MAJOUR ISSUES IN CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT
Many tests used for educational assessments are not standardised or prepared not by undergoing the systematic test development procedure and applying psychometric principles. Such test does not possess the good qualities and fails to perform their functions and purpose.
THE MAJOR ISSUES ARE
COMMERCIALISATION ASSESSMENT
.Commercialisation of education is an ongoing process in our contemporary society.
It creates a lot of issues along with its positive aspects.
● Readymade assessment tools/study materials are easily available in the market and most of these tools are not up to the quality.The respective agencies prepared the materials without following any principles.
● Normally teachers as well as students depend on this type of tools and materials.This often affects the standard of classroom assessment.
•Assigning various agencies for arranging different examinations.
COMMERCIALISATION OF EDUCATION
The commercialization of education has been fairly a recent trend in India that stems from the educational reform in the country over the last two decades. It mainly materializes itself in mushrooming private schools, public schools and private universities and at the high education level .In a sense; it has added a financial element to the qualification of attending private schools and public and private universities. Undoubtedly, it affects million families. As a result, it also changes the traditional concepts of education in Indian society including the student teacher relationship, education and attitude towards gaining knowledge .Education was something that was always driven by thought in the former days. Meaning of commercialization of education: Generally commercialization is a process by which a new product or service is introduced into the general market. Commercialization of education is trend of decreasing emphasis on the humanities and increasing attention to the demand of the student s. It is a tendency which gives emphasis on to make education profitable as well as business oriented .On the other way commercialization of education means that schools are competing more than ever for whole can provide quality education at a reasonable price. Like any other market, this healthy competition is benefit to the buyer or in this case the student. The enmeshing of private schools, public schools and the costs associated with each means that students of all steps of life will start attending both forms of education. Since commercialized education means that students are paying more for education than the government invests. It is obvious that the direction of education will lie more in the hands of students and Teachers.
Commercialization has a positive impact on education. Some of the important aspects are as follows:
1. employment opportunity: Commercialization of education provides employment opportunity. It provides job opportunity as well as hundred percent job guarantees to the students. Many private institutions offer various job oriented job oriented courses, various degrees, diplomas, certificate course etc.
2)Economic Development: Commercialization is the process of economic development. Commercialization in education helps in increasing the rate of literacy, Gross Domestic Product, Gross national Income, per capital income.
3)To Face the Global Challenges: Commercialization of education helps to face the global challenges of the world. The global challenges are as modernization, industrialization, privatization, globalization, information and communication Technology, Emergence of International knowledge Network, Role of English language etc. Commercialization of education helps the students in acquiring appropriate knowledge about the advantages in technology. Emergence of International knowledge Network, Role of English language etc.
4) Personality development: commercialization of education helps in the personality development of the students. The commercialization of education provides formal education to students. For the personality development of the students they provide moral education which included the development commercialization skill, soft skill, how to maintain their physical health, to how face interview, how to with entrance examination how to adjust with the society etc.
5) Quality of education:
Commercialization of education give emphasis on quality education. The concept of quality education is broader term which indicates the quality of the learner, quality of the learning environment, quality content, quality process and quality outcomes.
6)Increased private Institutions:
Duo to the presence of commercialization of education a number of private institutions were increased in various region. When the private institutions increased day by day the tendency of commercialization also increased, commercialization can’t take place without privatization. The various private institutions provide technical, medical, professional courses for the benefit of the students, along with the institution also provide proper infrastructure facility.
7)Social development:
Commercialization of education give emphasis on the social development. For the development of the nation, social development is very necessary. In the private institution the students were provide the social education how to adjust with the society, knowledge of the various culture, knowledge about social interaction, provide knowledge to the students to preserve their culture, knowledge of the norms, social customs etc. So the commercialization’s in education provide appropriate opportunity to the students to establish a relationship with the culture traditions, norms etc. Of the society.
8.) Fulfillment of expectation of parents: Commercialization of education helps in fulfillment of expectation of parents by providing education in the private institutions. Every parents tries their level best to provide quality education to his ward and to fulfill their dreams, they spend a lump sum amount of money so that their ward is able to study in the best educational institution.
