Assessment Techniques to Facilitate the Teaching-Learning Process

The teaching and learning process consists of a series of elements that include the development of teaching objectives and the assessment of learning. Thanks to the evaluation process, we can know our students’ needs, what material they master or do not master, and how we can help them in their learning process. When talking about evaluation, we must remember that there are several types. These are mentioned and explained below.

diagnostic evaluation– Its purpose is to identify the students’ level of knowledge with which a course or unit begins. It can happen at any time during the class.

formative assessment– Its purpose is to make decisions regarding the teaching process and thus improve instruction. No scoring should be assigned and can be done at any time.

summative evaluation– Its purpose is to make decisions regarding the performance achieved by the students. It is done at the end of each unit or course.

As part of the formative evaluation, we can include the assessment. It is defined as organizing and analyzing evidence collected through different activities in the classroom. Its purpose is to monitor and provide feedback to students about their teaching-learning process.

The assessment responds to three questions: What should students learn? How adequate is their learning? And how do we know that it has been learned? The appraisal differs from the quantitative evaluation since it uses the instruments to obtain only numerical data. In contrast, the assessment requires quantitative and qualitative tools to collect data that allow a well-evidenced interpretation of the observed behavior. For an evaluation to be functional, it must be related to the objectives set. It must be comprehensive and uniform for all students and have a coherent structure.

Advantages of using assessment

It is functional for educational programs.
Promotes the improvement of teaching-learning processes.
Allows reflection of the processes.
Improves the relationship between students and teachers.
It allows knowing the quality of the teaching-learning process carried out.
The level of student learning can be identified.
It allows recognizing doubts and offering explanations for the improvement and obtaining significant learning so that the student becomes part and protagonist of this process.

Evaluation is obtaining information about a person’s abilities and potential, with the dual objective of providing helpful feedback to students and valuable data for the community.
Howard Gardner

Assessment is part of the teaching-learning process, so it is not necessary to separate it from the activities carried out in the classroom. The teacher needs to maintain constant communication with the students to notice the areas of strength and weakness and offer suggestions and support for their improvement. The teacher who uses assessment in their classes becomes a facilitator of teaching, a learner, a motivator and turns the student body into the center of the teaching-learning process.

The following assessment techniques are handy technological tools when preparing presentations, educational and informative content.

Collage

Collage is an artistic technique that involves attaching different images on a canvas or paper. Its purpose is to collect, through photos, information and details of the subject studied.

Debates

The debate is a formal discussion among the students on a selected topic. The students are divided into two groups where each one takes a position on the subject and tries to prove their point of view. Its purpose is to facilitate the development of thinking skills through argumentation.

Reflective diaries

The reflective diary proposes the students’ reflection on their training process and academic experience. Through questions, topics, or ideas, students reflect while evaluating themselves.

Checklists

They are lists made by the teacher. A comparison is made in those assertions that describe the students’ behavior. Its purpose is to collect information on students’ performance and mastery of skills through observation.

Targeted list

The targeted list allows students to remember the most important points related to a specific topic or lesson. Its purpose is to correct errors, clarify ideas, describe concepts and/or skills, and structure thinking.

Graphic organizers

Graphic organizers help make sense of an organizational structure. We can find concept maps, Venn diagrams, comparative tables, and organization charts among these.

Concept maps

The concept map is a diagram where different concepts and topics are organized based on their hierarchy, ranging from the general to the specific. Its purpose is to promote the development of thinking skills and facilitate understanding ideas.

Concrete poems

The concrete poem represents letters of a concept, illustrated with drawings explaining the term of the same.

Portfolio

The portfolio is a self-assessment instrument. This allows students to identify their strengths, areas of potential development, and the compilation of their progress in the learning process. The portfolio includes a diversity of work carried out by students in various contexts during their academic period.

Questions (maieutic)

Maieutic is a method or technique that consists of asking students questions until they discover latent or hidden concepts in their minds. The questionnaire is developed by the teacher who must be in charge, with questions, of guiding the students towards non-conceptualized knowledge. Through this, the students are developing new concepts from their answers.

Projects

The projects consist of an active learning methodology where the students carry out an investigative task and solve a problem. They require initiative and creativity on the part of the student body. The purpose is the acquisition of knowledge and the development of skills.

Rubrics

Rubrics are tools that allow the evaluation of student learning while they know their mistakes through self-assessment. Different levels of quality of a task, skill, or project are presented. Informative feedback is given to the students on developing their work during the process and a detailed evaluation of their final works.

Comic strips

The comic strip offers students the opportunity to express their learning creatively. Through vignettes, imaginary situations are represented using as a basis a theme or concept worked on in class.

References:

Bartolomei-Torres, P. (2018). Inteligencias múltiples en el aula, un recurso para el aprendizaje significativo en la Enseñanza de una Lengua Extranjera (Ph.D). Universidad de Granada. Recuperado de http://hdl.handle.net/10481/52430

Estremera, R. (1996). “Concepto de Assessment: ¿Qué y cómo?”. In Visión educativa y assessment ¿para qué y cómo? (pp. 21-37). Isabela, Puerto Rico: Isabela Printing.

Gardner, H. (2006). Multiple intelligences. New York: BasicBooks.

Otero, L., 2008. Técnicas de Assessment. Retrieved from https://es.slideshare.net/oterolizbeth/tecnicas-de-assessment-presentation

Navia, B., & Rodríguez, A. Técnicas de Assessment: La Lista Focalizada y El Diario Reflexivo. Rectrieved from http://ponce.inter.edu/wp-content/uploads/documentos/assessment/PresentacionListaFocalizadayDiarioReflexivo.pdf

Nieves, I., 2012. Evaluación, Medición e Investigación Educativa Repaso Prueba Certificación de Maestros. Retrieved from https://www.slideserve.com/loring/preparado-profesora-itzia-nieves

Nieves, I., 2015. El uso del proyecto y la asignación como técnica de assessment. Retrieved from https://slideplayer.es/slide/5454675/

Pérez, J., & Merino, M. (2011). Mayéutica. Definición.de. Retrieved 29 December 2021, from https://definicion.de/mayeutica/.

Román, L. Evaluar con rúbricas: qué son, cómo aplicarlas y cuáles son sus beneficios. Educación 3.0. Retrieved 29 December 2021, from https://www.educaciontrespuntocero.com/noticias/evaluar-con-rubricas/.