EVALUATION ASSESSMENT ..~ ,. -MEASURE;; ·'i_ - MENT UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY (2ndEvaILl(~tiOrl Studll:" Edition) All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be rcpr oduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or by any other means, without the prior permission of the publishers. © S. 0 /\yo0ele, J. A. Adegbile & J. G. Adewale [2003 & 2009] ISBN 978 - 35794-6-0 Second Edition Published by Powerhouse Press and Publishers Ibadan ..,. ii UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Preface This is a book that addresses one of the most crucial aspects of education - that of evaluation. The focus is on the what and the how of evaluation. In an era when it is becoming extremely difficult to import texts from the western world, the authors address themselves to the ever- increasing demand by tertiary students for learning tools. To ensure that all needy students can afford this most highly needed tool, we have decided to make the presentation as concise as . possible. At the same time, we have tried as much as is practicable to include all that a student of educational evaluation needs within the limited space available. The approach is to address what evaluation is, the kinds of evaluation processes there are, the place of such concepts as continuous assessment and curriculum evaluation, etc. Aware of the ogre that statistics has become among many undergraduate and postgraduate students, we have tried to present basic concepts in statistics in as elementary a manner as possible. This is the stance too in our treatment of evaluation instruments and later of the role of the computer in the service of the evaluator. Here then is a complete volume in an introductory manner, made affordable because of its conciseness. It is our strong belief that students and teachers alike will find the volume highly useful and handy in colleges of education, polytechnics and university faculties and institutes of education. In presenting this small volume, we dedicate it to those forerunners who have guided our own steps in the Institute of Education of the University of Ibadan: Emeritus Professor E. A. Yoloye and Professor Wole Falayajo. Prof. S. O. Ayodele, Dr. '3.A. Adegbile, Dr. J. G. Adewale. III UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY CONTENTS Chapter Title Page 1 Meaning of Evaluation 1 2 Kinds of Evaluation and Evaluation 12 Process 3 Statistics 22 4 Evaluation of Student Achievement 57 Tests 5 Evaluation Instruments 80 6 Continuous Assessment and 98 Evaluation 7 Curriculum Evaluation 112 8 Application of Computer to Data 126 Processing in Evaluation IV ,'f. \ UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY CHAPTER ONE MEANING OF EVALUATION Educators and evaluators have viewed evaluation in different ways. Some of the definitions have been considered to be shallow, ab- stract or ambiguous. The foregoing implies that evaluation is not easy to define apparently because of its complex nature. From all the available definitions, it is patent that the common area of agreement is the idea of ((judging merit" which is one of the hall- marks of evaluation. For our discussion to be clear and objective, let us consider a few definitions as offered by scholars. The first is that given by Tyler [1969]. According to him, evaluation - ' is seen as sirnplv as a process of measuring the success of teaching in terms of pupils' learning [products]. This is a definition given from the point of view of instruction or teaching, or more learn- edly, evaluation of teaching. And evaluation is more than teaching. Ezewu [1980] also. defines evaluation in terms of students' achievements. He sees it as a process of determining the extent to which learners have achieved. The term evaluation means more than measurement. It involves quantitative and qualitative descrip- tions of the learner behaviour and the value judgment with respect to the desirability of the students' behaviour. Yoloye [1971] opines that evaluation should be discussed opera:" tionally, basing it on the aspect one is evaluating. This explains why he alludes to the story of the six blind men of Hindustani, each giv- ing his own description of the elephant after exploring, with his hands, a specific part of the animal. Thus, it stands to reason that there is a lot more to evaluation than meets the eye. Another definition of evaluation worth considering is that given by Mervin C. Aikin [1970]. His definition appears to describe the whole process of evaluation. Evaluation, according to him, is lithe process of ascertaining the decisions to be made, selecting related informa- 1 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY tion and collecting and analysing information in order to report summary data, useful to decision makers in selecting among alter- natives". This is a detailed and objective definition. It is also clear from the definition that evaluation does not only involve decision making but helps us to make objective decisions. It, however, in- volves measurement and non-measurement descriptions of the learner's behaviour. The major distinction between Aikin's definition and those by other scholars is that he has viewed evaluation beyond a process of as- certaining the degree of learner's performance in a test or the ex- tent to which a teacher has attained the teaching objective. We can establish" from his definition, that evaluation helps the decision makers to take rational decisions through a formalized process consisting of 'data collection', 'data analysis' and 'preparation of summary reports'. Relationship between Education and Evaluation Just like evaluation, education has been defined in different ways. - Though both are philosophical concepts, education embraces evaluation. One of the major activities in education is evaluation. Take for instance, the evaluation of a teaching strategy or students' performance; this cannot be carried out in a vacuum. It has to be done in the teaching-learning environment where instructional objectives are set before the teacher and the learner with the aim of establishing the effectiveness of the teaching strategy. It is necessary to point out that education is a society's social insti- tution and because of this it is an element of culture. As cultures across countries are not identical, education, which is an element of culture, cannot be expected to be the same. The way the Athe- nians viewed education was quite different from the way the Spartans did. This implies that education is not the same in the dif- ferent societies of the world. A man who defines education as only through schools and colleges is seeing education in terms of school- ing; and this is very narrow. The two Greek.philosophers, Aristotle and Plato, define education as "moral and character development". 2 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY This definition is a total reflection of the needs of their society at that particular time. This is still a shallow way of viewing education because education is wider than moral and character development. Education is therefore the means by which an individual born into a human society learns the mores and ways of life of that society, and this includes knowledge, skills and values of the given society through the older members of the society. This learning is both consciously and unconsciously imparted, and it is acquired so that he can function successfully as an adult member of that society. This is quite all embracing. It stands to reason that education can be obtained from school, homes and other spheres of life. Since one of the activities in education is for the individual to learn the ways of life of the society, especially knowledge and skills, it is therefore necessary to evaluate the kind and amount of knowledge and skills acquired in order to establish their adequacy or other- wise. And if it is a more complex evaluation, such as the evaluation of any component of the 6-3-3-4 system of education, this kind of evaluation should be carried out within the school system. This is in order to establish whether the component should be abandoned or be improved upon. Thus, evaluation is seen within the realm of education as a complementary factor. In the teaching-learning process, evaluation plays a lot of roles. It clarifies the instructional objectives in such a way that they are stated in terms of specific behaviours since the goal of the teacher is behavioural change. Through the aid of evaluation, objectives are stated in a more achievable and measurable way and thus teacher's attention or focus becomes very sharp. Also, through the aid of evaluation, the needs of the learners are pre-assessed in line with the learning outcomes to be achieved. The learners that still do not possess the necessary skills then benefit from the informa- tion gathered from what evaluation processes. Evaluation and education are closely reldtcd in terms of providing quality control. This is patently so br-cause the teacher appraises 3 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY each step of the teaching-learning process, and as he does this, the) effectiveness of the process is established. For the tr-achor to ascertain the extent to which the learners have achieved the instructional objectives, the process of evaluation serves as a useful aid to do this. In order to do this effectively, achievement tests and other relevant evaluation instruments are designed to measure the intended learning outcomes. Also, in the teaching-learning process, evaluation contributes greatly towards the improvement of students' achievement in terms of providing feedbacks on students' performance and thus giving useful infor- mation on how the students' problems can be solved. It is notewor- thy that more reliable information could be obtained from well- d.