CPS 02b (Semester-II)

Pedagogy of Social Sciences

Unit 5: Evaluation and Assessment in Social Sciences
Measurement, Assessment and Evaluation: Definition, Characteristics and Principles
Types of Evaluation
 Diagnostic
 Formative
 Summative
 Placement
 Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE): Definition, Objectives, benefits of CCE in
addressing the shortcomings of traditional education system, scholastic evaluation, co-
scholastic evaluation.
 Preparation of Blue Print and construction of Achievement Test
 Characteristics of Assessment in Social Sciences: Types of question best suited for assessing
the different aspects of social sciences; Questions for testing quantitative skills; Questions
for testing qualitative analysis; Open-ended questions.
 Diagnostic testing and remedial measures.
Measurement, Assessment and Evaluation: Definition, characteristics and principles
INTRODUCTION
The first principle of a scientific study is to describe objectively what a scientist observed,
under what circumstances, and to communicate the same as precisely as possible. A scientist reports
not only what has been observed, but states the circumstances and the methods used, too. This is a
high priority condition because others must be given a chance to verify those observations. In fact,
specification of the conditions of observation is the first step in the measurement of a given
phenomenon. Although arguments continue over the nature of measurement, measurement in
some form or other has always been there even when social sciences were no more than a branch of
speculative philosophy. Quantitative principles from physics and chemistry have given us very
precise and accurate measurement in these fields. Biological sciences, of late, have established
principles that are nearly at par with those found in physical sciences. Social sciences lag far behind
as compared to physical and biological sciences. Measurement is the key to all sciences.

Meaning of Measurement
Measurement is actually the process of estimating the values that is the physical
quantities like; time, temperature, weight, length etc. each measurement value is represented
in the form of some standard units. The estimated values by these measurements are actually
compared against the standard quantities that are of same type. Measurement is the
assignment of a number to a characteristic of an object or event, which can be compared with
other objects or events. The scope and application of a measurement is dependent on the
context and discipline.
Measurement is an inseparable part of any science, natural or social. Any science aims to
obtain a specific and accurate measurement of the events, of the characteristics of the different
units of a phenomenon, and, of the inter-relationship between the units. Measurement is assigning
numbers to objects or events according to rules (Stevens, 1946). The purpose is to have information
in a form in which variables can be related to each other. In social science research we have to deal
with various social and psychological variables. Their measurement is one of the vital stages in the
research process. Measurement of social and psychological variables is a complex and demanding
task.
Measurement, simply speaking, is the assignment of numerals or other symbols or signs
(male, female, occupational categories, for example) to objects or events according to a set of
operational rules. Measurement always refers to some property of the object or event and not the

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object or event by itself. In this measuring process, the observer follows a scheme or procedure by
which observed events can be classified into non-overlapping categories unambiguously, and the
categories are given labels - numerals or symbols. The basic assumption in measurement theory is
that every event or object in a set of events or an object possesses a specific quantity of the property
under observation. This quantity of the property can be compared directly against a standard scale
(as when we measure the length or mass of a material) or can be evaluated fairly accurately by
trained observers (judges or experts assessing the level of performance of a student in a debate or in
class examination). Often the measurement operations involve the use of mechanical devices such
as thermometer, barometer, measuring tape, or weighing scale. The use of such mechanical devices
is the least observer dependent, and, hence, the measurements are fairly precise, accurate, and
objective. The thermometer, for example, when applied to a given object, gives a number, the
temperature. This is a technical refinement of the precision of a crude judgment into categories such
as very hot, hot, warm, cold, etc., that are obtained by the impression of the observer when he
touches an object with his finger. In social sciences, too, we make use of a physical (not necessarily
mechanical) component or stimulus.

Social science research follows a standardized procedure or mechanism, as is followed in the

physical sciences. When a scale is applied on a person, it gives us a number (or symbol) on his
attitude, IQ, interest, emotional stability, motivation, and so on. It follows, then, that a
measurement operation is always a standardized way of proceeding, which may or may not make
use of mechanical devices or stimuli, but which always results in classification of the objects
measured into some non-overlapping categories labelled by numerals, or simply by symbols. From
the viewpoint of mathematics, measurement operation is a standardized rule that maps each of a
set of objects into one, and only one, of a set of several categories or numbers.

Although arguments continue over the nature of measurement, measurement of some

form or other has always been there even when social sciences were no more than a branch of
speculative philosophy. Quantitative principles from physics and chemistry have given us very highly
precise and accurate measurement in these fields. Biological sciences, of late, have established
principles that are nearly at par with those found in physical sciences while, social sciences lag much
behind in this respect.

MEASUREMENT: MEANING AND CONCEPT

“Measurement consists of identifying the values which may be assumed by some variable,
and representing these values by some numerical notation. The numerical notation is systematically
and consistently assigned, that is, it is assigned according to some set of rules.” Thus, the numerals
assigned to the variables, indicate different condition of the variables or different values of the
variables or different degrees or intensity of a quality possessed by units. From the above it is
evident that:

i) measurement is a purely descriptive process.

ii) measurement implies that the attributes of persons or objects are possessed in varying
degrees and the degree of variation can be measured and represented.
iii) measurement, in essence, is a numerical process.

Common objects of measurement in sociology are individual’s characteristics, interactions,

interrelations, consciousness, participation, socialization, motivation, etc. Some of the properties, of
the individuals are visible and easily measurable, such as age, income, height, etc. Some
characteristics are abstract and it is difficult to measure them. These days, both in sociology and
psychology, the measurement of beliefs and attitudes is common because of the greater emphasis
on a democratic form of government which demands an assessment of peoples’ attitude and
opinion, from time to time. Besides this, public opinion studies are carried on regularly by various
public and governmental agencies. Even the commercial organizations measure peoples’ opinion
and attitude to know the future market of their products. Polling agencies measure people’s opinion

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and attitude to know the people’s preferences for particular political parties and candidates. Thus,
they want to predict, on the basis of such polling, the possibility of winning for any particular
candidate. Attitudinal studies may also help in predicting an individual’s future behaviour and their
possible reactions towards different developmental programmes. Such studies might also help in
making policies and specially in implementing them. For example, the study of beliefs and attitudes
of Indian people towards illness and health measures or family size would help in instituting a social
and educational programme to mobilize the people towards vaccination or adoption of family
planning in urban areas.

Measurement and quantification of variables, beliefs, attitudes, etc., do help in statistical

manipulation of them, in experiment, and in testing specific hypothesis related to them. Thus,
ultimately, it helps in the development and advancement of a theory.

Assessment
Assessment is the process of collecting information with regard to abilities, interest,
aptitude, personality, attitude and beliefs. It is an integral part of day to day life, and is one of the
important work of the counselor. Without assessment the counselor can not reach any conclusion;
so it is a basic step to get information related to the client. For psychological assessment in
counseling the counselor uses various assessment techniques for which the most known is the
standardized tools named as psychological test to assess clients’ behaviour. Formal assessment is
planed and is based on certain predetermined criteria whereas some assessment techniques are non
standardized such as case study, interview, observation etc. In this unit you’ll know the principles,
purpose and methods of assessment, the difference between psychological assessment and testing,
and different types of psychological tests.

PRINCIPLE OF ASSESSMENT
The principles of assessment have been given by Shertzer and Linden which states that
assessment should be Holistic, Ongoing, Balanced, Accurate and Confidential. These are explained
below.
Assessment should be Holistic: This principle involves multiple methods in collecting
information. The use of a combination of assessment techniques increases the likelihood of applying
positive intervention and consequently the achievement of the desired goals. The principle of
holistic assessment follows a systematic process to arrive at an understanding of the individual. To
make the assessment process more systematic a counselor needs to keep in mind three important
factors i.e. What to assess, when to assess and in which state of assessing is required.

Assessment should be within the context of life pattern of the individual, i.e., supportive
information regarding other aspects of the person need also to be considered to better understand
the problem. For example, a student may experience difficulty in school due to limited academic
preparation. However, it may not be the only factor; other factor such as self esteem which might
not be evident, but could influence the academic achievement of the students.
Assessment measures and procedures must be based on the demands of the situation. The
selection of the tool and procedure to be used will depend on the demands of the presented
situation. Therefore, first the basic data should be collected and examined before obtaining
information on the supporting factors through administering different tests.

