Response to Chapter 9: Assessment

Students are motivated by tests under a text-oriented learning environment. The purpose of learning is to get good grades in the exam, just as what the authors said to the traditional assessment practices, “if it can’t be tested, it isn’t worth teaching.” Assessment is placed before teaching and learning. However, students’ motivation of learning disappears after finishing the exam, and their passion for learning will dwindle in the long term. People should be life-long learners to encounter the fast changing world in the twenty-first century, and teachers are aware of the importance of teaching higher-level thinking. Nevertheless, most secondary school teachers worry that the training of students’ high-level thinking might hinder their test performance, which the authors consider an unfounded fear. The authors suggest that there should be various forms of assessment to measure students’ real performance instead of only one standardized test judging students’ ability to recall what they have learned. In recent years, passing the college entrance exam is not the only way to get into university in Taiwan. Students can also apply for university when they perform well in certain fields at school. Therefore, even if the join college entrance exam is still the major gate-keeping assessment, teachers need to educate students’ attitude toward assessment by prioritizing learning before assessment: “if it’s worth learning, it’s worth assessment.” Next, teachers should consider using various forms of measuring students’ ability. Giving feedback from multiple sources of audience, one of the forms of assessment the authors recommend, is very effective for me when I was a college student. I was motivated to write more whenever I received the professors’ comment and peer critique. I was shy to speak up in class, but in writing I felt that my voice had been heard and understood (though they do not necessarily agree with my argument in writing). I had not found the passion to learn until then. It was a pity that this moment came so late that my learning experience was driven by the tests before college. Consequently, it is important that secondary school teachers should try to evaluate students’ performance individually rather than ranking them by the test scores. The types of assessment can influence students’ motivation and quality of learning.