-vrlopcd evaluation instruments. This kind of information could improve teachingand .Iearning tremendously in terms of helping to .mor aise the extent to-which instructions strategies and materials ,: t' appropriate. rhus far, efforts have been made in this chapter to show how much ev.iluation is related to education. It has been pointed out that evalua tion is very useful in appraising the educational effectiveness of the quality of teaching and instructional materials. It can be con- cluded that without evaluation, education is not complete. By im- plication, the amount of learning acquired cannot be said to have been sufficiently sound without evaluation of such acquired learn- ing. Relationship between Measurement, Assessment and Evaluation Many students, of evaluation have often used the terms assess- ment, measurement and evaluation interchangeably or inappropri- ately. This should explain why it is necessary to discuss these terms very clearly in this unit. It should be emphasized that the three terms are often used in the teaching-learning environment. These will be discussed in detail and objectively for the purpose of clarity. Let us consider the following hypothetical performance of a group of senior secondary students I in English Language. 4 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Ojo = 46 Andrew = 71 Erinmu = 61 Tunji = 63 Abdul = 63 Okoye = 53 Omoh = 55 Sarah = 70 Dayo = 33 Stella = 47 Bola = 63 Aliyu = 38 Ade = 51 Tobi = 56 Bade = 40 Bayo = 69 Boye = 48 Toye = 45 Thomas = 54 The scores shown above are students' perforrnance in English Lan- guage. We can see that the highest score is 71 while the lowest is 33. The teacher has administered the test on the students in order to measure and determine their performance based on the lessons he has taught during a specific length of time. So, each testee's score is a measure of his performance, a measure of the extent to which he has mastered what he was taught. What the teacher has 'done is translating qualitative information to quantitative informa- tion, and when we do this, we are measuring. In other words, measurement is the process of translating observations into num- bers. Measurement can thus be defined as the process of assigning numbers to human characteristics or attributes or that of objects or events based on certain rules or regulations. So, from the testee's scores indicated above, the characteristics of the learners were measured and not the learners themselves. For instance, the scores of Ojo, Stella, Thomas and Andrew, which are 46, 47, 54, and 71 respectively, are the measures of their performance in the English language test. And without this measure, it will be difficult to de- termine learners' performance. Apart from performance, other measurable attributes include achievement, weight, attitude, in- terest, etc. In the teaching-learning process, measurement is a very important activity expressing in quantitative terms the degree to which learners possess a characteristic. In the same vein, if a teacher decides to take the length and breadth of a classroom in order to determine the number of chairs anc lockers for such a class, he tries to establish the characteristics 5 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY possessed by the object [class]. in this case, the teacher has meas- ured the characteristics of the class and not the class itself. The foregoing implies that measurement is a descriptive process, that is expressed in quantitative terms. However, an evaluator is sup- posed to use a good evaluation instrument in order to have a reli- able measurement. For the purpose of clarity, an evaluation in- strument is the tool used to carry out an evaluation process. Exam- ples of these may include tests, rating scales, checklists, question- naires, etc. On. the other hand, an evaluator or a teacher after measuring the characteristics of the learner in a particular subject may want to know the status of such a student in the subject. In schools nowa- days, a combination of letter, number and descriptive adjective conversions is often used. This has often been used to establish the grade equivalent norm of the performance of the testees. The West African Examinations Council in its GCE examinations, adopts this method. Raw scores are converted into a nine-point scale as follows: Distinction = AI, Excellent = B2, B3 Credit = C4, C5, C6 Pass = 07, 08 Failure = F9 The raw scores, which correspond to these numbers, vary from year to year. So, on the basis of the foregoing, assessment could be referred to as the process of establishing the status of the perform- ance of an individual or group in a given task usually with reference to the expected outcomes. It should be very clear at this juncture that assessment is concerned with both quantitative and non- quantitative descriptions of objects or events. Measurement, as- sessment and evaluation do not mean the same thing. It has been pointed out earlier that measurement is limited' only to quantita- tive description of things. Hence, assessment unlike evaluation, does not mean judgment concerning the worth or value of the be- haviour being assessed. M hi 6 UNIVERSITY OF I ADAN LIBRARY A 'definite hierarchy is formed on the basis of the three terms with measurement forming the first step, assessment forming the sec- ond, while evaluation forms the last and highest. This is illustrated below: EVALUATION ASSESSMENT IIII1II1111II11111111111111111111111111111111111111I1111111111111111111!lilllllllllllllllllllll! MEASURE- MENT: With the raw scores given earlier on, if the teacher decides to im- prove on the performance of the testees by adopting a better teaching strategy in re-teaching the same group of students, and with these scores increasing, an assessment is being carried out. The ultimate goal of the teaching-learning process is to change the behaviour of the learner. And since a change has occurred as a re- sult of the teacher's re-teaching the topics or application of the teaching strategy, it is now up to the teacher to establish how much change has taken place. An attempt to ascertain this involves the process of 'assessment'. We should stress at this juncture that in the process of carrying out assessment some measurement is done while the process of evaluation involves carrying out some assessment procedures. General Principles of Education The process of evaluation involves some fundamental principles, which could be regarded as criteria for appraising the degree to which certain procedures or practices are effective. It is expected that, if the process of evaluation is ba~'edon sound principles, ef- fectiveness of such a process will be enhanced. 