Exams or Other Forms of Assessment - Research Paper Example

? Exams vs. Other Forms of Assessment Exams vs. Other Forms of Assessment Introduction Assessment is one of the key factors of education or learning (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006). Stakeholders in the educational community, that is educators, policymakers, students, administrators and parents, have diverse ideas concerning the execution of assessment techniques (Boston, 2002). While some of the stakeholders consider traditional assessment mechanists more effective, others believe that alternative assessment techniques are superior. Many teachers believe that the assessment of student performance must be incorporated with a dynamic teaching-and-learning process and not alienated from it (Boston, 2002). This is a widespread practice in universities to normal exams, where the main goal is judgment rather than using formative forms of assessment where the main objective is simply learning. A number of researchers have pointed out that there is reliance on exams as many educators evaluate their students in the same manner as they were evaluated when they were learners (Dikli, 2003). Coherently, phrases such as “Final Examination Marks” can be read in reports forms of today’s students (Boston, 2002). Normally referred to as end-of-the-year exams, such forms of assessment are intended to determine the extent of a student’s education. Simply put, did a learner learn what he/she was expected to learn and to what level? It is with these marks that an educator can assign a student a particular grade. Formative assessment, also known as assessment for learning, is a method, which is maybe, more than anything else, a benchmark for a teacher to decide what they require to do to push the student forward. It is, therefore, not for grading, but learning. This paper finds that formative assessment is a better tool for assessing a student when compared to exams and the findings will be discussed below. Exams An exam is an assessment tool planned to gauge a test-taker’s (student) skill, knowledge, aptitude and, at times, physical fitness or classification in numerous other topics. An exam might be administered verbally, on a computer, on paper or in a secured room, which needs a test taker physically and mentally to carry out a set of skills. Exams differ in style, requirements or rigor (Boston, 2002). For instance, in a closed examination conducted in a majority of schools, a test-taker is normally needed to depend on his/her memory to reply to particular items while, in an open test, the test-taker might utilize one or more supplementary sources. An exam might be administered officially or casually (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006). A case of a casual exam would be a reading test given by an educator to a student. A case of an official exam, on the other hand, would be a final test given by an educator in a restricted classroom (Boston, 2002). Educators use these results to assign tests scores or grades. A test score might be understood in line with a criterion or norm, or even, at times, both (Dikli, 2003). The norm is that an exam might be established autonomously or by numerical analysis, or a considerable number of participants. Normally, the difficulty or format of the exam is reliant on the educational philosophy of the educator, class size, subject matter, requirement of accreditation and the policy of the institution (Boston, 2002). However, to what extent do exams assist students succeed in life? Is it a vital tool for assessing today’s students in a world filled with many individual who think creativity is better than the normal form of education? A lot of students today are worried about the amount of time, which is spent on exam preparation, and all the tension that is experienced (Boston, 2002). As a result, a good number of institutions are taking on progress assessments. Maybe, another option, nevertheless, should be for schools to do away with examinations (Dikli, 2003). Anxiety and stress are widespread in elementary, secondary, as well as university students these days, as effects of professor’s pressure and exam preparation towards students are severe (Boston, 2002). Such effects bring about diseases and illness and drop the quality of a student’s life. It is widely acknowledged that a number of students become frustrated when they do not perform well during examinations, which they tend to prepare for an entire year. Examinations also test learners’ memory. It is a sad truth that the knowledge needed to pass an examination is theoretical and, at times, useless. Students are educated to reason in the wrong manner because they are surrounded by open-minded problems in their day to day lives (Boston, 2002). For some, a grade is believed to answer the question, “did the learner learn and attain the learning standards or targets?” If this is the case, then exams, or summative assessment, in general, correspond to achievement. Exams simply test theoretical knowledge and realistic skills are less assessed. This method does not, by any means, meet all the standards of assessing a learner adequately (Boston, 2002). However, this method merely justifies the memorizing or learning ability of a student, but not his or her creativity. Furthermore, if a learner does not do well in the test, then his overall grades might be affected (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006). A clear learning progression, which is normally tested through examinations, would propose putting more attention on items provided later in the course, when learners are more expected to have learned the material (Boston, 2002). However, not all knowledge is obtained in a clear and linear way. For instance, it would not make a big difference if a learner mastered proper sentence structure prior to mastering the rules on punctuations, or vice versa, and; therefore, giving more attention to whichever one is taught later does not necessarily make any sense. In addition, it might be worth giving more attention to skills most significant for career or college readiness, irrespective of when in the year they are obtained (Dikli, 2003). Educators are also affected when their students do not perform well during examinations, so this is not only a problem for the dear students, but their educators, as well (Boston, 2002). An educator is judged by how well their students perform, and when they do not perform well in examinations, they are considered to have failed in their duties. Therefore, adapting another form of assessment will primarily not work for the student only, but also the person charged with educating the student. This is why teachers should consider revising their assessment methods. Formative Assessment Formative assessment is a range of formal and informal assessment methods utilized by educators during the learning process so as to modify learning and teaching activities to enhance student success (Boston, 2002). It normally concerns qualitative feedback instead of scores for both learners and educators, who center on the performance, as well as details of content. It is usually compared to summative assessment, which endeavors