Educational Psychology:EVALUATION IN LEARNING

Introduction

The part which is filled with anxiety is evaluation. It is an important factor in learning though many want to eliminate it. In our day today living we evaluate persons. And so in this chapter we will learn not how to avoid exams but how can we understand and make it better.

The Teacher’s role as Evaluators

The role of the teacher is participant observer, who observes the behaviour of the students of other classes and their own and makes the evaluation techniques as familiar as their instruction methods.

Specifying Goals in Behavioral Terms

All the education takes place with respect to goals or objectives they are: 1. To clarify the educational needs, 2. To what extend the goals are being realized. 3. To facilitate progress toward the desired goals  4. To reach the goals and to modify the goals.

Measurement, Evaluation and the Use of Tests

Evaluation and measurements are different things. Evaluation is more inclusive, good measurement techniques provide the solid foundation for sound evaluation. The teaching ability consists in the ability to make valid and objective judgments about the progress of the learner. Some people tend to take the test as the only way of evaluation but it is not the case. Evaluation is precisely the feed back for the teacher and the students of the progress made. Some time the teachers and parents blame each other for the poor performance of the students, they fail to realize that the evaluation is relative.

Contract Plans with Built-In Evaluation

A structured curriculum is made by planning. Every student’s progress is stored in a master computer and at the end of the year the print out is taken; the student and the teacher sit and plan how to proceed and what to study in the next grade.

Teacher-Made Evaluation: oral, essay and objective types

ORAL: relies on the student’s ability to memorize word for word and reproduce. The main flaws are the time, the student is not comfortable and only few questions are asked (the student did not know only that).

ESSAY: only from 1854 this types of exams came into existence. This type is considered to reduce the anxiety of the students. The student is given the chance to think, to build up logical arguments, to improve the effectiveness in writing skills and to express their cognitive study. But the main flaw in this type is that objective evaluation is lacking (Ex. Hand writing).

OBJECTIVE TYPE (Various types): This makes the students very sharp and makes the test much easier. But in this test the logical thinking lacks, students are not able build up logical arguments. The problem is that these types of questions remain a guess work; there is a lot of question on its validity.

Each of the teacher-made tests has strengths and weaknesses. To avoid this teachers have to develop the evaluation more effective and efficient, meeting the educational needs and improving the available standardized tests to more reliable and valid one.

Standardized Tests

These are the tests that have been standardized by putting them through number of different processes before they are published and distributed to the students (World War I).  These kinds of tests are more useful in elementary school than secondary schools. But some times due to the situation present in the school it is being adapted.

Accountability and Management Assessment model

In 1960 the legislators asked the schools to be accountable imposing some experimental programmes, but the results were bad so lots of question were asked. Managemental assessment: criteria setting, initial status (difference), survey or resources, programme planning, programme implementation, product assessment (of the criteria) and review (any changes), this process leads to the point that learning is only management leaving no room for creativity.

Programme of National Assessment

When the accountability of the teachers was being tested some parents wanted to have national level exams and see how the students perform and accordingly the teacher can be paid. Private schools took this point for money making by giving coaching only having the final evaluation in mind.

Criterion- Reference and Norm-Referenced Testing

A test that evaluates work on a mastery-learning unit is related to a criterion that specifies the skill or information that is to be mastered ex. adding of two number giving test samples. This kind of tests measures only the simple ones leaving out the complex ones.

Grading System (basically avoid problems and controversies regarding evaluation)

Student’s are given grades and not marks for their performance. This helps the lower student to come up but already doing good are deprived. It does not give accurate feed back of the student’s learning.

Feed backs are important in education but tests only measure one part of learning, the other part is evaluated only by constant observance of the teacher on the behaviour of the children.  So the teachers need to play the role of a participant observer.