Assessment is the broad term for obtaining information about something in order to evaluate it (Nitko 2011). The teacher derives a number of tests and non-tests from the learning targets presented to the students. The student's job is to understand the learning goals and strive to master them and display mastery through the tests and non-tests. Tests are systematic observations of a students' knowledge usually obtained using short-answer recollection or multiple-choice selection of facts, concepts, and procedures. Non-tests can be described as projects, essay papers, oral presentations, etc. The results of the tests are classified and numerically assessed or measured for grading and to represent the degree to which the student mastered the concept. These measurements combined with the teacher's experience of the student's performance is used to judge the evaluate the mastery of knowledge in the curriculum (Nitko 2011).
Any and all information that a teacher gathers about a student can be considered an assessment used to inform various decisions, though not all of the information will be assessed for the student's educational evaluation. A teacher may assess, through observation of a particular student struggling with a lesson, that the student could reduce their struggle through a different study habit. The teacher may assess, through observation of the the entire class, that foundational material needed for the current lesson was not completely understood.
Learning objectives should clarify the purpose and intent of the block of instruction for both the student and the instructor. By stating the objectives with behavioural criteria, such as particular verbs to universally mean particular actions, a teacher can succinctly state learning objectives to mean what they were intended to mean (Kizlik 2012). An example of an unclear objective is asking a student to “understand” something, as in “understand global climate change”. The student may not know where to start and probably will not study whatever learning objective the teacher had in mind. By using behavioral criteria and stating “identify causes of global climate change” the student has a concise goal. Having these concise goals helps the teacher communicate the lessons more fully as the students understand their part more easily. Within a lesson plan these specific learning targets written in behavioral language the teacher's curriculum and objectives can be communicated more efficiently to all parties and thereby helps organize teaching.
A broad, heterogeneous domain tends to represent a developmental learning target that will require various mastery learning target to cover the whole domain. Each of the skills required will develop at different rates throughout the learning process. Reaching one mastery learning target does not represent mastery of all the learning targets within the broad domain, thus the two contraindicate each other. An example of such a broad, heterogeneous domain is “interpret statistical data found in material from a variety of disciplines” (Nitko 2011). The name of the task itself belies its broad and nonspecific nature. A narrow domain would be “construct a scatter plot of the statistical data presented in the paper Physiological Effects of Generational Organochlorine Contamination on Arctic Seabirds by J.A. Kepley”. In this narrower domain the task will show mastery of one of the skills contained within “interpret statistical data found in material” while concentrating the task on a single objective. However this domain is too narrow as the head and beak length of the Arctic penguin is not the real target of learning. A better learning target would be “construct a scatter plat from statistical data”. To determine if a learning goal is too broad, attempt to find several mastery objectives within it; if multiple objectives can be identified the learning goal is not suitable as a “mastery learning target”.
References
Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., & Brizee, A. (2010, May 5). General format. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Kizlik, Bob (2012). A rationale for learning objectives that meet demanding behavioral criteria. Retrieved from http://www.adprima.com/objectives2.htm
Nitko, Anthony J. (2011). Educational Assessment of Students. Boston, MA: Pearson.
(Image Credit) Developers are not good testers. What you say? Software Testing Help (2012). Retrieved from http://www.softwaretestinghelp.com/developers-are-not-good-testers/
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