9). Development of professional efficiency of teachers: Commercialization of education helps give attention on the development of professional efficiency of teachers. In the private institutions they appointed highly qualified teachers, smart teachers, and also provide proper training to the teachers for their professional development.
10). Professional and vocational development of learners:
commercialization of education gives very much emphasis on professional as well as vocational development of the students. The advertisement made by the school and colleges such as coaching, diploma degree, vocational training, various professional and skill development courses etc. which help the student to get a background about these courses, and provide opportunity to develop their academic career.
Demerits of commercialization of education:
Commercialization of education also has some demerits. Some of them pointed as
More emphasis on marks: commercializations of education give more emphasis on marks. It not tries to fulfill all round development of students. The students were forced to get more and more marks in each subject and only give importance on intellectual activities.
2)Unable to maintain the principle of quality: Commercialization of education is unable to maintain the principle of equality. In the society there are three types of people were lived upper class people, middle class people and lower people. For the impact of commercialization of education system the poor people as well as the weaker section of the society not be able to get education due to high rate of fees in admitting the students.
3)Profit oriented:
Commercialization of education always give emphasis on profit. It makes education as a business. People make rise about it but day by day it increased rapidly. From these sources they earn money from the students only for their benefit.
4. Costly)
The impact of commercialization in education which make education very costlier. In the private institutions the admission fees, monthly fees, development fees, semester fees etc. Were very high. It is not possible to send their children in that type of institution. They demand high amount of donation in admitting the student in various course. But the same type of education was given in the government school.
5. Materialistic outlook): Commercialization of education develops the materialistic outlook among the students. The student have the attitude that to take proper education and to get a good job. They pay money and take education. The student only thinks of himself and not for the development of his region, society and for the nation. They want to spend an luxuries life.
6. Over burden of Teachers: )The impact of commercialization on education also related with the over burden of the teachers. In the private institutions, for the commercial benefit they pressure on the teachers and give over burden of work for the whole day. They were bound to do the activities provided by the authority. They were busy to take the class, examination, remedial class, tutorial class, to check the examination copy etc.
7.)Mechanical Process:
Commercialization’s of education make the education process as mechanical. It not follows the psychological principle. The children have given over burden curriculum. The teachers were engaged at all levels, they take all class, including remedial class, tutorial class, group discussions, seminars etc.
8)Less salary to teachers:
The commercialization of education impact on the salary of the teachers. In the private institutions the teachers were provide over burden work pressure. They don’t have time, any time they are busy. The authority observed the teachers.They not have the leisure time for mental releas. The main aim is the profit of themselves so that they not paid the teachers sufficiently.
9. Poor service condition of teachers: - Commercialization of education only gives emphasis on profit of authorities who open the institution, but not give attention on the profit of the teachers. They provide less salary to the teachers but teachers have given over burden of work.
10. Over burden curriculum: - Due to the impact of commercialization of education of educational institutions become a business enterprise. The curriculum of the institution is very is spread. It includes various additional subjects in general curriculum. The small children are suffering from it. The books provided by the institutions are very expensive and in the lower stage which are not psychologically effects
POOR TEST QUALITY
The class test conducted by teachers usually does not maintain the required quality
● Most of the teachers are not well versed with the techniques of preparing assessment tools
● Assessment with poor quality tests will result in bad than good
● Most of the test check only rote memorisation and fail to test higher order skills as reasoning ,analysis ,creativity and judgement.
Tests may not show sufficient evidence of validity and reliability.
Many tests used for educational assessments are not standardised or prepared not by undergoing the systematic test development procedure and applying psychometric principles. Such test does not possess the good qualities and fails to perform their functions and purpose. For example, the question papers used by many universities are criticized on the ground that they are inferior in quality and they fail to perform their educational functions of assessing and evaluating. One of the reason for the poor quality of test are that the construction of good quality test require expertise, it is time consuming process and has to undergo a series of sequential procedures.
