Enhancing Individual Learning: The Forgotten Role of Educational Assessment.

A crucial, but often forgotten, role of educational assessment is to enhance students’ learning. This author advocates that an assessment program designed for student learning differs from assessment for accountability in purpose, test format, measurement type, number, and spread of tests, use of test results, and amount of interval between announcement and test administration. This paper illustrates how a combination of traditional paper-and-pencil tests and performance-type assessments has been used to facilitate learning in an undergraduate Test and Measurement class. The sample was 33 students enrolled in the course. The assessment techniques used comprised five pencil-and-paper tests, which accounted for 40% of the course glade, five homework assignments (40%), and a capstone project (20%). The traditional tests and performance assignments were designed to overlap on topics and concepts to reinforce and supplement one another. A low correlation (r=.37) was found between grades on the pencil-and-paper tests and the performance part. Students report that doing the performance assignments engendered and facilitated a better understanding of the material through independent inquiry, problem solving, test construction and validation. Students also indicated that the nonthreatening nature of the projects and homework sustained their hopes of passing the course, contrary to the feedback from the pencil-and-paper tests. One table and one figure are included.