Justification for Recommendation - Assignment Example

Assignment Instrument Selection Report Dorette S. RobertsEDU 660Lisa GallowayJuly 22, 2013Instrument ReportIntroduction The assessment of students and analysis of their data on their educational assessments is done using educational measuring instruments. Various educational measuring instruments could be used to determine the abilities of students as well as their proficiency in academics. This paper is an instrument selection report focusing on the Code of Fair Testing in Education within a learning scenario.

In a learning scenario, there is usually a clear description of some realistic situations, which are accompanied by at least one question challenging learners in their attempt to respond to such situations. Overview of Learning Scenario A learning scenario is a prioritized description of a situation in learning, which is independent of any underlying pedagogical approach. The scenario describes an organization with the aim of ensuring the appropriation of précised set of skills, competence, and knowledge.

The learning scenario in this case is a practical learning scenario. A practical learning scenario consists of descriptions followed by respective questions although the scenario could develop in stages with each stage having at least one question (Shepherd, 2011). Information may be presented with the use of various media elements such as texts but the described situation has to be relevant and realistic. In theory, various formats of questions could be employed in order to challenge learners about the situation being learned including the simple multi-choice questions.

Any of the various theory formats are meant to determine the abilities of students in their capacity to answer various forms of questions (Lejeune A., 2004). Learning Objectives In this learning scenario, the learning objectives involve the determination of the ability of students to answer various forms of questions. The objective includes expectations that lie within the outcome of the education program. The paper will establish the capacities that students have in handling questions in different forms as part of their assessment program within a practical learning scenario (Shepherd, 2011 ).

Analyzed Tool The American Psychological Association (2013) provides information on a code prepared by a joint committee for testing practices as a way of ensuring that there is enough observation of fairness among test takers in education. Code of Fair Testing Practices provides guidance in the development and selection of tests. It also provides guidance in the administration and score determination in tests and goes to an extent of ensuring good reporting and interpretation of test results in order to keep the test takers fairly informed.

The code ensures fairness in test taking and provides grounds for the test takers to view their test results positively in terms of fairness. Various tools of assessing students in the practical learning scenario include concept maps, concept tests, knowledge surveys, exams, oral presentations, poster presentations, peer review, portfolios, rubrics, and written reports. The assessment of students in a learning scenario can be done with the use of any of these ten assessment tools. Concept maps involve diagramming techniques in which case students are assessed on how well they can see pictures.

This kind of assessment could also include the way students can interpreted elements in such pictures as well as such maps (Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education , 2013). The concept map involve a diagram made of hierarchical nodes, which are labeled with concepts with the nodes linked using directional lines, and elements arranged from a general to specific scope.Students are assessed on how best they can link elements within the conceptual map (Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education , 2013).

Concept tests involve conceptual questions that are based on multiple choices. These questions are mainly useful in the context of large classes in terms of student number. This technique is mainly used in lecture settings where the instructor may decide to present questions during class. The questions presented have several possible answers and the students indicate the answers they think they are correct to the respective questions. On the other hand, knowledge surveys involve an assessment whereby students are asked whether they could provide answers to surveys of their course content questions.

The knowledge surveys consist of many questions in a series covering the entire course content (Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education , 2013). This tool is used to evaluate students’ learning and the way they master content at all levels. It covers all levels of thinking from basic to comprehensive levels. Exams form the commonest tool of assessing students in a theoretical way. They form the classic tool of assessment in education but designing a fair test could be challenging. Exams are based on theory and students sit on exams for evaluation purposes.

Oral presentation could be part of an exam and are often used in assessing students from their individual as well as group research projects. They make a good way of analyzing students’ learning from an individual perspective (Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education , 2013). Poster presentations are mainly used at scientific conferences and can be used in the assessment of students’ learning from an individual perspective. The application of poster presentation is mainly done in research projects to point out what students understand about theirprojects as well as concepts of creating good research projects.

Peer review is still another tool of assessment but in this case, students evaluate themselves. Students review the written work of other students as well as other students’ oral presentations. In this kind of assessment, students feel free to evaluate themselves based on the performance of other student thereby promoting a feeling of fairness in the evaluation (Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education , 2013). Instructors may also make use of evidence collection in demonstrating the mastery of certain concepts in learning.

Rubric is also another tool of assessment, which includes a set of evaluation based on set goals in learning and student’s performance in learning. Students may also have to write reports to indicate their capabilities in a certain concept or course with respect to what they have learned in class or in a practical learning scenario (Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education , 2013). Written reports are mainly used to bring out the students’ level of understanding based on given research projects.

Selected Quantitative Instrument Rubric is the selected quantitative instrument for this paper. It is designed to be used at an institutional level. The rubric as a quantitative assessment instrument is usually designed for the achievement of variousgoals. The rubric assessment instrument is designed to find out whether students implement quantitative reasoning completely, whether students think quantitatively, if they have the capacity to evaluate qualitative and quantitative reasoning thoroughly, and if students can communicate effectively.