Validity
Validity is arguably the most important criteria for the quality of a test. The term validity refers to whether or not the test measures what it claims to measure. On a test with high validity the items will be closely linked to the test's intended focus. For many certification and licensure tests this means that the items will be highly related to a specific job or occupation. If a test has poor validity then it does not measure the job-related content and competencies it ought to. When this is the case, there is no justification for using the test results for their intended purpose. There are several ways to estimate the validity of a test including content validity, concurrent validity, and predictive validity. The face validity of a test is sometimes also mentioned.
Reliability
Reliability is one of the most important elements of test quality. It has to do with the consistency, or reproducibility, or an examinee's performance on the test. For example, if you were to administer a test with high reliability to an examinee on two occasions, you would be very likely to reach the same conclusions about the examinee's performance both times. A test with poor reliability, on the other hand, might result in very different scores for the examinee across the two test administrations. If a test yields inconsistent scores, it may be unethical to take any substantive actions on the basis of the test. There are several methods for computing test reliability including test-retest reliability, parallel forms reliability, decision consistency, internal consistency, and interrater reliability. For many criterion-referenced tests decision consistency is often an appropriate choice.
Fairness
The fairness of an exam refers to its freedom from any kind of bias. The exam should be appropriate for all qualified examinees irrespective of race, religion, gender, or age. The test should not disadvantage any examinee, or group of examinees, on any basis other than the examinee's lack of the knowledge and skills the test is intended to measure. Item writers should address the goal of fairness as they undertake the task of writing items. In addition, the items should also be reviewed for potential fairness problems during the item review phase. Any items that are identified as displaying potential bias or lack of fairness should then be revised or dropped from further consideration.
Legal Defensibility
For an exam program to have legal defensibility there must be evidence as to the test’s quality that would stand up in a court challenge. You will need to be able to provide evidence that sound, professionally recommended guidelines were followed throughout the design, development, and maintenance of the exam program. Professional guidelines for testing are offered by the American Psychological Association (APA), American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). Studies should also be conducted to investigate and confirm that the test has reasonable degrees of validity, reliability, and fairness. Among the most important elements that courts look for are a well-conducted job analysis and strong content validity (that is, the items need to have a high degree of “job relatedness”). Finally, good documentation of the design, development, and analysis of the exam program should be collected and maintained.
DOMAIN DEPENDENCY
domain dependency
● Domain can be defined an area of control or sphere.
● Conceptualise and instantiate formative assessment within the contexts of specific domain is the possible approach to deal with the domain dependency issue.
● Assessment requires the interaction of general principles, strategies and techniques with reasonable deep understanding of various domains.
● A teacher who has weak domain understanding is less likely to know what questions to ask students, what to look for in their performance, what inference to make from that performance about students knowledge and what actions to take to adjust instruction.
Issue Cognitive scientific research reveals that general and specialised knowledge function in close partnership (Perkins and Salomon 1989). To be maximally effective, assessment requires the interaction of general principles, strategies, and techniques with reasonably deep cognitive domain understanding. That deep cognitive domain understanding includes the processes, strategies and knowledge important for proficiency in a domain, the habits of mind that characterise the community of practice in that domain, and the features of tasks that engage those elements. It also includes those specialised aspects of domain knowledge central to helping students learn (Ball, Thames, and Phelps 2008; Shulman 1986). A teacher who has weak cognitive domain understanding is less likely to know what questions to ask of students, what to look for in their performance, what inferences to make from that performance about student knowledge, and what actions to take to adjust instruction. The intellectual tools and instrumentation given to teachers may differ significantly from one domain to the next because they ought to be specifically tuned for the domain in question (Hodgen and Marshall 2005). A possible approach to dealing with the domain dependency issue is to conceptualise and instantiate formative assessment within the context of specific domains. Any such instantiation would include a cognitive-domain model to guide the substance of formative assessment, learning progressions to indicate steps toward mastery on key components of the cognitive domain model, tasks to provide evidence about student standing with respect to those learning progressions, techniques fit to that substantive area, and a process for teachers to implement that is closely linked to the preceding materials.
