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Continuous assessment: An easy guide
Assessment is not only a tool to test but also to promote learning and to give feedback to students on current performance and further learning objectives. If this is done on a regular or continuous basis, the student is likely to benefit enormously from regular feedback instead of nervously working for a final crescendo of a one-off terminal assessment. It is so unfair to assess one or two years’ learning in two to three hours. This is where continuous assessment (CA) is so helpful, just and fits in snugly within the concept of lifelong learning. Thus, the Ministry of Education should not delay the implementation of such a powerful tool to encourage learning. CA is used to inform, direct and shape the teaching and learning process to ensure satisfactory progress and successful completion of courses. CA is a dynamic teaching-learning-feedback-correction cycle in progress to ensure students are not just left as failures but move on successfully. If we are to have our youngsters embarking on lifelong learning and continuous professional development, then CA is an appropriate tool. CA is to do with the stimulation of interest and cognitive curiosity on a continuous basis. This is what assessments should aim for.
This paper aims to encourage debate on continuous assessment and to help teachers design and implement a continuous assessment tool. The advent of the HSC Professional is a golden opportunity to implement an innovative and creative tool to propel our budding scholars, academics and technicians into the world of industries and service provision. This is an opportunity not to be missed.
<B>CA has some key stages and sections namely:</B>Philosophy: The MOE and the colleges have to be very clear about what is to be achieved. What the ultimate goals of assessment and the course of study are, for example HSC Professional. Thus, the philosophy and approach to CA should revolve around the intended outcomes. Experience suggests that time invested in debating the philosophy pays handsome dividends in the design and implementation stages. The seminar on CA organised recently at UOM is a good approach to raise awareness among teachers and institutions about CA and what should drive it. All teachers know that an educational programme is driven by its philosophy which is the engine of programmes. Courses which do not have an explicitly expressed philosophy are running in an educational vacuum. The learning is not by design but by accident. Thus, the first exercise at the MOE, the colleges and the schools should be the compilation of the institution’s philosophy, display it in all the classrooms and then integrate it into courses. This will be very good information for students and teachers about the direction of the schools, courses and expectations.
Skills Mapping:</B> There should be extensive brainstorming on what skills should be the outcome of the course. An educational programme entitled ‘Professional’ must have three components: (a) Knowledge (Cognitive Domain)- This is to do with the substance of the subject matter, theories, problem solving strategies and application of theoretical concepts. (b) Skills (Psychomotor Domain)-This is to do with academic, social and professional skills. Professional skills are to do with self-management, management of people, office and equipments, I.T. Skills, quality of service and customer relations. (c) Attitude (Affective Domain): This is to do with the manner in which one conducts oneself and behaves in a group, at work and approach to tasks.
Competency Verification: </B> This section requires holistic assessment of the student’s abilities. Thus, competency should be verified by using a series of assessment tools such as project work and report writing, investigative analysis, work placement, reflective analysis instead of plain essay writing, self-assessment questionnaire and reviews. This presents a challenge to teachers to devise creative and imaginative assessment tools as well as exposing the student to a range of developmental experiences preparing them for academia as well as work.
<B>Work Experience: </B>The present education process is too deeply anchored in examination and certification. It needs to be balanced with the introduction of work experience shifting the focus from Cognitive Domain to Affective and Psychomotor Domains. Work experience provides a different kind of data about students’ attitudes and thinking faculties. Thus, one can gather a range of academic, vocational and professional information about students to help them face the 21st century. Work experience can be introduced early for example at pre S.C. level in Form IV. Teachers should ask parents to take their children to their place of work for two days every six months. This will begin the mental orientation of the students about work and have an idea of what their parents do and how they interpret work. This type of experience can be increased as the students progress through their S.C. and HSC where they can be placed at an office, factory or firm to gain two to three months work experience and be assessed on it. This will also push the teachers to be more creative and build a better partnership with local schools, firms, factories and businesses. CA must not be confined to the cognitive domain. If the MOE is serious about world class education, then it should first strengthen the present system as suggested here and then gradually bring in a more radical transformation.
<B>Linking Teaching with CA: </B>It is a well-known fact that CA is made up of Formative (Informal) and Summative (Formal) assessments. It is essential to integrate the teaching within the concept of these assessments. CA must never be seen as something which is added on at the end of a programme. It is continuous and therefore must be integrated in all the experiences of the students. Thus, there is a need for greater commitment from teachers to enter into structured or unstructured dialogue with students about their learning and their concerns. This will bring the learner and the teacher closer to develop a supportive and helping relationship. CA is an on-going, diagnostic, classroom-based process that uses a diversity of assessment tools to determine learner performance. Used by teachers, this process is intended to develop teachers’ capacity to identify what learners know and can do, as well as improve teachers’ educational practice. Information gathered from continuous assessment provides user-friendly feedback to parents and other stakeholders. Thus, the unintended outcome of CA is to bring student-teacher-parent-businesses closer to develop a better understanding of the education process, and their roles within it.
<B> Preparation of Business:</B> Modern education works in tandem with businesses because the purpose of knowledge is to be a better person and a better performer. Knowledge for practice is what all educational programmes aspire to. Thus, businesses have a critical role to play. Schools and colleges must work with business to prepare the work environment to have the students for a couple of days. The JEC and Mauritius Chamber of Commerce should energise this process. There is also a need for mentors and role models at work. It is important to select the right person to be a mentor and there is a need for mentors to be prepared for this role. To be able to help educate our youngsters at work is a great source of satisfaction. Mauritius has an array of professionals in industries to support our young people. Indeed IVTB has started this process by signing an agreement with selected businesses and this kind of practice should be the norm for colleges.
CA promotes regular, systematic study and discourages last-minute cramming, thus rewarding students who work progressively and consistently throughout their courses. It is generally agreed that CA reduces the intense stress that many students experience when preparing for and sitting terminal examinations. CA provides opportunities for students to be assessed in a more work-friendly environment which the students will face for the rest of their lives. This is what is needed. The MOE and the MIE must grab this opportunity and make HSC Professional the flagship of CA.
Dr Taleb DURGAHEE</B> [email protected]</I>
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