The Difference Between Assessment and Evaluation

H. Stephen Straight
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education

Teaching Assistant Orientation 28 August 2002

What Is Teaching?

Brainstorm:

Think of different ways to define teaching. Write down at least three different definitions of teaching. Pair up with someone to choose the best ONE of your six-plus definitions. Share your definitions with the group, one at a time in sequence.

Definitions of Teaching

To present information, insights. To reveal knowledge or skill. To help students learn.

NOTE: All of the above can be accomplished either deliberately or incidentally. That is, you can teach by means of explicit instruction, ongoing guidance, deliberate modeling, or accidental example.

Ways to Improve Teaching and Learning

Implement research-based best practices. Employ an assessment-informed model of teaching focused on measurable student learning outcomes.

Good Practice in UG Education

(after Arthur Chickering & Zelda Gamson 1989)

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Maximizes student/faculty contact. Develops student cooperation. Uses active learning techniques. Gives feedback promptly. Emphasizes time on task. Communicates high expectations. Respects learners diversity.

Ways to Improve Teaching and Learning

Implement research-based best practices.

Think of at least one way to implement each item of practice. Write down each example. Pair up with the person next to you to choose the best example of each. Share your findings with the group.

Ways to Improve Teaching and Learning

Implement research-based best practices. Employ an assessment-informed model of teaching focused on measurable student learning outcomes.

But first we need to distinguish assessment from evaluation.

Assessment vs. Evaluation

What are the three most striking differences between the two? If we had time, Id have you

Think Write Pair Share

Dimensions of Difference Between Assessment and Evaluation

Timing Focus of Measurement Relationship Between Administrator & Recipient Findings, Uses Thereof Ongoing Modifiability of Criteria, Measures Thereof Standards of Measurement Relation Between Different Objects of A/E

Assessment

n Evaluation
Timing

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Formative: Ongoing to Improve Learning

Assessment

n Evaluation

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Formative: Ongoing Summative: Final to to Improve Learning Gauge Quality Focus of Measurement

Assessment

n Evaluation

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Formative: Ongoing Summative: Final to to Improve Learning Gauge Quality Process-Oriented: Focus of Measurement How Learning Is Going

Assessment

n Evaluation
Summative: Final to Gauge Quality Product-Oriented: Whats Been Learned

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Formative: Ongoing to Improve Learning Process-Oriented: How Learning Is Going Administrator/Recipient Relationship

Assessment

n Evaluation
Summative: Final to Gauge Quality Product-Oriented: Whats Been Learned Administrator/Recipient Relationship

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Formative: Ongoing to Improve Learning Process-Oriented: How Learning Is Going Reflective: Internally Defined Criteria/Goals

Assessment

n Evaluation
Summative: Final to Gauge Quality Product-Oriented: Whats Been Learned Prescriptive:Externally Imposed Standards

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Formative: Ongoing to Improve Learning Process-Oriented: How Learning Is Going Reflective: Internally Defined Criteria/Goals Findings, Uses Thereof

Assessment

n Evaluation
Summative: Final to Gauge Quality Product-Oriented: Whats Been Learned Prescriptive:Externally Imposed Standards Findings, Uses Thereof

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Formative: Ongoing to Improve Learning Process-Oriented: How Learning Is Going Reflective: Internally Defined Criteria/Goals Diagnostic: Identify Areas for Improvement

Assessment

n Evaluation
Summative: Final to Gauge Quality Product-Oriented: Whats Been Learned Prescriptive:Externally Imposed Standards Judgmental: Arrive at an Overall Grade/Score

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Formative: Ongoing to Improve Learning Process-Oriented: How Learning Is Going Reflective: Internally Defined Criteria/Goals Diagnostic: Identify Areas for Improvement Ongoing Modifiability of Criteria, Measures

Assessment

n Evaluation
Summative: Final to Gauge Quality Product-Oriented: Whats Been Learned Prescriptive:Externally Imposed Standards Judgmental: Arrive at an Overall Grade/Score Ongoing Modifiability of Criteria, Measures

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Formative: Ongoing to Improve Learning Process-Oriented: How Learning Is Going Reflective: Internally Defined Criteria/Goals Diagnostic: Identify Areas for Improvement Flexible: Adjust As Problems Are Clarified

Assessment

n Evaluation
Product-Oriented: Whats Been Learned Prescriptive:Externally Imposed Standards Judgmental: Arrive at an Overall Grade/Score Fixed: To Reward Success, Punish Failure

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Process-Oriented: How Learning Is Going Reflective: Internally Defined Criteria/Goals Diagnostic: Identify Areas for Improvement Flexible: Adjust As Problems Are Clarified Standards of Measurement

