Assessment of learning

The student teacher selects, develops, adapts, integrates and uses techniques and instruments to collect valid information from each student's learning and analyzes, interprets, communicates and uses information collected in an ethical way when evaluating and making fair decisions regarding learning and continuous development of each student and, to evaluate learning, as well as to reflect on educational practice and how to improve them.

The Alphabet

For the competency 8 "Assessment of learning", I offer as evidence the preparation of an academic achievement test on a word document. I prepared this exam as the final assignment for the EDFU3013(Evaluation of the apprentice) course offered by the professor Julio Rodríguez in the second semester of the 2021-2022 school year. The instructions of the assignment required that we use all of the knowledge we had gained during the course to create it. The purpose of this task was that each student would design an academic achievement test according to their specialty in the Faculty of Education. It also required that we chose a topic in specific and the grade that we wanted to target.  We also had to create a simple specifications spreadsheet with the different items that were discussed in class (multiple choice, matching exercise, fill the blank, open questions, true or false etcetera). Finally, we were required to provide the test key with the correct answers. In my case I chose to target the first grade and the topic that I chose to prepare this test was The Alphabet.

I chose this assignment as evidence because it shows the meaningful knowledge that I gained while taking the course Evaluation of the Apprentice and that I acquired by preparing this test. Throughout the course EDFU3013 I had the opportunity to acquire extensive knowledge about what evaluating an apprentice entails. Especially it helped me affirm my opinions on how every student is different and that there are many ways in which we can evaluate them and how to do it the best way possible. Preparing this test helped me specially in putting into practice the knowledge that I have about creating an academic achievements test. An academic achievement test has as a purpose to determine the progress that a student is having in the process of learning in a subject in specific. Its content must include items that assess the knowledge that the student is expected to have acquired during the school year or the unit that they studied under. To be able to create a good academic achievements tests we should consider the following aspects: the levels of thought, the writing, the index of difficulty, index of discrimination, the items, the content, among others.

To prepare for the academic achievement test, I chose the theme of the alphabet and divided the test into 5 parts. Each part had a different type of item and each part had 5 exercises. Therefore, the test had a total of 25 points. The types of items that I chose were a matching exercise, multiple choice, fill in the blank, true and false, and finally, a brief response exercise. In order to prepare for an academic achievement test, it is important to know the different items that we can use beforehand. Here are some characteristics that I took into consideration about the items that I chose to use. For example, creating a matching exercise requires that it be written on a single page with two columns of information side by side. The column on the left contains more information than the column on the right, and on the right side the answers are supposed to be written. On the other hand, multiple choice exercises are made up of a premise and its options, one correct and the others incorrect but plausible. It should be written briefly and clearly in a language that the student can understand. It must refer to a single topic and not relate to previous premises. For fill-in-the-blank items, it is recommended not to start with a blank, not to use more than 3 blanks in the same sentence, and not to use items that could serve as a clue for students. The true and false item is not highly recommended as students can guess and have a 50% chance of getting the correct answer. One of its characteristics is that a premise must be totally true or totally false so as not to lead the student into confusion. It is also recommended to use the same number of true and false premises as well as to vary the order in which they are placed. Short answer exercises only require one or two words from the student similar to fill-in-the-blanks. If more is required, it should be specified in the instructions.

Acquiring this knowledge will allow me in the future to create tests to evaluate the knowledge that my students have acquired. Having in mind and knowing full well that students should be evaluated depending on their age and that that evaluation should be equitative and just. As well as having in mind that there are many ways in which we can evaluate them and it does not only limit itself to tests. Sometimes students do not perform well in tests and that does not mean that they do not have the knowledge, they may know what we are trying to evaluate but they can demonstrate it in other ways. Some of the ways in which we can evaluate them is by drawings, orally, acrostics, a poem, etcetera. As teachers we should be creative when we enocunter these situations because we are there to help our students be as good as they can be. When it comes to developing the tests, I will be careful to consider all the aspects involved in its elaboration. This will facilitate the way in which the students will understand the premises and how well they will perform in the test. It will allow me to evaluate how well they have acquired the knowledge offered in class. Depending on the results, positive or negative, I will be able to modify or design new evaluation of teaching methods for the benefit of my students.