7 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY In the first place, for the process of evaluation to be effective, it is necessary to identify and delineate the entity to be evaluated. This has to do with the identification of instructional objectives, which is an intended outcome of a period of instruction. It is stated to show the behavioural and content dimension as well as performance level expected. It should be stressed that educational evaluative studies and other related exercises are carried out against the stated objectives of the educational process or programme. This is done mainly to determine the extent to which the programme has succeeded or failed. The foregoing implies that if there were no instructional objectives clearly stated earlier on, there would not have been any opportunity of having a standard against which we could establish the success or failure of the programme. Another fundamental principle is that the evaluation strategy adopted should be so effective that it can determine what we in- tend to know about the learner or programme. This implies that the purpose for which the evaluation technique is selected should be seriously considered. And it should be borne in mind that one of the major purposes of evaluation is to furnish information which will facilitate making decisions as to whether to continue, to adjust or to discard an on-going programme in the educational system. Therefore, if an effective evaluation strategy is adopted, an at- tempt at making an objective decision in respect of an evaluation process or programme will be enhanced. For an effective evaluation to be carried out, it is very important to determine the type of data we should collect. This is to enable the evaluator to decide how to go about the analysis of such data and the statistical tool to be adopted. It is quite absurd if the data col- lected are not relevant to what the evaluator is doing. And as long as the type of data is determined, the whole work becomes straightforward; the findings are reliable and useful to the decision makers. One of the duties of evaluators is to give. a description of the research findings and make necessary inferences from the data collected. This explains why an evaluator needs to have a sound 8 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY knowledge of statistical techniques, and thus he will be able to re- port effectively. An evaluator has to consider the principles of determining the indi- viduals or groups of people from whom data will be collected or obtained. Data that are supposed to be collected from secondary school students should not be collected from university under- graduate students. Data should be collected from the appropriate group of people in order to get appropriate findings. Data collected from market women (lre definitely going to be different from those collected from nurses in clinics. The way and manner people re- spond to questions or items in a questionnaire may somehow be different. The information supplied varies from people to people and this is why a careful attempt must be made at deciding on who should furnish information on a particular research work. And since evaluation is a process of gathering information in order to aid de- cision-rnaklng jt is necessary to decide objectively on the type of people from whom data will be collected. Evaluators should also bear in mind that evaluation techniques have their weaknesses and strengths. Errors may arise in the area of sampling or in the process of using it or in the wrong interpreta- tion of the results from such techniques. So, if an evaluator is aware of this inadequacy he will be in a better position to use it differently by constructing them in such a w·aythat the findings will not be faulty. Programme or comprehensive evaluation involves the use of dif- ferent evaluation techniques such as testing, observational tech- niques, socio-metric techniques, etc. Only one evaluation tech- nique cannot effectively do what the evaluator really wants in a comprehensive evaluation. As a matter of fact, it is not easy for a teacher to achieve all the instructional outcomes with a single evaluation technique. Thus, it is very important that an evaluator has at his fingertips the use of different evaluation techniques. This is also a very important evaluation principle. 9 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Concerns of Evaluation Evaluation has a lot of concerns, and the following are of para- mount importance in this respect: a. Evaluation is concerned with clarifying the instructional objectives. It serves as an effective method of clarifying in- structional objectives when they appear to be ambiguous. This is done in terms of the desired learning outcomes. In order for the behaviour of learners to be appropriately appraised by the evaluation technique, it is necessary that the teacher should state his instructional objectives for each lesson in an achievable or measurably manner. When the instructional objectives are well clarified and stated in behavioural ways, the teacher should then be in a better position to follow the teaching process appropriately and .. also provide enough opportunity for an effective evalua-;,- ' tion ofth~ le;arning outcomes. It stands to reason that if teaching objectives are not well clarified, there may be some problems in achieving the desired learning out- comes. b. -Ihe clarification of instructional objectives, which we have mentioned above, is not the only concern of evaluation but also how to determine the extent to which the instruc- tional objectives have been achieved is another primary concern. One of the ways of establishing this is by using tests or any other evaluation instrument. This evaluation instrument is expected to provide relevant data in respect of the learners' behaviour since this is specified in the in- structional objectives. c. Evaluation is concerned with the appraisal of the effec- tiveness of the instructional materials used by the teacher during the teaching-learning process. Since it is necessary for the teacher to decide on what materials to use as well in the strategy to adopt, it is the evaluation process that helps in taking such decisions so as to establish the effec- tiveness of the learning outcomes. 10 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY d. Evaluation is also concerned with the quality control in the teaching-learning process. This implies that the teacher is expected to find out at each stage, whether his method of teaching is effective or not, whether the teaching materi- als are appropriate or not. He is also expected to deter- mine whether to make some changes in the methods adopted or in the instructional materials used. This is very essential because quality is one of the major yardsticks for measuring the achievement of the expected learning out- comes by the learners. e. It is the concern ofevaluation to furnish the teachers, par- ents, guardians, curriculum developers and policy makers with students' results or progress reports. These reports could be useful for administrative purposes. They guide the learner in taking rational or objective decisions in the areas of admission, the choice of a vocation, and in tack- ling their personal life problems. This should explain why testing, one of the evaluation techniques, plays a very im- portant role in this regard. f. It is clear from tbe points made in (e) above that it is also the concern of evaluation to contribute towards the im- provement of student performance by providing useful in- formation on how students can solve their learning prob- lems and giving relevant and adequate feedback on stu- dents' performance. The foregoing is highly essential in order to achieve the expected learning outcomes. 11 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY CHAPTER TWO KINDS OF EVALUATION AND EVALUATION PROCESS It should be affirmed that the evaluation procedures adopted are determined by the evaluation techniques used. So, each evaluation procedure is based on the purpose for which evaluatio~ is being carried out. This should explain why there are various kinds of evaluation. Let us consider the following, which are very significant in the teaching-learning process. Test and Testing We would first direct our attention on the terms 'tests' and 'testing' to enable us understand the subtle differences be- tween them, a~nd to make clear the functions of tests in the classroom instruction and types of tests. When the word test is used as a verb, it is synonymous with the word examine for when you test, you are in fact examin- ing a testee. The obvious purpose of this is to get responses from the testee. So, the tests which the teacher gives his learners could be regarded as 'stimuli' while the answers of- fered by the testees are called the 'responses'. The responses given mayor may not be correct. If they are correct, it clearly shows that the testee has learnt what he is expected to learn. If the responses are incorrect, then the testee has not sufficiently learnt what is expected of him. The foregoing implies that 'test' is an instrument. So, the items we print, type or handwrite is administered toa group of students at the end of a unit of a course or