Assessment should be on Going: Ongoing assessment allows comparison between the

client’s initial present problems and the client’s current functioning. It appraises the counselor of
possible new and urgent needs which may arise after the initial assessment, therefore psychological
assessment must take into account the dynamics nature of the human behaviour which involves
his/her needs, goals, abilities etc.

In assessment, the conceptualization of an individual must be continuous. This is important

because the counselor keeps on refining his conceptualization of the client in the light of more and

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more information collected and interaction between the client and the counselor. Hence,
assessment needs to be considered as ongoing and not episodic. As far as possible, assessment
should be based on the longitudinal data i.e. understanding of individual’s behaviour is better and
more meaningful if the data in collected over a period of time rather than on current information.
e.g. longitudinal data is helpful for the diagnosis of the maladaptive behaviours.

Assessment should be Balanced: Assessment makes use of normative information as well as

individualised data. Both types of data combined try to give a better understanding about the client.
It is the purpose and the situation that decides which type of assessment data is required.

Assessment should be Accurate: The assessment device used should be accurate and the
counselor should have the skill for interpreting the data. Counselors must keep in mind the
possibility of errors, as all tools may not be 100% accurate; so they must try to minimize the errors
by using standardized procedures.

Predictions of future behaviour should always be stated in terms of probabilities as human

behaviour is so complex and dynamic. Assessment therefore can only provide useful insights to
derive inferences rather than making prediction in absolute terms.

Assessment should be Confidential: Clients need to be assured of confidentiality of their

personal information. This will develop trust with the counselor. It is one of the basic ethic of
counseling as well. The client will also be able to build a good rapport based on mutual trust and
respect.

Evaluation
Let us discuss about evaluation, which is a broader concept as compared to measurement
and assessment. Evaluation is “a systematic process of collecting and analyzing data in order to
determine whether, and to what degree, objectives have been, or are being, achieved (Gay, 1991)”.
It leads to decision making. As a teacher, you should understand that “the purpose of evaluation is
to make a judgment about the quality or worth of something. (Ebel and Frisbie, 1991)”

In assessment you try to find out, the level of achievement or performance of a learner. But
in evaluation your focus is, how good is the performance or the level of performance. You can say
that evaluation is a process of value judgment. It is also used to refer to the product or outcome of
the process. You can say that “measurement and assessment are the means and evaluation is the
end”. In the process of evaluation, measurement is the first step, assessment comes next and when
value judgment is added to it, it becomes evaluation. Let us further elaborate the concept of
evaluation. According to Bebby (1977). evaluation as “the systematic collection and interpretation of
evidence leading as a part of process to a judgment of value with a view of action”.

If you analyze this definition, you can identify four key elements of evaluation as follows:
 Systematic collection of evidence
 Its interpretation
 Judgment of value
 A view of action

Let us try to understand the above terms used.

Systematic collection implies that whatever information is gathered, should be acquired in a
systematic and planned way with some degree of precision. Information gathered systematically
should be carefully analyzed and interpreted; superficial observations may lead to wrong
interpretation.

Judgment of value takes evaluation far behind the level of mere description of what is happening,
but requires judgments about the worth of an endeavor.
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A view of action means every decision has a specific reference to action. It may be conclusion
oriented or decision oriented.

Characteristics of good evaluation

As a teacher whenever you are involved in the evaluation process, you should ensure that evaluation
should have following characteristics, which are often termed as “elements of a good evaluation”.
See Figure : Characteristics of Good Evaluation

Let us discuss each characteristic for our clear understanding:

Validity: A valid evaluation is one which actually tests what is set out to test i.e., one which actually
measures the behaviour described by the objective (s), under scrutiny.

Reliability: It is a measure of consistency with which the question, test or examination produces the
same result under different but comparable conditions. A reliable evaluation mechanism is
independent of the characteristics of individual evaluator.

Practicability: Evaluation procedure should be realistic, practical and efficient in terms of their cost,
time taken and ease of application.

Fairness: Evaluation must be fair for all learners. This can be possible by accurate reflecting of range
of expected behaviors as desired by the course objectives.

Usefulness: Evaluation should be useful for all learners. Feedback from evaluation must be made
available to learners and help them to prove their current strengths and weaknesses.

The Purposes of evaluation

According to Oguniyi (1984), educational evaluation is carried out from time to time for the
following purposes:

 To determine the relative effectiveness of the programme in terms of students’ behavioural

output.
 To make reliable decisions about educational planning. To ascertain the worth of time,
energy and resources invested in a programme.

 To identify students’ growth or lack of growth in acquiring desirable knowledge, skills,

attitudes and societal values.
 To help teachers to determine the effectiveness of their teaching techniques and learning
materials.

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  To help motivate students to learn more as they discover their progress or lack of progress
in given tasks.
 To encourage students to develop a sense of discipline and systematic study habits.

 To provide educational administrators with adequate information about teachers’

effectiveness and school need.
 To acquaint parents or guardians with their children’s performance.

 To identify problems that might hinder or prevent the achievement of set goals.
 To predict the general trend in the development of the teaching-learning process;

 To ensure an economical and efficient management of scarce resources.

 To provide an objective basis for determining the promotion of students from one class to
another as well as the award of certificates.

 To provide a just basis for determining at what level of education the possessor of
certificate should enter a career.

Types of Evaluation
Assessment is conducted in different phases of the teaching learning process. We carry out
assessment before the beginning of the teaching-learning process; during the teaching-learning
process and at the end of the instructional process. Approaches of Evaluation on the basis of its
types and functions can be classified as follows :
(i) Diagnostic evaluation
(ii) Formative evaluation
(iii) Summative evaluation
(iv) Placement evaluation
Each of four types of evaluation serves different purposes. In the teaching learning process,
evaluation starts with placement evaluation and ends with summative evaluation. All four types of
evaluation are important, and are unique in their functions. The four types of evaluation and their
functions are diagrammatically presented in Table 1. for your understanding.

Table 1. Types of Evaluation and their Functions.

Areas of Function Types of Evaluation and their function
Before Instruction process Placement evaluation
(to know entry behaviour)
Formative evaluation
During instructional process (to know mastery in content)

Diagnostic evaluation
(to solve learning difficulties)
After instructional process Summative evaluation
(to certify the learner)

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Table1. shows different types of evaluation which are conducted in teaching learning process.
Generally, evaluation starts with measuring the entry behaviour of the learners and conditions till
the judgement of their terminal behaviour. Let us discuss the main purpose and functions of each
type of evaluation.

1) Diagnostic Evaluation: Diagnostic evaluation is conducted along with formative evaluation during
the instructional process. It is carried out based on the data obtained from formative evaluation.
Diagnostic evaluation is specially conducted to identify and remove the learning difficulties of
learner if it is observed and found during the formative evaluation. For example, if a learner couldn’t
understand certain concepts in a particular subject and continuously performing poorly in that
subject, we conduct diagnostic test to know the causes of the difficulties and accordingly provide
them remedial treatment to overcome the difficulties. The key word in diagnostic evaluation is
identifying of ‘learning difficulties’. Diagnostic evaluation not only solves learning difficulties of
learners but also identifies and provides remedies for personal, physical and psychological problems.
This can be exemplify as sometime you may find that few students in your class are very nervous to
come forward and say something, tendency of fear towards the friends and teachers, suffering
certain psycho-social disorders and physical disorders.

