Assessing Learning in the Lifelong Learning Sector

Jonathan Tummons

• Publisher: Learning Matters
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9780857252685
• eBook ISBN: 9780857252692
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Adult Education

Assessment theory and practice forms an integral part of the knowledge and understanding required to achieve QTLS. This book is a practical guide and comprehensive introduction to this broad and complex subject area. The text includes chapters on the different types of assessment, feedback, recording, evaluation and inclusive practice and covers e-assessment. Interactive activities are included throughout to help trainees reflect on and develop their own views. This third edition includes coverage of new units of assessment for workplace assessors (TAQA).

1
Thinking about assessment

Introduction

This chapter looks at assessment in general terms: what it is, why we do it, when we do it and who is involved in the assessment process. Although some of these issues relate to assessment in its broadest educational sense, this chapter focuses on assessment principles and practice in the further education sector. It concludes with a brief consideration of the importance of reviewing and reflecting on our assessment practice as teachers in further education, with reference to the national occupational standards that currently support our work.

PRACTICAL TASK

Before reading on, spend a few moments thinking about assessment. What do you think the assessment process actually is? Why is it so important?

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What is assessment?

Assessment is a word that can have several meanings. Within the world of education and training, it equates to testing: if a learner is being assessed, then he or she is being tested. Normally, this test would be carried out to discover whether or not the learner could perform a specified task in a workshop, or to judge the extent to which the learner has mastered a new skill or a new body of theoretical knowledge. Educational assessment, as we shall see, can happen at different times and in different places. But the fundamentals that underpin the process remain the same. On the one hand, there is the learner, who has been practising her new computer skills or her newly acquired Italian language skills. On the other hand, there is the teacher or trainer, who is going to assess the extent to which the learner can now use those skills to create a web-page or to have a conversation in Italian without needing to look words up in a dictionary.

Why do we assess?

You might think that this is a rather odd question. After all, if we are going to be working as teachers or trainers in the Lifelong Learning sector, then assessment will be a permanent and unavoidable aspect of our professional role. However, this is a question that deserves some attention. The place of assessment in all its forms (and there are lots of ways in which assessment is carried out, as we shall see) is accepted without question in schools, colleges and universities throughout the country. And while the history of education goes back hundreds (if not thousands) of years, trying to discover the historic roots of assessment may not be a straightforward exercise. People have been teaching or training other people how to do things for a very long time: nowadays most of our attention is focused on the teaching and learning that takes place in formal educational institutions, which is where FE colleges enter the picture.

Like education as a whole, the sector has changed dramatically over recent years. The way that colleges are run, the mechanisms for funding education and training provision, the growth of a more business-like ethos, even the changing nature of professional qualifications for tutors: in all these areas, and more, colleges have both changed and been changed. There are several reasons for this. Successive governments have taken an interest in education and implemented changes of various kinds over the years, encouraging more people to stay in education for longer, or to return to education and training later in life. Changes in technology and business have led to the growth of new kinds of educational provision. Changes in social attitudes have allowed more people, from broader social and economic backgrounds, to participate in education for longer. Changing economic conditions have led to a need for more people to be better qualified. And lastly, changing educational methods have led to the growth of education and training not only in colleges, but also in the workplace, in industry and increasingly via the Internet.

In short, we now have more people taking part in education and training in more places, studying more subjects, over more varied periods of time, than ever before. And a lot of this variety can be found in the sector, which embodies diversity: academic and vocational programmes; technical and professional programmes; full-time and part-time programmes; daytime and evening programmes. Even the age-range of the people who attend colleges is diversifying. As well as so-called ‘mainstream’ learners aged between 16 and 19, FE colleges also provide a range of courses for younger learners aged between 14 and 16 (who may be studying towards a Diploma), and for adult learners as well (on access to HE courses, or work-based learning courses, for example).

With such a variety of learners and courses, it is no surprise that there is also a great deal of variety in assessment practice as well. Learners write essays, complete practical assignments, create artwork, compile portfolios of evidence and organise public performances. They are assessed in seminar rooms, workshops, libraries and public places. Sometimes, these assessments are highly individualised, and designed by their tutor. At other times, learners from across the country will be completing similar if not identical assessment activities, perhaps at the same time. Despite this variety, however, the fundamental reasons why the assessment process has to happen are the same.