MEASUREMENT ISSUES
● Measurement involves for activities designing opportunities to gather evidence, collecting evidence, interpreting it and acting on interpretations.
● Formative assessment is not the elicitation of evidences but includes making inferences from that evidence.
● Formative assessment is an inferential process.
● The measurement issues lies in the interpretation of evidence for learner performance and achievement.
● Formative inferences are uncertain and also subjected to unintentional biases.
So we should try to decreases uncertainty and bias by considering data from multiple sources, occasions and contexts.
Educational measurement involves four activities of Assessment
(i) designing opportunities to gather evidence,
(ii) collecting evidence,
(iii) interpreting it, and
(iv) acting on interpretations.
Assessment is not simply the elicitation of evidence but also includes making inferences from that evidence. Assessment is an inferential process because others cannot know with certainty what understanding exists inside a student‟s head. They can only make conjectures or hypotheses based on what we observe from such things as class participation, class work, homework, and test performance. The measurement issue lies in the interpretation of evidences for learner performance and achievement. For example a weak performance in mathematics may be due to linguistic deficiency, but the same would wrongly interpret as underachievement in mathematics. This misinterpretation would lead to unnecessary course of action.
SYSTEM ISSUES
*Assessment components can be considered internally coherent when they are mutually supportive
● That's formative and summative assessment need to be aligned with one another.
● Such components must also be externally coherent in the sends that formative and summative assessment are consistent with accepted theories of learning as well as with socially valued learning outcomes.
● In case if these two type are not coherently present, the system will either work against one another or work against larger societal goals.
● But today for practical reasons summative tests are relatively short and predominantly take the multiple choice or short answer formats.
● Such tests will measure a subject of the intended curriculum, omitting important processes, strategies and knowledge that cannot be assessed efficiently in that fashion.
System Issues It refers to the fact that assessment exists within a larger educational context. If that context is to function effectively in educating students, its components must be coherent. Gitomer and Duschl (2007) describe two types of coherence, internal and external. Assessment components can be considered internally coherent when they are mutually supportive; in other words, formative and summative assessments need to be aligned with one another. Those components must also be externally coherent in the sense that formative and summative assessments are consistent with accepted theories of learning, as well as with socially valued learning outcomes. External coherence, of course, also applies to other system components like the educational ideology, policies and programmes. In any event, if these two types of coherence are not present, components of the system will either work against one another or work against larger societal goals. Thus, the effectiveness of assessment will be limited by the nature of the larger system in which it is embedded and, particularly, by the content, format, and design. Ultimately, we have to change the system, not just the approach to assessment, if we want to have maximum impact on learning and instruction. Changing the system is a very big challenge indeed.
OTHER ISSUES OF CLASS ROOM ASSESSMENT
1. Bias in Assessment:
Unfair evaluation due to cultural, gender, or socioeconomic biases.
Blatchford and Cline (1992) suggest that the assessment process should operate without bias with respect to gender, social class, ethnicity, language use and religion. However, many researchers have demonstrated the existence of bias in educational assessment. Many researchers have argued that most assessments are culture biased and discriminates against certain ethnic groups. Anastasi (1972) argues that it is not productive to attempt to develop tests that are
„culture-free‟ (free from cultural influences) and, instead, there should be efforts to develop tests that are „culture-fair‟ (common to different cultures).
2. Inadequate Feedback:
* Lack of constructive feedback for students to understand and improve.
3. Overemphasis on Testing:
Too much focus on exams rather than a holistic understanding of the subject.
4. Standardization Challenges:
Difficulty in creating fair assessments that cater to diverse learning styles.
5. Assessment Design Flaws:
Poorly designed assessments may not accurately measure student knowledge.
STEPS OF DESIGNING ASSESSMENT
6. Cheating and Plagiarism:
Addressing and preventing academic dishonesty in assessments.
7. Limited Range of Assessment Types:
Overreliance on one type of assessment may not capture diverse skills.
