Verified Document

Validity Versus Reliability A2 Outline Answer

Content-Based Assessments

1) What evidence should be provided that learners have mastered content?

When teachers give content-based assessments, they are measuring how much information students have retained from lectures, discussions, readings and other learning experiences (e.g., homework, projects). In creating a content-based assessment, the teacher must look at all the learning materials and experiences that have taken place during the unit or course of study. The questions that are asked must accurately reflect this content so mastery can be assessed. Teachers have to ask the right questions to give students an opportunity to give the right answers.

2) How would an instructor determine whether a content-based assessment reflects learner knowledge?

Instructors must design test instruments that allow students to demonstrate their content knowledge and also put that knowledge into practice. It is not enough for students to remember facts; they must be able to put the facts in the greater context of what the unit or course is designed to teach them.

The Christian Science Monitor reported last year that American students lag behind their global counterparts in science and math (Paulson, 2010). The Programme for International Assessment (PISA) has long been used to demonstrate so-called failures in the American education system, though "some experts caution that comparing countries with vastly different populations is frought with complexities, and that the rankings aren't as straightforward as they might seem" (Paulson). Nevertheless, recent attention has been focused on increasing the use of inquiry-based methods as a better choice than content-based assessments to reflect learner knowledge. As Day and Matthews (2008, p. 336) point out, science inquiry requires higher-order thinking skills and these are difficult to measure with large-scale assessments. In individual classrooms, it is easier for teachers to move away from the traditional multiple-choice tests that largely test factual knowledge and comprehension of science content. Test designers in New York State, as in a handful of other states, have had some success designing more process-based assessments. For example, an item on the August 2004 exam (NYSPD, 2006, cited in Day & Matthews, 2008, p. 340) presented...

As Day and Matthews conclude, this is "a great way of assessing both students' understanding of the inquiry process and their ability to use higher-order thinking skills."
3) Are there any shortcomings to content-based assessments?

Content-based assessments provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of facts. Using these types of assessments helps to ensure that all students are getting the same education, based on a set of standards that governs what all students should know. However, content-based assessments do not always measure students' ability to put knowledge into practice. Content-based assessments do not let students show that they know how to find information and use it. These types of assessments do not always let students apply their knowledge to solve real-world problems, which can make students feel as though there is a "disconnect" between school and what they really need to know. Students must have some factual knowledge as a basis for process knowledge. The challenge will continue to be in the design of assessment tools that account for various learning styles and allow students to demonstrate higher-order thinking skills. This is difficult on a large scale because of problems inherent in evaluating these kinds of tests and tabulating the results.

References

Culture and assessment: Discovering what students really know. (2011). Education Digest 76

(8), pp. 43-46.

Day, H.L., & Matthews, D.M. (2008). Do large-scale exams adequately assess inquiry?

American Biology Teacher 70 (6), pp. 336-341.

Paulson, a. (2010). U.S. students halt academic 'free-fall,' but still lag in global testing.

CSMonitor.com. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2010

/1207/U.S.-students-halt-academic-free-fall-but-still-lag-in-global-testing.

Petress, K. (2007). How to make college tests more relevant, valid, and useful for instructors and students. College Student Journal 41 (4), pp. 1098-1101. Retrieved from Academic

Search Premier database.

Shank, P. (2006). Four typical assessment mistakes. Online Classroom, p. 4-7. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

Sources used in this document:
References

Culture and assessment: Discovering what students really know. (2011). Education Digest 76

(8), pp. 43-46.

Day, H.L., & Matthews, D.M. (2008). Do large-scale exams adequately assess inquiry?

American Biology Teacher 70 (6), pp. 336-341.
CSMonitor.com. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2010
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Validity Vs. Reliability When One
Words: 662 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Finally, internal consistency reliability looks at items in the same test, to see if they measure the same construct in the same way (Cherry, 2011, Reliability). However, all of these measures of reliability are useless if a test does not measure what it purports to measure. Validity looks at whether a test measures what it claims to measure. Only valid tests can be used to be accurately applied or interpreted

Validity and Reliability Questions of
Words: 392 Length: 1 Document Type: Thesis

Presumably, the reliability of the responses between a monitored study and an unmonitored study could be validated by consistent reportage from the peer and the incumbent. This method was also used to control for the study's overall validity: the study would be a more valid measure of counterproductive work actions and their relationship to work stressors if an outside source validated the incumbent's responses. The study's authors still acknowledge a

Test Blueprint Validity and Reliability
Words: 1279 Length: 4 Document Type: Research Paper

Administering the tests developed and formulated for the nursing-based curriculum entails providing reliable test items. Reliability is important because it helps counteract human error both on the part of the student taking the test and the person grading the test. "Reliability is the quality of a test which produces scores that are not affected much by chance. Students sometimes randomly miss a question they really knew the answer to or

Reliability and Validity Type of
Words: 618 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Another disadvantage regarding the validity of the analysis regarding gender was that the results between the two gendered groups were calculated based upon a mean, which meant that one or two respondents with scores could have a considerable effect, skewing the results in one direction or another. The two sample groups of 59 psychology students and 100 MBA students were relatively small and select as well. Using these populations is

Reliability and Validity Baum Et
Words: 1004 Length: 3 Document Type: Article Review

moderate impairment), while dependent variables included the levels of measured performance on the test. Operationalization involved demonstrating the ability to perform the tasks of daily life. Simple cooking was tested by asking the test subject to cook oatmeal; using a telephone was tested by requiring the subject to inquire about grocery delivery on the phone; and the test subject was required to select and administer medications correctly and select

School Retention Vs. Social Promotion
Words: 917 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Experience with the two aspects that are being studied, school retention and social promotion, are important for this study. Therefore these strategies will help to recognize the extent to which their experience provides insights to the responses they provide Hodges, Kuper, & Reeves, 2008() These two methods are also in depth analytic processes and will help the researcher to detect the main themes in the responses and how they are

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now