Testing, Assessing, and Teaching

· Tests can be a positive experience, they can build a person´s confidence and become learning experiences. They can bring out the best in students.

WHAT IS A TEST?
· A test is a method of measuring a person´s ability, knowledge or performance in a given domain.
Method: it is an instrument that requires performance on the test-taker.
It Measures general abilities as well as specific knowledge of the test-taker.
It measures a given domain.

ASSESSMENT AND TEACHING


· Teachers TEACH a certain aspect of a given domain of English Language (for instance). During this time the teacher gives the students opportunity of practicing, listen, take risks, set goals and process feedback. Within this process the teacher is constantly, formally and informally ASSESSING his and her students, sometimes even in an unconscious way. Whenever a student responds to a question or offers a comment or uses a new word, the teacher subconsciously makes an assessment of the pupil´s performance. This can be done during clases or outside of the classroom, whenever the teacher and student interact.

· And finally, in order for teachers to measure his or her student´s development on language learning, they give TESTS to the students, which are a subset of assessment.

Informal Assessments: incidental, unplanned comment and responses along with coaching and other impromptu feedback to the student (e.g. marginal comments on papers).

Formal Assessments : systematic, planned sampling techniques constructed to give teacher and student an apraisal of student achievement (e.g. tests).

Formative Assessment: evaluating students in the process of forming their competences and skills with the goal of helping them continue that growth process.

Summative Assessment: occurs at the end of a course or unit of a course or unit of instruction. It aims to measure, or summarize, what a student has grasped.

Norm-Referenced Tests: place the test-taker along a mathematical continuum in rank order. They have predetermined responses. Their primary concern are money and eficiency.

Criterion-Referenced Tests: are designed to give test-takers feedback, usually in the form of grades. They intend to deliver the test-taker useful, appropiate feedback. Those tests which involve the students in only one class, connected to a curriculum, are typical of criterion-referenced testing.