8. Time Constraints:
Assessments that are too time-consuming can cause stress and hinder learning.
Time constraint: The time constraint refers to the project's schedule for completion, including the deadlines for each phase of the project, as well as the date for rollout of the final deliverable.
9. Inadequate Technology Integration:
Challenges in effectively incorporating technology for assessment purposes.
10. Inconsistency in Grading:
Varied interpretation and application of grading criteria among educators.
11. Lack of Student Engagement:
Assessments that fail to captivate students' interest may lead to disengagement.
12. Inequality in Resources:
Disparities in access to resources for preparation or completion of assessments.
Educational inequality is the unequal distribution of academic resources, including but not limited to school funding, qualified and experienced teachers, books, and technologies, to socially excluded communities. These communities tend to be historically disadvantaged and oppressed.
13. Assessment Anxiety:
** High-stakes assessments may contribute to anxiety and negatively impact performance.
14. Insufficient Training for Educators:
Teachers may lack training in creating and administering effective assessments.
15. Inclusion of Multiple Intelligences:
Assessments should recognize and accommodate different types of intelligence.
Addressing these issues can contribute to a more effective and equitable classroom assessment environment.
REFORMS IN ASSESSMENT REPORTS
● Assessment becomes an integral part of the educative process.
● According to NCF 2005 the purpose of assessment is necessarily to improve the teaching learning process and materials, and to be able to review the objectives that have been identified for different school stages by gauging the extent to which the capabilities of learner have been developed.
● Traditionally, assessment used to be conducted at the end of the teaching learning process and served only the summative functions.
● But now, with advent of modern theories of learning and instruction, the process of assessment has acquired new dimensions with an interventionist role in the improvement of instructional process.
Advances in understanding of human learning have highlighted inconsistencies between many traditional assessment and reporting practices and what is now known about the general conditions that promote successful learning. There has been growing recognition within the education communities of the need to develop assessment methods for a broader range of skills and attributes necessary for life in the 21st century, including the ability to work in teams, to innovate, to solve complex problems, and to analyse and evaluate diverse information. Advances in technology have raised the possibility and challenge of fundamentally transforming assessment processes and information in the future. The dichotomies like quantitative versus qualitative; formative versus summative; norm-referenced versus criterion/standards-referenced; tests versus assessments; internal versus external; continuous versus terminal; measurement versus judgement; assessment of learning versus assessment for learning became default basis for conceptualising and describing the field of assessment. The position paper on examination reforms (NCERT, 2006) states the need for examination reforms in India as follows.
(i) Indian school board exams are largely inappropriate for the „knowledge society‟ of the 21st century and its need for innovative problem-solvers.
(ii) They do not serve the needs of social justice.
(iii) The quality of question papers is low. They usually call for rote memorization and fail to test higher-order skills like reasoning and analysis, let alone lateral thinking, creativity, and judgment.
(iv) They are inflexible. Based on a „one-size-fits-all‟ principle, they make no allowance for different types of learners and learning environments.
(v) Because they induce an inordinate level of anxiety and stress. In addition to widespread trauma, mass media and psychological counselors report a growing number of exam-induced suicides and nervous breakdowns.
(vi) Because there is often a lack of full disclosure and transparency in grading and mark/grade reporting.
vii) Because there is need for a functional and reliable system of school-based evaluation. The focus group (NCERT, 2006) suggests the following reforms in assessment practice.
(i) There should be more varied modes of assessment, including oral testing and group work evaluation.
(ii) Do not expect everything of everybody in every subject.
(iii) Flexibility in when exams are taken Enhanced reporting of performance Some important reforms that have recently taken place in the field of assessment have been discussed below.
REFORMS IN ASSESSMENT
OPEN BOOK ASSESSMENT
● Open book allow students to takes notes at the time of examination.
● It aims at developing the skills of critical and creative thinking.
● Open book assessments often comprises task based on a problem or argument to which the student is ten required to respond employing their knowledge of the subject and making use of the reference material as appropriate.
Types of Open Book Assessment
Restricted type Students are permitted to bring one or more specific documents approved by the course instructor.
