reflect

Instrument of our self-assessment.

Self-assessment technique

The purpose of this activity wass to design an instrument that helped the students self-assess their own performance in the classroom.

Self-assessment: Advantages and Disadvantages

Reflection: Testing and types of tests.

Competence:To design appropriate tests after having identified the techniques used to assess the four skills as well as grammar and vocabulary, through the analysis of tests, readings tasks, discussions, group activities in a cooperative ambiance.
Test is a systematic procedure for observing persons and describing them with either a numerical scale or a category system. Thus test may give either a qualitative or quantitative information (Anthony J. Nitko)

Designing a test

Specs Listening: 5 mins.
Format: teacher reviews the test with the students before beginning.
Task: the student follows the reading and formulates questions.

Reading: 10 mins.
Format: before answering, the student needs to read instructions and the options given.
Task: read in order to complete the exam.

Writing: 20 mins.
Format: select correct word, write missing word, and write sentences.
Task: fill in blanks and formulate sentences. Test

Answer Key

Narrative The process of performance of our test, made us go back and revise every exercise we developed during this semester. Every project we handed in, ended up being a part of our test. The type of text, we found more adequate, was the achievement test. Then we revised the objectives and purposes of the exercises that we had developed and created activities directly from those exercises in this case, part I was taken from a vocabulary activity; part II and III were about grammar and part IV was writing. The level that we worked on was for 7th grade. Given the high number of students in that level and the short length of available class time, we decided to develop a test that was easy to complete and also easy to grade. For the first part of our test we designed a direct activity with a discrete objective, so that the students would not feel overwhelmed; since only one right answer could be given, it turned out to be unbiased. Since the words were already provided, no grammar was taken in count there. The difficulty grade was low, therefore we assigned it just 1 point of importance. For activity II, we wanted to grade grammar, specifically their grasp of verbs in the past tense. Again, we made it straight, discrete and impartial. As well as in activity 1, we focused on reading and writing skills. Since it was a longer activity, we assigned a 4 points value. For activity III, we also focused in grammar but it was a merge between activity I and II because although the words were provided, the students needed to select the right order it is a direct, discrete and clear task that required reading and writing skills. We assigned it a 3 points value. For activity IV we wanted to grade writing skills, and for that we designed an activity where the students had to build the whole sentences within grading limitations on what they write. The aspects of this activity are that it is direct, discrete and partly subjective, given that they can choose what they write first bur the options are limited and only 5 possible options. We assigned a 2 points value.

Comments by moderator The comments of our moderator were minimum and reduces to some grammar corrections and few format mistakes that we have been corrected.

Items for a test.

This short story could cover all 4 linguistic skills.

• Speaking
In pairs read the story and discuss, highlight the words that you find hard to pronounce or not know the meaning of. How do think Cinderella and the Prince’s life was after they got married?

• Listening
What was the story about?
Was your partner understandable?
Which words did you have problem to pronounce?
-
-
-
• Reading
After reading carefully the previous text, answer the following questions:
1. At what time Cinderella had to wake up to cook breakfast?
2. What color were the dresses of Cinderella’s sisters?
3. How did Cinderella feel at the party?
4. What did the Prince say to Cinderella while they were dancing?
5. How did the Prince felt when he thought he had lost Cinderella?

• Writing
Recreate, in present, the story according to your understanding, use more adjectives, and change the ending making it more interesting.

The Principles of Testing.

Validity.
It is the standard measure in which a test can be proved as effective; if the content, criteria, and construction of a test, plus the results of that test are reliable, and thus all of the students can be evaluated with it we can say it is a valid test.

Reliability.
It’s a crucial element in the assessment tool which proves how trusty a test is, how students respond to the tasks asked for, if its design is adequate or not to give learners good results and how constant their studying strategies are.

Practicality.
It is mainly how a test is first designed and then constructed, how extent it is or its briefness. The materials it will require and the accuracy of the meanings/questions.

Backwash.
Is the effect that a test has on the learning/teaching process, it demonstrates how the students have acquired the new knowledge, and how the teachers can facilitate that process.

Analysis of a test.

