Table of Contents

Welcome to HPGD2303 x

What will You Gain from this Course? x

Description of the Course
Aim of the Course
Course Outcomes

How can You Get the Most Out of this Course? xii
Learning Package
Course Synopsis
Text Arrangement Guide

How will You Be Assessed? xv

What Support will You Get in Studying this Course? xv

Seminars
myINSPIRE Online Discussion
Facilitator
Library Resources

How should You Study for this Course? xvi

Time Commitment for Studying
Proposed Study Strategy

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WELCOME TO HPGD2303 EDUCATIONAL

ASSESSMENT
Welcome to HPGD2303 Educational Assessment, which is one of the required
courses for the Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching programme. The course
assumes no previous knowledge of educational assessment but you are
encouraged to tap into your experiences as a teacher, instructor, lecturer or
trainer and relate them to the principles of assessment discussed. This course is
worth 3 credit hours and should be covered over 8 to 15 weeks.

WHAT WILL YOU GAIN FROM THIS COURSE?

Description of the Course
The course discusses the differences between testing, measurement and
assessment or evaluation. The focus is on the role of assessment and followed by
discussion on „what to assess‰, which forms the foundation of assessment. With
regard to the „what‰, emphasis is on cognitive outcomes, affective outcomes
and psychomotor outcomes. Subsequent topics cover the aspect of how to assess
with emphasis on higher-order thinking skills. Besides the usual objective and
essay tests, other authentic assessment techniques such as projects and portfolios
are presented. Also discussed are techniques to determine the effectiveness
of various assessment approaches focussing on reliability, validity and item
analysis. Finally, various basic statistical procedures are presented in the analysis
of assessment results and their interpretation.

Aim of the Course

The main aim of the course is to provide learners with a foundation on the
principles and theories of educational testing and assessment as well as their
applications in the classroom.

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Course Learning Outcomes

By the end of this course, you should be able to do the following:

1. Apply the different principles in the development of assessment techniques

for classroom setting.

2. Plan and construct different classroom tests for different purposes.

3. Perform classroom tests using statistics to analyse and interpret assessment

results.

STUDY SCHEDULE
It is a standard OUM practice that learners accumulate 40 study hours for
every credit hour. As such, for a 3 credit hour course, you are expected to
spend 120 study hours. Figure 1 shows the student learning time (SLT).

Figure 1: Student Learning Time

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HOW CAN YOU GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS

COURSE?
Learning Package
In this Learning Package you are provided with three types of course materials:

1. The Course Guide you are currently reading;

2. The Course Content (consisting of 10 topics);

3. The Course Assessment Guide (which describes the assignments to be

submitted and the examinations you have to sit for); and

4. The Course Online Platform i.e. myINSPIRE Online Discussion.

Please ensure that you have all of these materials and the correct url.

Course Synopsis
To enable you to achieve the four course outcomes, the course content has been
divided into 10 topics. Specific learning outcomes are stated at the start of each
topic indicating what you should be able to achieve after completing each topic.

Topic Title Week

1. The Role of Assessment in Teaching and Learning 1
2. Foundation for Assessment: What to Assess 2ă3
3. Planning the Classroom Test 3
4. Constructing Objective Test Items 4ă5
5. Constructing Essay Tests 6ă7
6. Authentic Assessment 8
7. Project and Portfolio Assessments 8ă9
8. Test Reliability and Validity 10
9. Appraising Classroom Tests and Item Analysis 11
10. Analysis and Interpretation of Assessment Scores 12

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Topic 1 discusses the differences between testing, measurement, evaluation and

assessment, the role of assessment in teaching and learning and some general
principles of assessment. Also explored is the difference between formative and
summative assessments as well as the difference between criterion- and norm-
referenced tests. The topic concludes with a brief discussion of the current trends
in assessment.

Topic 2 discusses the behaviours to be tested focussing on cognitive, affective

and psychomotor learning outcomes and reasons why assessments of the latter
two outcomes are ignored.

