According to TenBrink(1974), “Evaluation is a process of obtaining information and using it to form judgments which in turn are to be used in decision making.”(p.18).The purpose of evaluation is to place students in appropriate programmes and to determine the causes of deficiencies in students learning and helps in answering questions about the instructional procedures.An effective evaluation involves the use of both measuring and non measuring tools to come up with clear conclusions.
The measuring tools which provide quantitative data are as follows:
Tests:
Cronback cited in Aggarwal(1997) defines tests “ as a systematic procedure for observing and describing one or more characteristics of a person with the aid of either a numerical scale or a category system.”(p.250)
Tests can be used to measure all levels of cognitive domain. The advantages of the tests is they can be given at any point in the instructional sequence .Tests can be teacher made or standardized. Teacher made tests are prepared by the teachers to be used in classroom settings and is the most commonly used tool. A standardized test is an instrument designed to obtain many kinds of information. The test is accompanied by a table of norms. Furthermore these tests are used to measure various kinds of aptitudes and achievements in subject matters of great variety. Moreover they can measure personality traits, opinions, attitudes, interests etc. These are useful in making decisions about placement and are valuable in diagnosing problems as well as making predictions about student successes.(TenBrink,1974)
The Essay on Decision Making Evaluation Paper
Re-organization and Layoff: Decision Making Evaluation Paper Management has many changes they adjust to daily. Some of the changes come from firing and lay-off employees. When these changes do take place they can change how the organization develops. Management will have to be able to handle change and still keep the organization developing in a positive direction. According to “Work Systems” ( ...
Advantages of teacher made tests are they are useful, economical, less time consuming, objective and provide considerable means of comparing individuals. The disadvantages of these tests are the stress is mostly on verbal ability. The scope is narrow only cognitive domain. Level norms are difficult to obtain. Can be a source of anxiety to students (Aggarwal,1997)
Rating:
According to Sax & Newton(1997),“Rating are observations that have been categorized or organized to provide summary information about the behaviour of individuals or groups. At least three types of ratings forms can be prepared : instructional, numerical and graphic.”
(p. 143).
An example of instructional rating is a letter of recommendation. The letters are mostly unsatisfactory provided the rates are not selected and nominated by the persons being rated. Secondly most raters are unwilling to evaluate others negatively.(Sax ,& Newton,1997)
Rating scales are useful to judge objects or end product. . (TenBrink,1974)
Numerical rating scales assign numbers to descriptively ranked categories.
Example:
A scale used to measure the degree of students activity could consist of the following categories.
5 Extremely active
4 Somewhat active
3 Average activity
2 Somewhat inactive
1 Extremely inactive
Source: Sax & Newton(1997)
Thus the behaviour or traits of students are described in numerical scale by ranking or assigning numerical values. Advantage occurs from having a large number of categories. Sax & Newton(1997)says, “Quantifiable responses can be rated more reliably than broad descriptions of beahviour”(p169)
Graphic rating scales consist of either a horizontal or a vertical line representing descriptions or characteristics of behaviour along a continuum. The format of Graphic rating is mostly an unbroken line like shown below.
Almost always. Usually on Usually not Almost never
on time time on time on time
The Essay on Interest Groups Group Money Time
Interest Groups As Americans devote less and less time to an active participation in politics, they are increasing their participation in interest groups. As a result politicians are losing touch with the constituents that they represent. To the modern politician, the special interest and the people have become objectively indistinguishable. It is natural for people of like minds to want to form ...
The raters have to place a check mark on the segment of the line that best represents their impressions or views of the persons being evaluated or tested. The points along the continuum are described to aid in rating and reminds the person rating the characteristic under evaluation is continuous and the intermediate points can also be selected.
An example of a three points Class Rating Scale on group discussion skills is as follows.
The lowest number represents the minimum and the highest number presents the maximum performance
Students
Names Follows
Instructions Speaks Appropriately Listens to other group members Works
Cooperatively Contributes to Decision Making
Comments
George 3 3 3 3 3
Cindy 2 2 2 2 2
Fred 2 2 3 3 3
Jodie 3 3 3 3 3
Mary 1 1 1 1 1 All group skills need considerable attention
Source: Barry & King (1995)
Ranking:
According to Sax & Newton(1997), “Ranking procedures involve the ordering of attributes along a higher low or good bad dimension.” (p.169)
It is a crude observation tool and is subjective. It is an easy procedure and it forces the rater to differentiate among all of the persons or objects being rated. The drawback of ranking is that the meaning of the particular rank is dependent on the size and the nature of the group being ranked. Thus it should be used with small group of individuals or objects. Example would be when themes or projects are divided into average, above-average; and below average groups. (TenBrink,1974).
Sciometric scales:
Sax & Newton (1997)stated, “ Sociometry is a method developed by Jacob Moreno (1953).
