Assignment for Learning Formative PDF

Abstract
This paper is intended to highlight the facts that how assessment promotes learning
and how it may become barrier in learning. Analysing this topic was extremely
crucial as there are major differences in assessment in terms of becoming a barrier.
This study is set up so that this gap could be closed. This article highlights both
aspect of assessment- negative as well as positive. It is one of the major
contributions by comparing advantages and disadvantages. This is a descriptive
paper and I have explored various resources for the same.
Introduction:
A systemic approach which is a set of techniques, intended to improve learning is
called classroom assessment.
According to (Marsh, 2008), Assessment’ is the term typically used to describe the
activities taken by a teacher to obtain information about the knowledge, skills and
attitudes of students. It is important to take assessment because it shows a clear
picture of student understands. It also gives teacher an idea about the method of
teaching. It helps in make them know that whether they are following correct
method of teaching or not. Activities can involve the collection of formal
assessment data (e.g. by use of objective tests) or the use of informal data (e.g. by
use of observation checklist). Teachers typically assign a grade or mark (numerical
score, letter grade, descriptive ranking) for work undertaken by students such as a
project or written test. However (McMillan, 2013) describes assessment as a broad
concept which serves various purposes. It assesses students’ learning capabilities,
how they are achieving and how much they are achieving. Assessment is not
helpful only to the teacher in meeting their teaching needs; it also helps the
students by catering their educational requirements. Motivation is one the major
goals of assessment so that students could be promoted further in academic life.
Assessment acts as a bridge in learning

Assessment is a major part of learning. Stiggins (2011) believes that assessment is
done to check school curriculum and the teaching progress whether teaching
practice is meeting the goal for which curriculum is designed. Assessment also
helps in knowing the status of the student and clears the intelligence level of
everyone. Sometimes students attend all the classes but still did not get good marks
so it shows the reason that they are not concentrating on classes. Assessment
describes the skills a teacher possesses as assessment tests are reflection of what is
taught by teacher in the class. It enables teacher to determine whether he is meeting
his teaching goals. Thus, assessment enables teacher to make it sure that he is
teaching effectively. So, assessment can be said a tool for improvement of
instructions which, ultimately, leads to improved learning. Teacher can also
improve the process of assessment for better results.
Assessment is the key to learning as well as future success. According to (Stiggins,
2011) “students are considered as the most important part of assessment results”.
They are like consumers of assessment results as when they come to school, the
first thing they do is to look at their teacher for getting an evidence of success. If
the evidence is in favour of them then they start growing a sense of hopefulness
and expectations of more success in future. This can also help students in making
more efforts to get good marks.
If students do not understand the concept, a teacher may re-teach that unit or part,
employ different strategies until students get that. However, classroom assessment
was not considered of a crucial part of teaching (McMillan, 2013).
For instance, back in 2014, I started teaching at a local `school where, in the
starting days, I used to teach Mathematics to 9th grade’s students. A chapter of
class curriculum was algebra. I taught all the students from scratch because they
were not aware of the basics of algebra. We revised the very first chapter of
algebra two times in a fortnight and finally conducted a classroom test.
If students do not understand the concept, a teacher may re-teach that unit or part,
employ different strategies until students get that. However, classroom assessment
was not considered of a crucial part of teaching (McMillan, 2013).
For instance, back in 2014, I started teaching at a local `school where, in the
starting days, I used to teach Mathematics to 9th grade’s students. A chapter of

class curriculum was algebra. I taught all the students from scratch because they
were not aware of the basics of algebra. We revised the very first chapter of
algebra two times in a fortnight and finally conducted a classroom test.
I had 26 students in my class a test was conducted for two units they learnt. But
what I observed was shocking to me. All the students performed under-average. It
happened twice in three consecutive weeks. After observing myself and results, I
came to know the exact method, I was using, was for higher-level students. The
method I was using a very difficult method and they were unable to understand
perfectly. So I made them understand with another method which they followed
very easily. So, in this way classroom assessment helps teacher to be effective at
teaching.
Bloom, Madaus, Hastings and Stiggins (2011) argue, “Classroom assessments that
serve as meaningful sources of information don't surprise students”. Instead, these
assessments reflect the concepts and skills that the teacher emphasized in class,
along with the teacher's clear criteria for judging students' performance. These
concepts, skills, and criteria align with the teacher's instructional activities and,
ideally, with state or district standards. Students see these assessments as fair
measures of important learning goals.
Teachers facilitate learning by providing students with important feedback on their
learning progress and by helping them to identify learning problems (Bloom,
Madaus, & Hastings, 1981; Stiggins, 2002Students get feedback from teachers and
come to know their weaknesses and strengths.
According to Gardner (2006), “serving learning is the primary goal of assessment”.
Assessment has something to guide students to meet their learning objective. For
instance, if a student aims to achieve 90 marks in his subject but he achieves only
52 marks. He will try to find the gap. There might be some problems due to which
he could not meet his expectation of getting desired scores.
Assessment encourages students’ active involvements in the class where students
monitor their progress; they identify the achievement gaps in their learning as

