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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 6 page opinion paper discusses alternatives for assessing student learning. Tests are historically used to measure student learning but tests are not the only way to assess learning and, in fact, may be the worst method for determining what a student has learned. This essay explains why tests are not necessarily the best assessment method and offers alternative methods, such as portfolios, journals, observation, performance-based methods and others. Bibliography lists 6 sources.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: MM12_PGtstalt.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
any given subject area. Tests may be the worst way to measure a students degree of learning. Tests cause anxiety. In fact, there is a psychological condition known as test
anxiety, which can be so debilitating that the individual is incapable of doing well on a test even when the student knows the subject matter. Very often, the very students
who do poorly on tests are the persons who are most able to apply the knowledge and skills. There are many reasons teachers and instructors rely on tests for the
required assessment of student achievement. Tests are easy to administer. Teachers have a variety of formats for testing, such as multiple choice, true or false, short answer, fill in the
blank, and essay responses. Teachers design the test so that there is one correct response in all but the essay format. With essays, the teacher predetermines what information constitutes a
correct response. Accountability has become a prevalent driving force in education and as this movement has strengthened, educators have been required to first use methodologies that lead to more
learning and then to devise processes and techniques to assess that learning. Tests have been the primary means through which this assessment is made. Further, a great reliance on norm-referenced
standardized tests has emerged over the last few decades. Standardized norm-referenced testing is one of the most hotly debated issues in education. Many experts claim that these kinds of tests
interfere with learning and student achievement (Neill, 1998). This allegation is based on the fact that teachers are so pressured to have their students make high scores that they spend
their time training students how to take the test instead of on learning how to apply the content (Neill, 1998). This does not mean to say that teachers teach their
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