Carrie Mortson

EDUC-4490-YD

Matt Roy

8 February 2018

Assessment Write Up

Assessment and instruction are integral elements of teaching. As I was developing my

website section about assessment I often found I had to think about whether an activity was an

assessment or instruction technique. I believe this is because the two are often inter connected as

teachers will use various assessments to teach their students (assessment as learning),

assessments that provide feedback to the student of how they can improve (assessment for

learning), and summative assessments to provide a final mark for report cards and general

feedback (assessment of learning). Since there are various types of assessment students may not

always notice they are being assessed, which can ease stress and improve their over all

performance on tasks. Teachers can continue to foster this type of environment by encouraging

students to be a part of the goal setting process. By encouraging students to suggest elements of a

success criteria they establish the goals as their own, fostering ownership over the assignment

and therefore encouraging more positive results.

Through my own experience as a student and my experience during my placement I have

been reassured that assessment should not be viewed as a negative element of education that

could be sprung on a student at any time. Instead, assessment strategies should be integrated into

the learning process where the culminating activity has been built towards during the entire unit.

This results in a much more accurate depiction of a student’s capabilities with their knowledge,

then a pop quiz that judges their ability to recall terms that have been memorized to be
regurgitated verbatim. When students have time to prepare for their final assignments and tests,

and are well aware of what they are expected to know, the results are often much more positive

and reflective of their capabilities.

Assessment is important to learning, as without identifying what an individual already

knows it is difficult to progress their education, as the teacher will not know what they need to

learn. Assessments are also necessary for summative assessment purposes where final grades are

given that assist individuals making choices about who gets into post secondary institutions and

specific job fields.