January 2003 — Features
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Facts and Assumptions of Assessment:Technology, The Missing Link
\par\par Alternative assessment is a broad term that encompasses several different assessment strategies. Alternative assessment techniques include performance-based assessments, observation techniques, student self-assessment and portfolios. An authentic indicator of student performance, alternative assessment closely resembles what students might be required to perform in class or on a real-world task. In contrast, traditional assessments consist of standardized and classroom achievement tests that are principally close-ended items. Traditional assessment is a passive and individual process of learning (Anderson 1998). The traditional assessment is objective, and looks at the cognitive and affective abilities separately. Advocates of traditional assessment argue that close-ended items are more objective and reliable than alternative types of assessment (Bol, Stephenson and O\rquote Connell 1998).
\par\par Gipps (1994) compares the shift from testing to assessment to a shift from psychometrics to the assessment of learning. With this, a new emphasis on formative assessment is placed on improving learning (Crooks 1988; Sadler 1989). For effective formative assessment to take place it is necessary to set clear goals, develop appropriate learning tasks, as well as assess and give formative feedback to guide learning. Feedback must be used if assessment is formative (Sadler 1989). The context of the feedback, the associated learning opportunities and the broader context of students\rquote assumptions determine its effectiveness.
\par\par Technology tools can be utilized to provide various approaches for learning the content and learner input in determining appropriate learning outcomes. Too often assessment for grading is overemphasized while assessment for learning is underemphasized. Assess-ment becomes meaningful when learners recognize that a gap exists between their present state of knowledge, understanding or skill and a desired goal. Learning occurs with action that is taken to close the gap (Sadler 1989).
\par \par\par Contrasting Assessments
\par\par In contrasting alternative and traditional assessments in detail, more technical differences arise. Alternative assessment, sometimes called authentic assessment, requires students to be effective performers with acquired knowledge (Wiggins 1990). Traditional tests tend to reveal only whether students can recognize or recall what was learned out of context. The criteria measured in these objective tests tend to be confined to knowledge and skills (Travis 1996).
\par\par Alternative assessments present students with an assortment of tasks that reflect the challenges found in instructional activities, such as conducting research; writing, revising and discussing papers; providing an engaging oral analysis of a recent political event; or collaborating with others on a debate. When well designed and properly implemented, an alternative assessment, particularly a performance assessment, is closely aligned with curriculum and instruction that emphasize knowledge construction and problem solving in authentic contexts (Bol, Stephenson and O\rquote Connell 1998). In contrast, traditional tests are usually limited to paper and pencil, providing one-answer questions.