Unrestricted type
Students are free to bring whatever they like.
Merits of the OBA
● To reduce the tendency of rote memory.
● To develop higher order thinking.
● To develop better understanding of subject matter.
● To develop positive attitudes towards examination.
● To reduce stress and fear.
● To eliminate the tendency of copying.
● Development of self study habits.
● Encourages creative abilities.
● To develop regular study habits among students.
Demerits of the OBA
● Time consuming.
● Difficult to ensure equitable resources.
● More space is needed during the examination.
● Less important to rote memorisation.
● Non availability of of infrastructure facilities.
● There is a possibility of consultation among examinees in the hall.
Open Book System Advantages and Disadvantages
Advantages:
Students are not required to engage in parroting of concepts, if they understand the concept they would answer correctly. This will remove tension of examination which has become integral part of normal education system. Those students who are intelligent but don’t like to put in extra hard work in memorizing the concepts, facts and other data would enjoy this system. It is highly likely that more and more students would continue their education as the passing percentage would go up.
Disadvantages
The students would stop studying and simply copy from the open book provided at the examination hall. It would be really tough to control the secret discussions between students who would cheat their way to success. The number of pass outs would increase and the students who pass out the exam of 12th board through open book would demand similar type of arrangement in higher studies and later on even in jobs they would demand the provision of open book. Simply imagine a surgeon who turns the pages of the book while performing surgery on his patients. Board examinations would lose their importance and no one would like to assess the ability and competence of an individual on the basis of marks or grade of the CBSE board.
Open book examinations
An open book examination is one in which examinees are allowed to consult their class notes, textbooks, and other approved material while answering questions. The traditional approach to education treats the information content of a subject to be the most important. The teacher‟s role is viewed as facilitating the transfer of information from the textbook to the students‟ minds. What the student is expected to do is to understand this information, retain it, and retrieve it during the final examination. Most conventional examinations test how much information the students have been able to store in their minds. In order to cope with this demand, students memorise the information in class notes and textbooks, and transfer it to answer books during the examination. In this type of examination, success depends on the quantity of information memorised, and the efficiency with which it is reproduced. But the alternative approach considers true teaching is teaching students how to learn. That is, teaching should equip students with the ability to acquire knowledge, to modify existing knowledge on the basis of new experience, to build new knowledge, and to apply available knowledge to solve problems and make intelligent decisions.
ONLINE ASSESSMENT
● It is conducting examination on the basis of internet.
● It is a new technique of conducting assessment or examination by using internet without face to face contact between the examinee and the examiner.
Merits of the Online Assessment
● Scoring can be done done speedily.
● Easier,time saving and comfortable.
● Reduces the chance of copying.
● Reduces the subjectivity.
● Provide immediate feedback to students.
● Less expensive.
● Quick evaluation of performance.
● It ensures reliability,validity, and objectivity.
Demerits of the Online Assessment
● Good broadband facility is required.
● Important is only given to cognitive ability.
● Technical knowledge is required.
● Risk of losing what has been recorded.
● Availability of internet facilities.
● Limited time and less freedom for selecting sections.
● Not suitable for the specific needs of students.
Online Examinations
Online examination or online assessment is a web based interactive, independent and intelligent examination platform for students. It is an assessment that is accessed on a computer via the internet or a similar computer network. The assessment or test is read online and the responses are given online by selecting or checking a choice by clicking the mouse, typing a response, or perhaps even touching the computer screen with a special “pen” or speaking a response aloud using voice recognition technology. Online assessment may also be a vehicle for submitting a portfolio of student performances or completed assignments for the teacher to evaluate.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ONLINE TESTING
Advantages
• Although creating online tests is labor-intensive, once a test is developed in Blackboard, it is relatively easy to transfer it and repeat it in other Blackboard courses.
• Blackboard allows for a high degree of customization in the feedback students get in response to each answer that they submit. As an instructor, you could leverage this tool as another way to engage with students about course content.
