Performance Assessment Overview & Examples | What is Performance Assessment? – Video & Lesson Transcript | Study.com
Video Transcript
Mục lục
Introduction
PE and band tests are examples of performance assessments
Did you take a band or PE class in school? The tests in those classes were always a bit different. Instead of pulling out a pencil and answering questions on a piece of paper, you probably had to perform an activity for a grade. Those activities served as ways to measure your knowledge and abilities for that particular subject. Those activities are referred to as performance assessments, and we will focus on performance assessments in this lesson.
Definition
Performance assessments are assessments in which students demonstrate their knowledge and skills in a non-written fashion. These assessments are focused on demonstration versus written response. Playing a musical instrument, identifying a chemical in a lab, creating a spreadsheet in computer class, and giving an oral presentation are just a few examples of performance assessments.
These types of assessments provide educators with an alternative method to assess students’ knowledge and abilities, but they must be used with a specific purpose in mind. Let’s discuss four concepts to aid our understanding in choosing appropriate performance-based assessment tasks.
Guidelines for Choosing Appropriate Tasks
The first guideline deals with products versus process. A product is a tangible creation by a student that could take the form of a poster, drawing, invention, etc. Performance assessments are useful in assessing these products in order to gauge a student’s level of understanding and ability. For example, asking a student to create an invention for a science class that incorporates Newton’s laws of gravity would be a way to assess a product and the student’s knowledge of scientific principles.
Completing a push-up in PE is a restricted performance
Sometimes we don’t have a product to assess and must assess a process. In situations with no tangible product, teachers must assess the process and the behaviors that students display. Giving an oral presentation, singing a song, or demonstrating a tennis swing are examples of processes that could be assessed.
When assessing a process, teachers may be interested in examining students’ cognitive processes as well. Teachers can learn a great deal about a student’s thinking by assigning a process task. For example, if a teacher wants to understand the thinking processes behind her students’ knowledge of force and acceleration, she might assign students an activity in which they perform experiments to determine how fast objects will roll down an incline. In this example, the teacher would have students make predictions first, then complete the experiments. The student predictions allow the teacher to gauge their understanding of the scientific principles behind the experiment.
When considering using performance assessments, we must also consider individual versus group performance. Teachers have the ability to assign individual or group assessments. Group performance assessments allow teachers to assign complex projects and tasks that are best accomplished by many students. For example, a geography teacher wants to assess his students’ understanding of town planning. He may assign a project requiring the students to collect data, make maps, predict population growth, etc. Group performance projects allow students to assess their peers also, which provide a different level of assessment for the teacher.
Some performance tasks are relatively short in duration; this is referred to as restricted performance. These are tasks that involve a one-time performance of a particular skill or activity. For example, a PE instructor asks her students to perform a push-up. She wants to assess their form for this one particular exercise.
Planning, writing, and performing a school play is an extended performance example
Alternatively, other performance tasks are extended. When teachers assess extended performance, they want to determine what the students are capable of for long periods of time. This method allows teachers to assess development at certain points over time. It also allows time for feedback and the opportunity for students to edit their work. For example, an English teacher might task the students with putting on a play at the end of a semester. The students may have specific goals to meet throughout the semester, which are also assessed, such as creating an outline, assigning roles, writing the script, and creating props. The play at the end of the semester concludes the process. While extended performance tasks allow for a more thorough assessment of student knowledge, they are very time-consuming to administer.
Another thing to consider is static versus dynamic assessment. Static assessments, which are the most common form of performance and paper-based pencil assessments, focus on student’s existing abilities and knowledge. Dynamic assessments, on the other hand, systematically examine how a student’s knowledge or reasoning may change as a result of learning or performing specific tasks. This concept is consistent with Vygotsky’s concept of Zone of Proximal Development and provides teachers with information about what students are likely to accomplish with appropriate structure and guidance.
Guidelines for Performance Assessments
For all types of performance assessment, the following guidelines should be followed:
- Tasks should be defined clearly and unambiguously.
- The teacher must specify the scoring criteria in advance.
- The teacher must be sure to standardize administration procedures as much as possible.
- The teacher should encourage students to ask questions when tasks are not clear.
Lesson Summary
In summary, performance assessments offer an alternative to paper and pencil formats. They allow teachers to assess products and processes. Performance assessments may be assigned individually or by grouping students together. They may occur once, allowing a student to demonstrate a distinct skill or ability, or occur over an extended period of time. Some performance assessments may assess a student’s actual abilities, while others could be used to assess abilities that could be performed over time with the assistance of a more advanced individual. All performance assessments should correspond to the type of situation that is being assessed. Finally, all performance assessments should begin with clearly defined tasks and scoring criteria.
Lesson Objectives
After watching this lesson, you should be able to:
- Define ‘performance assessment’
- Describe different ways performance assessments are used in the classroom (individual and group)
