Digital Blog Post I - Chapter 4

Chapter 4 of Transforming Learning with New Technologies discusses many different ways to assess and evaluate students. As teachers deliver lessons, there are also designing ways to assess what the students are learning.  Educators  discuss evaluation and assessment in two contexts: what teachers do (as they finish a lesson) to evaluate and grade student performance, and what teachers do to constantly monitor students performance. Regardless of the definition these learning assessments help teachers determine who is learning steadily and confidently and who may need individual assistance, or different teaching methods. One very common form of evaluating students is through standardized testing. Standardized testing is a huge enterprise in the United  States, and are given from kindergarten through high school. There are many standardized tests that are serving as high-stakes tests, where the grade advancement depends on passing the test. Standardized testing is usually assigned through the state and is based off of state requirements. I do not completely agree with standardized testing as a form of deciding whether or not a student should continue onto the next grade level. Overall, the idea of this form of testing sounds great, but each student learns differently and one test at the end of the year wont give a for sure assessment of what a student has learned. These standardized tests are also based off of the state, not the class or the school, which might make it difficult for a teacher to focus on the main points. Teachers, might feel like they need to teach too the test, which could jeopardize a good classroom environment. I agree that standardized tests are needed and useful, but I do not believe that they should determine whether a student passes or fails a course.

 Another method for teachers to assess students is through test assessments. Test assessments are used to best determine what a student knows or is able to do in an academic area. These tests score in the form of numbers on a scale, which are used to represent knowledge proficiency. The book recognizes two forms of test assessments, norm-referenced tests and criterion-referenced tests. Norm-referenced tests compare a student's performance to other students of the same grade or age.  Test takers are ranked according to how high or low they score in comparison to the norms set by the larger group. The results tend to follow the bell-shaped curve, and most of the test given in school are norm-referenced. Criterion-referenced tests compare a student's performance to specific objectives or standards, not to other students. These test takers are evaluated according to personal performance, and since these test scores are not evaluated on the bell-shaped curve, it is possible for students to score low or high depending on what they have learned. Overall, I would prefer using criterion-referenced tests because it is solely based off the students knowledge, instead of comparing the student to others in the same grade. I must say that I do respect the idea of norm-referenced tests, but I do not entirely agree with them. Norm-referenced tests places student results on rank-ordered scales to determine school readiness. I feel like a school should not base their success in teaching students, on the test scores of the students. I personally believe that schools should be ranked based off a child's performance in the classroom, not a standardized test. This is probably why I prefer criterion-referenced test. This form of test is used to evaluate how the student is doing, and where they can improve. It is not used to determine anything other that the students knowledge.

I have created this test as an example of a way to assess and evaluate what a student has learned.




By: Laura Ruiz at https://create.kahoot.it/#quiz/3b9649b2-2538-43ef-8cd7-224e2c1e9fde/done
 

For easier access: https://create.kahoot.it/#quiz/3b9649b2-2538-43ef-8cd7-224e2c1e9fde/done

  Citations:

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.