Assessment

n Evaluation
Product-Oriented: Whats Been Learned Prescriptive:Externally Imposed Standards Judgmental: Arrive at an Overall Grade/Score Fixed: To Reward Success, Punish Failure Standards of Measurement

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Process-Oriented: How Learning Is Going Reflective: Internally Defined Criteria/Goals Diagnostic: Identify Areas for Improvement Flexible: Adjust As Problems Are Clarified Absolute: Strive for Ideal Outcomes

Assessment

n Evaluation
Prescriptive:Externally Imposed Standards Judgmental: Arrive at an Overall Grade/Score Fixed: To Reward Success, Punish Failure Comparative: Divide Better from Worse

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Reflective: Internally Defined Criteria/Goals Diagnostic: Identify Areas for Improvement Flexible: Adjust As Problems Are Clarified Absolute: Strive for Ideal Outcomes Relation Between Objects of A/E

Assessment

n Evaluation
Prescriptive:Externally Imposed Standards Judgmental: Arrive at an Overall Grade/Score Fixed: To Reward Success, Punish Failure Comparative: Divide Better from Worse Relation Between Objects of A/E

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Reflective: Internally Defined Criteria/Goals Diagnostic: Identify Areas for Improvement Flexible: Adjust As Problems Are Clarified Absolute: Strive for Ideal Outcomes Coperative: Learn from Each Other

Assessment

n Evaluation
Prescriptive:External-ly Imposed Standards Judgmental: Arrive at an Overall Grade/Score Fixed: To Reward Success, Punish Failure Comparative: Divide Better from Worse Competitive: Beat Each Other Out

(various sources, but especially Dan Apple 1998)

Reflective: Internally Defined Criteria/Goals Diagnostic: Identify Areas for Improvement Flexible: Adjust As Problems Are Clarified Absolute: Strive for Ideal Outcomes Coperative: Learn from Each Other

Summary of Differences
Dimension of Difference
Timing
Focus of Measurement Relationship Between Administrator and Recipient Findings, Uses Thereof Ongoing Modifiability of Criteria, Measures Thereof Standards of Measurement Relation Between Objects of A/E

Assessment
Formative
Process-Oriented Reflective Diagnostic Flexible Absolute Coperative

Evaluation
Summative
Product-Oriented Prescriptive Judgmental Fixed Comparative Competitive

Assessment vs. Evaluation

If we had time, Id have you Think, Write, Pair, Share to come up with examples of assessment and evaluation to show that: The multidimensionality of the difference between them, and the variation in each dimension, result in a very diverse array of examples, the majority of which are neither assessment nor evaluation but rather hybrids.

Ways to Improve Teaching and Learning

Implement research-based best practices.

Put the examples into practice.

Employ an assessment-informed model of teaching focused on measurable student learning outcomes.

How to do this?

Employ an assessmentinformed model of teaching

Define learning outcomes (desired by teachers and/or learners) well in advance. Assess progress toward outcomes, by and for both teacher and learner, continually during learning. Evaluate attainment of outcomes rigorously as each learning opportunity concludes.

Moment-by-moment, meeting-by-meeting, course-by-course, semester-by-semester.

Measures of Learning

If we had time, Id also have you examine examples of ways to measure learning with the aim of showing: that any measurement of learning can be used either for assessment or for evaluation purposes, but that some measures are better for one than for the other.

Ways to Improve Teaching and Learning

Implement research-based best practices. Employ an assessment-informed model of teaching focused on measurable student learning outcomes.

Be vocal about what youre doing to improve your teaching and your students learning and listen to others stories about what they are doing.

Five Assessment Principles

(after Thomas Angelo & Patricia Cross 1993)

To improve their teaching, faculty must define learning outcomes and measure their attainment. To improve their learning, students must learn how to use feedback to assess their own progress (= selfassessment).

The best assessment derives from teachers questions about their own teaching. Systematic assessment can be an intellectually challenging source of faculty satisfaction. Assessment provides an impetus for active student involvement, a proven best practice.

Sources

Chickering & Gamson, Change (the journal of the Amer Assn for Higher Ed) Apple, Process education teaching institute handbook (Pacific Crest) Angelo & Cross, Classroom assessment

techniques: A handbook for college teachers, Second edition (Jossey-Bass)

Presenter: Steve Straight

H. Stephen Straight

Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, Binghamton University - SUNY

Professor of Anthropology and of Linguistics Co-Director, Harpur College Linguistics Program Associate Director, Center for Research In Translation 607.777.2150 (secretary: Deborah Dunn) 607.777.2824 (private voice mail) 607.777.4831 (fax)

mailto:straight@binghamton.edu