Test: Teaching Practices (Assessment & Evaluation) - Software Development MCQ

A test is a kind of assessment to measure the knowledge, skills, and aptitude in a specified field. There are generally oral and written types of tests. The written tests can be short answer type, objective type, long answer type, and essay type tests.

Key Points

• A norm-referenced test is a type of test, assessment, or evaluation that yields an estimate of the position of the tested individual in a predefined population, with respect to the trait being measured. Assigning scores on such tests may be described as relative grading, marking on a curve, or grading on a curve.
• Criterion-referenced tests compare a person's knowledge or skills against a predetermined standard, learning goal, performance level, or another criterion. With criterion-referenced tests, each person's performance is compared directly to the standard, without considering how other students perform on the test. Criterion-referenced tests compare a person's knowledge or skills against a predetermined standard, learning goal, performance level, or other criteria. With criterion-referenced tests, each person's performance is compared directly to the standard, without considering how other students perform on the test.

• Norm-referenced test dependent on the hypothetically average performing student and compares the student’s performance in the exam with that student or the peer group’s performance in general. The exam creators prepare exam norms for the student. The process of scoring is called as norming process and the hypothetical student or group is called norming group.

Hence, it is clear that option 2 is correct.

Additional Information

Achievement tests are administered on students to measure their learning outcomes. These tests are more prevalent in our schools. These tests show as to what has been learned by the students, rather than to predict future performance. 

Key Points

Achievement tests are universally used in the classroom mainly for the following purposes : 

• To measure whether students possess the pre-requisite skills needed to succeed in any unit or whether the students have achieved the objective of the planned instruction.
• To monitor student's learning and to provide ongoing feedback to both students and teachers during the teaching-learning process.
• To identify the students' learning difficulties - whether persistent or recurring.
• To assign grades.

Hence, a good achievement test gains a better understanding of the needs and abilities of the learners.

Assessment tools are materials that enable you to collect data for your chosen method of assessment. Such tools provide information that is used to determine whether a planned learning outcome has been achieved or not.

Key Points

• Prognostic tests are used to predict how well an individual is expected to profit from training.
• Prognostic tests act as a means of estimation and prediction of a future career.
• The prognostic test combines basic aspects taken from an assessment of learning processes and an assessment of learning achievements and tries to formulate a diagnosis for the student's future.
• So, a prognostic test can be used to predict the performance of an individual in a particular field.

​Hence, option 2 is correct.

Additional Information

Evaluation is integral to the teaching-learning process as it helps in facilitating student learning and improving instruction. It is a systematic way of collecting information to make a judgment about student learning. It is conducted during different stages of a teaching-learning process, i.e. at the beginning, during, and at the end.

Important Points

Summative Evaluation

• It is conducted at the end of the instructional process in a term, a course, or a school session.
• It is conducted to certify the learner and judge their learning standards
• It focuses mostly on assessing the scholastic abilities of the children.
• It ‘Sums-up’ how much a student has learned over a period of time.
• It is a mostly structured and formal approach to the assessment of learning.
• It is used to promote the students to the next grade, and to give credit to them for their achievements and learning.
• It also helps a teacher to select further teaching-learning strategies and students to select their further learning programs as per their understanding and interests.
• It provides terminal feedback, both, to the teacher and the learner to enhance teaching and learning.
• Written tests and pencil tests are the methods to conduct the summative evaluation.
• It’s a kind of achievement test. 
• It is used for assigning a grade and final judgment
• Feedback is also given after the evaluation.
• The process is sometimes normative, and sometimes criterion-based.
• The methods are basically oral reports, projects, term papers, teacher-made achievement tests, etc.

Hint

• Diagnosing learning gaps is the function of formative evaluation.
• Formative Evaluation is a type of assessment that refers to monitor learners' progress during the instructional procedure or throughout the teaching-learning process to diagnose learner's learning difficulties. 

Thus, we can conclude that diagnosing is not included as a function of Summative Evaluation.

Unit Test is set after a particular unit is taught during a regular course of teaching to test pupils’ assimilation and mastery of that particular unit.

Key Points

• Unit test leads to desirable study habits since they give the pupils knowledge of their progress.
• Unit tests in the most important tool of formative evaluation.
• Pupil's performance on different items of a unit test reveals to the teacher their strengths and weaknesses.
• The unit tests provide continual feedback information to pupils and teachers as their effectiveness as they proceed through the instructional sequence.
• They can be oral, written, and practical. It depends on the teacher what he wants to assess among students. 
• They can be teacher-made or standardized tests and can be helpful in assessing the acquired knowledge of students.
• The teacher can make unit tests in the form of essay tests and objective-type tests. It depends on the type of quality he wants to test.
• For example, if the teacher wants to test the comprehension of students regarding a specific concept then he will give an essay test or if he wants to test the knowledge and understanding of concepts, he may give objective tests.

Hence, from the above-mentioned points, we can conclude that all of the above are correct.

A test is a kind of assessment to measure the knowledge, skills, and aptitude in a specified field. There are generally oral and written types of tests. The written tests can be short answer type, objective type, long answer type, and essay type tests.

• Standardized tests are concerned with the whole field of knowledge or ability tested. These are useful in comparing the achievement of individual groups. These expert-made tests can be used on a national level as they are based on the uniform curriculum.

Key Points

The criterion of a good standardized test: 

Hence, it could be concluded that overviewing is not a good quality of the test. Thus, option 4 is correct.