2) Formative Evaluation: For the first time in the year 1967, Michael Scriven used the concept of
formative evaluation while working on curriculum evaluation. According to Scriven (1991),
“Formative evaluation is typically conducted during the development or improvement of a
programme or product (or person, and so on) and it is conducted, often more than once, for in
house staff of the programme with the extent to improve”. If we analyze the definition, it is clear
that the purpose of conducting formative evaluation is to monitor the learning progress of the
learner. Though initially the concept of formative evaluation coined in the area of curriculum
development but subsequently the term got familiar to use in the teaching pedagogy and the
process of teaching and learning. It is also conducted to know whether the learning objectives are
being achieved or not. The key word in formative evaluation is learning progress. As shown in Table
3.1, formative evaluation is considered as the second stage of evaluation which is conducted during
the teaching-learning process. The first stage of evaluation is the placement evaluation . Formative
evaluation starts from the very beginning of designing instruction and it continues till the end of the
course/instruction. Conducting unit end examination, monthly examination, quarterly examination,
half-yearly examination, etc. are the examples of formative evaluation. It provides feedback to the
teachers to know effectiveness of their teaching and modification required and the learners to know
the progress of their learning. It also provides scope for diagnostic evaluation. The salient features of
formative evaluation are as follows:

 It builds on the prior knowledge, and experiences of the learners, and ensures learner friendly
assessment.
 It helps in enhancing the learning abilities of the learner.
 It provides scope for the use of variety of activities, and various tools and techniques for
promoting holistic development of the learners.
 It ensures learning in a non-threatening and supportive environment.
 It provides descriptive feedback to children for realizing their strengths and weaknesses.
 It provides a chance to the learners to reflect on their performance, as it realizes the role of
motivation and self-esteem of students learning.
 It encourages learners to understand the criteria/parameters that have been used to judge
their performance. It helps learners to actively and continuously engage in learning.
 It provides feedback to the teachers to use teaching strategies according to the needs of the
learners.
 It is diagnostic and remedial, formal and informal approach of assessment.

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Formative evaluation supports for continuous and comprehensive evaluation of the learners. It
provides scope both to the teachers and the learners to establish a continuous assessment culture in
the classroom (see Figure 3.1).

3) Summative Evaluation: Summative evaluation is used to find out the extent to which the
instructional objectives have been achieved at the end of a terminal period. It is used primarily for
assigning course grades or for certifying student’s mastery of the intended learning outcomes at the
end of a particular programme. The techniques used for summative evaluation are determined by
the instructional objectives. For this evaluation, both external and teacher-made tests are used.
Although the main purpose of summative evaluation is assigning grades or marks, it also provides
information for judging the appropriateness of the course objectives and the effectiveness of
instruction.

So far we have discussed four types of evaluation. Though all types of evaluation are
conducted in teaching-learning process, but the use of formative and summative evaluation are
popular among them. You might have observed the similarities and differences among them. The
similarity among them is that all are concerned with the assessment of learning. All are conducted at
different phases of the teaching-learning process. But they differ in terms of their purposes,
processes, techniques and tools used in collecting evidences, processes of providing feedback,
functions, time/period in the teaching-learning process and their uses for future purposes. We can
summarize summative evaluation as follows:

 It is conducted after the completion of the instruction in a term, a course or a school session.
 It ‘Sums-up’ how much a student has learnt over a period of time.
 It focuses mostly on assessing the scholastic abilities of the children.
 It contributes to the over all grading and certification of the children.
 It is mostly structured and formal approach to assessment of learning;
 It provides terminal feedback, both, to the teacher and the children to re-design their
teaching and learning accordingly

4) Placement Evaluation: Placement evaluation can be defined as a type of evaluation that provides
information to the teachers about the learners to whom he/she deals with relating to their existing
knowledge and experiences based on that the teacher designs to teach new knowledge. You have
seen in Table 1, placement evaluation is conducted before undertaking the teaching-learning
activities. It is basically used to measure the entry behaviour or existing knowledge of the learners.
Another purpose of placement evaluation is to know whether the learner is able to acquire the new
learning experiences based on his/her previous knowledge.

The key word which is used for placement evaluation is the “entry behaviour”. Assessment
of entry behaviour is done just before teaching starts. In the teaching learning process, before
teaching a new topic, teacher should know the previous knowledge of students. This helps teacher
to organize teaching-learning activities according to the previous knowledge of learners. The
technique of introducing a lesson by asking certain questions from the previous knowledge of the
students is related to the topic taught or by any other techniques like demonstrating something,
telling a story, doing a role play, etc. are also the examples of placement evaluation. In other way,
conducting a type of entrance examination for selecting learners to a particular course is also
example of placement evaluation.

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Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation
CCE refers to a school based evaluation, which covers all aspects of school activities related
to child’s development. It emphasizes two fold objectives such as continuity of evaluation and
assessment of learning outcomes in a comprehensive manner. It covers all the domains of learning
i.e. cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains. It treats evaluation as a developmental process.
Evaluation in the cognitive domain is associated with the evaluation of cognitive abilities such as
knowledge, understanding, application, etc. Evaluation in the affective domain means evaluation of
attributes such as attitudes, motives, interests, and other personality traits. Evaluation in the
psychomotor domain involves assessing learners’ skills to use their hands (e.g. in handwriting,
construction and projects).

In CCE, student’s performance in both scholastic and co-scholastic activities is assessed. CCE
aims to reduce the curricular workload on students and to improve the overall abilities and skill of
students by means of evaluation of students’ performance in both types of activities. Let us first
understand the two terms used in CCE i.e. Continuous and Comprehensive.

Meaning of Continuous
The term ‘continuous’ refers to regularity in assessment. The development of a child is a
continuous process. Therefore, students’ development should be assessed continuously. Evaluation
has to be completely integrated with the teaching and learning process.
Evaluating students on a continuous basis in a cyclic manner is one aspect of CCE. The term
‘continuous’ includes ‘Continual’ and ‘Periodicity’ aspects of evaluation.

Fig.1 Aspects of Continuous Assessment

Continual aspect refers to the assessment of learners’ progress on various aspects from the
very beginning of instructions, sometimes referred as placement evaluation. Continual aspect also
includes the evaluation of learners during the instructional process through various formal or
informal methods of evaluation, also referred to as formative evaluation. Another aspect associated
with continuous evaluation is periodicity of evaluation. Periodicity means evaluation of performance
of learners should be done frequently at the end of every unit or term. This is also known as
summative evaluation.

Let us go through some of the characteristics of continuous evaluation.

1) Continuous evaluation is formative in nature and is school based. It is to be carried out by

teachers teaching a particular class.

2) The purpose of continuous evaluation is mainly improvement in learning. For this the learning
gaps and weaknesses are diagnosed so that feedback can be provided.

3) Continuous evaluation is informally carried out in the classroom; there is no need of making
lengthy arrangements required for a formal examination like preparation and administration of
question papers, seating arrangement, etc.

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4) Multiple techniques of evaluation need to be used for continuous evaluation. These include not
only written tests, but oral tests, quizzes, assignments, projects, observation, peer evaluation, self
appraisal, etc.

5) Continuous evaluation is built into the total teaching-learning programme and is a part of the daily
routine for a teacher. On the whole, we can summarize that continuous aspect of CCE emphasizes
that learners need to be evaluated throughout the instructional process.

Meaning of Comprehensive
The second term associated with CCE is ‘comprehensive’. The term ‘comprehensive’ implies that
evaluation of learners’ performance is carried out in both scholastic and co-scholastic areas.

Fig.2 Aspect of Comprehensive Evaluation

First, CCE is comprehensive in nature as it takes care of achievement of learners in various school
subjects from science, mathematics, languages, social science, work education and physical health
activities as well as includes the assessment of co-scholastic abilities like attitude, values, life skills,
interests, habits, etc.
Second, CCE is comprehensive in nature in terms of tools and techniques used for evaluation of
learners. It includes various tools like observations, interview, rating scales, checklist, document
analysis, portfolios, anecdotal records and techniques of assessment like assignments, projects,
quizzes, debates, discussions, club activities, performance, experiments, etc. Third, CCE is
comprehensive in nature as it is used for assessing various learning outcomes like knowing,
understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating and creating. It is also used to evaluate learners’
progress in all the three domains i.e. cognitive, affective and psycho-motor, whereas the
conventional evaluation system was limited to cognitive domain only.

By now, you must have understood the concepts of continuous and comprehensiveness in CCE.

Nature of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation

Let us try to understand the nature of CCE. The nature of CCE is so comprehensive that it includes
almost all aspects of child development. It integrates assessment with teaching and learning process;
emphasizing assessment of learner abilities in scholastic areas along with the co-scholastic areas.

 CCE encourages and motivates students to be positive in their attitudes.

 It emphasizes that teacher’s judgment should be made through an honest and objective
appraisal without bias.

