Topic 4:        Planning Assessment

On Week 4, we have learned about types of assessment that we can use in the classroom, which are formative assessment and summative assessment. When using the formative assessment, the teacher will guide and monitor the students’ learning while it is still in progress while the teacher will evaluate students learning after they teach one or more units / course known as summative assessment.

The purposes of using the assessment to assess the students are:

• Motivate students

• Measures achievement

• Identify areas for review

• Check effectiveness of materials, teaching method, and teacher

• Assign grades

  

When marking the students’ work, teachers can use checklist, rating scale or both in the rubric. Two types of scoring that are analytic scoring (scoring the student’s performance by evaluating various aspects of it separately) and holistic scoring (summarizing a student’s performance using one score).

When designing the assessment for the students, teachers should consider these principles into the assessment, which are:

                     i.        Clarity

                    ii.        Reliability

                   iii.        Validity

                   iv.        Authenticity

                    v.        Fair

From this topic, I can know on how to do assessment during my classroom in the future. By using the assessment, I will know each of my student's achievement and help them to improve more on their knowledge and skills.

Topic 3: Reliability, Validity and Other Desired Characteristics of Measurement

The meaning of:

1. Reliability     -     The ability to measure the same thing consistently of a measurement indicating the degree to which the measures consistent); that is repeated measurements would give the same result.
2. Validity         -     A quality of measurement indicating the degree to which the measure       reflects the underlying construct, that is, whether it measures what it purports to measure. It also mean the state of being valid, authentic or genuine.

I use this picture to have more understanding about reliability and validity.

The importance of reliability and validity.

Topic 2: Instructional Goals and Learning Outcomes: Foundations for Assessment

What is educational goals and objectives???

Well...
Goals are broad, generalized statements about what is to be learned. It is as a target that needs to be reached or hit. Meanwhile, instructional objectives are specific, measurable, short-term, observable students’ behaviors. Through these objectives that were made, it can help the teachers to build their lessons and assessment that can prove meet overall course or lesson goals. It also is tools that have been used to reach the lesson goals.

Instructional goals and objectives can be symbolized as a dart game...

Bloom Taxonomy

When designing the appropriate learning goals and objectives, teachers must consider the students’ need and ability according to the Bloom’s Taxonomy. 

These learning goals and objectives are very important and compulsory for each teacher to know about it and have clear understanding about it. Sometimes it can be a little difficult for them to prepared suitable goals and objectives as it can be a misunderstanding about its meaning.

While learning this topic, I have a little confusion between the meaning of goals and objective. When our lecturer asked us about the meaning of each context, I cannot answer the question because I was in doubt about its meaning. But after our lecturer explained to us, I was like, “Oh!! Now I know… (Nodding head)

Importance of goals and objectives for me as a teacher-to-be...

After the explanation about the meaning of instructional goals and objectives by our lecturer, I have clear understanding of its purpose and importance in teaching and learning. It is important to have the right and appropriate goals as well as the objectives before starting the lesson. By having the right goals and objectives, I can manage my teaching and learning session with efficiently and without having any problem at the end oh teaching session as the students can get the right learning outcomes.

It is not only focuses on the teaching session, which goals and objectives also play important roles in our daily life as it can help us to achieve our life goal by doing the right objectives that were set in our mind.

Additional to Week 1 Reflection

Topic 1: Education Testing, Evaluation and Assessment (Context, Roles of Assessment in Teaching and Learning)

On this topic, I have learned about type of assessment, the purpose of assessment and how to measure and evaluate the students’ achievement through the assessments that are given to them. In my understanding, assessment is a process which we collect all of the information through observation and test, and interpret it to make us easy to make the educational decision making. Meanwhile, measurement means that we are using numerical to attributes and evaluation itself means a systematic process which we judge the learners’ achievement of learning outcomes.

Types of assessment...

1. Standardized assessment - is an assessment which it is administered, scored and interpreted under standard conditions for all examinees; allows the teachers to do some comparison between students from other class in the same school or other school. For examples, Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM)
2. Non-standardized assessment - is typically used by the teacher in the classroom; teacher can determine whether the students are understand what has been taught to them. Usually, this assessment is done at the end of every class such as quizzes and question and answer session.

