UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

HILLSIDE TEACCHERS’ COLLEGE

SCIENCE DEPARTMENT
INCLUSIVE MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT MODELS IN SCIENCE
EDUCATION
Introduction
This module seeks to expose pre-service teachers into concepts of
inclusive measurement, assessment and evaluation of educational
process.
1.0. Terms
 Inclusivity
 It is the practice of creating an environment where everyone
is respected, valued and supported.
 This is done regardless of one’s identity, ability and
background.
 Measurement
 It is the process of assigning numbers or values to attributes
or characteristics of events or objects to describe or compare
them.
 It refers to the quantification of student learning,
achievement, or performance.
Quantitative measurement involves assigning numerical values to
learner performances. For example, scores like 1, 2, 3, 4, etc
Qualitative measurement involves describing learner performance
using non-numerical attributes. For example, A, B, C, D… or
excellent, good, better
 Evaluation
 to calculate or judge the value or degree of something.
 Monitoring
 It refers to the ongoing process of collecting, analysing, and
using data to track learner progress, understanding and
achievement
 Assessment
 it is a process of gaining information about learners learning
and making value judgements about their progress.
 Test
 Assessment administered on paper intended to measure the
learner’s knowledge, skills, aptitude of the content learnt
 Reliability
 That which may be trusted and is dependable.
 Validity
 Measures what it is supposed to measure

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2.0 Purpose of assessment
 To measure, in the most reliable way, how far the educational
objectives of the course are being attained.
 To provide information about present attainment to guide teaching
and learning in the future
 An assessment is an instrument for educational progress
 It motivates learners to study
 Determines the learners’ special abilities
 Provides information on individual learners’ experience and
achievement.
 Identifies what learners know, understand
 Provides information to guide future leaning
3.0 Types of evaluation
Formative evaluation (internal)
 It is a method of judging the worth of a programme while the
programme activities are forming (in progress). The focus is on the
process.
 It is integral with the learning and takes place throughout learning
 It gives the teacher and the learner feedback, information about
whether the learning objectives are being attained
 It also provides information on areas of weakness and strengths

Summative evaluation (external)

 The examination boards offer external examinations
 It is concerned with the final summing up
 It often comes at the end of the course or a school/ college career
 it is a method of judging the worth of a programme at the end of the
programme activities (summation).
 The focus is on outcome.
 The concern is to differentiate between leaners so that a selection
can be made
 Parents, employers and the public attach great importance to it in
general
 It provides ranking and selection criterion for employers, for higher
and further education
 In the eyes of the community, provides validation of the education
system and generally recognized qualifications
 Assessment is necessary for: diagnosis, guidance and reporting
 Diagnosis is done to determine strengths and weaknesses and to
remediate. To find out how the learner is assimilating what is being
taught.

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  Results are used to assist learners make decisions about their future
(guidance)
 This can be about subject choices, course and career.
 An examination system allows policy makers to focus public
attention on what learners are learning and what it is that facilitates
or hinders their learning
4.0 Types of tests
Essay tests
 Require a student to organize and express herself in her own words
 Consist of few questions which require lengthy answers
 They are relatively easy to prepare and hard to mark very
accurately
 They permit bluffing
Objective tests
 Require a learner to fill in a short answer, of one or two words, or
choose among several available alternatives
 They have more questions, and take less time to answer than essay
questions.
 They are more reliable.
 They are difficult and time consuming to prepare
 They permit guessing
 They include short answer items, true-false items and multiple
choice items
5.0 Evaluation tools
 These are methods and instruments used to assess student
learning, instruction and programmes.
Common tools include:
 Quizzes, tests, surveys, questionnaires, observations, exhibitions
and interviews,
Quantitative tools
 oral tests
 written tests
 essay tests
 multiple choice tests
Qualitative tools
 observation techniques
 rating scale
 cumulative records
 socio-metric techniques

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  interviews
 attitude tests
6.0 factors to consider when evaluating
 ethics
how will the evaluation ensure learner privacy and confidentiality?
 feedback
how will the results be used to provide feedback to learners and
inform instruction?
 validity
how well does the evaluation measure what it is intended to
measure?
 Reliability
How consistent are the results?
 objectivity
how free is the evaluation from bias?
 Precision
How accurate are the results?
 Relevance
How relevant is the evaluation to the learning objectives?
 Practicality
How feasible is the evaluation in terms of resources and time?
 Context
What are the social, cultural and environmental?
 Resources
What resources are available, for example materials, to support the
evaluation?
7.0 Assessment practices
Taxonomy of instructional objectives
assessment of cognitive behaviours
the cognitive domain involves knowledge and development of
intellectual skills.
 It includes recall of facts, patterns and concepts.
 It has six major categories and these are:
 recall of data or information (knowledge) and key words are
define, list, name
 (2) comprehension and key word is distinguish
 (3) application and key word is construct
 (4) analysis and key word is compare
 (5) synthesis and key word is combine
 (6) evaluation and key word is contrast
assessment of psycho-motor behaviours