 It also encourages continuous interaction with parents with regard to their
children’s progress and performance.
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  CCE is developmental in nature because emphasis is given on improvement of students’
learning throughout the schooling process.

 It is a process of continuous attempts to assess whether desirable changes are taking place in
students along the lines of educational objectives.

Purposes of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation

CCE attempts to minimize fear and anxiety among our learners about examination and evaluation.
CCE emphasizes evaluation as a process in place of an event.

CCE helps learners, parents and teachers in the following ways:

 It reduces stress and anxiety, which often builds up among the young students during and
after the examination.

 It reduces the dropout rate as there will be less fear and anxiety among learners related to
their school performance.

 In CCE, greater focus is given on learning rather than on conducting tests and examinations.
 It contributes to the holistic development of learners.

 CCE is used as an instrument of preparing learners for future life by making them physically
fit, mentally alert, emotionally balanced and socially adjusted.

 Learners get more time to develop their interests, hobbies and personalities through CCE.

 It promotes a learner friendly environment, thereby optimizes student learning.

 It equips students with life skills, especially creative and critical thinking skills, social skills
and coping skills which will help them to face a highly competitive environment later on.

SCHOLASTIC AND CO-SCHOLASTIC ASSESSMENT

Being a teacher, you must have felt the need for developing various abilities among children. These
abilities are generally classified into abilities in scholastic and co-scholastic areas. Scholastic areas
cover activities in curricular or subject specific areas, whereas co-scholastic areas include life skills,
abilities in co-curricular areas, attitudes and values.

Assessment in Scholastic Areas

Scholastic areas include all those academic activities which are associated with various subjects. The
term ‘Scholastic’ refers to those activities, which are related to intellect or the brain. It is related to
the assessment of learners in curricular subjects. It includes assignments, projects, practicals, etc.
Sometimes, these activities are associated with objectives of cognitive domain i.e. it is expected that
students have to achieve objectives of cognitive domain in specific subject areas. In order to
understand the scholastic aspects, you have to focus on cognitive domain objectives as well as
various subject areas specified at a particular level.
You have to develop a kind of correlation between subject matter and level of such objectives to
ensure the development of students in scholastic areas. Let us first focus on those objectives of
cognitive domain, which are associated with scholastic aspects.
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Although it is difficult to exactly pinpoint the list of learning outcomes, we can classify them
according to Taxonomy of Educational Objectives. The following objectives in the cognitive domain
have been identified by Bloom and his colleagues (1956).

1) Knowledge: it includes knowledge of specifics, universals and abstractions in a field.

2) Comprehension: it focuses on translation, interpretation and extrapolation.

3) Application: Ability to use a theory, a principle or method to solve a problem involving a new or
unfamiliar situation.

4) Analysis: Analysis of elements (identifying assumptions, and logical fallacies), relationships and
organizational principles.

5) Synthesis: it emphasizes production of a unique communication, production of a plan or a set of

operations and derivation of a set of abstract relations.

6) Evaluation: Judgment in terms of internal criteria as well as in terms of

external criteria.

During 1990’s, Anderson, revised this taxonomy with a view to examining the relevance of the
taxonomy of educational objectives developed by Bloom and his colleagues. A detailed form of the
Anderson’s revised taxonomy of educational objectives and its broad categories and sub-categories
is presented in Table. Fig.3

You have to keep in your mind that these objectives are not exactly hierarchal in nature. Each
category is connected to other categories. Keeping this in mind, a new model of objectives is
proposed in Fig.4

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It is clear from above model that all the objectives are interconnected to each other. For better
understanding, it can be represented in following manner. In order to achieve these objectives,
being a teacher you have to ensure that students participate in various activities associated with
various subject areas. The major subject areas associated with scholastic domain are shown in the
Fig.5

The abilities of scholastic domain enforce the learning progress of the students, mental
development, attitudes, aptitude, self concept, creativity, etc.

Assessment in Co-Scholastic Areas

As already stated in the beginning of the unit that under CCE, we need to look at the holistic
assessment of our students which also includes assessment in coscholastic areas such as Life Skills,
Attitudes and Values, Sports and Games as well as other Co-Curricular activities. The CCE is an effort
to address all these aspects in a holistic manner. A number of National Committees and
Commissions in the past have consistently made recommendations regarding reducing emphasis on
external examination and encouraging internal assessment through School- Based Continuous and
Comprehensive Evaluation.

Therefore, the CCE brings about a paradigm shift from examination to effective pedagogy.
National Curriculum Framework (2005), while proposing Examination Reforms has also stated –
“Indeed, Boards should consider, as a long-term measure, making the Class X Examination Optional,
thus permitting students continuing in the same school (and who do not need a Board certificate) to
take an internal school exam instead “.

13
Fig: 6.

The CCE is an effective tool to enhance the quality of teaching-learning process in the school.
The emphasis is now on ensuring that every child acquires not only the knowledge and skills but also
the ability to use these competencies in real life situations.
Various co-scholastic aspects are Life Skills, Attitudes, Human Values, Cocurricular activities and
Aesthetic, visual and performing arts. Let us discuss them in detail.

Life Skills
In order to prepare children for the social life, you have to develop life skills in them. This will enable
them to manifest their inner potential with confidence and competence and face the challenges of
life.
World Health Organization (WHO) has defined life skills as “Life Skills are abilities for adaptive and
positive behavior that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of
everyday life.” The effective and appropriate utilization of life skills can influence the way one feels
about oneself and others and can enhance one’s productivity, efficacy, self-esteem and self
confidence.

‘Adaptive’ means that a person is flexible in approach and is able to adjust to different
circumstances.
‘Positive Behaviour’ implies that a person is forward looking, and finds a ray of hope, solution and
opportunities even in difficult situations.

In particular, life skills are a group of psycho-social competencies and interpersonal skills that help
people think critically, creatively, make informed decisions, solve problems, and communicate
effectively, build healthy relationships, empathize with others, and cope with stress and emotions
and manage their lives in a healthy and productive manner.

Types of Like Skills

UNICEF, UNESCO and WHO list ten core life skills which are problem solving, critical thinking,
effective communication skills, decision-making, creative thinking, interpersonal relationship skills,
self-awareness building skills, empathy, and coping with stress and emotions. These ten skills are
further classified under three more groups namely: thinking skills, emotional skills and social skills as
shown in Table.

14
Core Life Skills

THINKING SKILLS EMOTIONAL SKILLS SOCIAL SKILLS

Self Awareness Coping with Emotions Empathy
Critical Thinking Coping with Stress Interpersonal Relations
Creative Thinking Effective Communication
Decision making
Problem solving

These skills are defined very effectively in the CCE handbook for teachers published by The Central
Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) (2010). As per the handbook essential life skills to be
developed in students are:

1) Self-awareness is a unique human capacity and includes our recognition of ‘self’, of our character,
of our strengths and weaknesses, desires and dislikes, values, outlook, needs, aspirations and feelings.
Developing self-awareness can help us to recognize ourselves when we are stressed or feel under
pressure.

2) Empathy - To have a successful relationship with our loved ones and society at large, we need to
understand and care about other peoples’ needs, desires and feelings. Empathy can help us to accept
others, who may be very different from ourselves. This can improve social interactions, especially, in
situations of ethnic or cultural diversity.

3) Critical Thinking is the ability to analyze information and experiences in an objective manner. It
helps adolescents to recognize and to assess the factors influencing attitude and behavior - values,
pressures from peer, media and family. While thinking critically one weighs the pros and cons and the
consequences of any action.

4) Creative Thinking is a novel/innovative way of seeing or doing things that is characteristic of four
components – fluency (generating new ideas),flexibility (shifting perspective easily), originality
(conceiving of something new), and elaboration (building on other ideas). This enables to explore
available alternatives and consequences of actions or non-actions and contributes to Decision
Making and Problem Solving.

5) Decision Making is ability to assess available options and to foresee the consequences of different
decisions (actions/non-actions). This ability helps us to deal constructively with decisions about our
lives.
6) Problem solving helps us to deal constructively with problems in our lives. Significant problems
that are left unresolved can cause mental stress and give rise to accompanying physical strain.