This method investigates interaction patterns in peer groups.”( p.159)
Moreover it is defined as “ Stated briefly ,sociometry may be described as a means of presenting simply and graphically the entire structure of relationships existing at a given time among members of a given group. The major lines of communication or the pattern of attraction and rejection in its full scope , are make readily comprehensive at a glance.”(Jennings,as cited in Aggarwal, 1997 )
The Essay on Taas Test Students Teachers Time
Dear Commissioner of Education, Education has always been an issue in everyday life, and continues today to be very important. The effectiveness of statewide testing has been under much discussion as President Bush has made education a top priority in his administration. In my opinion however, the method used in Texas, TAAS testing, is not effective and should not be implemented nationwide because ...
Thus this procedure makes use of peer ratings for discovering classrooms structure and interpersonal relations. For example students may be asked to select one or more members of the group with whom they would like to sit, work or play.(Sax ,& Newton,1997)
A socio matrix is prepared from the choices of students.The matrix contains the number of times each person is selected as a 1st,2nd and 3rd choice for the activity.By weighting these choices a total score can be obtained for each person.
Sociometry suffers from a number of limitations. The reasons for selections or rejections can not be known from the socimatric choices but must be obtained from other sources, such as interviews with students. Moreover the isolate is not necessarily a withdrawn and unhappy child, although that is a possibility. Similarly the star may not always be well adjusted and happy. (Sax, & Newton, 1997)
An example of a sociogram is as follows:
Source: (Aggarwal,1997)
Non measuring tools are qualitative in nature some of them are as follows:
Portfolios:
According to Woolfolk(2004), “A portfolio is a systematic collection of work, often including work in progress, revisions, student self-analyses, and reflections on what the students has learned.”(p.556)
Portfolios are collections of pupils work in an area that can be used to show change and progress over time. Portfolio may contain written material, video tapes, or audio tapes.
Portfolios provide students teacher’s parents and administrators with a broad picture of every students growth over time. This could include abilities knowledge skills processes and attitudes. Students are engaged in self assessment and reflection which is very effective.The portfolios are evaluated on as a whole a criteria should be outlined on a rating scale or rubric. The data is recorded through anecdotal records, observations, checklists, rating scales etc. Portfolios may include either qualitative, quantitative or both kinds of information about performance. Portfolio enables students to develop self reflection and self criticism..(Srivastave,&,Kumari,2005)
The Term Paper on Research on Student Liesure Time
Melbourne Girls College is a new school formed from a merger of two smaller schools in 1994. Enrolments are growing rapidly, particularly in the junior years.Two classes operate each term using two teachers, so naturally we developed this unit as a team. One of us has a pure computer background, while the other has taught social education and commerce classes in the past. Increasingly, we see our ...
The drawbacks of portfolios is it is difficult to come up with consistant evaluation of different students performance. It is time consuming and it is difficult to device rubrics and interpret students work.
Interview:
It is a very common information gathering tool. The teacher can use interview to uncover information which is unexpected but important like about students opinions, interests self perceptions typical behaviour patterns and highly personal information. The disadvantage of it is it takes a great deal of time and is highly subjective. (TenBrink,1974)
Observation is a very commomly used evaluative technique which is used both inside and outside the classroom. They are especially helpful in teaching young children. Observations include anecdotal records checklists and rating scales. (Aggarwal,1997)
Checklists :
The criteria evaluated in the checklist may be related to learning objective with regard to students activities or behaviours. If the criterion is present the observer marks yes or a tick and no or cross for the opposite case. There can also be a feature about comments by the observer about a particular area or the general performance.(Barry ,& King,1995).
It is useful because it is easy, objective and can be clearly divided into specific steps. (TenBrink,1974)
An example of a Class Checklist:
Class: Grade 8.1
Subjject/Topic: Art
Date: 5.6.93
Students
Names Imaginative
Use of
Topic Correct Use of Media
Techniques Care for
Tools and
Equipment
Ability to Explain an Artistic
Statement
Comment
Bill Boggs X X Lack in own ideas
Betty Carter X Careless with tools
Mary Debb X
An Example of an individual Check list
Name:
Date: 23.7.93
Group discussion skills Yes No
Follows instructions
Stays on task
Speaks at appropriate times
Listens to other group members
Contributes to group decision making
Anecdotal Records:
According to Sax & Newton(1997) “Anecdotal records are continous objective descriptions of behaviour as it occurs at a given time, place and circumstance”( p.144)
The Essay on Ramses Egyptian Records Of That Time In History
1. How was Ramses design for Abu Simbel different from all the Egyptian temples that had been built before 2. Why did Ramses move the capital of Egypt to the new city he built in the delta 3. Why do we know more details about the battle of Kadesh than any other battle in ancient history 4. How does the modern snake charmer s demonstration shed light on a biblical story concerning the unnamed ...