Topic 3 provides some useful guidelines to help teachers plan valid, reliable and
useful assessments. The discussion includes determining what is to be measured
and minimising measurement irrelevancies. The topic will also guide teachers to
devise strategies to measure the domain well. Example of the Table of
Specifications, a 2-way table is presented.

Topic 4 discusses the design and development of objective tests in the assessment
of various kinds of behaviours with emphasis on the limitations and advantages
of using this type of assessment tool.

Topic 5 examines the role of essay tests in assessing various kinds of learning
outcomes as well as its limitations and strengths, and the procedures involved in
the design of good essay questions.

Topic 6 introduces a form of assessment in which learners are assigned to

perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential
knowledge and skills. Teachers will be able to understand in what way Authentic
Assessment is similar to or different from Traditional Assessment. Emphasis is
also given to scoring rubrics.

Topic 7 discusses in detail two examples of authentic assessments, namely

portfolio and project assessments. Guidelines to portfolio entries and project
works and evaluation criteria are discussed in detail.

Topic 8 focuses on basic concepts of test reliability and validity. The topic also
includes methods to estimate the reliability of a test and factors to increase
reliability and validity of a test.

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Topic 9 examines the concept of item analysis and the different procedures for
establishing the effectiveness of objective and essay-type tests focussing on item
difficulty and item discrimination. The topic concludes with a brief explanation
of item bank.

Topic 10 focuses on the analysis and interpretation of the data collected by tests.
For quantitative analysis of data, various statistical procedures are used. Some of
the statistical procedures used in the interpretation and analysis of assessment
results are measures of central tendency and correlation coefficients.

Text Arrangement Guide

Before you go through this module, it is important that you note the text
arrangement. Understanding the text arrangement will help you to organise your
study of this course in a more objective and effective way. Generally, the text
arrangement for each topic is as follows:

Learning Outcomes: This section refers to what you should achieve after you
have completely covered a topic. As you go through each topic, you should
frequently refer to these learning outcomes. By doing this, you can continuously
gauge your understanding of the topic.

Self-Check: This component of the module is inserted at strategic locations

throughout the module. It may be inserted after one subtopic or a few subtopics.
It usually comes in the form of a question. When you come across this
component, try to reflect on what you have already learnt thus far. By attempting
to answer the question, you should be able to gauge how well you have
understood the subtopic(s). Most of the time, the answers to the questions can be
found directly from the module itself.

Activity: Like Self-Check, the Activity component is also placed at various

locations or junctures throughout the module. This component may require you
to solve questions, explore short case studies, or conduct an observation or
research. It may even require you to evaluate a given scenario. When you come
across an Activity, you should try to reflect on what you have gathered from the
module and apply it to real situations. You should, at the same time, engage
yourself in higher order thinking where you might be required to analyse,
synthesise and evaluate instead of only having to recall and define.

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Summary: You will find this component at the end of each topic. This component
helps you to recap the whole topic. By going through the summary, you should
be able to gauge your knowledge retention level. Should you find points in the
summary that you do not fully understand, it would be a good idea for you to
revisit the details in the module.

Key Terms: This component can be found at the end of each topic. You should go
through this component to remind yourself of important terms or jargon used
throughout the module. Should you find terms here that you are not able to
explain, you should look for the terms in the module.

References: The References section is where a list of relevant and useful

textbooks, journals, articles, electronic contents or sources can be found. The list
can appear in a few locations such as in the Course Guide (at the References
section), at the end of every topic or at the back of the module. You are
encouraged to read or refer to the suggested sources to obtain the additional
information needed and to enhance your overall understanding of the course.

HOW WILL YOU BE ASSESSED?

Assessment Method
Please refer to myINSPIRE.

WHAT SUPPORT WILL YOU GET IN STUDYING

THIS COURSE?
Seminars
There are 15 hours of seminars or face-to-face interactions supporting the course.
This consists of four to five seminar sessions of 3 hours each. You will be notified
of the dates, times and location of these seminars together with the name and
phone number of your tutor as soon as you are assigned to a tutorial group.

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MyINSPIRE Online Discussion

Besides the face-to-face tutorial sessions, you have the support of online
discussions. You should interact with other learners and your facilitators using
myINSPIRE. Your participation and contributions to the online discussion will
greatly enhance your understanding of the course content, guide you in the
assignments as well as prepare for the examination.