7) Interpersonal relationship skills help us to relate in positive ways with the people we interact with.
This may mean being able to make and keep friendly relationships, which can be of great importance
to our mental and social well-being and also mean keeping good relationship with family members,
which are an important source of social support.

8) Effective communication means that we are able to express ourselves, both verbally and non-
verbally, in ways that are appropriate to our cultures and situations. This means being able to express
opinions and desires, and also needs and fears.

9) Coping with stress means recognizing the sources of stress in our lives, recognizing how this
affects us, and acting in ways that help us control our levels of stress, by changing our environment or
lifestyle and learning how to relax.

10) Coping with emotions means recognizing emotions within us and others, being aware of how
emotions influence behaviour and being able to respond to emotions appropriately. Intense emotions
like anger or sadness can have negative effects on our health if we do not respond appropriately.

15
Assessment for life skills:
1) Individual assessment: It focuses on assessment of an activity/task performed by any student.

2) Group assessment: It focuses on the learning and progress of a group of children working on
a task together with the objective of completing it.

3) Self-assessment: It refers to the child’s own assessment of her/his learning and progress in
knowledge, skills, processes, interests, attitudes etc.

4) Peer-assessment: It refers to one child assessing other children. This can be conducted in
pairs or in groups.

Preparation of blue print and construction of achievement test.

INTRODUCTION
As a teacher one is involved directly in the evaluation of the learner. The theory that you
have learnt will have to be applied by you as a teacher in the classroom situation. The present Block
'Learner's Evaluation' in general and this unit in particular is concerned with this very important
activity of teachers.

Teachers teach and help the learners to learn. The learning that takes place is assessed or
evaluated not only for the learner's benefit but also for the teacher to evaluate his/her own work. At
the end of a lesson or a group of lessons, the teacher needs to get feedback on what the learner has
achieved, as a result of the teacher's efforts and also, indirectly to assess his/her own achievement
as a teacher.
This feedback comes with the help of a tool, generally an achievement test. An achievement
test is designed to evaluate a unit during the teaching-learning process. The unit of teaching-learning
may be, as has already been mentioned, one lesson or a group of lessons transacted in a particular
time period. You have already read about achievement tests in the previous unit. In this unit we will
discuss the same in detail.

PURPOSE OF ACHIEVEMENT TESTS

Achievement tests are universally used in the class room mainly for the following purposes:

1. To measure whether students possess the pre-requisite skills needed to succeed in any unit or
whether the students have achieved the objective of the planned instruction.
2. To monitor students' learning and to provide ongoing feedback to both students and teachers
during the teaching-learning process.
3. To identify the students' learning difficulties - whether persistent or recurring.
4. To assign grades.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD ACHIEVEMENT TEST

1) It can be tried out and selected on the basis of its difficulty level and discriminating power.
2) It should be directly related to educational objectives.
3) It should possess description of measure behaviour in realistic and practical terms.
4) It contains a sufficient number of test items for each measured behaviour; concerned with
important and useful matter; comprehensive brief, precise and clear.
5) It should be divided into different knowledge and skills according to behaviours to be measured.
6) Standardized the Items and made Instruction clear so that different users can utilize it.

16
7) Rules, norms have to be developed so that various age groups can use at various levels.
8) It provides equivalent and comparable forms of the test.
9) A test manual has to be prepared, which can be act as a guide for administering and scoring.

FUNCTIONS OF ACHIEVEMENT TEST

1) It provides basis for promotion to the next grade.
2) To find out where each student stands in various academic areas.
3) It helps determination about the placement of the student in a particular section.
4) To motivate the students before a new assignment has taken.
5) To know how effectively the student is performing in the theory as well as the clinical areas.
6) To expose pupils difficulties which the teacher can help them to solve.

CONSTRUCTION OF - ACHIEVEMENT TESTS

There are several steps involved in the construction of Achievement Tests. We will now discuss these
in detail one by one.

Instructional Objectives
The first and the most important step in planning a test is to identify the instructional
objectives. Each subject has a different set of instructional objectives. In the subjects of Science,
Social Sciences, and Mathematics the major objectives are categorized as knowledge,
understanding, application and skill, while in languages the major objectives are categorized as
knowledge, comprehension and expression. Knowledge objective is considered to be the lowest
level of learning whereas understanding, application of knowledge in sciences or behavioural
sciences are considered higher levels of learning.

Teaching Objectives Selected Teaching Objectives Reason for Selections

1) All objective of the cognitive 1) Knowledge

domain (Knowledge,
comprehension, application,
analysis, synthesis,
evaluation)
2) All objectives of the affective 2) Comprehension
domain (receiving,
responding, valuing,
conceptualization)

3) All skills of 3) Application

psychomotor domain (drawing (drawing)
skill, computation skill,
constructional skill,
observational skill, problem-
solving skill)

17
Design
The second step in planning a test is to make the "Design". The Design specifies weightages
to different (a) instructional objectives, (b) types (or forms) of questions, (c) units and sub-units of
the course content, (d) levels of difficulty. It also indicates as to whether there are any options in the
question paper, and if so, what their nature is.
The design, in fact, is termed as an instrument which reflects major policy decisions of the
examining agency, whether it is a Board or an individual. A sample format for presenting designed of
a test is given on the next page.

Sl.No Selected Teaching Objectives Score Percentage

1. Knowledge
2. Comprehension
3. Application
4. Skill
Total

Weightage to Content:
Content is used as the means of realizing objectives and questions have to be constructed on its
basis. Therefore, it becomes necessary to give. Weightage to it. There is distinction in the nature,
importance and scope of each topic. Therefore, the weightage should be given to these facts in view;
else the test would not represent the whole subject.

Sl.No Topics Number of items Score Percentage

1.
2.
3.
4.

Giving Weightage to the Type of Items:

In this step, a teacher determines the number of items, their types, their relative marks. For it, it
would be convenient to use the following table:

Sl.No Types of Items Number of Items Score Percentage

1. Long answer type
2. Short answer type
3. Objective type

Determining Alternatives:
At this level, it is determine how many alternatives or options should be given according to the type
of questions. Giving alternatives the reliability and validity test; therefore, it is suggested that
alternatives should be given in objective type questions, while in essay type questions only internal
choice can be given.

Division of Sections
If the scope or types of questions is uniform, them it is not necessary to divide the test into sections.
However, if it is diverse and different types of questions have been specified and the nature of the
test seems to be heterogeneous, then a separate section should be made comprising each type of
item.

Sl.No Sections Type of Items Score Percentage

1. A Objective type
2. B Long answer
3. C Short answer

18
Estimation of Time:
At this step estimation of the total time the whole test is likely to calculate. Time is estimated on the
basis of type and number of items. Some time should be reserved for distribution and collection of
answer sheets. The following table can be used for convenience.

Sl.No Types of Items Number of items Time (in minute)

1. Objective type
2. Long answer
3. Short answer type

Third Step: Preparation of Blureprint

a blueprint provides a bird’s eye view of the entire test. In it we can see the topics, teaching
objectives and types of questions, number of items and distribution of scores and their mutual
relationships. A blueprint is the basis for test construction. A format is given below:

OBJECTIVES KNOWLEDGE UNDERSTANDING APPLICATION TOTAL

Forms of E S O E S O E S O
Question
Unit-1
Unit-2
Unit-3
Unit-4
Total

Blueprint
The third step is to prepare the "Blueprint". The policy decisions, as reflected in the design of
the question paper, are translated into action through the Blueprint. It is at this stage that the paper
setter decides as to how many questions are to be set for different objectives. Further he/she
decides under which unit/topic a particular question is to be set. Furthermore, he/she picks up
various forms of questions. Thereafter, the paper setter decides how all the questions are to be
distributed over different objectives and content areas so as to obtain the weightages decided in the
Design. The three dimensions of the blueprint consist of content areas in horizontal rows and
objectives and forms of questions in vertical columns. Once the blueprint is prepared, the paper
setter can write/select the items and prepare the question paper. A sample format of Blueprint is
given.

Characteristics of Assessment in Social Science: types of questions best suited for assessing
the different aspect of Social Sciences questions for testing quantitative skills questions for
testing qualitative analysis; open ended questions.

