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The Difference Between Assessment and Evaluation

H. Stephen StraightVice Provost for Undergraduate

Education

Teaching Assistant Orientation28 August 2002

What Is Teaching? Brainstorm:

Think of different ways to define “teaching”.

Write down at least three different definitions of teaching.

Pair up with someone to choose the best ONE of your six-plus definitions.

Share your definitions with the group, one at a time in sequence.

Definitions of Teaching To present information, insights. To reveal knowledge or skill. To help students learn.

NOTE: All of the above can be accomplished either deliberately or incidentally.

That is, you can teach by means of explicit instruction, ongoing guidance, deliberate modeling, or accidental example.

Ways to Improve Teaching and Learning Implement research-based “best

practices”. Employ an assessment-informed

model of teaching focused on measurable student learning outcomes.

Good Practice in UG Education (after Arthur Chickering & Zelda Gamson 1989)

1. Maximizes student/faculty contact. 2. Develops student cooperation. 3. Uses active learning techniques. 4. Gives feedback promptly. 5. Emphasizes time on task. 6. Communicates high expectations. 7. Respects learners’ diversity.


practices”. Think of at least one way to

implement each item of “practice”. Write down each example. Pair up with the person next to you

to choose the best example of each. Share your findings with the group.


practices”. Employ an assessment-informed

model of teaching focused on measurable student learning outcomes. But first we need to distinguish

“assessment” from “evaluation”.

Assessment vs. Evaluation What are the three most striking

differences between the two? If we had time, I’d have you …

Think Write Pair Share

Dimensions of Difference Between Assessment and Evaluation Timing Focus of Measurement Relationship Between Administrator &

Recipient Findings, Uses Thereof Ongoing Modifiability of Criteria,

Measures Thereof Standards of Measurement Relation Between Different Objects of A/E

Assessment Evaluation (various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Formative: Ongoing to Improve Learning

Timing



Summative: Final to Gauge Quality

Focus of Measurement




Process-Oriented: How Learning Is Going

Focus of Measurement





Product-Oriented: What’s Been Learned

Administrator/Recipient Relationship






Reflective: Internally Defined Criteria/Goals

Administrator/Recipient Relationship







Prescriptive:External-ly Imposed Standards

Findings, Uses Thereof








Diagnostic: Identify Areas for Improvement

Findings, Uses Thereof









Judgmental: Arrive at an Overall Grade/Score

Ongoing Modifiability of Criteria, Measures










Flexible: Adjust As Problems Are Clarified

Ongoing Modifiability of Criteria, Measures









Fixed: To Reward Success, Punish Failure

Standards of Measurement










Absolute: Strive for Ideal Outcomes

Standards of Measurement









Comparative: Divide Better from Worse

Relation Between Objects of A/E










Coöperative: Learn from Each Other











Coöperative: Learn from Each Other

Competitive: Beat Each Other Out

Summary of Differences

Dimension of Difference Assessment Evaluation

Timing Formative Summative

Focus of MeasurementProcess-Oriented

Product-Oriented

Relationship Between Administrator and Recipient

Reflective Prescriptive

Findings, Uses Thereof Diagnostic Judgmental

Ongoing Modifiability of Criteria, Measures Thereof

Flexible Fixed

Standards of Measurement Absolute Comparative


Coöperative Competitive

Assessment vs. Evaluation If we had time, I’d have you Think, Write,

Pair, Share to come up with examples of assessment and evaluation to show that: The multidimensionality of the

difference between them, and the variation in each dimension, result in a very diverse array of examples, the majority of which are neither “assessment” nor “evaluation” but rather hybrids.


practices”. Put the examples into practice.

Employ an assessment-informed model of teaching focused on measurable student learning outcomes. How to do this?

Employ an assessment-informed model of teaching

Define learning outcomes (desired by teachers and/or learners) well in advance.

Assess progress toward outcomes, by and for both teacher and learner, continually during learning.

Evaluate attainment of outcomes rigorously as each learning opportunity concludes.

Moment-by-moment, meeting-by-meeting, course-by-course, semester-by-semester.

Measures of Learning

If we had time, I’d also have you examine examples of ways to measure learning with the aim of showing: that any measurement of learning

can be used either for assessment or for evaluation purposes,

but that some measures are better for one than for the other.

Ways to Improve Teaching and Learning

Implement research-based “best practices”.

Employ an assessment-informed model of teaching focused on measurable student learning outcomes.

Be vocal about what you’re doing to improve your teaching and your students’ learning – and listen to others’ stories about what they are doing.

Five Assessment Principles(after Thomas Angelo & Patricia Cross 1993)

To improve their teaching, faculty must define learning outcomes and measure their attainment.

To improve their learning, students must learn how to use feedback to assess their own progress (= “self-assessment”).

The best assessment derives from teachers’ questions about their own teaching.

Systematic assessment can be an intellectually challenging source of faculty satisfaction.

Assessment provides an impetus for active student involvement, a proven “best practice”.

Sources Chickering & Gamson, Change (the

journal of the Amer Assn for Higher Ed)

Apple, Process education teaching institute handbook (Pacific Crest)

Angelo & Cross, Classroom assessment techniques: A handbook for college teachers, Second edition (Jossey-Bass)

Presenter: Steve Straight H. Stephen Straight

Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Binghamton University - SUNY

Professor of Anthropology and of Linguistics Co-Director, Harpur College Linguistics Program Associate Director, Center for Research In

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