Norma Delima: THE DIFFERENCES AMONG TEST, MEASUREMENT,EVALUATION, AND ASSESSMENT

Meeting 1 REFLECTION:

Different authors define terms differently, but the keyword to each definition is always there.

“Recall how these terms were defined when you were in your undergrads”, was a brain-teasing introductory statement of Dr. Alonsabe on the very first meeting in this class. “Oh my God, that was about twenty four years ago, I remember the terms, but I don’t remember the meaning anymore”, and so I thought.

The term which used to be “Test, Measurement and Evaluation” is now “Assessment of Learning”, is an important learning I had in the previous session. The measures of central tendency also as a topic to be reviewed and discussed, aroused my interest but did not make me shiver at all, for it is one of the basic topics in elementary statistics. Finding the mean, median and mode in the given data, would be an easy task for all of us, I know.

However, when the “something more” to learn other than the survey done in the Teaching Methodologies subject was mentioned, it gave me a challenge for more learning that I could probably not learn anywhere else but in this class. And I love it. That is the main reason why students like me enroll, not only for higher educational attainment, but for professional growth- and that is to be able to share to others what we learned formally in the university. I believe that the higher your educational attainment, the more credible you are when you share something to someone or even to a group of people.

“Grades are just figures or representations. They are considered the prize of exerting effort in school performance. It can make or unmake a person. It can inspire or discourage an individual”. Grades truly make a history, and like “everyone has a story to tell”, some unforgettable grades also have their stories.

I remember my high school Mathematics teacher who gave me a “not-so-good” grade, a grade I know I don’t deserve to get. But I realize, this is the reality in Education – those who are not noisy in class, especially in the beginning of classes, are most likely not recognized, thus, are given low grades. When I was a high school student, I was the silent type, I usually do not volunteer to answer, but when asked, I have a ready answer. This I think is the reason why I majored Mathematics in my undergrad and even in my Master’s. I considered it a challenge on my part, considering the positive side, but on the other side, it was like revenge- proving to the teacher that I know and could equal, and could even make myself a better and more explicable teacher.

So, I realized, before giving the grade to a student, think-time for individual grade is important, also, individual consideration should be emphasized- the culture and the personality of the individual, because every child is special. And this is EVALUATION.

EVALUATION as defined by Dr. Bob Kizllik is engaging in some process that is designed to provide information that will help us make a judgment about a given situation.

TESTING is also called ASSESSMENT and involves an interaction with the student to reveal the knowledge that the child has retained from the class lessons. Testing is usually performed in a classroom environment, with every student participating, but is also performed on individual students in an isolated setting. Tests are written, oral, open book or strictly from memory.

I think an issue on the reliable measurement or assessment made before the teacher gives grades should be considered. ASSESSMENT is a process by which information is obtained relative to some known objective or goal. Also, the “authentic” assessment must be emphasized. Good thing, there is rubrics recommended for the EVALUATION of outputs, because with it, efforts are given value.

MEASUREMENT refers to the process by which the attributes or dimensions of some physical object are determined. It is simply collecting information relative to some established rule or standard. Assessment is therefore quite different from measurement, and has uses that suggest very different purposes.

To sum up, Dr. Kizlik concluded, we measure distance, we assess learning, and we evaluate results in terms of some set of criteria. These three terms are certainly connected, but it is useful to think of them as separate but connected ideas and processes. And in reality, Dr. Alonsabe says, the formula is: CRITERIA + EFFORT = AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT.