New Information or Concepts, Research Paper Example

The goal of any learning scenario is for the learner to understand and be able to apply new information or concepts.  Learning involves the content to be learned, and the modality by which the content is delivered.  The effectiveness of the learning modality can be determined by employing a variety of assessment tools.

Assessment tools measure a variety of metrics in answering several questions.  Did the learner understand the material?  Did the student retain the key points?  Were the performance-based objectives (PBO) met?  There is however one question that points to the very heart and purpose of learning.  Can the learner apply the new information in a practical way?

It is possible for an instructor to skew an assessment by “teaching to the test.”  While this approach ensures positive test scores, it does not accurately measure learning.  An extreme example of teaching to a test would be when an instructor reveals the test questions and provides the learners with the specific answers to each question.  This type of behavior would obviously be unethical.  On the other extreme, an instructor could completely ignore the test content and teach the material with no particular focus.  This approach may not be unethical, but would certainly be irresponsible.  Somewhere between these extremes is an ideal model for teaching.

Types of Assessments

There are four basic tools used by instructors.  They include assessments, evaluations, measurements, and tests.

An assessment is different than an evaluation.  An evaluation is a short-sighted analysis of a learner’s grasp of the course content.  Conversely, an assessment is a way of viewing the results of learning on a more long-term basis.  An assessment should be either a predictor, or actual reflector of the rate of transitional errors experienced by the learner after the formal teaching is done.  Transitional errors are incidents whereby the student fails to accurately apply the learned material at some point after the teaching has occurred.  An example of a transitional error might be when a math student applies an incorrect formula to a real-life problem after having “learned” the correct formula in class.

In like manner, a test is not the same as a measurement.  Tests objectify the retention of course content by a student and reflect that data in a numerical format.  A test would qualify as level-2 learning according to Kirkpatrick’s four-level assessment model (Winfrey, 1999).  A measurement is a more subjective tool that rates a learner’s knowledge, newfound skills or other metrics along a continuum that compares the metric to either a prior state, or the metrics of others.

Arizona’s AIMS Test

The simplest and most quantitative method of measuring a learner’s progress is a test.  For this reason, many school systems use tests to rate the success or failure of individual schools to achieve student learning goals.  A good example of this practice is found in Arizona.  For the past four years, Arizona has been using the “Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards” or AIMS test to evaluate its schools.  AIMS tests are mandated by the State for grades 2 through 12.  Grades 2 through 9 also take the Stanford 10 test (AZ, 2010).

The high school AIMS test includes reading, writing, math and science questions.  Beginning in 2006, all high school seniors were required to pass the AIMS test in order to graduate.  This requirement has precipitated a lot of controversy.  Because of the large number of students failing the test and being unable to acquire a high school diploma, the State, school systems and teachers have employed a variety of solutions to bring the numbers up.  Some of these solutions have been criticized as being at least inappropriate and at worst, unethical.

The State has revised the AIMS test every year in response to the previous year’s scores.  According to Arizona Republic newspaper reporters Kossan and Wynn (2009) the writing section of the test was being revised for the following school year “in hopes of stabilizing the scores.”  Instead of redoubling efforts to improve the teaching/learning process, state officials are basically “dumbing-down” the test in order to produce better results.

Another problem with the AIMS test is the consequence associated with a high school student not passing it.  Because of the seriousness of a student not being able to graduate, individual schools and teachers frequently spend several weeks prior to the test abandoning regular lesson plans in favor of “preparing” students for the test.  The state Department of Education even provides practice tests on its website.

Assessing teaching and learning is important if done for the proper reason.  The ultimate goal of learning is to develop knowledge and skills that will be retained and can be recalled for use in the future.  The most important thing in the teaching process should be whether or not learning occurred.  Assessments should be used to validate student learning and help instructors improve their teaching approach.

By using an assessment model like the Arizona AIMS test, teachers are almost forced to teach to the test.  Consequently, the most important thing is no longer whether or not the student learns, but whether or not the student can pass the test.  In essence, the test becomes more important than the learning.  This phenomenon is true not only in academic settings, but in other venues as well.

Consider a corporate training situation.  If an instructor is charged with teaching employees a new process, the goal is for the employees to learn the new process.  The instructor would most likely design the training program to ensure that the new process is clearly understood and that employees are proficient in using it.  If however any employee failing to pass a written test at the end of the training were to be fired, the emphasis of the training would shift from being focused on learning the course content, to passing the test.

In his article, Gossin-Wilson (2009) discusses the use of percentage of proficient students (PPS) tests as methods of evaluating the effectiveness of teaching in schools.  The author contends that the use of a single test instrument is an ineffective way of evaluating success.  The article suggests that the use of multiple instruments is a better way of assessing student progress.  Learning is a complex process and simple quantitative tests such as multiple choice, cannot adequately assess higher functions like critical thinking.

Assessment Guidelines

The best learning assessments are developed during the instructional design phase of education.  If a test like Arizona’s AIMS is to be used, the key concepts upon which the questions are based need to become part of the performance-based objectives that drive the course content.  When the curriculum is developed, these key concepts need to be folded into the regular coursework.  Dedicating two or three weeks to “cramming” for the test is not an appropriate way of teaching students.

Another method of effectively measuring learning is to develop a series of both quantitative and qualitative tools to use in the process.  Qualitative assessments are more difficult and time-consuming to administer and score, but do offer additional insight into a student’s level of learning.  These types of assessments also tend to be more reflective of the types of ways that learning is put into practice in real life. Generally speaking, people do not take “tests” in their workplace or in other life situations.  Knowledge and skill are usually demonstrated by problem-solving and practical application.  Learning assessments should be designed in like manner.

References

(Az 2010 AIMS high school graduation requirement overview)AZ. (2010). AIMS high school graduation requirement overview. Retrieved from http://www.ade.az.gov/standards/AIMS/Administering/AIMSHSGraduationOverview.pdf

(Gossin-Wilson W 200908 Connecting research to practice: Knowing who is proficient isn’t always sufficient)Gossin-Wilson, W. (2009, August). Connecting research to practice: Knowing who is proficient isn’t always sufficient. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED509965.pdf

(Kossan P Wynn M 2009615 AIMS scores improve but writing exam being revised)Kossan, P., & Wynn, M. (2009, June 15). AIMS scores improve but writing exam being revised. Retrieved from http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2009/07/15/20090715aims0715.html

(Winfrey E 1999 Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluation)Winfrey, E. (1999). Kirkpatrick’s four levels of evaluation. Retrieved from http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/articles/k4levels/index.htm