end of the 12 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY course as a whole. If, for example, a group of JSS1 students are taught the pronunciation of certain English words for a period of time, the teacher might be interested in the follow- mg: I. How many students were able to pronounce the words correctly? II. Who, specifically by name, can pronounce each of the words correctly? III. Who, specifically by name, cannot pronounce the words correctly? In order to obtain detailed information about these, the teacher needs a test, as an instrument for measuring how correctly the students have grasped the pronunciation of the words. So; a classroom achievement test could be defined as follows: A means or instrument for measuring how much learners have learnt what they were ex- pected to learn, who are those that have learnt them and who are those that have not. Testing, on the other hand, is a process or procedure. In other words, testing is a procedure for carrying out a test. It is a process of administering the test constructed by the teacher. So, the difference between 'test' and 'testing' should by now be clear: that a 'test' is an instrument while 'testing' is a procedure. It is a procedure for administering the test on the testees to elicit the desired information from them. 13 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Context Evaluation Some evaluators believe that this kind of evaluation is diag- nostic in nature. It tells us how to carry out the diagnosis of a particular programme. Context evaluation provides informa- tion on the state of the art. In this kind of eva luation, it is possible to carry out a state of the art on input, process and/or output parts of the programme. For instance, an evaluator could embark on the context evaluation of a state unity school. He may want to consider what is being done in the school or what makes it a unity school. In this way, the evaluator is providing information on the state of the art. In the 6-3-3-4 system of education, a context evaluation of the JSSaspect of _tb~ system could be carried out to deter- mine how it is being run or to establish its worth. If it is done like this, then a diagnostic evaluation is being carried out. JAMB is another good example here. An evaluator may want to look at the context and provide information on the state of the art. This kind of eva~luation deals broadly with the edu- cational system. Input Evaluation This is another kind of evaluation where input variables are seriously considered and their effects or impacts on the pro- gramme are measured. There are different input variables out of which we may have books, students, teachers, admin- istrators and other facilities. If for instance there are large classes, there mav be a problem. This may seriously affect the teachtng-teaming process. When there are large classes, teaching effectiveness might be seriously affected - marking of scripts is not thoroughly done, students may not. have a 14 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY detailed feedback and the teacher eventually finds it difficult to cope in the classroom. If an evaluator decides to do an input evaluation of the JSS programme in the 6-3-3-4 educational system, he is going to consider the quality of students admitted and the effects of other facilities on the programme. Process Evaluation Process evaluation concentrates very much on the question, "How?J1, that is, how things are being done. To put it in our present context, how a programme is being run. An evaluator may want to consider such variables as school and schooling. He may want to know how much of schooling there is. He maybe interested in continuous assessment as a process, that is, how it is organised in schools. The aspect of training of teachers or lecturers could be con- sidered. The evaluator may want to ascertain how they are trained. He may want to know the number of teachers, books, items of furniture. Are the facilities adequate or in- adequate for the programme? When all these are done, then, process evaluation is being carried out. Product Evaluation As the name implies, this refers to the product of an evalua- tion programme. let us consider the International Centre for Educational Evaluation [IeEE] of the University of Ibadan. The primary concern-is what an evaluator does after training and not what he does on training. An evaluator may decide to evaluate the products. 15 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Primary or secondary school leavers may even be evaluated. Such questions as - 'How do they perform after training?' 'What are their contributions after training?' 'Are they worthwhile contributions?' etc. - could be attempted in this regard. Issues such as their impact on the society may be considered. If this is done, then we are in the realm of prod- uct-impact evaluation, which is otherwise known as product evaluation. Formative Evaluation In the formative evaluation, all mistakes are corrected as the programme is going on. It is the type of evaluatlon. which guides the implementation of a programme. For this kind of programme ~Q. succeed, there must be input corrective --. . I.- .••• measures. The primary aim of the formative evaluation is to obtain evidence about the worth or adequacy of a pro- gramme while it is in progress. In the 6~3~3-4educational sys- tem, terminal and promotion exams are a v~ry good example of the formative evaluation. The continuous assessment also plays a very important role in this regard. Formative evaluation also identifies strengths and weak- nesses of a programme. It also gives a feedback about lndl- viduals and the extent to which each unit or chapter is mas" teredo It is now apparent that the kind of feedback in this kind of evaluation is geared towards teachers and principal or headmaster since learning and teaching weaknesses iden- tified are corrected within the school system. Yet another important aspect of this kind of evaluation is flexibility. In other words, one.should be ready to change for the better so that the programme can succeed. 16 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY summative Evaluation summative evaluation is carried out when the programme has been completed. It aims at collecting evidence in order to judge the worth or adequacy of the whole programme or learning process. In the school, summative evaluation is usu- ally done' at the end of a lesson, a term, a semester or a year. Feedback from this kind of evaluation often shows the extent to which the general instructional outcomes are achieved. Examples of summative evaluation include the final senior secondary schoof certificate examination, or general certifi- cate of education, semester and final degree examinations in higher institutions of learning. It should be pointed out that the mastery errors, which a summative evaluation identifies, ...:do not increase-the grade of a student but may provide a sort of self-satisfaction. Generally speaking, students, teachers, guidance counsellors, university or college admissions offi- cers make use of the summative evaluation results. Goal-free Evaluation This kind of evaluation does not suggest that there are no goals. It refers to the fact that there are side effects or, to put it learnedly, that there are unintended goals. At times, the unintended goals become important enough to drastically affect the programme. Take for instance, we may be training a group of students and it is discovered that one of them is a robber. Attention will now be focused on the student who has become a social misfit in terms of looking for ways of re- forming him or nipping such a case in the bud. This implies that there is a goal but that there are some side effects, and the side effects form the goal of the programme. 