TESTING IN EDUCATION

"Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life
believing that it is stupid." said once Albert Einstein to highlight the importance of individual differences of
students when testing their performances. In the field of education "assessment" is defined as "a way
of discovering, by questions or practical activities, what someone knows, or what someone or something
can do or is like" (Bradley & Povah, 2006). Students` learning styles vary widely, and their strengths and
challenges with respect to assessment vary as well. Due to that variation, designing and applying tests are
considered as the most crucial parts of assessing learners` understanding of course content. However, there is
not a single tool which is suitable for all learners` abilities. Therefore, various assessment tools are
developed to offer opportunities for every student to demonstrate their knowledge, capacities effectively and
objectively. The most used evaluation methods can be subdivided into two main categories; direct and
indirect.

The first category is direct assessment methods. Direct assessment methods require learners to
demonstrate knowledge and skills and provide data that directly measure achievement of expected outcomes.
In other words the products of student work are evaluated in light of the learning outcomes - learning
outcomes identify what the learner will know and be able to do by the end of a course or program (Hubball,
2007) - for the program. That is, students have to actively do something observable or measurable using the
knowledge and skills and results are quantified through scoring mechanisms such as percentage correct, total
points, or rubrics. Examples of direct assessments are pre/post test, course-embedded questions, standardized
exams, portfolio evaluation, videotape/audiotape of performance, capstone course evaluation. The strength of
direct measurement is that faculty members are capturing a sample of what students can do, which can be
very strong evidence of student learning. In a recent study which was done by Gupta (2017) to investigate
the usefulness of a particular method of assessment in medical education, showed that the combination of the
written examinations, video reviews and portfolios provided a clear evaluation regarding students`
understanding of course content. The use of direct assessment methods made students synthesize various bits
and types of information in order to come up with an overall picture for their comprehension. The second
category is called indirect assessment methods. Indirect method is based upon a report of perceived student
learning. Indirect measures of assessment provide opportunities for students to reflect on their learning, and
inform educators their perceptions of their learning experience (Palomba & Banta, 1999). Indirect evidence
of student achievement requires that faculty infer actual student abilities, knowledge, and values rather than
observe direct evidence of learning or achievement. Student self-efficacy, student satisfaction surveys, exit
interviews, alumni surveys and curriculum analysis are the most used indirect assessment methods. The
importance of implementing indirect assessment methods has been emphasised in a study titled "Assessing
Academic Programs in Higher Education". According to the results of the study, indirect assessment
techniques can be used to examine how well students have mastered program learning objectives and to
improve the educational environment for the students. The strength of indirect methods is that they could be
helpful in interpreting the findings of direct methods. Also it can assess certain implicit qualities of student
learning, such as values, feelings, perceptions, and attitudes, from a variety of perspectives
 In conclusion in the field of education direct and indirect assessment methods are implemented to
gather the most convenient data on learners` competences. Direct methods of assessment ask students to
demonstrate their learning while indirect methods ask students to reflect on their learning. Relying on only
one method to select a convenient assessment tool will only reflect a part of students achievement, so an
ideal assessment program would combine direct and indirect measures from a variety of sources. This can
provide converging evidence of student learning.

References

1. Bradley, H., & Povah, N. (2006). How to choose the right assessment tools. People Management 12(19),
pp.16-17.

2. Gupta, S. (2017). Student`s Perception About Innovative Teaching Learning Practices in Forensic
Medicine. Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine. 23(4), pp. 344-427.

3. Hubball, H. (2007). Learning Outcomes and Program-level Evaluation in a Four-year Undergraduate

Pharmacy Curriculum. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education 71(5), pp.36 - 49.

4. Hughes, C. (2009). Assessment as Text Production: Drawing on Systemic Functional Linguistics to Frame
the Design and Analysis of Assessment Tasks. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 34(5),
pp.533-563.

5. Palomba, C., & Banta, G. (1999). The Nature of Testing and Assessment. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.