WHY EVALUATE

Many educators are of the opinion that education is about
evaluation and that there is a moral obligation to evaluate the
results of instruction. It has been argued that it would be
irresponsible to not engage in evaluation considering the amount
of money, time, resources, etc. dedicated to education.

One cannot claim to be sincerely engaged in the business of
education unless one is concerned about the success of ensuring
that others master items of knowledge and that steps are taken to
ascertain this by means of evaluation. It follows that education
must be concerned with evaluation.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF EVALUATION

 

Four different types of evaluation have been identified:

i. Placement evaluation is used to place a student at an
appropriate point in an instructional program, in a
particular instructional method, or with an
appropriate instructor.

 

2. Formative evaluation provides the instructor and.

student with information about progress toward mastery
of the general course objectives.

3. Summative evaluation is used to certify or grade
students at the completion of relatively large blocks
of instruction.

4. Diagnostic evaluation is used to identify students
whose learning or classroom behaviour is being
adversely affected by factors external to
instructional practices.

TESTING

Both the course objectives and the criteria for the
evaluation of students should be determined prior to choosing the
type of test measurement. Most evaluation data is based on
criterion-referenced standards. The criteria that indicate
satisfactory performance are established prior to the evaluation
and student results are compared to this predetermined standard.
Some types of tests are more suitable for evaluation purposes
than others. Test types include multiple choice, essay, true-
false, sentence completions, short answers, take home and open
book exams. All tests fall into one of two major
classifications. Students select their answers from
alternatives, or they construct their own answers.

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