Background of the study
By: Markos Mulat Alebel Girma Sara Teklemariam Wendimageny TufaContinuous Assessment
First part presented by Markos Mulat
Presentation objectivesThis power point present
The meaning, Purpose, and Characteristics of continuousassessment, Rational for adopting and implementing continuousassessment5. Highlight of problems of continuous assessmentimplementation, 6. Guidelines of Planning and Organizing ContinuousAssessment for more improved teaching and learning system.7.Practical experience on continuous assessment
Introduction Assessment is the process of gathering anddiscussing information from multiple and diverse sources in orderto develop a deep understanding of what students know, understand,and can do with their knowledge as a result of their educationalexperiences. It is the systematic basis for making inferences aboutthe learning and development of students and the process ofdefining, selecting, designing, collecting, analyzing,interpreting, and using information to increase students learningand development.
The Federal Democratic Republic Government of Ethiopia Policy onEducation and Training under Article 3. 3. Sub article 3.3.1 statedcontinuous assessment in academic and practical subjects, includingaptitude tests will be conducted to ascertain the formation of allround profile of students at all level (p.18).
Introduction..contd
The policy prescribed the central guidelines that should beadopted by schools nationwide and suggested the continuousassessment as instruments that could be used to achieve the idealsand objectives of the curriculum. The introduction of continuousassessment improve evaluation of learners attainment by ensuringthat assessment is cumulative, systematic, comprehensive andguidance oriented.
1. Summative assessmentSummative assessment is assessment thatis used to signify competence or that contributes to a studentsgrade in a course, module, or level. It is typically used toevaluate the effectiveness of instructional programs and servicesat the end of an academic year or at a pre-determined time. Thegoal of summative assessments is to make a judgment of studentcompetency, after an instructional phase is complete. This form ofassessment does not normally involve feedback to the student.
2. Continuous assessment Continuous assessment is a classroomstrategy implemented by teachers to ascertain the knowledge,understanding, and skills attained by students. Teachers administerassessments in a variety of ways over time to allow them to observemultiple tasks and to collect information about what students know,understand, and can do. It is the periodic and systematic method ofassessing and evaluating a persons attributes.
Students receive feedback from teachers based on theirperformance that allows them to focus on topics they have not yetmastered. Information collected from continuous behavior ofstudents will help teachers to better understand their strengthsand weaknesses in addition to providing a comprehensive picture ofeach student over a period of time. Continuous Assessmentcontd
Such information will help in educational of students and willafford student to readily see his or her developmental patternthrough the data.Continuous Assessmentcontd
Continuous Assessment is essential not only to guide thedevelopment of individual students but also to monitor andcontinuously improve the quality of programs, inform prospectivestudents and their parents, and provide evidence ofaccountability.It is important in increasing student motivationtowards a course, encouraging good study habits, and in providingfeedback that identifies strengths and weaknesses of learners. Thebetter the analytic and achievement data from assessment theteacher has about the students, the more appropriate the guidancehe/she will be able to provide learners about their learning, andabout their occupational choices. .
Purpose of Continuous Assessment
To obtain accurate and reliable assessment data on a student,the assessments could be spread over a longer time, allowing thestudent to take tests and other assignments at different timesthroughout the course.
The average of the scores for the various assessments is a morereliable indicator of the students performance in the subject thanthe score the student obtains in a one-shot examination. 1. Longertime for collecting assessment informationThe purposes ofcontinuous assessment are achieved in the following waysPracticalskills such as the skills and competencies involved in conductinginterviews, writing and presenting reports, and analyzing data toprovide a more comprehensive and more valid assessment of learnersability. 2. Applications of different test forms and different testsituations
3. Inclusion of more complex thinking skills in the testingprogramBy extending the period for collecting assessment data,forms of knowledge and competencies that cannot be easily assessedunder strictly timed conditions can also be assessed.
High level thinking skills involving analytical thinking andproblem solving skills and other competencies that require extendedtime for learning and for test response included in the continuousassessment program.