In this activity we analyzed a test from our third language class, which is French. The topic was the passé composé tense.

1. What is the purpose of the test? To assess passé composé; grammar and writing.
2. Does it represent direct or indirect testing (or a mixture of both)? It is a direct test; the student is asked to do the skill that is going to be assessed.
3. Are the items discrete points or integrative (or a mixture of both)? A mixture of both; the first part of the test is discrete and integrative, knowledge about passé composé is fundamental but also vocabulary is need it to understand what type of subject the answer requires. The second part is integrative, in order to answer it, the student needs to have other knowledges and be able create the right answer.
4. Which items are objective, and which are subjective? The first half of the test is objective; it only has one right answer. But, the second half is subjective because does not have a standardized answer; it is left open to be assessed under the teacher’s criteria.
5. Is the test norm-referenced or criterion referenced? No.
6. Does the test measure communicative abilities? Would you describe it as a communicative test? Justify your answers. Yes, indeed it had a half were a brief description needs to be done. It is communicative because it has an activity that involves a real life situation about the student’s life, facts that the he can use on his real context.
7. What relationship is there between the answer to question 6 and the answers to the other questions? That even though that the communicative abilities are being assessed subjectively, they are guided in a direct form; under the instruction of using the passé composé.

Tests

Types of tests
✎Proficiency tests
When applying for a bilingual job or a school or just to prove that a candidate is proficient in the language you apply this kind of tests. This test will not be a reflection of the achieved goals during a course or evidence of learned topics; instead it will prove what the candidate can do. A well-known example is TOEFL, or in our case, the English test we took when we applied for this faculty.
✎Achievement tests
These kinds of tests are more used at schools since their purpose is to grade the success in achieving objectives. They can be either final achievement tests or progress achievement tests. They need to follow a course syllabus and can be written, spoken or vary depending on the skill that will be graded. Many progress achievement tests can be applied in order to get better results in a final achievement test. An example of these kinds of tests is unit exams and a final full course exam (semestral).
✎Diagnostic tests
If you want to identify what skills or knowledge a student has mastered and where the student could work or what the student is lacking, you would apply a diagnostic test.
✎Placement tests
If you want to place a new student in a specific learning stage, you have to apply this type of test. These tests can be either pretty standarized or tailor made, so they can be bought. An example would be the kind of test we get when we want to skip a level in our third language.

Types of testing
✎Direct and indirect
Direct testing is when the skill matches what the student is asked to answer. The right answer can only be one. Indirect testing is when the skill not necessarily matches the activity and the answer possibilities can be more that one.
✎Discrete versus integrative testing
Discrete testing is about testing just one element at a time while integrative testing can include many elements.
✎Norm-referenced and criterion referenced
The norm-reference testing has to do with the advantage of relating the test scores from one student to that of other candidates. And criterion referenced is to relate the student scores to whether or not he or she is able to perform a specific task.
✎Objective and subjective testing
If the questions in the test have only one right answer then it is objective. If the questions on the test are open-ended or have multiple right answers, then it is a subjective test.
Computer adaptive testing
If the test is on a computer and the data can be managed through it, then it is computer testing.
Communicative language testing
Oral tests. Or those tests that measure communicative abilities.

Reflection... Informal Assessment

Competence: To handle informal assessment techniques that allow the teacher to measure the performance of linguistic and non-linguistic aspects of the language through the development of an assessment plan, reflections on readings, tasks, assessment tools and collaborative work.
Informal Assessment: is a procedure for obtaining information that can be used to make judgements about the student's learning behavior and unique characteristics using means other than standardized instruments. Observations, checklists, and portfolios are some of the instruments available for informal assessment by educators.
The Assessment Plan: it enables teachers to identify children's behaviors, observe and easily check off what children know and are able to do, document their performance, and make decisions. It also provides insight into a particular behavior and a basis for planning a specific teaching strategy.
We found this techniques very useful and we may apply them in the future.

Rubrics

Activity: to describe someone’s clothes, daily activities and express their feelings, as well as to ask and answer questions; Using the simple present, the present continuous and the simple past and using appropriate vocabulary and pronunciation.