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 the domain includes physical movement, co-ordination and use of
motor skills.
The development of these skills requires practice, speed, precision,
procedures and techniques to perform.
assessment of affective behaviours
this category deals with the manner in which learners deal with
emotions, such as feeling values, appreciation. Motivation and
attitudes.
8.0 Test construction
Test construction
Guideline for paper setters
A) General Guidelines
 Make sure you have the latest version of the syllabus and are
familiar with the assessment criteria
 Work on a mark specification grid. Check that all the test items are
based on the respective syllabus and the items are graded in
difficulty.
 Do not use material reflecting race, ethnic or sex bias
 Develop a marking scheme alongside the specification grid
 Check the duration of the examination is entered correctly on the
paper and that the time allocated is sufficient to enable the students
complete the paper and revise their work
 Proof read the text
 Pass the finalized draft of the paper to a reviser who has to proof
read the text again, ensure that no test item is out of syllabus, etc
 Make the necessary changes in the examination paper and the
marking scheme as advised by the reviser. Proof read the text once
again and pass on the paper to the reviser for the final proof reading
 Hand in the examination paper together with the marking scheme
for printing
 Examine printed papers for printing defects (e.g unclear diagrams or
pictures)
B) Layout
 The paper should be clear as possible to make it student friendly as
possible
 For write-on papers enough space for working or writing must be
provided
 Instructions to candidates should be clear and unambiguous. They
should be presented in bold type
 Where possible, use a straightforward and consistent format with
regular line lengths

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  Use typesetting features such as bold, italics, indentation or boxes
effectively to help candidates focus their attention on the task
 Long complex questions are best split up by the use of subsidiary
numbering systems
 Structured questions should follow a graded and logical sequence
 Diagrams, pictures or photographs used should be helpful and of
high quality
 Ensure that marks assigned for each item/ exercise/ section are
clearly indicated on the paper
C) Sentence construction
 Use the simplest language and structure possible to convey and
unambiguously the meaning of the question
 Eliminate- superfluous words and any abstract and metaphorical
language which is not necessary
 Make sure that introductory statements in questions contain only
the information- which is required for answering those questions
relevantly
D) Specification grid
 The writing of test items should be guided by a carefully
prepared set of test specifications
 The specifications describe the achievement domain being
measured and provide guidelines for obtaining a representative
sample of test tasks
 The specification grid provides assurance that the test will
measure a representative sample of the learning outcomes and
the subject matter topics to be measured
 The specification grid relates outcomes to content and indicates
the relative weight to be given to each of the various areas
 A specification grid indicates: (a) the learning outcomes to be
tested, (b) the subject matter or content, (c) the assigned
weighting to the learning outcomes and content areas in terms of
their relative importance
 The learning outcomes to be tested include: recall of knowledge,
intellectual abilities or skills (understanding, application, etc),
general skills (e.g. practical, performance, communication),
attitudes, interests, appreciations.
 The following factors are to be considered when assigning
relative weights to each learning outcome and each content
area: (a) the importance of each area in the total learning
experience (b) the time devoted to each area during the learning
experience (c) which outcomes have the greater retention and
transfer value
E) Constructing relevant test items

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 The items could be either selection-type or supply-type items
 The selection-type items present the students with a set of
possible responses from which they are to select the most
appropriate answer
 The supply-type item requires students to create and supply
their own answers.
 Selection type- items include: multiple choice, true-false and
matching
 The preparation of good selection-type items is difficult and
students can get a proportion of answers correct by guessing
 Supply-type items include: short answers, essays (restricted
responses, unrestricted responses)
 Supply-type items are easier to construct but more difficult to
score
 Use the item types that provide the most direct measures of
student performance specified by the learning outcome
 Avoid verbal associations that give away the answer
 Ensure that the there is no disagreement concerning the
answer. The answer should be the one experts would agree on
being the best or correct answer
 Give due consideration to the best arrangement of the test
items. Where possible, all items of the same type should be
grouped together.
 The items should be arranged in terms of increasing difficulty.
Multiple-choice items:
 The stem of the item presents a single, clearly formulated
problem
 The stem is in clear simple language
 The stem is stated in positive form wherever possible
 If negative wording is used in the stem, it is emphasized in
bold or underlining
 The distractors are plausible and attractive to the uninformed
Short-answer items
 The item calls for a single, brief answer
 The item has been written as a direct question or a well-stated
incomplete sentence
Essay questions
 Questions starting with “who”, “what”, ”where”, “name”, “list”
are avoided as these terms limit the response
 Questions demanding higher order skills are used
 Action verbs such compare, interpret, infer, analyse, evaluate
are used
 Marking schemes

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 Should be clear and designed to be easily and consistently
applied
 Allocate marks in proportion with the demands of questions
 Include the mark allocation for each question and parts of a
question
 The total number of marks available for each question and
each part of a question should be shown in the mark scheme
and must tally with the marks shown on the question paper