Assessment instrument: Performance Assessments. The second assessment instrument focuses on performance assessments, which require the learner to undertake practical tasks in a simulated environment. Observations from the performance assessments are typically recorded onto a structured checklist with a column provided for anecdotal records, which is a brief description of significant events that are not specified in the checklist. There are two kinds of performance tasks being restricted and extended .Restricted performance tasks are highly structured and restricted but limited in the scope of the task performed, which makes it easier to observe and make a judgement, e.g. constructing a graph from a given set of data. However, it is not a comprehensive assessment, which results in being low in validity. On the other hand, there are the extended performance tasks which are less structured but wider in the scope of assessment.
Also, students have more freedom in selecting and executing the task, e.g. painting a picture . Furthermore, Gronlund also added that performance assessments could be designed with a high degree of realism and high complexity, which provides a higher validity to the assessment. However, it requires a large amount of time to administer, and the scoring is highly subjective, which reduces the overall reliability of the assessment.
Performance assessments can be categorised into six types of settings, being:
paper-and-pencil-assessments, which is not the same as a paper-and-pencil test, as the former focuses more on the application of knowledge in a specific situation;
identification test, which uses a wide variety of situations to represent various degrees of realism, e.g. identifying the cause of an error message;
structured performance test, which is conducted in a controlled and structured environment;
simulated performance, which is an attempt to simulate a real-life situation;
work sample, which requires students to perform actual tasks in a controlled environment;
student projects, which is a comprehensive approach that combines academic, communication, and thinking skills in problem-based learning
As shared by Gronlund & Waugh (2009), an effective instructional design has three major components; i) clarity in learning objectives; ii) planning instructional activities to achieve the intended learning objectives; and lastly iii) using assessment methods that complement the learning objectives and instructional activities. The selected response method of matching items is a compact and efficient method of assessing simple knowledge outcomes (. On the other hand, as mentioned by McCurry, paper and pencil assessment is not appropriate for assessing psychomotor skills or interpersonal skills. Rather, performance assessments provide a more natural combination of reasoning, oral and physical skills evaluation. However, the disadvantage of performance assessment is that it is time-consuming and tedious to conduct, and there is a potential influence of the observer’s personal bias and halo effect. While this is the case, the availability of a structured and valid observation checklist helps to ensure that the results from the different learners are comparable and reliable. Finally, notwithstanding that assessments are important, the feedback that the students receive after every formative or summative assessment holds great potential for future improvement. However, Jonsson also added that it is based on the acceptance and adoption of the feedback by the students.
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