17 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Evaluation Process Evaluation is a continuous process,which underlies all good teaching and learning. The role of evaluation in many facets of the school programme cannot be over-stressed. It does not only contribute to the teaching arid learning processused in the classroom, but also to marking and reporting, pro- grammed instruction, school research programmes and cur- riculum development. The principal features of the evalua- tion processare discussedbelow. a. Identification of the entity to be evaluated The entity to be evaluated should be well identified and delineated. In the school programme, an evaluator may , {'-.C,wqntJo,cqn. sip~,e,~te<:IchAernsd..on this, the major fact.ors",? '. ' . .' . . worth consideringabout the teacher include their train- ing, knowledge, classroom management acumen, inter- personal relations and professional ethics. Other groups of people that may be evaluated are learners, adminis- trators, membersof the community, and others. b. Determining the type of data to be collected On the basis of the meaning"or definition, which has been given in this book, it is clear that evaluation re- quires some kind of data collection. The design of the evaluationstudy depends largely on the conditions under which the data are collected. The quantity and adequacy of the .data collected can be judged by the extent to which the results of the data are interpretable and gen- eralisable. When people are subjected to experimental treatment, the kind of data we collect here can be described as straightforward experimental data. Some variables are manipulated here while their effects on other variables 18 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY are observed. This is usually the effect of independent variables on dependent variables. When, however, the information is already available and which does not in- volve manipulation of variables, the kind of data we col- lect can be described as quasi-experimental. c. Collating the Oata Another important step in an evaluation exercise is the collation of data that have been collected. It should be pointed out that the data collected in an evaluation ex- ercise have to be organised in order to make them read- ily usable and accessible. In a small scale evaluation ex- ercise, the problem of data collation is not usually enormous. This implies that as the size of the evaluation increases so do the problems of data collation. In whichever way the data have been collected, they have to be collated or prepared to 'ensure good quality data sets and efficient data analysis. After the datahave been collected in the field, it is the duty of the field staff or the persons administering the test to collate them. This will prevent the possibility of returning incomplete data and the consequent waste of time. d. AnqlySing the data The guiding principle of analysing the data is that the type of analysis is entirely dictated by the kind of ques- tions an evaluator is asking. The questions asked can be categorised broadly into three, viz: I. There is 'What' type of questions. This is also called descriptive type of questions. The aim of an evalua- tor here is to describe the situation as it is. II. An evaluator can ask questions about relationships between variables. For example, such question as 'What is the relationship between-age of school and 19 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY performance of the students?' Also, in this category, we use one kind of variable to predict another kind of variable. III. The third category has to do with questions of find- ing out the effect of one variable on another vari- able. For example, an evaluator may want to con- sider the effect of teaching style on students' achievement. The kind of question an evaluator is dealing with will dictate the kind of statistical analysis he should \ . adopt. e. Interpreting the data This is the process of giving meanings to the data eel- , ..lected.There are different ways in which results can be . interpreted .. They can be interpreted in terms of the types of tasks that can be performed. This is otherwise called criterion reference. They can also be interpreted in terms of the relative position held in some reference groups. This is known as norm reference. It should be pointed out that both types of interpretations are useful. The criterion reference describes what a person can do, and the second describes how his performance compares to that of others. It should be noted that interpreting data with the .aid of norms requires an understanding of the various methods of expressing test scores and a clear understanding of the nature of the norm group. f. Communicating It is generally believed that if instructional objectives have been well defined in behavioural terms, and evalua- tion procedures have been effectively applied, the task of reporting the data collected is greatly simplified. 20 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY In this unit, it is mandatory to discuss school marks and other reports of pupils' progress. This is obviously because they serve a variety of specific functions in the school. However, it is better to describe these in relation to the users of the reports. They include pupils and parents, teachers, counsellors and administrators, It is necessary to report to pupils and parents so as to facilitate the learning and development of pupils. The specific functions to be served are the same as those of the general evaluation programme, Marks and progress reports also contribute to the instructional and guidance programme of the school by providing much information about pupils. These reports. supplement and complement test scores and other evaluative data. Marks and progress reports also serve a number of admin- istrative functions. In administration, they are used for de- termining promotion. Finally, it should be pointed out that an effective system of reporting would provide the type of information needed by the users of the reports. It also makes it possible for the report to be presented in a clearly understandable form, 21 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY CHAPTER THREE STATISTICS Definition of Statistics Statistics is the study of gathering or collection of data or in- formation, analvsing the data and drawing inferences or con- clusions from the data. The needs for statistics are as follows: I. To acquire the technique of data collection. II. To understand statistical procedures or methods for analysing our data, e.g. X2, Z-score and T- statistics. iii. To acquire the competency for carrying out or plan- ning research. The man who introduced statistics was William S. Gosset, who introduced standard error of the mean in sampling. The theory of probability was also introduced to deduce the chance or opportunity for success or failure. The two general fields of statistics based on the use are de- scriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Descriptive Statistics: This is the statistics used to describe the characteristics of a group. It deals with determination of the mean or average characteristics of a group, e.g. age, weight, height, etc. There are other descriptive nW<1S11relSike the mode, mean and median, standard deviation, nunimum, maximum, etc., which could be used based on the need. ; QUa!tCl:Ml1i F 22 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Inferential Statistics: This deals with making deductions or inferences based on the values from a sample, rather than the population provided the sample is representative of the population. Common Terms, Symbols and Concepts in Statistics SYMBOLS a. 2: = Sigma = sum of b. x = Mean of sample c. Ii Mean of population d. Sx - Standard deviation of sample i .e. 8x Standard deviation of population ,j f. Md= Median I g. Mo= Mode I h. . f Frequency;! l. . 2:f - N = number of groupf I i J. 2:fx = Sum of product of f and x f, k. (2:fx) 2= Sum of sq of the product of f and x ! ! 1. 2:fx2 - Sum of the product of f and x where x = variable J J and f = frequency ! I Terms I Population; A population is the large group that possesses or 1 contains all the elements that have the common characteris- i tics. This is the group on which the inferences are general- f ised. Sample: Elements or members in the sample possess the same characteristics with the population but the differences are in the size (i.e. sample < population). 23 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Parameter and Statistics: An index or measure described in the population is known as parameter, e.g. ~ = mean of population. And indices or measures for the sample are called statistics, e.g. x and Sx Variables and Constants A variable is the characteristic of a sample that can take dif- ferent values at any particular time, e.g. age, performance, teaching methods. A constant is the characteristic of a sam- ple that is fixed in a particular situation, e.g. if all the samples come from a school or a city, then school or city is the con- stant. Types of Variables There are (a) Discrete and (b) Continuous variables. a. Discrete Variables are those that can take a definite or fixed value, e.g. the number of children in a family, the number of books on a shelf, etc. They are also known as discontinuous variables. b. Continuous Variables are variables like height, size or weight, which can take different values at any par- ticular time. This is because between any consecutive points on the scale, there can be an infinite number of possible values. Although height for example is a continuous variable, we can change this into a dis- crete form by limiting the number of values between 2 consecutive points, e.g. height correct to one deci- mal place; it can take infinitesimal values. Scales of Measurement The assignment of number of values to the variables being measured, e.g. weight = 45kg, implies that a number 45kg has been assigned as the weight. 