Facilitator
Your facilitator will mark your assignments and assist you during the course. Do
not hesitate to discuss during the tutorial sessions or online if:

Ć You do not understand any part of the course content or the assigned
readings;

Ć You have difficulty with the self-tests and activities; or

Ć You have a question or problem with the assignments.

Library Resources
The Digital Library has a large collection of books and journals which you can
access using your learner ID.

HOW SHOULD YOU STUDY FOR THIS COURSE?

1. Time Commitment for Studying
You should plan to spend about six to eight hours per topic reading the
notes, performing the self-tests and activities as well as referring to the
suggested readings. You must also schedule your time to participate in
online discussions. It is often more convenient for you to distribute the
hours over a number of days rather than spend one whole day per week on
your studies. Some topics may require more work than others may,
therefore, it is suggested that, on average, you spend approximately three
days per topic.

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2. Proposed Study Strategy

The following is a proposed strategy for working through the course. If you
encounter any trouble, discuss it with your facilitator either online or
during the seminar sessions. Remember, the facilitator is there to help you.

(a) The most important step is to read the contents of this Course Guide
thoroughly.

(b) Organise a study schedule. Note the time you are expected to spend
on each topic and the date for submission of assignments as well as
seminar and examination dates. These are stated in your Course
Assessment Guide. Note down all this information in one place such
as your diary or a wall calendar. Jot down your own dates for
working on each topic. You have some flexibility as there are 10 topics
spread over a period of 14 weeks.

(c) Once you have created your own study schedule, make every effort to
„stick to it‰. The main reason learners are unable to cope is because
they lag behind in their coursework.

(d) To begin reading a topic:

Ć Remember that in distance learning, much of your time will be

spent READING the course content. Study the list of topics given
at the beginning of each topic and examine the relationship of the
topic to the other topics.

Ć Read the topicÊs learning outcomes (what is expected of you). Do

you already know some of the key points in the topic? What are
the things you do not know?

Ć Read the introduction (to see how it connects with the previous
topic).

Ć Work through the topic (contents of the topic are arranged to

provide a sequence for you to follow through).

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Ć As you work through the topic, you will be directed to perform

the self-tests at appropriate intervals throughout the topic. This
will enable you to find out if you understand what you have just
read.

Ć Work out the activities stated (to see if you can apply the concepts
learned to real-world situations).

(f) When you have completed the topic, review the learning outcomes to
confirm that you have achieved them and are able to do what is
required.

(g) If you are confident, you can proceed to the next topic. Proceed topic
by topic through the course and try to pace your study so that you
keep to your planned schedule.

(h) After completing all topics, review the course and prepare yourself for
the final examination. Check that you have achieved all the topicsÊ
learning outcomes and the course objectives (listed in this Course
Guide).

FINAL REMARKS
Once again, welcome to the course. To maximise your gain from this course you
should try at all times to relate what you are studying to the real world. Look at
the environment in your organisation and ask yourself whether the ideas
discussed apply. Most of the ideas, concepts and principles you learn in this
course have practical applications. It is important to realise that much of what we
do in education and training has to be based on sound theoretical foundations.
The contents of this course merely address the basic principles and concepts of
assessment in education. You are advised to go beyond the course and continue
with lots of self-study to further enhance your knowledge on educational
assessment.

We wish you success with the course and hope that you will find it interesting,
useful and relevant in your development as a professional. We hope you will
enjoy your experience with OUM and we would like to end with a saying by
Confucius ă „Education without thinking is labour lost‰.

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TAN SRI DR ABDULLAH SANUSI (TSDAS)

DIGITAL LIBRARY
The TSDAS Digital Library has a wide range of print and online resources
for learners. This comprehensive digital library, which is accessible through the
OUM portal, provides access to more than 30 online databases and several of
them are shown in Figure 2. As an OUM learner, you are encouraged to make
full use of the resources available through this library.

Figure 2: Among the Online Databases Available at TSDAS Digital Library

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