ASSESSMENTS, REFLECTION

It is necesary to bring up the concepts for each one of the test to understand better this reflection about the following kind of assessments.

Placement test

Once students are accepted for a course, there may be a placement test to help decide which class/group they are to go in. The test may consist of multiple-choice grammar and vocabulary questions, reading comprehension, close passages, etc. It may test all the language skills rather than focus on one or two.

This test is necessary for recognize in what level the student has to stay and what topics need to be reinforce, I like this test because is an opportunity to begin in the correct level to study.

Diagnostic test

Such tests have several functions: they provide information on progress being made and areas of difficulty remaining. Judgment is needed about the frequency of such tests: if they are given too often, they become an end in themselves, and any pleasure there might be in learning is destroyed.

This test allow to the teacher identify the necessities in the classroom, is excellent do it before to start any topic or lesson because not only recognize the requirements but also the previous knowledge.

Achievement/attainment test

At the end of a course a final test is often conducted to see if students have learned what they should have been taught. The final test on an EAP course may reflect the language needs of the target situation and contain a simulation of study skills in use (e.g. listening to a talk, making notes, writing a report, etc.). A true achievement test will have constant standards from one course to the next and from year to year.

This is one of the most important due to that in this test we as teachers can observe what goals or objectives were achieved on the classes.

Proficiency test

A proficiency test looks forward, assessing the suitability of students for specific courses, from the point of view of their control of the language. Such tests are not based upon particular syllabuses, books or teaching programmes. This aims to assess the ability of a student to follow a university course in an English-speaking country.

This test is excellent when we are teaching languages for the reason that we know how the students are acquiring the skills, how is the management of it.

All the previous assessments are important each one in their essence because complement the in a major time the teaching and learning.

Reference

     Hutchinson, T. y Waters, A (2010). (pp. 157-163).English for Specific Purposes. NY: Cambridge University Press.

UNIT 1: Basic concepts on evaluation: Testing, assessing, evaluating, validity, reliability and formative-summative assessment.

Comparative chart

Evaluation	Diagnostic and formative process where the teacher can determine, what topics must reinforce, for the good understanding of the students, I think is not to measure who knows more, is a teaching and learning experience to enhance the techniques, methods and strategies.	Assessment	The term assessment refers to a variety of ways of collecting information on a learner's language ability or achievement.
Formative	Assessment carried out by teachers during the learning process with the aim of using the results to improve instruction is known as formative assessment	Summative Assessment	Assessment at the end of a course, term or school year - often for purposes of providing aggregated information on programmer Outcomes to educational authorities - is referred to as summative assessment.
Validity	1. Construct validity: the extent to which the content of the test/assessment reflects current theoretical understandings of the skill(s) being assessed; 2. Content validity: whether it represents an adequate sample of ability; and 3. Criterion-related validity: the extent to which the results correlate with other independent measures of ability.	Reliability.	Reliability is concerned with ascertaining to what degree scores on tests or assessments are affected by measurement error, i.e. by variation in scores caused by factors unrelated to the ability being assessed (e.g. conditions of administration, test instructions, fatigue, guessing, etc.).
Quantitative	Collects data that can be analyzed using quantitative methods, i.e. numbers, statistical analysis	Qualitative Assessment	Collects data that does not lend itself to quantitative methods but rather to interpretive criteria

References

Allen, D and Tanner, K. Infusing active learning into the large-enrollment biology class:  Seven strategies, from the simple to complex.  Cell Biology Education. 4:262-268. 2006. http://www.lifescied.org/cgi/content/full/4/4/262

CARTER, Ronald. NUNAN, David (2001). The Cambridge Guide to Teaching English to     Speakers of Other Languages. Cambridge University Press. 

Initial activity: Previous Knowledge review

What is evaluation?

In my opinion evaluation is a diagnostic and formative process where the teacher can determine, what topics must reinforce, for the good understanding of the students, I think is not to measure who knows more, is a teaching and learning experience to enhance the techniques, methods and strategies.

- What steps are necessary to develop an evaluation?

·         Talking about the English language there are four steps to develop an evaluation, the reading, listening, speaking and writing.

·         Keep in mind the goals, objectives, provide excellent feedbacks, develop evaluations methods, furthermore the curriculum planning.

- What are the best times to apply an evaluation?

At every time teachers can evaluate, with tasks, homework, questions, activities, etc. all of this to know what is the student’s level and what the teachers need to improve in the teaching also create methods and strategies.

- What types of evaluation do you know? What are the most recommendable for you?

There are a lot of types of evaluation, but the 3 that I already know is the diagnostic, formative and summative, of this 3, the formative evaluation is the most important because this must be the objective of the evaluation that don’t be only make a quantitative analysis but also that increasingly the student acquire knowledge.

- What can determine how reliable the evaluation results are?

First that all before an evaluation there are an investigation about what students need to reinforce,  develop  the objectives, goals, what teachers hope that the students learn and then, create or design a practice evaluation can be through tasks, students opinions, every time in class.