With assessment we can:

1. find out if learning has taken place;
2. diagnose learners’ needs;
3. provide public acknowledgement and certification of learning;
4. allow processes of selection to be carried out;
5. provide a way to evaluate learning programmes;
6. motivate and encourage learners.

REFLECTIVE TASK

Drawing on these six reasons for assessment, reflect on the different experiences of assessment that you have had at different stages in your educational life. Make a brief note of all the times that you were assessed, and think about why you think that each stage of assessment was necessary.

Now think about the programme of teacher training you are currently undertaking. Using the various course handbooks, handouts and other course documents that you have received, write a list of all the assessment activities that you will need to complete during the programme. Returning to the list, reflect on the extent to which these six reasons for assessment support the assessments that you will carry out during your teacher training course.

As we look at each of these six issues in turn, consider the extent to which each issue is important and relevant in the curriculum area within which you teach or train. If you are studying for your teaching qualification on a part-time in-service programme, reflect on your current teaching experience. If you are studying on a full-time course, your experience on teaching placement will be valuable: talk to other teachers, or to your mentor.

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1. Finding out if learning has taken place

The most straightforward answer to the question ‘what is education and training for?’ must be ‘to teach people new skills, abilities and bodies of knowledge’. The reasons why we do this are rather more complicated, and draw on political, economic and philosophical arguments that are beyond the scope of this book. But our first question and answer can stand. Having established this as the main purpose of education and training, the need for assessment is obvious. Assessment, in all its many forms, is the process by which it is possible to find out the extent to which learning has taken place. Have the trainees acquired the new skills that they have been shown by their instructor and that they have been practising in the workshop? Have the learners in a language class been able to remember the vocabulary that they were asked to study and memorise, and can they use it in conversation? This is assessment of learning and, together with assessment for learning, is discussed in depth in Chapter 3.

There are many theories regarding learning – what it is, how it happens and what conditions are needed for learning to take place are just some of the questions that are mulled over by researchers and writers. And there are as many questions regarding knowledge and understanding: are there different types of knowledge? How is knowledge acquired? It is important to consider different ideas such as these, and different programmes for trainee further education lecturers include theories of learning in the curriculum. For the purposes of this book, learning is taken to be: the acquisition or enhancement of new knowledge, skill, ability or understanding and the ability to use or apply this knowledge, skill, ability or understanding after the college course or programme of study is over.

Measuring the learning that has taken place will vary according to the type of course being studied. Methods of assessment are explored in more detail in Chapter 5. For now, it is important to remember that however the assessment is carried out, the requirement to measure the learning that has taken place remains the same. From this point, we can explore other reasons why assessment is necessary.

2. Diagnosing learners’ needs

If the process of assessment tells the tutor, or the institution where the tutor works, that learning has not yet taken place, then a number of different issues arise. It is always pleasant to be able to tell learners that they have passed an assignment or an examination; it is more difficult to tell them that they have failed an examination, or have submitted an assignment that is not of a sufficient standard to pass and so needs to be done again. It may simply be the case that the learner needs to prepare more thoroughly and practise more carefully before the next assessment is due. Careful feedback (as discussed in Chapter 6) will give that learner the extra guidance they need.

On other occasions, the learner’s needs may be more complicated than simply needing to practise or revise more thoroughly. Difficulties or problems in their lives may be having an impact on their educational progress. Coping with the consequences of an accident or a family bereavement may not leave much time, opportunity or energy to devote to completing assignments. At times like this, institutions and awarding bodies have procedures in place to help. Sometimes, allowing learners some extra time may be all that is required. At other times, the learner may have to leave the course that they are on and rejoin later. Any teacher or trainer in any educational setting may encounter situations such as these – even someone who is only recently qualified. At times like this, it is important to follow the correct procedures as laid out by the awarding body. Appropriate guidelines will appear in the course handbooks and regulations that are sent out to education and training providers. For a new tutor, speaking to a more experienced colleague, or to a mentor, may be more appropriate.

