Practices of Assessment//Dialogue// feedback through marking//self and peer assessment

The practices of assessment followed in the class for the formative evaluation of student learning will mostly be in the following patterns.

• Dialogue between the teacher and student
• Feedback through marking
• Peer and self assessment

Dialogue

Dialogue refers to sharing or exchanging ideas between 2 or more people

Dialogue between the teacher and students in the class could be used as a technique of assessment in the following ways.

• To assess the subject knowledge
• To assess the learning outcomes
• To assess the language ability of students
• To assess and directs the learning activities of students
• To assess the learning achievement

Assessing the subject knowledge.

Teacher can assess students previous knowledge related to the topic through dialogue. It becomes easy for the teacher to explain the concepts in the topic using the previous knowledge.

Assessing the learning outcomes.

After completing a topic, the teacher can assess the learning achievement of students through dialogue by asking oral questions.

Assessing the language proficiency.

Through dialogue, teacher can assess the language ability of the students, the communication skills, fluency, vocabulary proficiency and pronunciation skills.

Assessing the learning activities of students

Dialogue is useful for teacher to evaluate different learning activities of students like classroom assignment, home assignment, etc. and point out the corrections needed to improve.

Assessing the learning achievement.

In a very short time, the depth of learning achievement of the individual could easily be assessed by dialogue (Interviews, viva vice..)

Interview a different form of dialogue is useful for the teacher to find out the problems of children who find it difficult to learn, and offer them with remedial measures.

Feedback through marking

Feedback is one of the means of achieving reinforcement of desired responses.

Providing feedback refers to making available the knowledge of results of ones own actions immediately.

The teacher, while scoring the student’s answer script, should record his comment / feedback on the left margin of answer script and while returning back the valued answer script, he should explain how the answers has to be improved further.

The main objectives of feedback are

• Guide students on what steps to take to improve.
• Justify to students how their marks or grades were derived.
• Identify and reward specific qualities in student work
• Motivate them to act on their assessment
• Develop their capacity to monitor, evaluate and regulate their own learning.

Principles of good feedback practices

• Feedback provided should make students know what good performance is.
• Feedback provided should help students to self correct their responses.
• Opportunity is to be provided for students to resubmit their answers after improving them with the help of the feedback received.
• After returning the scored answer script, the teacher should arrange for discussion with students regarding means of improving their learning achievement.
• Enough time should be given for students to reflect on their learning achievement
• During the discussion in the feedback session, the teacher should make the students know the criteria for the appropriate answers expected by examiners.
• Feedback provider should encourage positive motivational beliefs and self esteem of students that leads to improvement in learning.

Thus to conclude, providing feedback through marking should help students to know their learning achievements and its shortcomings, corrections and modifications required besides being helpful in motivating them to undertake measures of self correction.

Peer and Self Assessment

Peer Assessment

Peer assessment is a process wherein students individually assess and grade each other’s assignments or test papers based on predetermined list of criteria.

This practice helps to reduce the workload of the teachers, besides helping students to know the criteria for judging and assessment.

Self assessment

Self assessment involves a students taking responsibility for monitoring and making judgments about the different aspects of their own learning now and then.

Though self assessment is a way of assessing the product of learning yet it is a learning process in itself.

Self assessment leads to self learning, hence it could be said that self assessment is both summative and formative.

Uses of peer and self assessment

• Students develop the skills of critically evaluating their own learning as well as that of others.
• When students get involved in self or peer assessment, apart from the development of assessment skills, self learning too takes place.
• Self and peer assessment help students to discuss and decide the essential elements and aspects of quality work or good learning achievement.
• Self and peer assessment developing students a better understanding of their subjectivity in judgment.
• Understand the need for forming the criteria of assessment before starting evaluation of students learning achievement.
• Self and peer assessment reduce significantly teachers workload and time spent in marking students answer scripts or assignments.
• Self and peer assessment help to assess group work.
• Self and peer assessment develop student involvement and responsibility.
• Encourage students to reflect on their role and contribution to the process of group work.
• Self and peer assessment help to provide feedback by combining learning, achievement and assessment of learning.

Conclusion:

Assessment can be done in many ways. Varying assessment methods according to assessment purposes and contexts helps to make assessment fairer and more reliable. Whatever assessment practices are used assessment should always follow a principle of validity and reliability.