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My Reflections on Assessment

On the subject of assessment, there are educators who are passionate on either end of the spectrum with many in between, holding a more balanced view. There are those who are against all forms of assessment, arguing that it stifles the spirit of learning or see assessment as coercive and those who strongly believe that assessment plays a vital role in growth, development, and learning for all students. It seems to me that at the root of this debate is a question of student motivation. What motivates or de-motivates students to learn? One must also ask if that motivation is lasting and valuable toward life-long learning (i.e. intrinsic or extrinsic motivation).

Those who argue that assessment kills the joy of learning for students could have the opposite argument levelled against them. Some students thrive on competition and achieving high grades. Admittedly, this tends to be more extrinsic in nature but is it entirely useless toward the learning process? Some are motivated by clear goals and markers of progress and would flounder without clear feedback and assessment. They may truly love learning and use the assessment markers and feedback as a tool that helps them in their passion for learning. Evidence supports the idea that mastery is one of three pillars of motivation (see http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html.) Assessment as a means to achieving mastery can therefore be a strong motivator for some. For example, one type of learning is achieving some skill. Consider the process of learning how to play golf. The enthusiastic new golfer may want to improve his driving swing and practice at the driving range. There are distance markers which allow golfers to do immediate self-assessment. One would have to question how effectively a golfer could improve his swing if those markers were not present. In fact it might be argued that learning without any form of assessment (formative or summative) would be like practicing on the driving range in the dark (without glow-in-the-dark balls).

None of us, typically, likes to have pointed out areas where we are not doing well or missing some objective unless we are highly motivated and determined to overcome certain weaknesses or inabilities in order to achieve some learning goal. (Even then, we probably don’t enjoy it even though we may welcome it.) We all probably can think of a time when we invited and were thankful for some form of constructive criticism in order to improve on some skill or develop a better understanding around a particular matter. It is one of the reasons we put our ideas out into forums to have others respond and give their feedback. If we are passionate about learning then we will truly encourage assessment by others.

Are we to believe that none of our students share the same maturity to welcome such feedback? I believe we discredit our students by assuming assessment only has a negative effect on their motivation to learn. Different people are motivated differently. Some will be motivated by assessment while others will feel coerced and judged. Either we need to consider all personality types and find a balanced approach that works well for all or individualize our assessment approach to accommodate each student if we are to truly resolve this issue. Are these possible in the current educational system we work in? Not likely. How can we change the system in order to do one or both of these? That is the challenge.