Question for qualitative and quantitative testing and analysis:

All techniques of evaluation can be broadly classified into two categories:
(1) Qualitative and (ii) Quantitative

Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment: Assessment is the process in which one attempts to
measure the quality and quantity of learning and teaching using various assessment techniques,
assignment, projects, continuous assessment, objective type tests.

A person is a multi-dimensional phenomenon having so many characteristics such as physical, social,

emotional, philosophical and psychological. Thus, the characteristics of a person are classified into
variable and attribute. Variable is the characteristics of a person which can be quantified and or its
19
variance can be identified in terms of scores or data. Attribute is the characteristics of a person
which cannot be quantified but can be assessed or evaluated qualitatively.

Thus, the assessment which tried to quantify/measure the characteristics of a person which
can be quantifiable in terms of frequency on a nominal scale or in terms of scores on equal interval
scale is known as quantitative assessment. For example, achievement, intelligence, aptitude,
attitudes are all variable; Test, scales and inventories are designed to measure them. On the other
hand, qualitative assessment is the process of measuring the attributes of a person or characteristics
of a person which cannot be quantified but qualitatively assessed or evaluated.
For example, faith, devotion, honesty, confidence, beauty, integrity, are all attributes. These can be
assessed in terms of quality.

(I) Qualitative Techniques:

These are used in schools and colleges for internal assessment. Though subjective and less
reliable, these techniques are used for assessing the the affective objectives. These techniques
are classified to five categories:

(i) Cumulative Records: These are prepared in the schools for each student. The cumulative record
includes the educational progress, results of monthly, half yearly tests, attendance, participation in
games, sports, co-curricular activities and physical health. It provides awareness about their progress
and weakness of the students to their parents, teachers and principal.

(ii) Anecdotal Records: These maintain description of significant events and work or performance of
the students. A merit list is prepared in school. Correct information is obtained regarding incident
and performance of students in anecdotal records. Interest and learning of the students can be
assessed with the help of such records. These can also be used to provide the guidance to the
students.

(iii) Observations Techniques: It is indispensable in school evaluation. It is used at all the stages of
education but most useful for evaluating the small children at primary stage. It is used for evaluating
cognitive, affective and psychomotor objectives. The students of higher class can make use of this
technique of self evaluation. The classroom interaction can be evaluated only by the observation
technique.

(iv) Interest Inventories: In simplest terms, interest is the likeness of a job or educational course. A
person likes to be a doctor, he is a doctor, he is interested in medical profession Every child will give
his own answer to the question what do you want to become. The source of variations in their
answers is the variation in their interests. Interest is an important factor in achievement. It is the
motivation for the task. It affords pleasure and Satisfaction. It is the source of life's routine. It
creates enthusiasm and curiosity. It strengthens the volitional aspect of mind. In the words of
Drever, "Interest is a disposition in the dynamic aspect".

(v) Rating Scale: By rating is meant the comparison of one individual with the other member of the
group, resulting in subjectivity arrived judgment of the strength and weaknesses of a trait or lists of
traits possessed by the individual. In its simplest form, we can say "good or bad'. But this type of two
point rating is not useful. In order to be more accurate about the possession of a particular trait, we
may have a three point scale e.g. Good, Ordinary and Bad.

20
II. Quantitative Techniques:
These are mainly used in educational evaluation. These are highly reliable and valid. They
possess all three characteristics and can be classified into three types.

(i) Oral Techniques: These are used at lower level in organizing and leading teaching activities. The
oral questions, debate and drama are used for the purpose.

(ii) Written Techniques: In this type, written questions are asked effectively than oral. These are
usually objectives type tests which are now used for constructing the criterion test because they are
highly objective, valid and reliable. These are easy to score.

(iii) Practical Techniques: In this type of evaluation, some work is assigned to the student to
accomplish it. Such techniques are based on assessing the skills or psychomotor objectives. This
technique is used in Science, Geography, Home Drawing etc.

III. Open-ended question:

An open-ended question sometimes called a divergent question in a way to elicit discussion,
brainstorm solutions to a problem, or create opportunities for thinking outside the box. The highest
order open-ended questions engage students in dynamic thinking. and learning, where they must
synthesize information, analyze ideas and draw their own conclusions. Some examples are:

 Why did the Vietnam War take place?

 How did you solve the numbers problem?
 What do you think will happen in this experiment?

Open-ended questions can also be phrased as commands or statements:

 Describe how photosynthesis works.
 Please explain the main main character's motives.
 Discuss the fairness or Canada's Judicial system.
When students believe that teacher has "correct answer" in mind, they are slow to respond. On
the other hand, a true open ended question sincerely invites authentic reflection and discussion.

Questions such as the e above invite the students to elaborate on their thoughts without
limiting the direction of the discussion. That's because, like the response to Robbie's questions, a
respectful answer will be longer than a word or phrase. Instead, an appropriate response requires at
least a few sentences or paragraphs. Beware! Answers to open-ended questions can surprise and
baffle even the most experienced educators. For the purpose of student engagement, an open-
ended question is a powerful tool that any teacher can employ.

In order to become fully contributing members of our society, adolescents need to become
critical thinkers, find their own voice, and be recognized for having opinions that matter. Innovative
thinking is valued in our fast-changing society, and our classroom questioning techniques can help
prepare young adults for what lies ahead.

Formulating open-ended questions is often more difficult than designing closed-ended

questions. Open-ended questions or statements are most appropriate when teacher want to:
 Brainstorm ideas
 Problem-solve.
 Look for lots of information
 Encourage thinking "outside the box"
 Resolve conflict
 Negotiate agreement
 Elicit higher-level thinking such as application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation
21
 Effective teachers use a combination of open and closed questions, depending on their purpose.
In designing lesson plans, we keep in mind learning outcomes. As our lesson plan becomes more
specific and detailed, we ask ourselves, "What is my objective?" Or "What kind of question will help
achieve the learning outcome?"

Let us say that we are teaching a lesson on poetry. We have already motivated the students by
linking poetry with music. Perhaps we have discussed how the lyrics and melody of a song reinforce
the theme . Now it is time to see if the learners understand a poem that was assigned for
homework.

Whether we ask the initial questions orally or in writing, we want to "warm up" our students with
some relatively straightforward, closed questions (simple recall) such as:

 What is the name of the poem you read last night?

 Who is the author?
 What is the subject of the poem?
 Did you understand it? Did you like it?

After three or four such closed 1 questions, students are ready to think about and respond to
some open-ended, higher-level questions, such as:

 Why do you think the author wrote this poem?

 What mood did he intend to convey?
 What did you like or dislike about this poem?

A similar technique can be utilized in designing quizzes. In setting the questions, we can usually
begin the quiz with relatively straight-forward recall or recognition questions before moving to more
complex, open-ended questions.

Once students are familiar with different questioning styles, they can be asked to design their
own questions. For example, students who are dissecting a frog might be required to compose three
closed-ended questions and three open-ended questions about that activity. The nature and depth
of their questions will often surprise even the most experienced educators. They might be ready to
explore the concept of metacognition and/or Bloom's taxonomy of questions.

Since the term "metacognition" was coined by John Flaveil in the 1970s, the concept has become
an important part of the ongoing dialogue about student learning. Metacognition -i.e., an
individual's awareness of his or her thought processes - requires an ability to stand back and observe
oneself. Most adolescent learners are mature enough to review their progress, identify their
achievements, and chart their direction.

Inside and outside the classroom, we all need to be mindful of open-ended questions that
masquerade as closed questions. When a student asks me, "Should I go to college?" he/she has
phrased his/her question as if it is closed-ended. In reality, this is an example of an open-ended
question disguised as a closed question. The person asking the question does not want a one-word
answer "Yes" or "No." The underlying message we take from this question is that the student wants
to talk about the implications of pursuing a post-secondary education, whether making the
commitment is a good idea, how much it will cost, and who knows what else.

In conclusion, questions should be tailored to meet different objectives or to reach out to specific
communities of learners.