Rubric is part of the generalized quantitative reasoning that is used to assess student learning effectively (Numeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education , 2013). It provided the most effective way of assessment in a practical learning scenario. While the use of various assessments is applicable in most learning scenarios, instructors should make a choice assessment in a way that is fair to both the scenario and the students.Justification for Recommendation Selection of rubric as the preferred instrument in this paper was based on its ability to assess students in terms of both pre-intervention and post-intervention habits of their minds.

The instrument provides possibilities of being used at different levels especially the institutional level. With the use of this tool of assessment, individuals can achieve various goals such as establishing the capacity of students of understanding a given concept or course through their quantitative reasoning and their effectiveness in communication (University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2013). The instrument is valid in the quantitative assessment of students mainly at the institutional level because it has been widely in use since 2009 (Madison, Boersma, Diefenderfer, & Dingman, 2012).

The Association of American College and Universities released the instrument in the form of 15 value rubrics that were designed to achieve assessment success in various learning scenarios and outcomes. The rubric is widely used not only in terms of number of users but also in terms of its application in different learning scenarios and learning outcomes (Madison, Boersma, Diefenderfer, & Dingman, 2012). It is valid in assessing quantitative learning achievements in various kinds of students work as well as collections of work.

It application in a wide scope such as initiation of skills required for searching quantitative information as alongside power of the mind in criticizing it, reflecting upon it, and applying the assessment instrument in decision making. Rubric as an assessment instrument has been reliable for many years and its wide and repetitive use proved its reliability. It is reliable in measuring achievement levels the core competences associated with quantitative learning. This happens in different type of student work.

The reliability depends on the prompt nature implying that some students will not indicate competences in their responses through the assessment instrument. This aspect implies that rubrics are never reliable in some cases especially when there are perceived overlaps in the core competences of the quantitative learning process or scenario (Boersma & Klyve, 2013). In terms of fairness, rubric as a quantitative assessment instrument provide a situation where students works assessment is done based on their core competences.

The instrument will be fair when the competences being assessed on student works are common to all students. Student would hardly have common similar competences, which implies that some aspects of competences in students are hardly considered. Its consistency and application such as the targeting of specific aspects, in student competences, makes it a non-biased assessment instrument in learning (Boersma & Klyve, 2013). The instrument is fair based on standards and fairness controlling bodies such as the American Psychological Association and the Association of American College and Universities.

These bodies consider the instrument as fair but some of its applications are not fair since it only reflect on the core competences in student work. Rubric is a non-biased assessment instrument with specific norms of its application. Its application is done with consideration and understanding of assessment concepts, norm-referenced tests, its validity, and reliability. The assessment should be fair and standard for all students. The assessor has to be kind, fair, trustworthy, and considerate (University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2013).

The application of norms in the use of the instrument has made it possible to make it a good quantitative instrument of assessment. It is beneficial to education because it generates a common framework as well as a language for assessment. It makes it easy to examine complex behaviors of students in learning scenarios (University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2013). Its benefits to education also include its ability to enable substantive conversations especially among faculties in institution. It is thus a good instrument in quantitative assessment.

Assignment 7ReferencesAmerican Psychological Association. (2013). Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education. Retrieved on July 20, 2013, from http://www.apa.org/science/programs/testing/fair-code.aspxBoersma, S., & Klyve, D. (2013). Measuring Habits of Mind: Toward a Prompt-less Instrument for Assessing Quantitative Literacy. Numeracy: Vol. 6(1) , DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/1936-4660.6.1.6.Lejeune A., P. J.-P. (2004).

A taxonomy for scenario-based engineering, Cognition and Exploratory Learning in Digital Age (CELDA 2004) Proceedings, Lisboa, Portugal, 2004,. 249-256.Madison, B. L., Boersma, S., Diefenderfer, C. L., & Dingman, S. W. (2012). Quantitative Literacy Assessment Rubric. Retrieved July 27, 2013, from http://search.mywebsearch.com/mywebsearch/redirect.jhtml?searchfor=Rubric+as+a+ quantitative+assesment+instrument&cb=HJ&p2=%5EHJ%5Exdm073%5EYY%5Eke &qid=7cec5440490a41238031c1e314b1b16f&n=77fc21bb&ptb=9AAC9E69-08A7- 413D-B029-6377076971F2&ct=GD&si=pconverterNumeracy Infusion Course for Higher Education .

(2013, July 8). Examples of QR Assessment Instruments. Retrieved July 20, 2013, fromhttp://serc.carleton.edu/NICHE/ex_qr_ assessment.html#parttwoShepherd, C. (2011 , May 17). A practical guide to creating learning scenarios: part 1. Retrieved July 20, 2013, from http://onlignment.com/2011/05/a-practical-guide-to- creating-learning-scenarios-part-1/University of Hawaii at Manoa. (2013, April 18). Creating and Using Rubrics. Retrieved July 27, 2013, from https://manoa.hawaii.edu/assessment/howto/rubrics.htm