assessment assess their weak and strong points which they may use to improve
their learning.
Assessment motivates students to get involved in their own learning which is one
of the major purposes of assessment however it depends upon the manner, type of
assessment and frequency of given feedback(McMillan, 2013).
Assessment provides motivation to the students. They work hard in order to gain
the score they desire. Whenever a student gets small reward or pay off for his
work, they work even more to touch the heights. Some weaker students, who get
lesser marks, are able to recognise their academic needs. McMillan regards
classroom assessment as an active agent in motivation (McMillan, 2013).
Using summative assessment may improve the quality of education if a teacher
uses summative assessment for external use, such as, monitoring school’s progress
and accountability, choosing higher education. It depends upon teacher how he is
using assessment- whether he wants to maximise test scores or he wants to make
assessment more learning-oriented ( McMillan, 2013).
Classroom assessment as a barrier in learning
Almost all of the students have different cognitive skills; all are not same in
various aspects of life. Assessment is usually done by ignoring this fact that all the
human beings have no same qualities and skills. It should be taken into account
that different people perceive the same thing differently and view them from
different angles.
We are judging all the students at same level when they have different capabilities.
One may be intelligent in studies; other may be brilliant in games. There could be
no comparison in these two areas requiring totally different skills. If we ask a
monkey and a elephant to climb the tree in order to get any reward, it would be
absolutely unfair to say so. The same happens in education field where all the
students are given same exams despite knowing the fact of human uniqueness in

skills, behaviour and nature. In this way, assessment may not be accurate and fair
(Meyer, Rose and Gorden, 2014).
Lack of time, which is not taken into account while making assessments, is another
barrier in path of learning. Every student does not possess same ability; some are
unable to cope with time restriction. Assessment test are usually bound by time
limits. These time-restrictions may affect the scores of test-takers which is one of
prime disadvantages of classroom assessment (Gallo, Sheehy, Patton and Griffin,
2006)
Assessment may be subjective. A teacher may add some personal views about
student while assessing student’s ability and it is also possible to make some wrong
judgements on the basis of personal opinion. One student may not be good at his
behaviour in class which doesn’t necessarily mean that he would not be good at
studies. There seems a possibility of incorrectness in assessment, and assessment
may be biased.
Morgan, Walton (2002) submitted two studies in Mathematics which were
conducted regarding judgements of teachers. In the first study summative
assessment was used and in other formative assessment was given preference. This
study included two aspects: (1) external reviewer scored the traditional time
examination, and second part contained a problem- solving task which was to be
checked by class teacher. In this study, eleven education experts took part. Results
of these studies were quite interesting as there was a great difference in judgements
of teachers that they made for the same students. For instance, a student got the
highest rating from one teacher and the same student got the lowest rank from
another teacher (McGatha, M.B & Bush, 2013).
(2) Fairness and equity are major challenges in classroom assessment. This study
presented two case-study reports of two teachers working in England with students
of 6th grades. The aim of this study was to judge that is there any discrepancies in
assessment made by different individuals. A researcher and class teacher both
observed students. Class teacher and research had a meeting after each observation.
Both assessed few of the class students who were chosen for target- study. There
were huge differences in results presented by both- the researcher and the teacher.
Research found that first impression of the students and their behaviour makes a

big difference to classroom assessment. It was not their knowledge that they gained
on which they were assessed; it was their habits and behaviour that influenced the
assessment score.
Transparency in assessment is one of the major concerns that may challenge
learning of pupils. Sometimes, a student may not achieve the same that other
perceives. Surgenor argue that, “the quality of assessment conversations may vary
to a degree that threatens fairness. Some secondary teacher in one study, for
example, reported having regular assessment conversations with students, while
other seemed to distribute rubrics without explanation” Surgenor (2010).
Personal Experience:
There have been great strides in education, in terms of assessment and reporting.
However, few decades ago it was not as important component of education as it is
today. Assessment is used to assess the student’s knowledge.to motivate them, to
judge them how they achieve and how much they have achieved. Though its aim is
to promote learning among students but at the same time it can discourage students
too. Classroom assessment does not always fulfil its purpose by supporting
learning, there are few exceptions. Sometimes students just study to get pass-
marks, not for learning and understanding the concept (Gibbs & Simpson,
Claire, 2004).
I have various real-life experiences in my teaching career of four years. One of
them I am going to share that took place in September, 2016 when assignment
became hurdle in education of a boy named Varner. An essay based on the life of
religious guru was given to all of the students of 10th grade. I explained about
nature and character of religious guru and asked students to find original ideas
rather than copying it from somewhere. After exploring the resources, they had to
write critical analysis report on that and several meetings were planned with the
people who were family members of that religious guru.

