Evaluation

Evaluation

Evaluation = Measurement (Quantitative) + value judgment (Qualitative)

It is a continuous process and an important part of teaching – learning process.

Evaluation is the process of examining a program or process to determine what's working, what's not, and why. It determines the value of learning and training programs and acts as blueprints for judgment and improvement.

Formative Evaluation : – It is continuous evaluation in which unit tests class tests and assignments are the essential components. Formative evaluations are basically done on the fly. They permit the designers, learners, instructors, and managers to monitor how well the instructional goals and objectives are being met.

Formative evaluation is also useful in analyzing learning materials, student learning and achievements, and teacher effectiveness .Formative evaluation is primarily a building process which accumulates a series of components of new materials, skills, and problems into an ultimate meaningful whole. - Wally Guyot (1978)

Purposes  of Formative Evaluation:

·         To provide feedback for teachers to modify subsequent learning activities and experiences;

·          To identify and remediate group or individual deficiencies.

·         To move focus away from achieving grades and onto learning processes.

·         To increase self efficacy and reduce the negative impact of extrinsic motivation.

·         To improve students' metacognitive awareness of  how they learn.

·         "frequent, ongoing assessment allows both for fine-tuning of instruction and student focus on progress.

Characteristics of formative Evaluation:

According to Harlen and James (1997), formative Evaluation:

·         It is essentially positive in intent, in that it is directed towards promoting learning; it is therefore part of teaching;

·         It takes into account the progress of each individual, the effort put in and other aspects of learning which may be unspecified in the curriculum; in other words, it is not purely criterion-referenced;

·         It has to take into account several instances in which certain skills and ideas are used and there will be inconsistencies as well as patterns in behaviour; such inconsistencies would be 'error' in summative evaluation, but in formative evaluation they provide diagnostic information;

·         validity and usefulness are paramount in formative assessment and should take precedence over concerns for reliability;

·         even more than assessment for other purposes, formative assessment requires that pupils have a central part in it; pupils have to be active in their own learning (teachers cannot learn for them) and unless they come to understand their strengths and weaknesses, and how they might deal with them, they will not make progress.

Summative Evaluation:  It is type of  half yearly / annual tests and external exams . Evaluation of refined product.A summative evaluation (sometimes referred to as external) is a method of judging the worth of a program at the end of the program activities (summation). The focus is on the outcome.

All assessments can be summative (i.e., have the potential to serve a summative function), but only some have the additional capability of serving formative functions. - Scriven (1967)

Characteristics of  Summative Evaluation:

1) Authenticity

2)Reliability

3) Volume

4) Validity

5) Variety

Basic differences between the two types of Evaluation:

	Summative Evaluation	Formative Evaluation
When	At the end of a learning activity	During a learning activity
Goal	To make a decision	To improve learning
Feedback	Final judgement	Return to material
Frame of Reference	Sometimes normative (comparing each student against all others); sometimes criterion	Always criterion (evaluating students according to the same criteria)

Placement – The action of placing someone or something somewhere.

Placement evaluation, also referred to as pre-assessment or initial assessment, is conducted prior to instruction or intervention to establish a baseline from which individual student growth can be measured. This type of an assessment is used to know what the student's skill level is about the subject.

 Placement evaluation is used to place students according to prior achievement or personal characteristics, at the most appropriate point in an instructional sequence, in a unique instructional strategy, or with a suitable teacher conducted through placement testing, i.e. the tests that colleges and universities use to assess college readiness and place students into their initial classes. Placement evaluation, also referred to as pre-assessment or initial assessment, is conducted prior to instruction or intervention to establish a baseline from which individual student growth can be measured. This type of an assessment is used to know what the student's skill level is about the subject. It helps the teacher to explain the material more efficiently. These assessments are not graded.

·         Diagnostic evaluation – Diagnostic evaluation deals with the whole difficulties at the end that occurs during the learning process.

Jay McTighe and Ken O'Connor proposed seven practices to effective learning. One of them is about showing the criteria of the evaluation before the test. Another is about the importance of pre-assessment to know what the skill levels of a student are before giving instructions. Giving a lot of feedback and encouraging are other practices.