to monitor learning outcomes, normally for purposes of external responsibility (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006). The period between formative assessment and amendments to learning can be a matter of months or seconds. Some instances of formative assessment are: A language educator can ask students to select the most prominent thesis statement from a variety; if they choose correctly, then the teacher moves on, but if they only choose some, then the teacher initiates a class discussion. If most of the answers incorrect, then the teacher should they review the work again (Boston, 2002). A science supervisor might analyze the previous year's test marks of a particular student to assist in planning teacher workshops during summer vacations for addressing these areas of weakness (Boston, 2002). An educator could asks his/her learners to jot down, in a brainstorming event, all they discern on how hot-air balloons function so that they can find out what learners already identify on the area of science he/she is planning to teach. This form of assessment is considered extremely effective since is assesses student basing on their understanding of a matter unlike exams, which grade a student basically on their learning of content. Comparing Exams to Other Forms of Assessment (Formative) Formative assessments are flexible. Unlike using examinations as a form of assessment, which occurs following delivery of the information, formative assessments do not have an allocated time at which to be executed (Boston, 2002). This flexibility permits educators to tailor their classroom session and assessments to the requirements of their learners. Formative assessments are easy to implement due to their flexibility. Formative assessments can be as small or large and general or in-depth as needed (Dikli, 2003). This might cut down on educator preparation time along with the time spent on grading learners. Formative assessments also offer checks for understanding because they can take many forms, but exams take just one form. Nevertheless, in any shape, it is an evaluation of understanding and consideration (Boston, 2002). Executing numerous formative assessments methods as a student moves through some of the vital materials permits the teacher to grasp and deal with any misunderstanding the entire class or a particular individual might have. Formative assessments also inform curriculums. Educators can utilize the results of this form of assessment to inform the curriculum, as well as the delivery of content (Boston, 2002). An educator might opt to spend more hours on a particular area in which a number of students struggle, or spend fewer hours on particular a field with which a majority of the students are comfortable. Finally, formative assessments assess an educator, as well. This form of assessment grants chances for educators to assess their own progress (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006). The results of the evaluation can portray strengths or weaknesses in the delivery of instruction. According to Dikli (2003), examinations are inauthentic and indirect. Dikli (2003) also adds that examinations are standardized, and; therefore, are speed-based, one-shot and norm-related. Boston (2002) highlights the same issue and argues that examinations are single-occasion activities. This means that exams only measure what students can do at a specific period. Nevertheless, test scores cannot show the achievement of a student. Likewise, they cannot tell what specific challenges the learners had during the examination. Boston (2002) also states that there is no response offered to students in this type of evaluation. The tests are basically individualized, and the assessment process is decontextualized. Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick (2006) indicate that most standardized tests only assess the lower-order thinking skills of the learner. Similarly, Dikli (2003) states that examinations often center on a learner’s ability to memorization and recall, which are deprived levels of cognition skills. In addition, exams need students to show their knowledge in a predetermined manner. Formative assessments, alternatively, assess higher-order reasoning and thinking skills. Learners have the chance to show what they learned (Dikli, 2003). This form of assessment centers on the performance and growth of the learner. This means that if a student fails to do well in a given duty, at a particular moment, then he/she still has the chance to show his/her skill at a different period and situation. Since formative forms of assessments are established in context and in due course, the educator has an opportunity to gauge the weaknesses and strengths of the learner in a wide variety of situations and areas (Dikli, 2003). More reliable assessment mechanisms, such as independent projects, portfolios, journals and so on, let students express their understanding on the content in their own unique ways using a couple of intelligences. According to Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick (2006), there are eight intelligences: linguistic intelligence, mathematical/logical intelligence, spatial intelligence, bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, musical intelligence, the personal intelligences, which might be intrapersonal or interpersonal, and naturalistic intelligence. If educators use such a forum to assess their students, then students will also be motivated to learn since the method incorporates them fully (Boston, 2002). Conclusion Formative assessments take place concurrently with instruction. Such constant assessments offer specific feedback to educators and learners for the aim of guiding teaching to enhance learning. Formative assessments incorporate both formal and informal techniques, such as oral questioning, ungraded quizzes, draft work, teacher observations, student-constructed concept maps, think-aloud, learning logs, as well as portfolio reviews. Even though, educators might record the results of formative assessments, they should not factor these results into grading or summative evaluation. However, it is vital to note that the notion of doing away with exams once and for all is not a good idea. Examinations are also a vital way of assessing a student’s intellectual knowledge and improving one’s knowledge is one of the goals of education. Therefore, learners should have the alternative in case they wish to sit for a subject devoid of any regular lessons in the institution. Exams should be conducted when required or when a student requests for one. Otherwise, the only best form of assessing a student remains to be formative assessment where the main goal is learning instead of judging. References Boston, C. (2002). The concept of formative assessment. Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 8(9), 78-83. Dikli, S. (2003). Assessment at a distance: Traditional vs. Alternative Assessments. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 2(3), 2-13. Nicol, D. J., & Macfarlane-Dick, D. (2006). Formative assessment and self-regulated learning: a model and seven principles of good practice. Studies in Higher Education, 31(2), 199-218. Read More