24 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY There are various ways in which we assign number to the variable. In some cases,we simply classify while in others we arrange in order of size. There are different ways or scales of measurement. These are nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio. Nominal Scale: In a football match, players wear jerseys with different numbers [usually 1 to 11]. A player wearing jersey number 1 does not indicate that he is the best or the worst in the team. Hence, we use nominal scale for identification. We often categorise and make frequency counts on the group, e.g. categorising male and female asM and F,or 1 and 2. Ordinal Scale: Here, the order or arrangement is important, i.e. from highest to the lowest, or the lowest to the highest. Consider the following example: Average Scores: 76.5 1 76.3 2 73.0 3 71.0 4 64.0 5 It is done by ranking. It has no equal interval. In ordinal scale of measurement, we have ranks to indicate positions, which do not give any information about distance/interval between points on the scale. Interval Scale: The differences between successive points are equal. Hence, they have equal intervals and are called inter- val scale. For example, the difference between 10 cm and 15 cm in a ruler is 5 cm. This is possible due to the fact that equal intervals are used in the measurement. There is no ab- solute zero point. 25 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Ratio Scale: This scale has all the quantities such as absolute zero and equal intervals. For example, in thermometer the absolute zero is 273 Kelvin. This makes comparison between points in the scale possible and valid. ORGANISATION OF DATA Frequency: A teacher scores a test given to a class and forms a mark list according to alphabetical order of names. The fol- lowing table illustrates this. Table 3.1: Students' Scores NAME SCORE NAME SCORE Adeola 84 Fassy 82 Ayobami 80 Ganddy 62 BenD 68 Gabby 87 Benga 87 tyke 85 Benjey 86 Joe 86 Bennedy 70 Lawandi 61 Chistry 79 Lizzy 86 Dolapo 90 Nan 71 Dasola 67 Paul 78 Eli 80 Qudari 86 a. To identify the overall group performance. b. Organising data enables one to identify an individ- ual's performance in relation to the group perform- ance. c. To create order in the scores. 26 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Method of Organising Data a. Arrange the scores from the highest to the lowest. 90 86 80 70 87 86 80 68 87 85 79 67 86 84 78 62 86 82 71 61 Next, we count the number of times each score appears in the array of scores using tallying method. Table 3.2: Simple Frequency Distribution table (ungrouped data) . ."~,' -:...• SCORE FREQ SCORE FREQ 90 1 78 1 87 2 71 1 86 4 -~29_,_,_+-1__ -i 8852'---1"1IIi . 68 162-" --·1'--- L;--=T ~.i-.---L~_i6L-1~ j Let us now consider the ages of 30 students in a classroom from a frequency table in the data. The ages are: 13, 13, 14, 12, 15, 13, 12, 13, 13, 16, 13, 12, 14, 14, 15, 14, 16,12,13,13,12,14,13,14, 15,14} 15,16, 15. 27 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Table 3.3: The Frequency Distribution (ungrouped data) Ages Tally Frequency Cumulative Freq 16 /// 3 30 15 1//// .-' 5 27 14 ///1/ /1 7 22 13 IIII IIII 1/ 10 15 12 IIIII 5 ~-- This is used when the range is narrow. Grouped Frequency Distribution When the number of terms in a distribution is large and the range is wide, we need to apply grouping rather than just simple frequency count . . Use a class width of 3 and form a frequency distribution. 76 77 65 70 69 60 68 72 69 72 68 67 73 63 80 68 74 75 71 73 ----- --- 65 64 81 77 76 64 72 73 67 75 71 78 66 78 63 68 76 71~ 72 74 1--- 70 67 67 71 68 72 75 73 i 74 75 Procedure: • We subtract the lowest score from the highest score. • We try to divide the lowest by the class size. If it di- vides, we use the lowest as the starting point but if not, we use a number closer but lower than the low- est which is divisible by the class size or width. 28 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY In this example, the class width is 3. Then, we try to di- vide the lowest score 60 by 3. It is perfectly divisible, without a reminder, hence, we start to group from 60 and add 2 so that the interval will now be 3, e.g. 60 - 62, the interval is 3 but the difference is 2. Table 3.4: Frequency Distribution Table Class Tally Frequency Cum Freq 81- 83 I 1 50 78 - 80 III 3 49 75 -77 IIIII IIII 9 46 72 -74 IIIII IIIII II 12 37 69 -71 IIIII III 8 25 66 - 68 IIIII IIIII 10 17 63 - 65 IIIIII 6 7 60 - 62 I 1 1 Terms a. Limits of the class - This is the first and the last terms in each class.We have lower and upper limits, e.g. 60 - 62 c.ated limits but 59.5 - 62.5 real limits. b. Mid-point of a class - This is mid-way score in a class. E.g. 67-69 midpoint = 67 + 69..;-2 = 136..;-2 = 68 Note: the range in the distribution influences a class width. We use the stated limits in determining the frequency distributions whereas we use the reallim- its for calculations. 29 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Graphs Graph is a diagrammatic representation of data. It becomes much easier for some people to interpret information from graphs than from tables. Data could be represented in any of the followings: a. Pie chart b. Simple bar or line chart c. Multiple bar chart d. Histogram e. Frequency polygon. Pie Chart This .is. a cirde that is folded when it has represented an item In a given list. . Example: The followings are the Nigeria's exports for a given year. Table 3.5: Nigeria's Exports for a Particular Year Export Commodi- Weight in metric Degrees in a circle ties tonnes Palm product 264 132.00 Groundnut 251 125.50 Cocoa 20 10.00 Hide 105 52.50 Rubber 5 2.50 Others 75 37.50 Total 720 360.00 30 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY ~. Formula: Q = Number of each item X 3600 Number of Total item e.g. for palm product, Q = 264 X 3600 720 Export Products D Palm Product iiiGroundnut o Cocoa DHide DRubber •• Others Fig 3.1: Pie chart of Nigerian Export Commodities The Pie Chart is used to illustrate a discrete form of data; hence it is used in a nominal scale. Simple Bar Chart also is used a nominal scale since it is independ- ent of each variable. The commodity or scores or class in Table 3.5 is on the horizontal axis while frequencies are on the vertical axis. Again, we require consistency, there must be equal spacing and drawn to scale. A graph sheet is needed. Using Table 3.5 for the pie chart above, we can draw a simple bar chart, as shown in the fol- lowing example. S 7 31 , '. UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 300 250 200 150 100 50 o • I I Table 3.2: Simple Bar Chart of Nigerian Export Commodities We can also draw it with the bars being horizontal. This is done by simply tilting the chart through angle 90 in a clockwise direction as shown in the next figure. Others Rubber • Hide Cocoa Groundnut - Palm Products a 50 100 150 200 250 300 Figure 3.3: Simple Bar Chart of Nigerian Export Commodities 32 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Multiple Bar Chart In this case, we allow for comparison. So, when we have more than one item on our bar chart we need a multiple bar chart, it is used to compare different distribution at different times. We can therefore consider the Table 3.6. It shows the Nigeria's export crops for the different years from 1986to 1988. Table 3.6: Weights of products in metric tonnes 1986 1987 1988 Palm Product 264,000 250,000 275,000 Groundnut 250,000 132,000 150,000 Cocoa 20,000 200,000 50,000 .- - Hide.i. 5,000 80,000 200,000 Rubber 105,000 100,000 200,000 Others 75,000 100,000 200,000 The table is illustrated with Fig 3.4. 300,000 250,000 200,000; 150,000 100,000 .1986 50,000 mJ 1987 a .1988 Fig. 3.4: Multiple Bar Chart of Nig. Export Commodities 1986-88 33 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Histograms Histograms are also bar charts but no space is left between bars thereby showing the continuity of data. Histograms are constructed with data having interval sales. Display the data below using histogram Table 3.7: Scores of Students in Mathematics Scores Frequency Scores Frequency 89.59090.5 1 83.58484.5 2 88.58989.5 2 92.58383.5 2 87.58888.5 2 81.58282.5 1 88.58787.5 1 80.58181.53 3 85.58685.5 1 99.58080.5 1 84.58585.5 0 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 I I Fig. 3.5: Histogram of Students' Scores in Mathematics. 