering the assessment that can influence judgment.

All assessments need to be unbiased and evaluate students on equal grounds.Formal AssessmentsFormal assessments are dependent upon data and use the resulting conclusions derived from the data. They are based on a history of previous assessments and are wholly inflexible when gauging success or failure.It takes time to grade a formal assessment and arrange the results into useful data. If a student is stressed during a formal assessment then the results is at best not a real; reflection of his/her ability and could be considered dubious.There are students who do not “test well” and this is a major complaint regarding formal assessments.

slide 5 of 5 Informal vs. FormalBeing aware of the strengths and weaknesses of informal and formal assessments make it obvious that both types are necessary. To paint a true and accurate picture of students’ abilities this arrangement is the most successful.Formal assessments should be used to assess the overall achievement of a student and informal assessments help a teacher to plan on a daily basis. Both styles should be used to help meet the ever-changing needs of students.2.

1Explain ways to involve the learner in the assessment process.Assessment is a collaborative endeavour between the teacher and the student. Both have to discover what the student has learnt and what and how the student can learn further. Students should always be involved in decision making about a many aspects of their assessments as possible. They should be able to see themselves as co-constructors by being involved in the timing, the design and the assessment criteria.

However, when there is little room for student input into the actual assessment construction they should still be supported in seeing their assessment results as being routes to providing them with information on what they know and what they will need to do next.Below are a number of ways in which students can be involved in assessment on their courses. When the task is set: Choosing assessment tasks Setting assessment tasks Discussing assessment criteria Setting assessment criteria After the task is completed Making self-assessment comments Making peer-assessment feedback comments Suggesting self-assessed grades/marks Negotiating self-assessed grades/marksWhether informal or formal, assessment should always involve the students in decision-making about as many aspects of the assessment as possible. These include the timing, the design and the assessment criteria so that students are able to properly see themselves as co-constructors of the assessment, with equal ownership of the results.

However, even where there is little opportunity for student input into the actual assessment construction, students should be supported to see the assessment results as providing them with valuable information about what they know and what they might need to learn next.2.2Explain the role of peer and self-assessment of learning.Students should be involved in assessing their own work and each other’s work to actively use and develop their own evaluative skills.These efforts can encourage a sense of ownership giving students a feeling of commitment to the outcomes as opposed to regarding them as the produce of an inept or biased external evaluator.The students will find themselves developing new, valuable, transferable skills during the process, skills which will help facilitate lifelong learning and are useful in the employment sector.

Assessment will as a matter of course become part of the learning process as opposed to an unhappy extra.Students will become more autonomous and more adepta at recognising their strengthe and weaknesses.Deep thinking is encouraged as opposed to surface thinking. In this matter their abilities will change in that they will no longer just parrot information they have acquired instead they will display a greater commitment and may understand information and learn how to apply information.3.

1Explain the need for keeping records of assessment of learning.Whatever types and approaches to assessments that teachers have chosen is the records that they keep that will provide details about the quality of their measurements.Records must be kept of all the various components of learning and the assessments and are essential.A description should be recorded of what each assessment component measures , its accuracy and any reference points and criteria identified.Supporting evidence should be included.

Records should be detailed and descriptive and be able to form a basis to provide meaningful reports to parents and others.A mere symbolic representation, (a letter, a grade, a percentage) is inadequate. Reports should identify the learning that the report covers, the assessment methods used to gather and support information and the criteria used to make any judgement.3.2Summarise the requirements for keeping records of assessment in an organisation.

(Please see covering email)A Reflective Journal Entry about this unit.Top of Form Bottom of Form My tuition on assessments definitely dispelled some of my misconceptions about the whole testing process, myself having been recently at the rough end of some University attitudes.I have learned that teaching is not just about the material taught but also involves some meaningful learning. I used to be “score orientated” but I have had my eyes opened to a less parochial view.As I learned about the types of assessment I have concluded that each has its strength and limitations.I never thought that an informal assessment could be construed as extremely biased with only the teacher being the only person who can assess his/her students in the classroom setting.I also never thought about the teacher collaborating with students to construct their assessments and I appreciated the idea of students gaining a meaningful insight into their own learning process.In short, I have discovered that assessment, handled properly, can help create a meaningful environment and learning experience for the students and the teacher.Teachers can also play an extremely worthwhile role in motivating their students to improve their performances, with the students participating in assessing their own learning processes.I now know that the important part of assessments is the teacher’s willingness to work hard at applying any assessment which can be used to improve a student’s performance and results, with all the collateral benefits.