Alternative Assessment

Escola Superior de Educação de Paula Frassinetti Caderno Variæ Alternative Assessment Rodrigues, Dulce Porto Professora Mestre de Língua e Literatura Inglesa da Faculdade Frassinetti do Recife Abstract The teaching/learning has changed over the past three decades and assessment musn´t be seen as just a means of testing learners´ achievement and promotion. This type of evaluation helps students get more involved in their learning and provides teachers with useful information as the basis for instructional plans and pedagogical practices. It is a way of diagnosing the students´ strengths and weaknesses so that class procedures are directed to include activities in which students measurable outcomes are collected in a portfolio that include all types of learning/assessment procedures aiming to match the students´ cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains, to define objectives, planning, instruction and active participation in the process, deconstructing, constructing and reconstructing knowledge. Keywords assessment, process, diagnose, portfolio, knowledge Resumo O ensino/aprendizagem tem mudado nas últimas três décadas e também a avaliação que não deve ser vista apenas como uma forma de testar os alunos e promovê-los, mas ajudá-los a se envolver no processo de aprendizagem, e que forneça ao professor informações para o planejamento de instrução e práticas pedagógicas. É um diagnóstico dos pontos fortes e fracos do aluno que direciona a sala de aula para a avaliação através de atividades reunidas em portfólio, incluindo todas as ações do processo ensino/ aprendizagem, visando atender às necessidades dos domínios cognitivos, afetivos e psicomotores do aluno, definir objetivos, planejamento e instrução, o envolvimento do aprendiz em sua aprendizagem e a avaliação, desconstruindo, construindo e reconstruindo o seu conhecimento. Palavras-chave avaliação, processo, diagnóstico, portfólio, conhecimento. Resume L'enseignement et l'apprentissage a changé au cours des trois dernières décennies et l'évaluation ne devrait pas être considérée simplement comme un moyen de tester les étudiants et les promouvoir, mais de les aider à s'engager dans le processus d'apprentissage et de fournir des informations à l'enseignant pour la planification de pratiques d'enseignement et de l'enseignement. Il s'agit d'un diagnostic des forces et faiblesses de l'élève qui dirige la salle de classe pour l'évaluation à travers des activités regroupées dans le portefeuille, y compris toutes les actions du processus d'enseignement / apprentissage, pour répondre aux besoins du domaine cognitif, affectif et psychomoteur de l'élève, fixer des objectifs, planification et l'enseignement, la participation des étudiants dans la déconstruction, reconstruction et la construction de leurs connaissances. Entrée lexicale évaliation, processus, diagnostic, portefeuille, connaissances. 1 Escola Superior de Educação de Paula Frassinetti Caderno Variæ Resumen La enseñanza/aprendizaje ha cambiado en las últimas tres décadas así como la evaluación que no debe ser mirada solamente como una forma de testar los alumnos y promoverles, sino de ayudarles a involucrarse en el proceso de aprendizaje, y que ofrezca al profesor informaciones para el planeamiento de instrucción y prácticas pedagógicas. Es un diagnóstico de los puntos fuertes y débiles de los alumnos que direcciona el aula para evaluación desde actividades reunidas en portfolio, incluyendo todas las acciones del proceso enseñanza/aprendizaje visando atender a las necesidades de los dominios cognitivos, afectivos y psicomotores del alumno, definir objetivos, planeamiento e instrucción, el desarrollo del aprendiz en su aprendizaje y la evaluación, destruyendo, construyendo y reconstruyendo su conocimiento. Palabras llave evaluación, proceso, diagnóstico, portfolio, conocimiento. Assessment The literal meaning for assessment comes from Latin root assidere that means to sit beside or sit with. Applying this term to educational purposes we can understand assessment as verifying how much of a specific type of knowledge a learner has acquired. It can be understood as observing, describing, collecting, recording, scoring, and interpreting information about a learner. . The terms testing, examination, measurement, assessment and evaluation may seem similar and confusing, but when we think of education these terms get specific meanings for those who are involved in a teaching/learning process no matter the type of knowledge underlying the target process. To be more specific, while we define testing as measuring a sample of knowledge, for example, we can define assessment or evaluation as the process of attaching value judgments to performance. So, assessment or evaluation is a much more comprehensive and inclusive term than measurement or testing. Researchers such as Jack C. Richards and Willy A. Renandya(Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice, 2002, p.335), have brought to discussion important aspects authentic or alternative assessment, as it is known, involves asserting that, “In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the application of assessment procedures that are radically different from traditional forms of assessment.” In this sense, alternative assessment is seen as part of the teaching/learning process instead of being considered as an instrument for measuring achievement. It involves not only well planned instruction, but also intense participation of students in their own learning process. Assessment may indicate how well individuals have performed in the sense of educational goals as well as weaknesses, their needs in terms of knowledge concerning the target subject. It may indicate that educational objectives must be reviewed and/or if the leaning experiences need to be modified so that the educational goals may be reached. It should also provide a motivational component for student learning as well as food for thought concerning reflective teaching. Thus, the assessment of student learning requires the use of a number of techniques for measuring student achievement and it goes beyond just using a set of procedures. It is a process that begins with the identification of learning goals and ends with a judgment concerning the extent to which those goals have been stained. Assessment has to be focused on well defined and valid objectives with some definite and desired outcomes in view. It is not simply giving students tests and assigning them grades. That´s why Gronlund(2006, p. vii), agrees that… Assessment of Student Achievement emphasizes the principles and practices of achievement assessment that contribute to more effective classroom instruction and improved student learning. Since learning must be the main goal of education, evaluation or assessment must be, before anything else, used for learning even though it has, above all in our educational system, the purpose of summative assessment, the evaluation of (...truncated)