On other occasions, assessment can highlight a more profound need. This may be related to a lack of previous formal achievement in education such as poor numeracy or literacy skills: these issues are covered in Chapter 2. In addition, assessment may highlight a learning disability or difficulty that has not been diagnosed before: this issue is discussed in Chapter 9.

3. Providing public acknowledgement and certification of learning

Receiving official notice of success at the end of a course is undeniably an exciting moment, making all the time spent preparing and practising seem worthwhile. Sometimes, a slip of paper giving examination results is all that is received. At other times, learners receive certificates: sometimes by post, sometimes handed out at a public ceremony. The receipt of a certificate is public proof that the learner has met the required standards, as laid down by the awarding body, for the area or subject in which the qualification has been awarded.

4. Allowing processes of selection to be carried out

So what do the learners actually do with their certificates? For some, the receipt of one qualification or set of qualifications acts as a stepping-stone to another programme of study. For example, the successful completion of an access course will allow the learner to move on to higher education; or the award of an NVQ at level 2 will allow the learner to progress to level 3. On other occasions, the qualification will allow the learner entry to an area of work: for example, a learner who has completed qualifications in hair and beauty to the required level can then seek employment in the hair and beauty industry. Future employers will not necessarily look for potential employees with specific qualifications; rather, they will judge a candidate’s suitability and potential based on their previous achievement as a whole. A candidate with qualifications in one particular area or discipline may show the potential to make a success of a job in a different sphere. There are many people who have an interest in the results of assessment, not just tutors and learners. This issue is discussed in more detail in Chapter 8.

5. Providing a way to evaluate learning programmes

Clearly, the main aim of assessment is to find out how much learning has taken place. But what if there was something wrong with the way that the course was organised or delivered? Mistakes do happen, and awarding bodies, colleges and tutors are not perfect. By carefully scrutinising the results of the assessment process, it is possible to identify those aspects of the programme that may need further development. This issue is discussed in more detail in Chapter 8.

6. Motivating and encouraging learners

Exploring the reasons why people participate in post-compulsory education is not straightforward. A lot of research has been done on this topic, and the results tend to be discussed in terms of categories of motivation. For example, one learner may be studying for a qualification because without it, he may lose his job or fail to gain promotion, or a pay rise, in his current post. Another may be studying for the same qualification purely out of interest in the subject being studied: for her, it is a simple personal choice. A third may be attending because, having left school with no formal qualifications, he feels embarrassed or ashamed by his previous failure, and is seeking to keep up with friends and family. A fourth may be studying because she is seeking to go on to higher study, and this course is a necessary prerequisite. As teachers and trainers in the Lifelong Learning sector, we will at times encounter a bewildering variety of learners, and many of them will have very different reasons for wanting to take part.

Assessment will always be more problematic for some learners than others, even those who have chosen to return to education. The role of the teacher or trainer is, therefore, partly to motivate those learners: to help build up their confidence so that they can tackle the portfolios, tests and examinations that they will encounter. And the feedback that the learners receive can also help to motivate them further, through offering praise and recognition of work done well, in addition to providing guidance on what needs to be done next.

When do we assess?

Timing is another characteristic of the assessment process that has changed during recent years. There has been a significant shift away from assessment being carried out mainly at the end of a programme of study, towards a more continuous pattern of assessment where the learner’s progress is tested throughout the course. These issues will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 3.

Over recent years, the importance of pre-programme assessment – diagnostic assessment – has become well established. It is discussed in detail in Chapter 2.

Who is involved in assessment?

As teachers and trainers, we are at the front line of assessment: we are the ones who work in classrooms, lecture halls, workshops and laboratories. We explain to the learners what they have to do, sometimes designing the assessment tasks ourselves. We mark assignments and give feedback, and we record those marks using appropriate forms and documents (an issue discussed in detail in Chapter 7). If one ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• The author
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1 Thinking about assessment
• 2 Diagnostic assessment, AP(E)L and ipsative assessment
• 3 Formative and summative assessment
• 4 Validity and reliability
• 5 Assessment methods
• 6 Feedback
• 7 Recording and tracking assessment information
• 8 Evaluation
• 9 Equality of opportunity and inclusive practice
• 10 ILT and e-assessment
• Appendix
• Index