Instructional Evaluation: Testing and
Measurement.
Group Project -Linking
Instructional
Goals and Objectives to Assessment-
Summary:
1. In order to adequately assess the learning and development
of a student, you must develop assessment tools that reflect your objectives and
how you presented instructional activities related to those objectives. If you
do not, your assessment will not be valid, and you will likely arrive at
inaccurate conclusions regarding the assessment tools and the students
themselves.
2. Having content-valid assessment measures will help any
instructor/teacher when justifying grades if questioned.
3. Long-term goals are goals that an individual strives to
achieve over a long period of time. Short-term goals are goals that an
individual is trying to achieve within the more immediate future. In
general, the short-term goals are used as benchmarks for achieving the more
long-term goals.
4. In order for goals to be useful, they must be specific,
challenging, feasible, and progress must be measurable. In other words,
you must set a goal that will challenge someone to adapt or change, you must set
a goal that is specific in nature, and the goal must be possible to achieve.
Then, in order to see if one is successful at accomplish that goal, an
individual must be able to find ways to measure/assess whether or not movement
towards that goal is being achieved over time.
5. In order for assessment measures to be content-valid, and
thus defensible, instructional and evaluation tools must be related to the
objectives as set forth by the instructor. In other words, specific
objectives must be established, activities must be designed to accentuate or
support those objectives, and assessment tools must be developed to assess the
link between student-learning and the objectives selected.
6. Some instructional goals, and the activities that support
them, are very "flexible" in nature. For example, "The
student will develop an appreciation for architectural developments from the
17th century. There are also "rigid" instructional activities.
For example, "The student will be able to identify the five major
architectural developments from the 17th century".
7. There are essentially two major types of instructional
activities that can be linked to educational goals. First, there are
behavioral activities, which are specifically designed to change the behaviors
or attitudes of students. In addition, there are general instructional
activities, which are the activities that are designed to make the actual
changes. In other words, behavioral activities and objectives are the changes
that are sought, whereas the instructional activities are the methods that an
instructor utilizes to bring about those changes in general behaviors.
8. Instructional objectives should be used for a couple of
reasons. First of all, these objectives help to break down the behaviors,
and allow an instructor to develop activities that will work towards the actual
objectives. Secondly, instructional objectives allow a teacher to develop
more objective measures regarding the degree to which a student as grasped new
information and transferred it to behaviors or knowledge.
9. Societal attitudes and values have a direct impact on
instructional objectives. If there is a general attitude in society that
the US in behind in math and science (look at Sputnik), there will be an overall
need and demand for schools to focus more heavily on these areas so that we can
compete more effectively in the global environment. If these goals are
carried down to the classroom level, teachers will design activities in all
subject areas that complement the pursuit of that goal. [graphic]
10. Writing instructional objectives helps the teacher
clarify and organize instruction, which
increases efficiency and effectiveness in both teaching and learning. As the
saying goes, it takes time to save
time!
11. Personal computers are very effective at helping teachers
in their development of educational activities that are designed to meet their
goals. As teachers gain experience with different goals and activities, they may
work to alter and improve these objectives and activities so that future
students will be better off. By utilizing word processing programs,
teachers may make changes without too much time commitment. In addition,
with the increasing development of the world wide web, teachers have more access
to information that may complement their teaching strategies. Thus, the
use of educational software and word processing programs can enable teachers to
maintain, write and rewrite objectives in response to the change of
instructional goals.
12. Finally, we hope that this presentation has provided a
framework for future learning. The groups that follow will work to
specifically give you strategies about (1) how to actually make useful
objectives, (2) how to create activities that are directly related to the
objectives, and (3) how to create content-valid assessment tools that will
accurately assess the success that your activities related to the objectives.
When you have finished learning about these crucial educational issues, you will
be able to design activities and assessment tools that will support your goals,
and help develop the students in the ways that society demands.
Resources for further study:
Objectives-Based Testing by Rahmlow and Woodley
Handbook of Classroom Assessment by Gary Phye
A Comprehensive Framework for Instructional Objectives by Hannah and Michaelis
Educative Assessment by Grant Wiggins
Other Resources:
General Instructional Objective Design Issues
| 