4. Teacher assistance and remediationThe Continuous assessmentprocess requires the teacher to provide assistance in the form ofadvice on various aspects of student s projects. The student learnsto consult the teacher, classmates and other sources on aspects ofthe project work.Besides offering assistance as needed, the teacheris able to offer remedial help by using learners common mistakesand misunderstandings for further improvement in classlearning.
ETHIOPIA
Next part presented by Alebel Girma
Systematic Continuous assessment is said to be systematic in thesense that it requires an operational plan which indicates whatmeasurement are to be made of the students performance, at whattime intervals or times during the school year, the measurementsare to be made and the results recorded, and the nature of thetools or instruments to be used in the measurements. II.Comprehensive Continuous assessment is comprehensive which meansthat many types of instruments are used in determining theperformance and may come in form of tests, projects, assignments,observations, questions, group work and so on .
CumulativeThe accumulated records of the students should guidein determining what a student should do after the program. Inactual fact, the records for decision-making about a student bothcurrent and previous are pooled together for such decisions to bereliable and dependable.Guidance-OrientedContinuous assessment isguidance-oriented because the information collected about a studenthas to be used to guide the learners placement, career prospectsand further development. The students have to be assisted to makeeducational and career decisions, based on their performance andinterest.Continuous assessment can be organized and implemented ina large number of different ways, and the actual assessmenttechniques can take many different forms. This include: Questionand Answer in the Lesson
This is perhaps the most commonly used method and is almostinstinctive for teachers. It gives instant feedback and can be usedto develop motivationTechniques of Continuous Assessmentb) ShortTests and Quizzes These are either from textbooks or devised by theteacher. These are informal, can be fun and marks can be simplyrecorded. c) Homework Exercises These vary in purpose, design andcomplexity. Purpose is the key word here. Students will make gooduse of homework if they feel it is useful, for example, preparationof material for a class discussion, developing a skill, are allappealing tasks. Techniques of Continuous Assessment.contdd)Assignments A very useful and increasingly used method, especiallyin conjunction with homework. May involve library and internetinvestigations, visits and interviews. e) Class TestsClass testsfor the term designed to cover the important objectives studiedwithin a specified period. It involve the use of high-orderabilities including understanding and interpretation, analysis ofproblems, creative application of principles, evaluation andestimation of situations.Techniques of ContinuousAssessment.contdf) Group ExerciseThe purpose of the group work isto introduce students to the principles and ethics of workingtogether in groups to arrive at solutions together using the ideasand abilities of each group member. g) Projects Projects consist ofinvestigations, experiments and material production in the subjectof study. Projects will involve the use of high-order abilitiessuch as analysis, evaluation, self-correction and synthesis ofideas and skills toward creation of a new product. h) WrittenQuestions / Exercises with Short, Extended or Multiple-choiceAnswers Very widely used. Easy to design, mark and assess.Techniques of Continuous Assessment.contd
Continuous assessment allows teachers to monitor the impact oftheir lessons on student understanding.
Teachers can modify their pedagogical strategies to include theconstruction of remediation activities for students who are notworking at the expected grade level and the creation of enrichmentactivities for students who are working at or above the expectedgrade level.Benefits of Continuous Assessment
Benefits of Continuous Assessment.contd Continuous assessmentresult with frequent interactions between students and teachersthat enable the teachers to know the strengths and weaknesses oftheir learners. These exchanges foster a student-teacherrelationship based on individual interactions.
One-to-one communication between the teacher and the student canmotivate students to continue attending school and to work hard toachieve higher levels of mastery.