34 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY Frequency polygon Frequency polygon can be shown on a drawn histogram. Consider the scores obtained by a group of students displayed in Table 3.8 25 20 15 ~. :,.;,;- .i ,"J •.~• ~.. .. i i.:' -. ~ :; ,:.r- \i .:.-: ~..~.~-;:'.;:~_~ through a process of testing, Think of the ,{o.urig~appre6.tr~eJight from the day he 'dke's up the"~oc:~tlo~"'HI5'n;ast~r~\~p~~tdhim t~ watch every movement hemakes onthe job, and then'~~pg~f$' him ';(' ,.... <:'>.»: ,:.;'~¥ ... :.: .': :.-.~./~!'. c~·~ ('/',:'"1 ".l.·:'l''" ,:'\ .~- ,-\-~.':;':-\ ~ ::. ,': to imitate him. rTHe !o'riger"the ap~:'-reiitrce stays 'on "the j.obL the more tasks he is expected to be able to handle, and\fhe\'Ys ..~:tom- petent learner, he soon is able to undertake tasks on his own. At each stage, his master keeps him under watch and each time he strays off from the expected path, he is promptly corrected. This UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY way, continuous assessment goes on. A constant examination of some sort is progressively on. This is the very reason why some learners are 'freed' at exactly the expected duration of the course whereas some others are not so favoured; they are told they have not sufficiently mastered the vocation to warrant being 'freed' and a few more years are added to their period of apprenticeship. The point being made above is simple: assessment is necessary, even in the most mundane task a human being undertakes, and even more so is continuous assessment. In academics, continuous assessment is even more essential. In the next sections, we spell out what continuous assessment really is, what makes it slightly different from other forms of evaluation, and why it is necessary. What is continuous assessment? .. The.term: continuous assessment might connote the idea that an action is going on all the time, that there is no breathing space to do any other thing, and that all that matters is the assessment. Af- ter all, the Pocket Oxford Dictionary defines continuous thus: ...uninterrupted, connected throughout, in space or time ... This is the sense in which some educators have suggested that a better term might have been continual assessment. The dictionary definition of continual reads thus: ...constantly or frequently recurring, always happening ... Happily the same dictionary explains: Continual is often confused with continuous. Continual is used of something that happens very frequently (e.g. there were continual interruptions), while continuous is used of something that happens without a pause (e.g. continuous rain all day). 99 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY These distinctions notwithstanding, the fact is that in educational circles, the specific term continuous assessment is used. We go back for the final time to spell out what this term means: ... (regular) evaluation of a pupil's progress throughout a course of study. With that, we should accept that the terminology is not a blatant anomaly. This is even more acceptable if it is remembered that the teacher does not have to use tests all the time to assess his learn- ers, that a good teacher can 'feel' the mood of the class and thereby assess whether or not they are learning what he is teach- ing, we might accept that assessment is going on all the time as the teaching is progressing. Besides, the good t~acher uses occasional short, impromptu quiz- zes, vyh,ic~. can, sufficientlv elicit sufficiently reliable information' .t" :-abo'i.Jtt'he'leveY of the learners' mastery of the subject matter. So, in a way, describing assessment as continuous might not be totally wrong. However, continuous assessment entails much more than what we have described above. A formal description of the term would es- tablish it as involving all the performances of a learner during the duration of the whole of his course, and in all the areas of learning [i.e. cognitive, affective and psychomotor]. This is indeed the im- port of the Federal Ministry of Education's [1979] definition of the term, thus: Continuous assessment is a method of ascertaining what a pupil gains from schooling in terms of know/edge, skills, industry, and character development, taking account of all his/her performances in tests, assignments, projects and other school activities during a given schoo/ period [term, year or entire period of educational/eve/]. The same source goes further to stress that continuous assessment is a method of using the recorded performances of each learner to help him/her improve on his/her achievements through individual 100 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY guidance, while it also enables the teacher improve his/her teach- ing by identifying and remedying areas of difficulties in the learn- ers' performances. Main Features and Characteristics The main features and major strengths of an assessment procedure such as has been spelt out above can be more elaborately outlined thus: . a. It is systematic in the sense that a clearly defined proce- dure is followed in settling and administering the tests, much especially because the various units [or different doses] of the tests are so carefully designed to ensure that each one takes cognisance of those coming before and those coming after it. Besides, under this system, the test would not 'happen by chance', since all assessment units must have been pre-planned as integral parts of the course of work for the period [term, semester, or session]. b. It is objective in that the weaknesses of the 'one shot' sys- tem of examination are reduced to the barest minimum since the teacher himself learns from the weaknesses of earlier exercises and improves in setting and marking sub- sequent units, thus ensuring that the assessment proce- dures are, on the whole, fair to all. [Objectivity, as a term, is used to imply 'fairness'. In the present context, it is not used in the usual sense in which one and only one of the provided alternative answers is correct. Rather, objectivity has been used here to imply utmost reduction of discrep- ancies in setting and marking, and optimum areas of cov- erage, all of which ensure fairness to all candidates]. c. It is cumulative in that the results are compiled over a long \ period of time, all such results being combined to define the learners' progress. d. It is comprehensive in the sense that all the various units of the tests, taken together, would cover all the different facets of the teaching done during the period in question [term, semester or session], in a manner which no 'single 101 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY shot' examination exercise can do. This is especially so when different examination procedures are used, e.g. the essay type, the multiple-choice type, the oral interview, etc. e. It is guidance-oriented in that the tests lead to results, which the teacher can use to guide the learner's activities, help the weaker ones, and structure the energies of the stronger ones. f. It makes the teacher more effective in contributing to the decisions leading to the award of the final certificate than would have been the case under a different assessment process. For instance, under the terminal and periodic as- sessment systems, apart from preparing his/her students for the certificate examination, the classroom teacher has _ I no _saywhatever in the decisions concerning the award of. . ••• _ oJ._ the-certificate. Under-the continuous assessment practice, however, since a substantial part of the final grade would corne from the cumulative school record, the class teacher has an influence in decisions concerning the award of the certificate, a privilege he hitherto did not enjoy. g. It makes both the teacher and the taught more diligent in the sense that while teachers must constantly assess, award grades, and try to improve on their own perform- ances, the learners similarly would invariably find them- selves constantly on their toes if they are to keep on per- forming satisfactorily in the frequently administered tests. Demands of Continuous Assessment on the Teacher From the foregoing sections, it should be clear by now that the practice of continuous assessment invariably places a much heavier demand on the class teacher. Although these demands might vary from subject to subject, there are very many common areas of de- mands; and these we discuss in the following paragraphs. In the first place, a teacher operating this system has to go on up- dating learners' scores and in this way maintain an up-to-date pic- ture of the rate of improvement of the learners. 