There are different kinds of tests in fashion to measure the intellectual level of learners and 'teacher-made tests' and 'standardized tests' are two of them.

Key Points

The chief point of discussion between teacher-made and standardized tests lies in the area of objectivity.

Let's Understand in Brief:

Hence, it could be concluded that the chief point of discussion between teacher-made and standardized tests lies in the area of objectivity.

Tests are devices to gather information through some specified tasks presented to individuals. We come across various types of tests in education e.g. oral, written, and practical; group or individual; performance, etc. Sometimes 'examination' is also used to mean a device or a test. 

Important Points

Characteristics of Good Test: A good test should enable us to the achievement our ability accurately and economically. Here we take a good test - validity, reliability, and usability.

• Objectivity: When a student's score on a test is based only on the student's answers and not on the personal biases of the scorer (or teacher), then the scoring is considered to be objective. This depends on the procedure of the scoring (and the type of item to be scored). Through objectivity, the scoring of the test is not affected by any factor and the quality of the test.
• Validity: A test is said to be valid if it measures what it is supposed to measure. Cronbach defines validity as "the extent to which a test measures what it to measure".  
• Reliability: A test is reliable if it gives consistent results of measurement on its administration on different occasions. Pupils should score similar scores if the test is repeated. Its administration maybe after some gap of time and the condition is that pupils do not receive any further training of related test content. 
• Usability: Usability refers to practicability - ease, and economy in terms of energy, time, and money. Usability means a test should be: easy to construct; easy in administrating; easy in scoring; easy in interpreting; and economic in terms of money and time.

Hence, we can conclude that the scoring of the test is not affected by any factor is called objectivity.

After completing a particular unit or topic, a teacher generally conducts a test to assess the achievements of children. After the assessment, he finds that some of the students have done very well while few may not have achieved all the expected learning outcomes. Now he tries to find out the causes behind this. It is very essential to find out the particular area or concept where the difficulty lies or where he finds major gaps in learning. To analyze these areas of learning, a Teacher made test is applied. this test is the basis of effective and responsive teaching, thus it leads to improved quality of learning.

Key Points

• The test refers to what a person has acquired or achieved after the specific training or instruction has been imparted. Thus, tests are used to measure what a pupil has learned. There are two categories of tests: teacher-made tests and standardized tests.
  • The teacher-made tests are used in classroom teaching-learning situations. The practice of using standardized achievement tests in the daily teaching-learning process is very rare.
  • The tests used in the annual secondary school certificate examination in all secondary schools of your state are examples of standardized tests.​

Need and Utility of Teacher-made Test: this test is an individually driven task and reflects the fact that each child is different. These tests are designed to analyze an individual’s performance and provide information on the causes of learning difficulty. The major function of investigation is to facilitate the optimum development of every student by helping the teacher determine the nature of learning difficulties.

Important Points

The Common Types of Evaluation are:

• Placement Evaluation: It is conducted at the beginning of the teaching-learning process to analyze the entry behavior of learners. It helps teachers to organize teaching activities according to the previous knowledge of learners. Example- Various entrance exams.
• ​​Formative Evaluation: The purpose of this evaluation is to provide feedback regarding the students' progress by finding out the learning gaps as well as to provide the teacher feedback regarding the efficiency of the teaching methods so that the teaching can be improved. Example- Class tests, quiz, debate, discussions, role plays, etc..
• Diagnostic Evaluation: A diagnostic evaluation helps in revealing an individual's weaknesses and strengths in a certain course of study. It is concerned with the persistent or recurring learning difficulties that are left unsolved by the formative evaluation. The main aim of the diagnostic evaluation is to determine the causes of learning problems and to formulate a plan for remedial action. Example- Feedback forms and ratings.
• Summative Evaluation: It is conducted at the end of the term, course, or program of teaching. E.g, the term-end examination. The purpose of this kind of evaluation is to grade, rank, classify, compare and promote the students. Example-  Final exams, half-yearly exams, etc.

Additional InformationCharacteristics of The teacher-made tests (TMAT)

• It is designed to measure the acquired knowledge of the students or their proficiency in certain skills.
• It is capable of measuring the cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes of the educational process.
• It is used to detect how much and what knowledge has the child received.
• These are prepared by the teacher.
• These are not governed rigidly by such processes.
• These are designed according to the content and objectives of a particular unit of study.
• The teacher can test the intellectual curiosity, creativity, and imagination of students through the test.

Therefore, we may say now Teacher made tests have more utility in formative assessment.

While teaching in a class, very often you have to use tests to assess levels of learning of each and every student of your class. These tests are essential for making the assessment more continuous and comprehensive. The tests used in the annual secondary school certificate examination in all secondary schools of your state are examples of the standardized achievement test. The teacher made tests have more utility informative assessments.

Key Points

Some important functions of the teacher-made test are:

• To reflect on the day-to-day teaching-learning activities of the school.
• To develop more efficient learning-teaching strategies.
• To know the ability of the individual student. By knowing the abilities of the students, the teacher may be in an advantaged position to form different ability groups.
• To diagnose the students’ strengths and weaknesses, and helps the teacher to plan for compensatory (remedial) and enrichment programmes.

Thus from the above-mentioned points, it is clear that one of the most important features of the teacher-created test is to develop more efficient learning-teaching strategies.