• Online tests are asynchronous and can be accessed on a variety of devices. If students buy the Blackboard mobile app, they can even take a test from their smartphone. The flexibility offered by online testing can be a great solution for learners with busy schedules or when unexpected class cancellations occur.
• While it is hard to prevent cheating, Blackboard tests do offer many settings for instructors to randomize questions, impose test taking time limits, and restrict attempts. However, make sure to explain all the settings to students before they begin taking the test.
• Testing in an online environment can be a lot more interactive than traditional paper and pen tests. Instructors can embed multimedia in test questions to provide more engaging assessments. For example, students may be asked to identify a particular area of an image by directly clicking on it instead of having to answer in written form.
• In all likelihood, students are already using online tools as study aids for their courses. Instructors can better serve students by providing them with custom made study aids like online practice tests, rather than entrusting students to rely on outside resources that may not be valid sources of information.
• For objective question types like multiple-choice, Blackboard will automatically grade student responses, saving time for the instructor and providing more immediate feedback to students.
•Online tests can be more accessible to students with disabilities who have assistive technologies built into their computers than hand written tests are.
Disadvantages
• Unlike collaborative, project-based online assessments, multiple choice or essay tests online can feel even more impersonal than they do in the classroom which may contribute to an online student’s sense of isolation.
• While it is tempting to use the multiple choice quizzes provided by the textbook publisher, these types of assessments lack creativity and may not be suitable to the specific needs of your learners.
• Creating online tests in Blackboard can be very tedious and time-consuming. It is not as easy as simply uploading the Microsoft Word version of your test. Instead, instructors have to copy and paste each question’s text and each individual answer’s text into Blackboard, mark the correct answers, and customize feedback and setting options.
• Some students will not be accustomed to taking quizzes and tests online, and they may need some hand-holding early in the semester before they feel comfortable with the technology.
• Cheating on an online test is as simple as opening up another window and searching Google or asking a classmate for the correct answers. Furthermore, cheating on online multiple choice tests is near impossible for the instructor to prevent or catch.
• Though the technology that makes online tests possible is a great thing, it can also cause problems. If you do online testing, have a back-up plan for students who have technical difficulties and be ready to field some frantic emails from students who have poor internet connections or faulty computers.
ON DEMAND ASSESSMENT
● Assessment conducted on the demand of the learner.
● It can be administered to a single student and or a whole class.
● It enables to conduct assessment in a reliable and standardised manner.
● Give preference to students examination.
● Can written examination when the student is think he is written all thing.
● No limitation to attend.
Types of On Demand Assessment
1)Computer adaptive test
● They deliver sets of questions to students that vary according to student ability.
● The students give responses.
● Depending on the responses provided in previous questions, the system presents progressively easier or more difficult questions to the student.
2.) Linear test
● Students get a fixed set of questions.
● The same questions are given to all students in the same order during the test.
● Their responses are saved and stored by the computer and teachers are able to view and analyse the results of a student, class or question level.
Merits of the On Demand Assessment
● Attend exam he or she is ready.
● Data choose by learner.
● Loss of threat of failure.
● Provide immediate feedback.
● It is more respect individuality of learner.
● Tension, frustration,anxiety etc can be removed.
● It is time saving.
● Remove malpractice.
Demerits of On Demand Assessment
● Unfair checking of exams.
● Very slow services.
● Much freedom is provided to students.
● The system may fail to store the result.
On Demand Examination (ODE)
Where assessment takes place when the learner considers himself/herself are ready to take the same, such examination are called on demand examination. Under ODE, a unique question paper having defined number of items is generated randomly by the computer (on the day of the examination) out of the already developed question bank on the basis of question paper design and the blueprint of the subject. The question paper is unique for each student.
IBA
INSTITUTION BASED ASSESSMENT
It is a individual institutions of higher education design and evaluate their own assessment programmes by addressing specific needs and progress of students assessment instruments vary by discipline,programme and institutions.
● IBA is an approaches in evaluating students academic progress in which teachers are given greater responsibility to design quality assessment that align with their students learning outcomes.