Next part presented by Wendimageny Tuffa
Large class size: One of the major challenges was the largeclass sizes. Teachers workload became higher as they were requiredto mark and keep records of the progress of all learners.. LaborIntensive: It may be logistically impossible to provide detaileddescriptive feedback for each student in a large class. Even with asmaller number of students to deal with, Continuous assessment istime-consuming as it requires significant, ongoing dedication andeffort from the teacher to sustain. Challenges of ImplementingContinuous Assessment
Finance: The other problems to the successful implementation ofa continuous assessment is lack of funds. Money will be needed tobuy textbooks that are relevant to the syllabus, stationeries,equipment and book shelves for record keeping. The absence of allthese materials will pose a great danger to the successfulimplementation. Training of Teachers: Due to the fact that teachersare the sole operators of continuous assessment in schools, it isimperative that they should be adequately trained. Challenges ofImplementing Continuous Assessment
Guidelines of Planning and Organizing Continuous AssessmentEnsure assessment technique is progressive and properlyintegratedDont set major assignment earlyStudents notoverstressedSufficient time to prepareWritten guidelines andinstructions- unambiguous and clearCreate opportunities to discusswith students and stuffs before and after the implementationAvoidover assessed, can lead to stress.
GuidelinescontdCA engages students in reaching their fullpotentialImprove the quality of instructionIf well planned &implemented, the technique will go long wayUnless there iscommitment, diligence and sacrifice on the part of the teacher, CAwill not be successful.Case Study on Applying ContinuousAssessmentby:
Sara Teklemariam
This case study is a description of a practical experience oncontinuous assessment of one of the members of the group.It was a 7credit hours course which runs for a continuous one month atgraduate school of AAU. The number of students who took the coursewas 15 including the writer of this experience.
Background
Objective
To share the learning from personal experience on the benefitsand challenges of applying continuous assessment to coursemates
Forms of Assessment
Reading assignments and writing individual as well as groupreflectionGroup Presentation in class on topics assigned togetherwith Q & A sessionsGuest speakers followed by Q & AsessionsAssessing relevant movie selected by the instructorFieldvisit, writing group observations from the visitsProject oneducation
A written training outline, methodology and content issubmitted. A written evaluation by a group. A group project ondeveloping a strategy is written, presented in class andsubmittedFinally, an individual research proposal was written andsubmittedThere was no final written exam
The tools used to assess
-Before the class begins, the instructor has sent a writtensyllabus and its methodology for assessment-Then, at the firstclass the instructor explained how he intends to assess thestudents- The activities mentioned above were corrected , commentedupon and graded and given back to students as appropriate-After thestudents have read their comments and grades, the instructor wascareful in documenting results of his assessment-He had assigneddates and hours where any student could visit his office anddiscuss anything (including personal problems)- The instructorassists those who visit him but more importantly he calls studentsand discusses with them about their strength and improvement areasand provides professional assistance continuously-When groups haveproblems, he assists and tries to find solutions together with allgroup members
Benefits of Continuous Assessment
A/ it made us work hardB/ identify our potential and personalskillsC/ identify our weak points and work more on thatD/ it gaveus an opportunity to be tested from many angles that nobody canlooseE/ it forced us to participate as the role of the instructorwas minimal except in facilitationF/ helped us to thinkcriticallyG/ it enabled us to share our different experiences as wehad different backgroundH/ it was rewarding for any student whoworked hard and difficult for those who did not attend classes ordid the reading and writing assignmentsI/ it made us see diversityand how to help each other, tolerate differences and work togetheras a team for a common cause
Challenges EncounteredResistance to changeMisunderstanding thetype and purpose of continuous assessment by studentsGroup DynamicsVersus Individual SuccessMisconception/ intentionalmisrepresentation of the Student Centered Approach by studentsSplitamong studentsTime constraint
If we are to apply continuous assessment, we need to considerthe following issues seriously:Create a clear understanding amongstudents why and how we are going to assess themNo matter howpositive we are, beware that few students might not accept our way.Let us try to identify them as early as possible and find asolution.Always remember that it is human nature to resistingchange. We must not take for granted that all will embrace andunderstand what we try to do.We must carefully document ourcontinuous assessment and grades.We believe, we should pursue anddo what we should do despite challenges!