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A brief introductory note

Concept

IE assessment

Assessment consists of an organised and systematic process of collecting information related to student performance to check whether the proposed learning objectives have been achieved. There is therefore a comparison between the performance achieved and the intended learning objectives. The evaluative judgement resulting from analysing this information serves as the basis for decision-making. To achieve educational success, it is crucial that students have access to relevant information about their performance and possible ways of improving, allowing them to regulate their own learning process.

It is essential to plan the teaching-learning-assessment process (lesson, module or course).

IE-learning-assessment


Evaluation headings

  • A Rubric for Rubrics- A Tool for Assessing the Quality and Use of Rubrics in Education (PDF)


To find out more

Principles

  • Functionality and orientation
    Assessment should be guided by the learning objectives set, so that teachers and the students themselves can check whether they are achieving them, helping them to progress in their learning and guiding the teacher in re-planning their practice if necessary.
  • Integration
    Whenever possible, assessment tasks and learning tasks should coincide, so that everything that is taught or promoted is assessed.
  • Positivity
    “(…) [assessment] should seek information about what the student knows, what they have learnt and can do, highlighting their achievements and encouraging them to learn more and want to do better (…)” (Neves & Ferreira, 2015, p. 36).
  • Diversification
    In order to be more rigorous in evaluation, the strategies and instruments used to collect information must be diversified.
  • Equity
    In order to ensure that everyone has access to a solid basic education, it is necessary to think about different interventions in terms of quantity or quality, which allow effective choices of pathways, in order to combat determinism and social reproduction.
  • Suitability
    It is necessary to plan how, when and through what instruments the necessary information is collected so that the process is adapted to the purposes and object of evaluation.
  • Transparency
    For the evaluation process to be transparent, the criteria, procedures, assumptions and all decisions made must be clearly defined and publicised.
  • Credibility
    The planning of the evaluation process must take into account when the results will be returned and the appropriate way of doing so, taking into account the purposes of the feedback and the nature of its recipients.
  • Feasibility
    The efficiency and effectiveness of the whole process must be guaranteed.
  • Utility
    For the evaluation to be considered useful to the recipients, the information must be given in a timely manner, in a clear, simple, accessible and relevant way.

Benefits

Benefits of evaluation for students and teachers
For students

They receive information to improve their performance.

For teachers

They receive information to guide students in the construction of knowledge, to make adjustments to the planned teaching and learning process and to re-plan teaching practice if necessary.

References