22
Evaluation: Types and Devices of Evaluation:
1. For evaluating knowledge, information and concepts:
a) Oral Tests
b) Essay Type Tests
c) Objective Type Tests

2. For evaluating Skills, interest and value:

a) Observation
b) Interest Inventories
c) The Daily Diary
d) Checklist
e) Socio-metric
f) Anecdotal Records
g) Cumulative Records

For evaluating knowledge, information and concepts:

a) Oral Test: Oral tests can be used for testing individuals. If the pupil gives an incomplete answer,
the same can be got completed by another question. Thus on the spot correction is possible. Oral
testing in Social science offers an opportunity to test in depth, especially a student's independent
thinking. Through tactically maneuvered questions, the test can be made to exercise own thinking
and not operate on borrowed arguments alone. In addition to the day-to-day classroom testing, oral
test can be used at least twice a year for testing the promptness in knowledge of facts or express
ideas coherently on a topic. This technique is quite valuable if the questions are serially arranged to
throw full light upon a particular unitof study.

Another well known procedure for an oral test is to get the questions written on separate
cards. The test may draw out one or more of these cards from a pile. He can give a few minutes
minutes for for getting into a proper mental set-up followed by and answer and supplementary
questioning.
In addition, pupils can be required to participate in class debates and discussions and
evaluated by a panel of judges on such occasions. It is advisable to award a grade on a three or five
point scale, rather than a numerical score. If not be, it may be so converted afterwards. The oral test
has certain limitations. It is time consuming and can become, at times, very subjective. Moreover,
judging on the spot is comparatively an imperfect measuring device.

b) Essay Type Tests: This type of tests is prepared to test pupils' knowledge of a particular subject as
expressed in a limited number of questions of the discussion type. In social science such test posses
an important position. Such type of tests is easy to prepare and administer.

Students are provided with opportunities to express themselves as fully as possible. They
can test an extensive range of abilities including critical thinking, interpretation, reasoning power
and judgment. In this way we can cover out-spread range of subject-matter. Maps, graphs, charts,
time lines etc. should be set as important parts of evaluation through easy type tests. It measures
only the bookish knowledge retained by the pupils. It is based upon the verbalism and cramming
Attitude, emotions, interests have no place in such type of evaluation.
The new idea of evaluation is very vast and it includes the testing of both tangible and
intangible qualities. It is related to the total learning situation. It is meaningful process, utilization
many resources as they apply to the objective of a democratic and forward looking structure. It takes
into consideration the growth of a child as a whole individual and his total environment. In
education we should know where the pupils were at the beginning of the teaching learning process,
get a record of the changes brought in them and judge how good those changes are in relation to
previously established objectives. Evaluation is thus objective as well as subjective. It is a continuous
and developing process. of a social science programme.
23
Defects of the Essay type tests:
1. These tests are not objectives and score of a student depends on various factors such as
examiner's mood and whims.
2. The essay tests are less objective so they lack validity.
3. These tests lack reliability. A student is compelled to have a selective reading
4. The teacher covers only a limited and important portion of course because his aim is to see that
maximum number of his students pass the examination.
5. The teaching programme of the teacher is wholly examination oriented and students are given
least consideration.
6. Since a teacher is judge by the results of his students to everything becomes slavish to the
examinations.
7. Essay type types are not comprehensive and some students may get good marks only because the
questions have been set from the portion prepared by them.
8. These types of tests are not useful from the point of view of improvement. They fail to throw light
on the defects of teaching learning process.

c) Objective Type Tests:

The objective type tests are used for prognosis as well as for diagnosis, purpose. These types
of test are reliable and valid and can be made standardized. The scoring procedure is objective of the
answer scripts. The procedure of construction of objective type tests is difficult and time consuming.
It requires training for developing test questions or items. The object type tests form the latest
technique in testing. They consist of the following type of tests:
1. Recall type of test
2. Alternate response type of test
3. Multiple type of test
4. Matching type of test
5. The completion type of test
6. Classification type of test

Objective type tests have the following merits:

1. The objective tests have little or no scope of subjectivity. The score does not depend on
examiner's mood or whims.
2. These tests are more reliable. The score does not depend on expression, speed, style etc.
3. These are comprehensive. This requires from the students thorough study of the syllabus.
4. There is no chance element in this type of test.
5. These are easy to administer and easy to score.
6. These are economical in respect of time.

Drawbacks of the Objective type tests:

1. The objective type tests fail to test the organizing ability of the students.
2. These tests fail to develop thinking and reasoning powers of the students which is one of the main
aims of teaching social science.
3. These tests put more emphasis on bookish knowledge and very little, importance is given to
processes, methods or originality of thought.
4. These tests encourage guess work.
5. These tests are not diagnostic. They do not show the defects in the teaching-learning
process.
6. It needs a lot of time and labour for preparing such a test
24
For evaluating Skills, interest and value:
a) Observation: Observation is one of the best techniques available to the teacher in knowing about
children, appraising their growth and diagnosing their trends. Observation can be current or
retrospective. It is current when a person actually engaged in acting, which may be natural or
staged, is observed. Retrospective observation is used when one has to look back upon past
experience and pass a judgment on the child. The Social Science teacher is in an excellent position to
observe the child in various situations, note his attitudes, feeling, interests, changes in his behaviour
pattern, his comments on various situations, his relationship with his classmates and playmates. This
data can provide a realistic picture of his present status and a blue-print blue-print of desirable
emphasis for the future.

Observation is a subjective technique and suffers from the drawback of bias. Moreover, an
observation may give the behaviour under particular situation only; it may not be an accurate
sample of general behaviour therefore. The conclusions based on observations alone, can be
misleading.

Hence, it is necessary, for the teacher to systematize his observations in some manner and
attempt to objectify the data. The teacher should be definite as to what he is looking for. Instead of
observing something in general, he should select certain pupils from intensive observation and
study. "Sampling of behaviour can also help in refining the technique.

b) Interest Inventories: Persons differ in their interests, likes and dislikes. Interest plays an important
role in the educational career of the students. Psychologists, categorize Interests as 'extrinsic" and
"intrinsic". Extrinsic or goal of an activity, intrinsic Interest's is those concerned with the activity
itself. Each type of interest has its value. Interest acts as an inspiration to do the activity. So the
teacher of social science should have the knowledge about the interests of the students, so that he
may provide the proper environment and adequate methods of teaching. The tools used for
describing and measuring interests of individuals are the interest inventories or interest blanks. They
are self-report instruments in which the students note their likes and dislikes. They are of the nature
of standardized interviews in which the subject gives a reflective report of the feeling about certain
situations and sensations which is then interpreted in terms of interests. One of the most widely
used of interest inventories is strong's vocational Interest Blank which measures the extent to which
one's interests and like those of successful men in a given occupation. The teacher with the help of
their interest inventories can know the interests of their children interests in reading, in games, in
dramatics, in other curricular and co-curricular activities.

c) The Daily Diary: The daily diary- an hour and by hour record - is another device which shows the
general pattern of a student's life, the activities in which he is currently engaged regularly, and some
of his special interests. If the teacher-student relations are sound and strong and if the student has
found that the teacher is able to accept the facts of student life undisturbed, and that he does not
always feel compelled to point out a moral, they may report correctly how they spend their days and
what they think and feel with respect to the activities that occupy their time.

The teacher can note references towards self, family, friends, and others. This can show his
adjustment with the people around him. The daily diary can also tell something about how he
spends his leisure time, for which particular subject he gives more time and the reasons, can be
thought. The advantages or disadvantages of these experiences to the individual can be known.
There are certain limitations of this device. Like other self-report material, the information given in
the daily records may be exceedingly inaccurate. The students may not report what he actually does,
instead what he should like to do or what he believes his teachers and parents think he should be
doing. Fantasy and self-interest, rather than truth, may furnish the basis for the report. Truth can
only be reported if student-teacher relations are sound and strong, if the student has found that the
teacher is able to accept the facts of student life calmly.
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d) Checklist: The checklist has similar qualities as the rating scale. It can be used by the teacher or by
the pupil himself for evaluating progress. It consists of a prepared list of items of characteristics. The
presence or absence of a characteristic can be indicating 'yes' or no. It is helpful in evaluating
performance skills. Collection from the checklist helps the teacher to evaluate the progress of the
student in social science. It tells which children are making successful growth in some skills and
habits, which have difficulty in co-operating with others, which have special skill in organizing a
group for work, who knows how to use many kinds of materials and equipments. The teacher point
out the student's serialization of performance by numbering them in the order in which they occur.
In this procedure, teacher has to observe on student at a time and to record the performance as
they occur.

e) Socio-metric: Socio-metric devices can be prove useful for evaluating growth in social relations
and observing changes in the social structure of a group. There is no doubt about the fact that
participation in a group results in a gain or loss to individual growth as well as to group life in
accordance with the emotional climate or atmosphere of the group. Inadequate discordant group
life spells a loss in personality development, harmonious satisfying group life brings release of
strength and development of potentialities. The quantity and quality of the student's relation with
other students determine in a large measure the quantity and quality of his various learning
academic, social and personal.
Every group serves as learning laboratory, and the peer group is the most important setting in which
learning occurs. The student learns best in a peer group in which he is comfortable because he feels
that he belongs, is accepted, wanted and appreciated.