The assessment can help teachers when doing their teaching and learning session, which are:

1. Planning, conducting and evaluating instruction.
2. Diagnosing Student Difficulties.
3. Placing Students based on ability, organizing students for group work or sequencing of coursework.

By knowing this context, it helps me as a teacher-to-be to be more aware when doing any assessment in classroom. In my field of study, assessment can help me to understand and know on how to evaluate their skills level, interest, strengths and weaknesses. Through the assessments, I will be able to plan the teaching and learning process efficiently and at the same time, I also will be able to prepare a joyful and happy environment for the children while playing.

Issues in education...

Although it has its own advantages, assessment also do have some issues. One of it is testing young children with disabilities. The use of testing for infants and young children with disabilities cannot be avoided. Assessment should be based on multiple sources of information such as play-based assessment. Other than that, testing young children with cultural and language differences also become the issue. This is becase standardized scores have had a high correlation to parents’ occupations, level of education and family income.

Week 1 Reflection

Topic 1: Education Testing, Evaluation and Assessment (Context, Roles of Assessment in Teaching and Learning)

On the first week, we only do the introduction on this topic where our lecturer asked us to express and share our feeling towards our achievement in education in class. He asked us to draw two things that are the time when we fail and the time when we success in our education.

Well... This was my expression towards my failure and success.. I did not have the talent in drawing but as you can see this was my expression where there was two situation. One was my failure in Additional Mathematics during my high school. Meanwhile, the second one (on the left side picture), that was during my Form 6 which I passed with flying colours in my STPM exam...

We also learn something about assessment which our lecturer has mentioned about the meaning of educational assessment and what is actually a test.

This is what I can summarize about the educational assessment...




At the end of the class, our lecturer asked us to memorize either the meaning of educational assessment or the meaning of a test. So, this was my idea to memorize it well by just using the main point.

During our first class, I have a clear understanding on what is this course is all about. I learned that it is important to know and understand each main point in every topics.

First of all, I want to thank Madam Ng Huey Zher for asking us to create a blog that is new thing for me to learn through this subject.

Anyway... Hello everybody...

My name is Romela Binti Kasim , 27 years old and came from Keningau, Sabah. I continuing my degree in Early Childhood Education at Unitar International University Regional Center in Kota Kinabalu. The reason for me to take this course is I love to be around with kids. I love to see their laugh and actions while learning and playing. It such a blessing for me to see they are happy. Besides, I am a new mom to a son, so it is a bonus for me to have the knowledge about children and and their development stages.

GOAL

Same like everyone that has goal in their life, I do also have my own goal that still need to be achieve in my own life that is to be a good educator, specially in early childhood education.

Before this, when people asking about my ambition, I will think and reply that I want to be a teacher without thinking it much further. But that time, i did not answering the question in earnest because I still feel that it is still vague. But now, I know what am I going to do. I mean, now I know who will I teach in the future and that is children.

For me, children are so special because they have their own unique characteristics for each on of them. Some are very active and some are quite. Some are friendly and some are like to  be far from others. It's funny when I see them playing which they will try their best like it is a big test for their examination.

PHILOSOPHY

Philosophy is an activity people undertake when they seek to understand fundamental truths about themselves, the world in which they live, and their relationships to the world and to each other. As an academic discipline philosophy is much the same. Those who study philosophy are perpetually engaged in asking, answering, and arguing for their answers to life’s most basic questions. To make such a pursuit more systematic academic philosophy is traditionally divided into major areas of study.

My teaching philosophy...
As an educator in early childhood education, it is very important to keep knowing and understand about each child's development to make the teaching and learning session become more fun and enjoying for the children yet very effective for them to learn. To make sure I understand their development, i need to be more close to them and become their friend besides becoming their teacher.

And as a mother, I think it is my responsibilities to mold my kid to become a good person in the future. So for me, it is good to have these knowledge about children so I can understand him and become his friend, besides as mother to him, and help him to grow as a human in the right way.