Assessment or testing is an important part of all teaching and learning. Unless we assess or test we will not know whether students have learnt anything. Assessment or testing can be used for:

• finding out, by questioning or observation of students’ actions during a session, whether they are learning what we aim to teach them;

• finding out at the end of a period of time – a session, a topic or a term – what progress students are making in their learning;

• giving grades for a reporting system.

Testing often refers to making a judgment at the end of a period of time for a written report, but testing itself need not be in writing.

Assessment is a wider term and can refer to any way of judging the progress of the students, with or without giving a test.

MARKING OR COMPETENCY?

Testing need not be done by marking (out of 10 or 100) or grading (A to E).

If we want to know whether someone can type at 20 words per minute or connect wire to an electric switch, we can ask them to do it and find out if they can do it correctly or not. They either ‘pass’ or ‘fail’. They are either competent to do the job or they are not. In the case of wiring, it would be dangerous to allow any mistakes, so this is the best way. It’s no good getting 7 out of 10 for wiring. If one wire is in the wrong place, it won’t work! However, we do need to know where they are going wrong, so we may also record why they fail.

This kind of testing can be called competency testing. Another term is criterion testing. We set up certain criteria or steps which students must be able to do and we test whether they can do them.

Criterion testing or competency testing

For the example above, we can set out 5 steps which need to be done or known to wire a switch.

1. Being able to unscrew the switch to find the parts to attach the wires.

2. Being able to choose the correct-coloured wires to attach to each part of the switch.

3. Being able to connect each wire correctly and securely.

4. Being able to screw the switch securely onto the wall.

5. Using the correct tools for each of the stages.

The student is asked to wire the switch and put it on the wall and they only pass if they satisfy all criteria, that is do all 5 steps correctly.

Students must show they can satisfy all criteria or that they are competent in all 5 stages.

Criterion based testing can also be used to give marks or grades if you wish.

We can test the process by listing the steps that need to be carried out to perform the skill correctly.

We can test the product by listing the characteristics which the finished product should have.

Or we can make a list of criteria including both the process of making something and the finished product e.g. how to make a shirt correctly and what the finished shirt should look like.

For example in agriculture you may want to assess the ability to plant taro correctly. You might list the following criteria:

1 Clearing the land quickly and efficiently.

2 Choosing the correct time for planting.

3 Choosing the correct spacing.

4 Planting the correct way round.

5 Weeding regularly.

6 The final result: the crop begins to grow successfully.

For a dovetail joint the criteria might be:

1 Choosing the correct type of timber.

2 Marking timber correctly.

3 Cutting timber correctly.

4 Using correct tools.

5 Handling tools correctly.

6 Putting joint together correctly.

7 Appearance of finished product. (this could in turn be broken down into more criteria e.g. strength, finishing etc.)

8. Knowing the uses of this type of joint.

We can then mark in one of three ways:

• Each of the criteria can be marked right or wrong and a mark given out of 6 or 8.
• Each can be marked out of 5 and the total added up to give a mark out of 30 or 40, e.g. if a student is lazy and takes a long time to clear the land they may get 2 out of 5 for criterion 1.
• These marks can, if you wish, be converted into A to E grades.

Testing is usually done by observation. Watch the student doing the work or look at the finished product. You may also test orally by asking students to name parts, describe how to do a stage, ask them why they are doing it, or mention safety precautions.

You may also include a written test element e.g. writing the uses of the joint.

This method can also be used to assess group projects, in which case each group member will get the same mark – but, of course, you cannot tell which individuals have actually done the work!

WRITTEN TESTING

What to test.

Make sure you only test useful knowledge i.e. knowledge that students may need to practice their skills when they leave the RTC. It is easy to use a diagram of the digestive system of a chicken or pig to test the scientific or English name of every part. But do chicken or pig farmers need to know these? Your grandfather was probably a very successful pig farmer without ever knowing these names, so what is the use of forcing students to learn them?

Our students are not going to be carpenters or mechanics in England so they do not need to know every English name for the parts of a building, or even an engine. If there is a commonly used name in Pijin, use it. Do not encourage students to fill their heads with unnecessary or useless information.