1) Anecdotal Records: It has been agreed that anecdotal records also a promising approach for
evaluating the behaviour of the students. In the words of Randall, "The anecdote is a record of some
significant items of conduct; a record of an episode in the life of the student; a word picture of the
student in action, the teacher's best effort at taking a word snap-shot at the moment of the incident;
any narrative of events in which the student takes such a part as to reveal something which may be
significant about his personality".

A collection of specific instances of behaviour can provide the teacher with a documentary
account of changes of behaviour which have occurred or which are in progress. While preparing an
anecdotal record, the teacher should indicate the data and time of the incident, the circumstances
under which it occurred and an objective description of the situations. He should write the general
comments on traits as "Deepa cooperated with Geeta" or "Ratna was unkind in her manner". Words
and phrases that have strong emotional connotations ie, love, hate, insolence, etc., should be
avoided.

In the words of Tiegs and Adams, Anecdotal records in them, however expensive as they are
in teacher time, do not evaluate children's progress in social studies. If they are objectively compiled,
they reveal simple evidence of children's behaviours: they tell what happens. It is the teacher's
responsibility to record the information objectively and study these records carefully to identify
children's needs and problems and to search for evidences of growth in understandings, attitudes,
behaviours and skills. The anecdotal record provides useful data about the pupil behaviour.

g) Cumulative Records: Cumulative record is a record which preserves the results of four to ten
independent and objective studies brought together on one card in the belief that several such
statements are more informative than one, and that the evaluation may be more effectively done in
the light of such a series of measurements than in terms of the results of one selective examination.

The cumulative record should contain a progressive evaluation of development

development of student's interests, aptitudes and personality traits, his social adjustment, the
practical and social activities in which he takes part. It should show his interests, preferences,

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achievements, leisure time activities, his special reading interests, his special traits, his attitudes, his
special aptitudes. It should give both a clear cross-sectional and a clear longitudinal view of the
student. It should show the current status of the student in different areas of growth and disclose
developmental trends by showing his status in these areas at different times in the past.

The record should tell a story of the child's growth and development in relation to the goals
and objectives of the schools" educational programme. Cumulative records, if they are full and
complete, will not only help the teacher to evaluate the child but may inspire the child for self-
evaluation also. The data for filling the Cumulative record form should come from the pupil's area of
activity, the classroom, library, school assemblies for social, literary and cultural activities, play field
and home.
Cumulative records should never become so unwieldy and complex that they are a burden
rather than an asset in guiding pupils. They should be so planned that there is a minimum of clerical
work which can be simply and readily done.

Diagnostic Testing and Remedial Measures

Your main role as a teacher is to promote quality learning among the students. This is
possible only when you act as a guide and the students actively participate in the process of learning.
During the teaching-learning process, you have to locate and identify the areas where the learner
commits mistakes. It is the crucial stage of the teaching-learning process where you have to
DIAGNOSE and prepare instructional material for REMEDIAL TEACHING to ensure the desired quality
of learning. At this stage the role of a teacher is just like a doctor’s. The doctor takes all the steps
necessary to diagnose the disease by performing different tests and then prescribes medicines for
the particular disease. In the case of education the process of Diagnostic Testing is the STEP and
REMEDIAL TEACHING is the PRESCRIPTION. Hence diagnostic testing and remedial teaching are very
essential for ensuring effective learning and in improving the quality of education.

DIAGNOSTIC TESTING : ITS MEANING AND IMPORTANCE

In general, after completing a particular unit/topic you conduct a test to assess the
achievements of learners. After evaluation you draw some conclusions and you find that some of the
students have fared very well and a particular group of students have achieved below your
expectations. Now you will have to find out the causes for this low achievement or slow learning.
There would be certain reasons for this low achievement. Now it is very essential to find out the
particular area where the difficulty lies or the particular concept where the learner commits errors.
To locate and identify the areas of learning difficulties leads to Diagnostic Testing. After identifying
the areas where the error lies, you have to find out the reasons due to which the particular
child/group of students have not responded well. At this stage you have to play the role of a doctor.
If a patient visits the doctor’s clinic he suggests different tests relevant to the symptoms observed by
him. After getting reports he is in a position to identify and diagnose the disease and then prescribe
the medicine for it. Likewise, as a teacher, you have to first identify and locate the area where the
error lies. The process adopted for this purpose in educational situations is known as Diagnostic
Testing. We may say that Diagnostic Testing implies a detailed study of learning difficulties.

In diagnostic testing the following points must be kept in mind:

i) Who are the pupils who need help?
ii) Where are the errors located ?
iii) Why did the error occur ?

STEPS AND STAGES IN DIAGNOSTIC TESTING

The essential steps in educational diagnosis are:
i) Identifying the students who are having trouble or need help.
ii) Locating the errors or learning difficulties.
iii) Discovering the causal factors of slow learning.

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i) Identifying the students who are having trouble or need help
First, one must know the learners who require help. For this you can administer a general
achievement test based on the topics already taught. After evaluation you will be in a position to
make lists of students who are below average, average or above average. Next, one has to locate the
area where the error occurs in order to have a deeper insight into the pupils’ difficulties.

ii) Locating the errors or learning difficulties

After identifying the students who need help and visualising the necessity of additional instructional
material to improve the quality of learning, your main role is to find out the area where the learner
commits mistakes or which is the area where learning difficulties lie.

Iv) Discovering the causal factors of slow learning

In some cases of learning difficulties, the causal factors are relatively simple. A student may
be inattentive during teaching-learning or may be committing errors due to insufficient practice or
irregular attendance.

REMEDIAL TEACHING
While diagnosis is the process of investigating the learners’ difficulties and the reasons for
this, its follow up leads to actions that may help children make up their deficiencies. This step is
generally termed Remedial Teaching. So you have to be skilled in preparing or arranging for such
materials which may be used to undertake corrective instruction and thus enhancing the quality of
learning.
Selection of Materials The following points should be kept in mind while selecting appropriate
instructional material:
i) The corrective material should be designed to correct the students’ individual difficulties.
ii) You have to analyze the work of slow learners by means of observation, interview and
Diagnostic Testing. A careful consideration of the three may help decide what kind of
corrective material is to be designed and whether material will be adequate to correct
the specific difficulties of learners.
iii) The corrective material should be graded, self-directive and should permit students to
work independently. Written directions, which accompany the material, should be easily
readable and comprehensible by the students.
iv) The corrective material must permit individuals to progress according to their pace.
v) The material should encourage systematic recording of evidence of pupils’ progress.
In this unit you have learnt about Diagnostic Testing which is the most important part of the
teaching-learning process. It implies a detailed study of learning difficulties. Its aim is to analyze, not
to assess. The nature and purpose of Diagnostic Testing is to identify the areas of difficulties where
the learner commits errors. The stages of diagnostic testing are:

i) Identifying the students who need help.

ii) Locating the error/learning difficulties.
iii) Discovering the causal factors.
After locating the area where the difficulty lies, as a teacher you will devise some strategy to
remove problems in learning and the causes due to which the learner has faced the difficulties.
The strategy used by you to remove the weakness of the learner is known as remedial teaching.
Diagnostic Testing leads to remedial teaching in which you have to prepare instructional material
for quality learning, adopting different methodologies as per needs of the individual or a
particular group.

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