What to asses formally & informally?

A) Since the learning objectives of our activities were to be able to describe someone’s clothes, routine, how to express their feelings, as well as to ask and answer questions; using different Verb tenses, using appropriate vocabulary and pronunciation. We can design an activity where the Students would bring a variety clothing items from home and create an opposite character of whom they are, then with a partner they would start exchanging ¨profiles¨. Finally they would have to present themselves to their other partners using as many adjectives as they can. They would have to actively get information from others by using (wh-) questions. For the writing and listening part, a game can be done. In pairs, the Ss would have to write down his partner's appareance, that way, everyone describes someone. After that, the teacher would gather and shuffle the papers, then the students would have to pick them up randomly. Each student would have to read the description that he/she was given , finally the teacher would have to chose another student to guess who the person depicted was.
B) Before starting the activity the teacher has to check if the Students were responsible and actually brought their required materials. Meticulous observation during the class is required, especially during the activities were students may feel embarrassed about doing their presentations, we can assess the Ss’ attitude. Also, monitoring amongst the Ss to possibly prevent doubts or conflicts. Finally we can assess as good attitude the willingness of the Ss who shared their profiles in front of the group.

Assesment Plan

a) What would you assess?
Linguistic skills
Speaking: the student's ability to describe someone's clothes and daily activities by answering questions, also if they can tell how they feel.
Writing: the learner's skill to write and answer -wh and yes/no questions.
Listening: the Ss' potential to understand and interpret different recordings.
Reading: the learners' understanding from small texts.

Non-linguistic
Values: respect, tolerance, empathy, and responsibility.
Attitudes: punctuality, effort, compromise, and participation.

b) What would be assessed informally?
Students' attitude during the class; the way they behave with others. Their ability to speak, read and listen. The way they compromise with the subject and its assignments. And also, class participation and willingness to work according to the instructions.

c) What would be assessed formally (through tests)? Their grammar accuracy about questions’ structure, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.

d) What would be the weight?
Reading 25%
Writing 25%
Speaking 20%
Listening 5%
Assignments 15%
Attitudes 10%

A short reflection... What's Assessment?

Competence of the unit:
Defining evaluation, assessment, testing and teaching after having read some authors and having discussed these concepts respectfully within the group to understand the role of assessment in language learning and teaching.
This class has helped us understand the real meaning and uses of assessment, how we often confuse it with evaluation, and evaluation with grading. Also we learnt different assessment techniques we can use inside the classroom, and how we can aim the classes to reach certain linguistic and non-linguistic skills. We also were thaught why planning a class important and how we could make a learning objectives plan.

Learning Objectives Plan

Assessment Audit

What's a portfolio?

A portfolio is a useful resource that students can learn to create. Through accumulating documents, homework and class activities, the students will learn to self manage, to archive, to sort out important information and arrange correctly material for studying. When a teacher uses this evaluation method, is allowing his/her students to have a useful source of information at hand for future references. The wide varieties of portfolios also give great room for creativity and versatility. For each class, there is a different kind of portfolio.

Assesment

Achievement > failure. In the learning process: assessment, testing and evaluating in the classroom are coexistent to improve the knowledge of the students as a way to determine what they already know and what does the student needs to know. Assessment is designed to demonstrate in a reliable and practical way the performance, progress and discover possible woes our students may have, providing a constructive feedback. Assessment involves monitoring, which is the detached observation about the learning process. Evaluation then, sums up all the factors that are involved in the learning process. Grading is often misunderstood as a synonym of assessment. Through tests, the teacher is able to measure in an accountable manner the results of a student's learning. A teacher needs to keep a constant record of improvement, make the student do self-evaluation and make the student evaluate the teacher. In these terms, a course becomes a more involving experience in which everyone participates, plays with the information in different ways so it becomes more clear. The times of giving a class and applying exams must be behind us. Once the student knows his or her weak points after a test, the grade is given and the opportunity for improvement is lost. Whichever assessment technique we choose in our classroom, is only one aspect of the whole classroom context, therefore it needs to be practical and functional.