In episode sampling the teachers have to describe the events that generated, continued and finally terminated or ended a certain aspect of behaviour. Examples would be crying,hitting etc. It is imperative to describe the observations objectively as much as possible. Another precaution is that it should not be so detailed that the meaning is lost.(Sax ,& Newton,1997)
The teacher in time sampling records the observed behaviour of each child at different times of the day and on different days of the week. Thus the reason of time sampling is the distribution of typical patterns of behaviours of the child and also not to single out one type of behaviour alone which happens in episode sampling. It is beneficial to use a cassette player or recorder in writing these records.(Sax ,& Newton,1997)
Anecdotal records are important because they provide the base for evaluation or decision making. They thus aid memory in this regard so that fallibility and selectivity in recall may not effect the evaluation. The records make can be reexamined to detect evidence of improvements and to provide a description of typical student behaviour. These records may also indicate emotional or social problems. These records are useful in parent-staff conferences. They facilitate the discussions about behaviour with school psychologist, social workers and other specialists .(Sax ,& Newton,1997)
An important advantage of this instrument is that it does not depend upon the students capacity to communicate with the teacher. The disadvantage is that they take a great deal of time to use .They are subjective and it is difficult to establish reliability of the results but it is still a valid measure of the students typical behaviour. (TenBrink,1974)
These are useful to the teacher because they provide the teacher with continuous, objective descriptions of behaviour. The ways to obtain anecdotal records are episode or time sampling. The disadvantage of this method is that it is time consuming and the teachers have to be very objective in observations otherwise its purpose will not be fulfilled.(TenBrink,1974) Example in Appendix 1.Source .(Sax ,& Newton,1997)
Cumulative Records:
Aggarwal (1997) says “A cumulative record card is that card which contains the results of different assessments, evaluation, and judgments held from time to time during the course study of a student. A cumulative record is an account of the child’s history in the school. It begins as soon as the child enters the school and continues till he leaves the school for good.” (p.207).
The Essay on Should High School Students Have Part-Time Employment?
A part-time job is a form of employment which requires employees to work fewer hours than their full-time colleagues. These employees are generally assigned less than 30 hours per week. This type of employment is most suitable for students, parents, pensioners and other workers who may not have sufficient time or commitment for a full-time career. This essay will discuss the issue - ‘Should high ...
Thus it provides information regarding the child’s all round development.The techniques used are tests,inventories,questionnaires,observation,interview,casestudy,case conferences etc. A good card contributes in learning process by providing a base for understanding the student his readiness and his strengths and weaknesses. It helps in program modifications in the light of students’s needs, It helps in program modifications in the light of student’s needs. It helps in identification of talented as well as sloe learners. It provides records for teachers to communicate with parents about students’ performance or helps the school in making letters of recommendations. Thus it may contain information about the student along with some tables like tables on school attended ,home circumstances, attendance, physical data ,medical report psychological report scholastic achievement report, performance in co curricular activities and personality characteristics.
The disadvantage mostly accrues from problem of maintaining the records and storage problems but the problems are outnumbered by the benefits of maintaining such records.(Aggarwal,1997) Example attached in appendix 2.Source (Aggarwal,1997)
Comparison of various types measuring tools.
The purpose of tests(measuring tool) is to assess knowledge(objective tests) with maximum efficiency and reliability and that of Essay type is to measure thinking skills and whether the students have mastered the structure of knowledge. Whereas in non measuring tools the purpose is assessment of ability to translate knowledge and understanding into action .psycho motor and effective domain is mostly qualitatively measured. Although performance can also measured quantitatively through checklists and rating scales.
A typical exercise in a test would consist of test items as multiple-choice,true and false,fill in, matching exercise or writing task.(cognitive domain).
Whereas in non measuring tools the exercise would comprise of a written prompt or natural event framing the kind of performance required.
Moreover the nature of students response in tests would be reading,evaluating,selecting,organizing or composing on the contrary the response in non measuring tool would be to planning, constructing and delivering original responses.
Further more the scoring in measuring tools is counting correct answers or judging understanding in case of tests or rating or ranking. In non measuring tools the scoring comprises of checking attributes present, or describing performance through anecdote.
The major advantage of measuring tools is mostly on recall or memorization or thinking and writing skills are developed but in the non measuring tools the emphasis is on the use of available skill.(Elliott, Kratochwill,Littlefield,& Travers,1996)
In Pakistan the evaluation usually consists of paper pencil tests. Emphasis is on memorization and not on critical thinking ,reflection and psychomotor skills . There is a lack of knowledge or may be funds to train the teachers or people working in the education department in effective evaluation which consists of measuring as well as non measuring tools. Further more the teachers in the private sector as well have to stick mostly to measuring tools which are more reliable, less subjective and less time consuming.
References
Aggarwal,J.(1997).
Essentials of examination system .evaluation,tests and measurement.New Delhi:Vikas Publishing.
Barry,K.,& King,L.(1995).
Beginning teaching: A developmental text for effective teaching (2nd ed).Sydney: Australia Social Science Press.
Elliot,N.,Kratochwill,T.,Littlefield,J.,& Travers,J. (1996).Education Psychology:effective teaching and effective learning.(2nd ed).
Brown & Berchmarch.
Sax,G.,& Newton,J. (1997).
Principles of education and psychology:measurement and evaluation.(4th ed).
London: Thomson Publishing.
Srivastava,D.,& Kumari,S.(2005).
Educational assessment evaluation and remedial. Delhi:Isha Books.
TenBrink,T.(1974).
Evaluation:a practical guide for teachers.Newyork:McGraw-Hill.
Woolfolk,A.(2004).
Educational psychology (9th ed).
Newyork:Pearson.
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
