My Reflection on Student Assessment

The system of giving numbers or letters to indicate students’ performance is commonly practiced almost all over the world, and my university is no exception. The bachelor program in which I took requires me to sit for exams, tests and other tasks to receive those numbers known as scores and/or letter known as grades. My academic performance in the B.A program is shown on a piece of paper known as Academic Transcript with both scores and grades and their indications. Yet, those numbers and letters are very subjective and do not, I argue, perfectly reflect the actual performance of students in general and mine. This article is written to describe (1) how my academic performance is assessed, (2) my personal analytical opinions on prior assessments on my learning and (3) my preferences on assessments and (4) my overall evaluation of the prior assessments on my actual learning achievement.  

Prior Assessments

The four-year bachelor program required me to sit for an exam (entrance exam) even before I could register and enroll in the program. The program assessed students’ proficiency with their designed proficiency test that contained Vocabulary, Grammar and Sentence Structure and Reading sections. Those who scored top among the test takers were admitted to enroll in the program. The system of assessing students using exams did not end there. The four-year studies were practiced with similar things. Although exams, in this sense referring to final exams, were not the only criterion to assess students’ performance, they were still dominant components that affected the indicated scores and/or grades on students’ performance. Over the years, final exams were reduced their domination on assessments and on-going assessments gained better popularity. Reforms on how students were assessed were made during my study. Final exams decreased their percentage from 50% to 40% on overall assessments of students. Meanwhile, on-going assessments gained their percentage up to 60%. The on-going assessments contained different criteria to assess students, some of which, however, included two tests or a mid-term which was worth 20% and quizzes 5%. By looking at this, it shows again, testing was still dominant on overall assessments. The program did include class participation, presentation, assignment, and homework as parts of assessments, yet those criteria were inferior compared to testing methods, which included both final exams and tests and quizzes (in on-going assessment). If we take a closer look, the above testing methods dominated over 65% of overall assessments. 

Opinions on the Assessments 

What favors me about these assessments is the increase of values or percentage of the on-going assessments within overall assessments. This gives me a positive thought, which is parallel with my preferences, that learning takes place during the class and activities beyond exams should be assessed because exams alone could not really measure the actual learning outcomes of students. Assessing students on their class discussions and participation, presentations, role-play or simulation activities, assignments and homework and other tasks is more meaningful. Unfortunately, these important criteria get less attention. Exams and tests are still dominant assessing criteria that take over 65% of the overall. This fact raises questions to me if we study to prepare for exams and tests or we study to learn. How reliable and valid are these exams and tests to measure my learning and understanding? These questions have never been explained by lecturers or program coordinators. Gradually, it has become a culture which no one has questioned and a common practice for all course assessments on students’ learning. Students generally do not understand clearly what it means by particular scores they get, and, in some cases, teachers do not consider what it means when they give particular scores. In some other cases, tests contain errors and some questions do not reflect student learning and course objectives. Some other questions reach only the first level of Bloom’s Taxonomy, which requires students to remember and restate the information from the book. Are these methods of assessments useful and effective ways to measure students? Are these methods accurate to generate numbers and letters that are shown on students’ academic transcripts? These questions are partially answered in the last section of this article. 

Preference on Assessments

As briefly disclosing above, I would prefer assessments that evaluate students’ on-going activities (process and product) in a greater way than just exams and tests. By this, it means that exams and tests should give minimal impacts on overall assessments. Although exams and tests still play an important role in assessments, in my opinion, they should get one-third or less on overall assessments. At the same time, assessments should rather focus on processes of learning, such as simulations, role-plays and the likes and products, including assignment, homework, reflection papers and to name a few.

The Assessments and Actual Learning Achievements  

Overall, I think the assessments described above on my learning achievements do not really reflect my actual learning achievements. The first reason is that test designers and markers are not experts or are incapable of designing and marking tests reliably and validly. Secondly, tests themselves are designed with faults and do not test what is intended. Thirdly, I am not a good test taker, especially on those tests that contain questions requiring memorization. Therefore, such assessments do not really measure my learning achievements; instead, they downgrade the evaluations of my academic performance on the transcript. 

Beliefs and Practices: Teaching English as A Foreign Language

 I. Beliefs about teaching and Teachers 

Teachers’ beliefs are of critical importance to the understanding of the process of teaching and learning. Different teachers hold different beliefs on how their classroom should go. Of course, there are many variables that affect the beliefs of teachers, and it is not denied that their beliefs affect classroom activities, their behaviors, teaching and learning principles and practices, and learners (Gilakjani and Sabouri, 2017). I am not an exception. My beliefs about teaching affect the way I teach and the way my students learn. There are many philosophical explanations and approaches to teaching and learning, and to some extent, I am more influenced by some than the others. From teacher-centered to autonomous approaches, there is no extreme end for me. I do not believe that the process of learning should be accomplished by a teacher alone. Meanwhile, complete autonomy only creates chaos. I believe that teaching should be somewhere in between - somewhere a teacher can be a helpful resource provider to students or a scaffolder for students to process their learning beyond. Moreover, teaching is an art. It should include entertainment, a sense of humor, excitement, and simplification, in addition to well-prepared pedagogies. All in all, beliefs about teachers and teaching play significant roles in impacting learners and learning, and my beliefs are that teachers need to play considerably vital roles in scaffolding learners and make sure the classroom is an environment of both enjoyment and learning.

II. Beliefs about Learning and Learners 

When we talk about learning and learners, motivation can’t be ignored. Motivation in learning can be classified in different categories, including but not limited to, intrinsic and external motivations. Ones can learn better when they have motivation in their learning, or in other words, no matter how good a curriculum and teacher are or how advanced technology is used in the classroom, they might learn less or the least if they find no motivation in their learning. Yet, we have to bear in mind that there is no single factor affecting learning; motivation is just one of those several factors. I believe that learners need to be motivated enough to acquire knowledge and that will be even more beneficial when other factors, such as an appropriate curriculum, qualified teachers, a good learning environment, and assisted equipment availability, are fruitfully involved. All of these factors will assist learners to achieve the acquisition of the subject of learning.  

III. Social Context of Language Learning and Course Curriculum  

Other elements considered to be vitally important in a process of learning include social context and course curriculum. These two variables contribute to teaching and teachers, and learning and learners – in ways good or bad. A social context that appreciates a foreign language, for example, makes it easier for the learners in that context to expose more in the language learning and authentically use the language to serve their purposes. In some other cases, a social context can also drive external motivation among learners to achieve their goals. An example includes a society in which a foreign language is necessarily needed for employability. Another element worth discussing is the role of a course curriculum. A good, adequate, and well-designed curriculum takes much effort, and it is not easy to develop one. Yet it is of significance to always have it to pave a right and appropriate path to achieve a real desired outcome. Moreover, to develop a responsive course curriculum, it takes many factors into account, and that includes all the matters mentioned above - teaching and teachers, learning and learning, and social context. In turn, a designed course curriculum affects all the above-mentioned characters. A course curriculum influences teachers and especially their teaching. Furthermore, it also impacts how the subject/language is learned and knowledge is structured. More importantly, a social context and a course curriculum are correlated. A social context influences how a course curriculum is designed and, of course, a course curriculum responds to the needs within the context, and it, to some extent, impacts the social context future to come.

References: 

Gilakjani, A. P. and N. B. Sabouri (2017). "Teachers’ Beliefs in English Language Teaching and Learning: A Review of the Literature." Canadian Center of Science and Education 10(4).