1. Read the ideas below on types of written testing.

Make a written test to use in your subject area. Use at least two examples of each of the types of questions mentioned. This is for practice only. In an actual test you do not need to use all of these. Make your choice of the most suitable.

_{Multiple choice}

A ‘stem’ is given with 4 possible answers, only one of which is correct. Students have to choose the correct answer e.g.

The largest amount of material in soil consists of

A. humus

B. soil particles

C. worms and insects

D. water.

True / false

Students mark a series of statements true or false

Kumara contains a large amount of carbohydrate. T /F

Sugar enables the body to heal quickly from diseases. T /F

Rice is a good food to feed to young children. T /F

Fish is one of the main sources or protein in Solomon Islands. T / F

_{Matching lists}

Give two related lists in different order. Students match the first list with the

correct parts of the second list e.g.

Food rich in:

Carbohydrates Cabbage

Protein Fish

Vitamins Sweet potatoes.

_{Correct order}

To test understanding of a process, such as how to grow paddy rice, students

may be given a list of stages in the wrong order and asked to place them in the

correct order e.g.

Flood the land

Prepare nursery

Weed the crop

Dry in the sun

Clear the land

Harvest the crop

Plough the land

Sow seeds

Transplant from nursery

Build dykes to contain water

Wait for seeds to grow

Plough again (puddling)

_{Labelling diagrams}

To test names of parts or tools or stages in a process students may be given one or more diagrams without labels and they have to label them either from their own knowledge or from a list of given labels e.g.

Label the parts of the plane on the following diagram:

 

 

_{Sentence completion}

Write the first half of sentences which students have to complete

Akua is good wood for making furniture because___________________

A dove-tail joint is a strong joint because __________________________

_{Fill-in-the blanks}

Write some sentences and leave blank spaces for students to fill in, either from their own knowledge or from a given list of words. The blanks should usually be words which are important in what you are trying to test e.g.

A nuclear family is one with only _____, _____, _____ and _____ living together. An extended family is one where _____ relatives live in one place. Nuclear families are more common in _____. Extended families are more common in _____ _____.

Short answers or essays.

Students may also be given questions asking for answers in short sentences or even paragraphs and essays, but such tests should be used only occasionally in RTCs, if at all, as we are not training scholars or testing English. Only give them if you are sure most of your students can handle them.

Making whole tests

The above are examples of testing only. Any one test may include only two or three kinds of questions.

_MARKING

As suggested earlier we do not always need to give grades to students in RTCs.

However we may want to grade them sometimes, for a report or to encourage them to do better. We can judge students and give them marks or grades in a

number of ways:

1. Pass or fail: In competencies or some criterion testing we may decide simply to say whether a student can or cannot do the task.

2. Comparison with a certain standard: We may mark each stage or question out of a certain number of marks where ‘full marks’ means the student is perfect. The marks may be used as numbers or converted into A to E grades e.g. above 80% = A. This, and the pass or fail method, is sometimes called criterion referencing. We are judging whether a student has reached a certain standard or criterion.

3. Comparison with other students: We can list our students’ marks or grades in order and decide that a certain number at the top, for example - the top 10% will be given A grade; the next group, perhaps 20%, will be given B; the middle group of 40% get C; the next lower 20% get D; and the bottom 10% get E. Students are being compared with other students in the same group, not with an outside standard or criteria. A student in one group might get B but, if put in another group whose overall marks were lower, the same student might get A. We call this norm referencing.

4. Comparison with the student’s previous performance: We may not want to give marks at all but simply tell the student whether they are doing better now than they were in a previous test. We can grade them A to E according to their degree of improvement. The students are judged against themselves, not against an outside standard or against each other. Even the poorest student may be given an A for improvement!

CHOOSING A METHOD: WHY ARE WE ASSESSING IN RTCs?

Remember an RTC is not like a secondary school where we have to assess students in order to select them for further education or training. In RTCs we assess:

• to give us and the students information on their progress;

• to encourage students to try to achieve higher standards;

• to encourage students by selecting people for ‘prizes;

• to give students a grade for a final report.

The main objective, however, must be to help students learn skills as competently as possible in order to use them when they leave the Centre.

Any assessment method, therefore, must encourage students to do work and achieve higher standards, rather than discourage them by treating them as ‘failures’. In RTCs we do not need a pass / fail system over the whole course.