A boy of my class could not attend some of those meetings which were scheduled
by school-principal. Though boy wrote the critical essay in a very good manner but
when I asked him to explain in front of whole class he could not do that. I
explained his topic to him and the class also. After two days I provided mark
sheets along with individual feedback to all students. The boy I mentioned above
received the least marks.
Not only the teachers but also the students should be given knowledge of goals for
which they are assessed. Allen (2004) says that, “course learning objectives are not
secrets”. Highlighting them on syllabi allows students to make informed decisions
before enrolling, to monitor and direct their own learning, and to communicate
what they have learned to others, such as graduate schools, employers, or transfer
institutions (Allen, 2004).
In order to improve assessment, teacher literacy is another approached that need to
be implemented. It is not only the teacher who is solely responsible to make
assessment; there are various factors that may affect the assessment. The type of
test or questions, classroom environment, social and cognitive issue may affect
assessment scores too. For example, if a teacher wants to judge skills of high-order
thinking, critical-analysis and creativity then multiple choice questions may
completely pointless. So, assessment needs to be done very carefully so that there
is no bias and unfairness in it (UNSW, 2011)
The feedback I provided him was to motivate him so that he can study better and
boost his self-esteem. But instead of focusing on his plus points and improving his
weakness, he took it extremely serious. I explained that topic again in the class
which was in contradiction to what the boy wrote in his essay assignment. His
topic I explained again in the class was taken as a personal attack on his views and
ideas. Though his views were very clear and straight-forward but he could not
explain it orally well. It was not my intention to demotivate him but this
assessment really did. I later felt sorry for that when I realized what the
consequence was. The boy dropped that class immediately. He always stood first
in every task assigned in any area in the class excluding my subject. This incident
spoiled his 6 months until he got back in the next session.

I had discouraged him though it was not my intention. I might have ignored his
verbal presentation because the motive of assessment was just to check whether
students are able to make rational views. This boy could be provided with some of
the positive comments even if there were few errors as students have some
emotional needs too which need to be addressed. This boy worked really hard to
get the material and explored hundreds of sources.
Despite making so much effort, he could not get good marks. So, in this way this
assessment added troubles to the student’s future rather than making it bright.
Additionally, it was totally unfair because the aim of assessment was not to judge
their communication skills; this was to check whether they are growing.
Results of a survey done by William and Black (1998) showed that rote learning is
promoted through classroom assessment practices instead of creative learning. It
evaluates students’ memory, not knowledge. Students forget easily after the class
finishes as more emphasis given to the rote learning in class evaluation techniques.
Grading is focused too much whereas learning remains under-focused. Teachers
use their own knowledge; they have less talk to their fellow teachers. However, fair
assessment demands negotiation ( Wiliam and Black, 1998).
How assessment can be improved
There are various ways that can be taken into account to make assessment fair.
Firstly, teacher should have knowledge of purpose of assessment. There is always
a motive of assessment. There will be bias in assessment if teacher is not trained to
assess students’ academic ability so teacher should be aware of all the techniques
and practices involved in classroom assessment.
At some specific time, one may perform very well in one area and may lack in
other. Assessment is as challenging task. For instance, a boy may have mastery in
football that does not necessarily contribute to any other game; he may find it
troublesome to play cricket as both games require different skills. So, a teacher

needs to be very careful while assessing students so that it serves its purpose of
productive learning and motivation rather than demotivating the pupils.
Assessment and learning therefore can potentially improve the effectiveness of
both. There are some factors associated with improving learning through
assessment. (1) The provision of effective feedback to pupils (2) The active
involvement of pupils in their own learning (3) Adjusting teaching to take account
of the results of assessment (4) A recognition of the profound influence assessment
has on the motivation and self-esteem of students, both of which are crucial
influences on learning (5) The need for students to be able to assess themselves
and understand how to make improvements” (Wiliam and Black(1998), as cited in
Surgenor).

Conclusion:
Assessment promotes learning, however, only when it is fair and transparent.
There are some conditions under which assessment becomes bridge to learning. To
make learning better, it is crucial to make fair judgements for which teacher-
literacy may play a leading role. According to me, there are lots of factors affecting
assessment, but teacher has major role to play in classroom assessment.in order to
fulfil the purpose of assessment, to make a strong connection between learning and
assessment, assessment must be considered a dynamic concept. Also, there is a dire
need to implement the above-mentioned suggestions to establish assessment as a
bridge for learning.

References:
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UNSW (2011, June). Assessing by Multiple choice Questions: Assessment as a
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