● Which is more comprehensive, it focus being an assessment of holistic development of the learner.
● IBA is indeed the only way to make evaluation on a continuous basis , this process being an integral part of the teaching learning process.
● IBA ensures holistic development of the learners, use of written, oral, practical, diagnostic and formative tests are made use for assessing cognitive and practical outcomes related to scholastic aspects of development.
Basic Principle of IBA
1. Both teachers and students are actively involved in the process of evaluation and students do not remains passive listeners.
2. Teacher must ensure that assessment becomes an integral part of institution.
3. Integral assessment should be comprehensive as it takes into account assessment of holistic development of learner and involve class discussion report, laboratory works, written works etc.
4. Development of database and progress of students.
5. Adapted to varying conditions i.e, IBA should be Institution specific.
Factors Consider in IBA
● Class attendance.
● Classroom observation - instruction with students, involvement in process, interest in subjects, ability to express himself, verbaly willingness to accept other etc.
● Provide teacher made test.
● Practical and laboratory and library work assignments.
● Working with community.
Take-home tests.
Take-home tests allow students to work at their own pace with access to books and materials. Take-home tests also permit longer and more involved questions, without sacrificing valuable class time for exams. Problem sets, short answers, and essays are the most appropriate kinds of take-home exams. Be wary, though, of designing a take-home exam that is too difficult or an exam that does not include limits on the number of words or time spent (Jedrey, 1984). Also, be sure to give students explicit instructions on what they can and cannot do: for example, are they allowed to talk to other students about their answers? A variation of a take-home test is to give the topics in advance but ask the students to write their answers in class. Some faculty hand out ten or twelve questions the week before an exam and announce that three of those questions will appear on the exam.
Group Exams
Some faculty have successfully experimented with group exams, either in class or as take-home projects. Faculty report that groups outperform individuals and that student respond positively to group exams. For example, for a fifty-minute in-class exam, use a multiple-choice test of about twenty to twenty-five items. For the first test, the groups can be randomly divided. Groups of three to five students seem to work best. For subsequent tests, you may want to assign students to groups in ways that minimize differences between group scores and balance talkative and quiet students. Or you might want to group students who are performing at or near the same level (based on students‟ performance on individual tests). Some faculty have students complete the test individually before meeting as a group. Others just let the groups discuss the test, item by item. In the first case, if the group score is higher than the individual score of any member, bonus points are added to each individual‟s score. In the second case, each student receives the score of the group.
Paired Testing
For paired exams, pairs of students work on a single essay exam, and the two students turn in one paper. Some students may be reluctant to share a grade, but good students will most likely earn the same grade they would have working alone. Pairs can be self-selected or assigned. For example, pairing a student who is doing well in the course with one not doing well allows for some peer teaching. A variation is to have students work in teams but submit individual answer sheets (Murray, 1990).
Question Bank Systems
In this system a large number of questions from each topic or unit of the syllabus are prepared in advance and require number of questions from each topic or unit of the syllabus at the time of examination or test are taken out from the pool. They are separately printed and test is conducted, with the help of these questions. Making question bank is a regular process in the sense that different varieties of questions of definite number are regularly constructed by experts and added to the bank. All these question s are standardized by adopting systematic procedure of item analysis and total reliability and validity of the test can also be calculated before administering it to the examinees. If question bank is stored in a system then we can give programme to the computer to bring out the required number of items from each topic. We can also get items of required difficulty value by using computer programme and computer can also calculate the reliability or validity of the test which consists of those items.
Summing Up
Being a critical component of the process of education, assessment has to be practiced with extreme care and vigilance. Educational practitioners have to be very cautious of the issues involved in the assessment practices in classrooms and have to take steps to continuously improve its quality and modernise the practice.
Referances
*Areekkuzhiyil, Santhosh. (2021). Issues and Concerns in Classroom Assessment Practices.
*Assessment for learning-
Department of Educational Technology Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University Chennai.
*Commercialization of Education system: A critical analysis Swapnali Borgohain Dept. of Education, Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh, Assam, India.
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