Course Description:
This course is intended to enable participants to understand the principles and concepts of the different types of educational testing and assessment. The participants will understand the processes of evaluation, measurement and testing in a better a manner. Thus, they will be able to plan and conduct evaluation and testing on the basis of analytical principles and practices.
Throughout the course, the participants will develop their knowledge and skills in constructing, analysing and improving assessments that adequately appraise general or specific instructional objectives. They will also be able to construct, critique and interpret different types of tests and integrate assessment results to student performance evaluation.
Prerequisites:
Aims:
The course intends to give insights into direct and indirect effects of testing and assessment:
identifying gaps in knowledge
causing students to learn more
producing better organization of knowledge
improving transfer of knowledge to new contexts
facilitating retrieval of material that was not tested
improving metacognitive monitoring
preventing interference from prior material when learning new material
providing feedback to instructors
Requirements for a Certificate:
Minimum attendance requirement is 75% of course events.
Assessed portfolio work for practical tasks like group and individual planning, observation, demonstration, micro-teaching, discussion and feedback sessions.
1000-word end of course Reflective Essay.
Details:
A test is one form of assessment and refers to procedures used to measure a learners’ learning at a specific point in time and often involves collecting information in numerical form. Common forms of tests are multiple choice questions and gap-fill or cloze tests. Assessment refers to any of the procedures teachers use to do this, which may include interviews, observations, administering questionnaires and reviewing students’ work. Assessment covers a broader range of procedures than testing and includes both formal and informal measures.
Course Outline:
550.01 – Key concepts of Testing and Assessment
550.02 – Principles of assessment and testing: Validity, Reliability
550.03 – Principles of assessment and testing: Practicality, Authenticity, Washback
550.04 – Types of assessment: Summative, Formative
550.05 – How Testing is related to Teaching practice and Syllabus design
550.06 – Types of tests: Placement, Achievement
550.07 – Types of tests: Diagnostic, Proficiency
550.08 – Grading and Scoring
550.09 – Alternative assessment: Portfolios, Journals
550.10 – Alternative assessment: Self and Peer assessment
550.11 – Assessment Rubrics for Standardized Testing
550.12 – How to make Testing more Productive