102 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY 5ec0'ndly;:a 'ton5eqbence-'ofthelasf-pbint isthatthe' teacher would fino hirnselflkeeping;'a>fec6rd,:of learnersvperformances. This re- cord has to be updated from day to day. So, he: must cultivate a QCl q.j/:,.-qf)::?:.:.','~,'i;:~:::<':',";<' " " '. ' ThrrdtV/fh&:t~acherhas't6 -cbhttn'tlotJsly'{ipdate hfsteaching tech- nfq'&€S1 procedures,,: m:ateriar$;~aritPdb]ettives in liriewith' the per- fdrm'~hd~s':o'f.'t-frsr:e'arn':~rs~'teacrfing'refled:sAe5ting,and: viceversa. IVor-re'ha'5ot!EPasSess::le~i'r-n~rs~8H'cr:regt:ila:rb"asis: it stands to reason ttlai:;cme'ha-$.~10'6e\~p'aria"dOing en bne-'s teaching: This is one of the n'i'bstJfmifbrt8'nt' d:~'mand~2df':tt1eLt6'HtinuoUs:asse'ssment· practice, b(eta:ii5~'tKe;m'cfil-Fe'ss'ente ofitl1e;'~rnctrd~!~tieSgenerate the' next Elil~ti';dft;eathlngS-ffb'ff{'tlte:!I~illin;er'sr'fperfbrmance 'in~ tf-le~fast' 'one. Ea6n ri~t~'pUnit::6r{eaciiirig rtn}~t'lJe d6s"e"F-gUidecdby theinfcrrna- :', ,-' ti(:)lPg'atfjered1~ft6fu';.ffiieqast)~~s'essm'e'nf~x~rd5e:' We wfIF haveto eXpaW:ite}fd'ttlh~r=ofyftnr§ih~the':p'~frag:rapns'fdWowirtih-ge-next.' , d··}E~7t<:.), ~'{j~)CiUd!1~;:~d:J6;':JJ~~2·ti1l::~L~.\:·~:~··;~'·;C';.;; ~.. .>, .. : ,",J,. ~._: .::: . ~Riy:r9~\Y·~! Bhb~Yltq!l?9,~~·~};6~~f¥!IXj/;i~s,~~r,~h_~,t~;<;I:ch,!~,~!e~r~}~gl tg~tig&i;pm!t,~d":I!fJtj.D.~. -,...j..~••.J.l,S• ..bf'\9,':lV~Y,JJ;wt,~th~ .p. re~su r~9P Iearners is••....•]•} t:.~r _" '.' ! - " ~.. ~- .1'. -'." .••• ,'., ,J '.:" ..".... • •. •. '. .' • - • , ~~s~.Q.,,9~-;C,o,lf?!q~r,9PN;AS\:P9~?jb!~:,.lfpj:rtonceedureis not carefully ~. .•.~..(•:.1 •.. ~"i....... '~. ,,' ,. .. " i~' ~ "..l' I.. ".'~ ~ .• I _'" _,' ,'," ••.. , ~ '_" " ~. • .•. _. • . f 'J, - "." d2~~.i~9i~ELa~jhffiE!~k=~f~tJ1,P1LP.~.;9t;~i\iR?:'iiJ~l~~tYp.9;1 ~?w:,t~~!g~phasis ~~ij~h!f~'rli9~rJR~E~?tfqp"i;~~,{!O"j~nEf~i~~9p~<:"~LI~~jfl~Ji:~rnrjgr~ make the lear.wr;~~u~f1t_~tWQj~:N~n ~n~b~~~~m~h~,f:q!Sy~i9!~H~~ l really learning much. It is the teacher's task to make the learners sf!e itHe::as~e{~fenhi f ':p'rac~€fdr':~:85~aHinte'gra I:ipart of :the; 'teach ing afH:I f;ltatGthe:'festft1g-'jr~Jirl'Cfeetodne ~bfftreiJa~eriue's f6r"hefping and gurdtng'fhem. < .. ;,' ,,' ,---' ' ", , 1 i , -- :-- , ': :;" ' . Im8~(cq'lqrr~°.I1E'l:~qr.and.~YFJi~~{F}!qi'-l!/~f',-", ,,'," ,,' @f.fe>w~aY:fofu~firiie~ingjtli#Wp~s'oftu#kMumthat there-are; isbv aes(riblngamf-'s'o(}f1e cannot teach one UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY thing entirely independent of a previously taught concept. Let us consider the nature of languages and the sciences to illustrate our points more clearly. In teaching a sciencesubject, e.g. Biology, it is generally possible to teach a concept almost entirely independently of other concepts. For instance, one could teach the human skeleton without recourse to the knowledge of blood circulation, the digestive system, the reproductive system, etc. Similarly, one could teach blood circula- tion without demanding that students should use their knowledge of skeletal system, the nervous system, the reproductive system, etc. However, in order to teach a concept in language, it is very often necessary to build on the previously taught concept. For in- stance, to teach verbs denoting futurity, it is essential to first estab- lish that students master the present tense, the present continuous tense, and even the past tense, as well as the use of modals that - , a• r-e= nece.' ssa~. ry in- -.exp~re~s. sing futurity. No teacher of language worth';- his salt would teach futurity before teaching these other concepts. Similarly, to teach plurality one must first teach singularity; to teach the way plural nouns affect the verbs they take demands that one should first establish that students understand the way singular nouns affect the verbs that follow them. Virtually every concept in language learning is intricately interwoven in some other concepts. So, language teaching falls within the cyclical [or spiral] curriculum whereas the sciencesfall within the linear curriculum. The implication of all this on the teacher in designing his continu- ous assessment tests is that, by and large, the teacher has to un- derstand the nature of the concepts he is teaching in order to as- sess them judiciously. If he is handling a subject that is linear in nature, he might be a little more flexible in his choice of the order of which topics to teach first. A teacher in this type of subject area needs not follow the order of arrangement adopted by the text book in use; rather, he should decide which topics he could most conveniently handle first, [e.g. those for which he has the essential tools] and which ones should come later. When it comes to the regular assessment exercises, he might decide to be guided in his 104 UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY choice of which topics to teach in the various weeks by the result from the previous tests. The net implication of what we are stress- ing here is that the teacher in a linear subject area can exercise more flexibility than the teacher in a cyclical subject area. A teacher in a subject area that is cyclical in nature hasn't got that much free hand. Essentially, he has to accurately measure the ex- tent to which the present unit has been mastered before finally deciding on his procedure for the next concept. In planning his teaching of any new concept, he has to meticulously assess how well the learners have mastered the last concept taught. This of course makes it the more necessary for him to measure the achievement of any concept taught before going on to teach the next concept. If the results of an assessment exercise indicate that complete mastery has not taken place, it would be essential that he should re-teach the concept; otherwise the next concept would equally not be mastered.. This again demands that he should vary his methods of teaching. Varying the method ensures some freshness, some ingenuity in the teaching process, and therefore a higher chance for the learners to understand. Similarly, variety is also demanded in_handling the tests. Using the same one test format -and test procedure week after week will soon lead to boredom with its. inevitable conse- quences. But when the teacher designs tests for the different weeks, with different formats and adopts different procedures, the students are more likely to be stimulated for the tasks before them. Of course, one clear implication of this is that the teacher must master the different types of tests. It could be a short quiz this week, while for the next week there could be a multiple-choice test, and for the following week, it could be the matching test or the true-false test, etc. Of course, there is yet another reason why the test types must be varied over time. To probe meaningfully into the learners' level of mastery of the concepts taught, one method of assessment used over and again cannot produce the desired accurate measurement. Some learners excel when essay types of questions are used, some 105 " UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN LIBRARY do better when the stimulus is an objective form otassessment, while others do betterinora! examinations. The teacher should use as many of these different devices as he can.muster from his arse- nal of evaluation machinery, Short quizzes" short comprehension passages, elaborate composition exercises, objective tests, etc., all should be used at various times. " ,,-,' ""', ' .' . Indeed,. even within each testlngvmode.vvartetv and flexibility. should prevail. Pictures, photographs, diagrC\m:s,:drawings,; n,ews~ paper and magazine articles, the' plan oftheschool compound, e;tc,~ could be used as stimuli for testing learnersvcompetence in the various topics taught overtime. It issac!de:n:i:ng' that .a biology, teacher could be testing a topic likethealimentarv canal-or the life cycle of a cockroach in Junior SecondarySchool: without using .a diagram of any sort. Similarly, it.wouldhave beenmore cheertngto find a teacher of English introducing newspapercuttings of good articles in the tests, :' -,' , , Essential Steps/or CantinuousAssessment Proctice: -: ",",":1" ',' l In "order to execute ·the continucus "a'sseSS'rTle~n:~Yprafdice'/