The Ladder Towards a Successful Performance-Based Assessment

Post date: Jun 15, 2017 8:46:27 AM

By: Albert Punzalan

One of the pillars of learning demonstrates “learning to do.” It generally refers to how an individual acquires exceptional skills and to relive these skills to respond to the call of duty. In school, teachers are expected to not only transfer or teach the abilities that will hone the personality of the learner, but also push them how to comprehend, strategize, and enact a desired style that manifests like the reality – in short, exposing everybody to authentic activities. Their experiences count until they are able to reach the next level. Here are some stages to achieve a successful performance-based assessment:

Stage 1. Cite reliable articles or other references before planning a lesson. Direct planning based on stocked knowledge does not ensure adequacy or completeness of the competencies to be performed in future assessments. Although time constraint is a factor, it will still be helpful if some resources from experts, internet, or printed materials will be covered. Furthermore, it is easier to come up with essential tasks related to the lesson taught than to rely on experiences alone. One thing to ponder, always give credits to intellectual property owners.

Stage 2. You may now design your own lesson. If sufficient details are available, planning your own lesson is now made convenient, whether you are in a comfy place or roaming around the mall. Designing a lesson always begins with objectives. These objectives determine the flow of the lesson and the skills to be mastered. It is better to specify the outcomes of the lesson that will meet the percentage rate of those who will pass the assessment. Remember, there is a probability of having failed students, so make sure to be prepared for that result.

Stage 3. Come up with possible performance-based tasks. Since it is all about skills, the use of instructional materials will not be necessary (unless if it is about learning computer systems). We are referring to physical and human abilities that demonstrate how an individual should respond to the basic needs of community such as teaching, explaining, cooking, measuring, entertaining, doing social etiquettes, and the like. Performance-based methodologies are quite challenging to prepare, though it is also exciting to execute. It must, at all cost, reflect the level of the learners.

Stage 4. Follow the PPPF Rule. Hayden Smith and Thomas Nagel (1972) book authors on Instructional Media, advise us to abide by the acronym PPPF which stands for Prepare Yourself, Prepare your Students, Present the Materials, and Follow up. This is technically referring to the use of visual and technological aids, but may also be useful in performance-based pedagogies. First, a teacher must prepare himself or herself before delivering the instructions in front of the class. Its aim is to avoid misleading directions in the execution of the activities. Afterwards, to prepare the students is to highlight motivational activities that should capture their attentions and interests. It is deemed important to make the students follow the flow until the end. Next, the teacher must ensure that a sample demonstration of the skill is well presented (as if presenting a material). Lastly, the teacher should check if everybody can still follow the lesson. This makes them even readier before such assessments.

Stage 5. Implement the assessment with Rubrics or Matrices. Performance-based tasks are far different from paper-pencil examinations. It is more of affective and psychomotor domains of learning. To measure, evaluate, and assess the performances of the students, it is necessary for a teacher to utilize checklists, rubrics, or matrices. What are these? These are assessment tools designed for scoring student work against a pre-defined set of criteria and a variety of products applicable for developmental, as well as mastery-oriented styles. It assures that the data and statistics of scores are accurate, not only subjective, but also objective for the side of the assessor. It also refrains from questionable giving of marks and remarks. After executing the performance, the teacher may already tabulate the scores for finalization.

Stage 6. Give honest and unbiased comments and suggestions. The essence of being a teacher does not only focus on teaching and depositing knowledge to the innocent minds of the learners. It should be imperative that the teacher gives reasonable, honest, and unbiased comments and suggestions to a student who had just performed his or her task. This way, the rooms for improvement of the child will be filled with growth and development.

Stage 7. Re-teach the lesson if necessary. If the results did not tally with the plotted percentage of passing rate, do not be anxious. It is normal that an individual undergoes failure. Re-teach the lesson and redo the assessment. Remember, failure is the twin of success.

Finally, the essence of sweet victory will only be understood if the concrete, laborious challenges are felt.