It is best to use a variety of assessment instruments or tools when assessing student learning outcomes.

• Objective examinations (e.g. multiple choice, true/false, matching, simple recall). The advantage in using this type is that teachers are familiar with it, although constructing high-quality test questions may be difficult.
• Essay examinations allow for student individuality and expression although it may not cover an entire range of knowledge.
• Written work (e.g. reports, papers, research projects, reviews, etc.) This type allows learning in the process as well as in the completion of the process. The disadvantage is that plagiarism may occur and written work is difficult to quantify
• Portfolio assessment. Portfolios may either be longitudinal portfolio which contains reports, documents and professional activities compiled over a period of time, or best-case/thematic portfolio which is specific to a certain topic or theme.

• Assessment Rubrics. A rubric is an authentic assessment tool which measures student’s work. It is a scoring guide that seeks to evaluate a student’s performance based on a full range of criteria rather than a single numerical score. Authentic assessment tool like rubric allows students to perform real-world tasks which are either replicas or simulations of the kind of situation encountered by adult citizen, consumers or professionals. Rubrics are used to assess non-objective test performance like psychomotor tests and written reports.

Rubrics have three (3) common characteristics

• • emphasis is on a stated objective
  • performance is rated in a range
  • include specific performance characteristics arranged in levels or degrees in which a standard has been met.

Rubrics are of two major types: holistic and dimensional/ analytical.

Holistic Rubric that Makes Use of Criterion-based Standards

Holistic rubric covers the instrument as a whole; students receive an over-all score based on a pre-determined scheme.

Holistic rubric uses criterion-based standards by providing descriptions of the different levels of performance like: Most Acceptable, Very Acceptable, Acceptable, Barely Acceptable and Unacceptable

SCORING PROTOCOL:

• • Most Acceptable: 20 and above
  • Very Acceptable: 15-19
  • Acceptable: 10-14
  • Barely Acceptable: 5-9
  • Unacceptable: Below 5

Dimensional/Analytical Rubric

Dimensional/analytical rubric yields sub-scores for each dimension, as well as a cumulative score which is the sum, either weighted or unweighted. A dimensional rubric utilizes multiple indicators of quality for academic tasks that involve more than one level of skill or ability.

SCORING PROTOCOL:

• • Most Acceptable: 7 and above
  • Partially Acceptable: 4-6
  • Unacceptable: Below 4

Competency/Skills Assessment

Competencies/skills Assessment from Beginner to Proficiency Level.

Skills acquisition undergoes phases from beginner to proficiency level. This may be illustrated in assessing cognitive and psycho-motor skills as demonstrated in the combination of “An adaptation of the Motor Skills Acquisition” by Patricia Benner applied to the “Assesment of Critical Thinking and of Technological Skills” by Herron and Dugan.

EXAMPLE

COMPETENCY: CRITICAL THINKING

Student’s name:
Subject Title:
Date Course:

Students must be able to think critically by performing specific cognitive tasks.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE

COMPETENCY: TECHNOLOGY SKILLS

Student’s name:
Subject Title:
Date Course:

Students will be expected to use technology ethically, to access information and use productivity tools to solve problems and produce products and presentations. They will be expected to locate and analyze various sources of information for problem-solving and conducting research.