Updated: Mar 2000 | Assessment - Classroom Approaches | Checklists & Matricies

Assessment - Checklists & Matricies

Observations against headings record evidence of how the students are thinking and what they are learning in relation to identified criteria. These recordings may be ongoing over a series of lessons or target a particular lesson or product. The criteria needs to be developmentally appropriate and should assist teachers to focus and manage their observations.

Teachers use a range of checklists and matrices, including those that incorporate:

	performance indicators to efficiently summarise the degree of success a student has had in achieving the identified criteria.
	space for descriptive comments/annotations in relation to the criteria.
	criteria grouped to facilitate judgements in relation to the strands and substrands, and to identify which aspects of the outcome are being assessed.
	criteria grouped to demonstrate achievement of the outcome at various levels.
	focus headings to group comments/annotations in relation to the criteria.
	identification of contexts.

Assessment - Criterion Referencing

Students have both the need and right to know the criteria by which they are being assessed. This is a matter of fairness and a powerful means of enhancing learning. Curriculum Framework, (1998), p.38

Because of the diverse nature of students, it is not possible to define a set of specific learning activities relevant to all students that will support the development of the outcomes. Equally, establishing generic assessment criteria would be an impossible task.

Therefore teachers need to establish specific assessment criteria that are derived from the relevant outcomes, focused on the learning of specific students and made explicit to those students.

Criteria to assess student achievement should identify the key aspects of the learning activity and also describe what the student is expected to do.

Establishing explicit criteria that are easily understood by students and define the activity provides opportunities for teachers and students in the teaching-learning cycle, including:

	improving teacher decision making, making it more valid and reliable.
	clarifying for students the goals they are striving for.
	providing students with useful feedback on their progress.
	encouraging students to reflect on their learning and suggesting directions for future learning.
	clarifying what achievement at each level looks like in relation to the learning activity. Established criteria for the learning activity over a range of levels for an outcome gives a picture of what changes in a student's knowledge, skills and abilities from level to level. The example in Figure 24 from the Technology and Enterprise Learning Area demonstrates the value of planning for assessment as part of student learning, using criteria established over a range of levels.
	identifying elements or components of strands and/or substrands that are being assessed by the task. Once criteria have been established, grouping the criteria in relation to substrands or components of the outcome will provide information on the efficiency of the learning activity in providing opportunities to demonstrate the outcome. This does not mean that every learning activity needs to address the full outcome, but that teachers must be aware of what is being assessed.

Criteria should not be confused with Student Outcome Statements pointers.

Treating pointers as a set of criteria for judging achievement of an outcome will not necessarily lead to accurate judgements or achievement of an outcome.

Each pointer, if relevant for inclusion in a student's learning experiences, would productively incorporate the development of explicit criteria to identify the activity's key aspects, describe what students are expected to do, and guide judgements.

Figure 24 - Technology and Enterprise Learning Area Leaders' Strategy handout : Using the Producing Substrand to Exemplify the Concepts

Level   Outcome	Pointer
1. The student undertakes simple production processes with care and safety.	Make a toy using materials and techniques that produce a planned movement, making adjustments in response to others.
2. The student plans production processes and makes products, systems, processes, services and environments using resources safely.	Identify the resources needed and develop a flow chart of the construction steps before safely and carefully making a moving toy.
3. The student plans and carries out the steps of the production processes, making safe and efficient use of resources.	Select the resources needed and develop a flow chart of the construction steps and associated time plan before safely, efficiently and carefully making their moving toy.
Level   Pointer	Assessment Criteria
1. Make a toy using materials and techniques that produce a planned movement, making adjustments in response to others.	joins the pre-cut pieces of wood to make a recognisable toy shape. accepts advice and makes adjustments so that the movement mechanism functions. follows demonstrated procedures when carefully working with materials and tools on a suitable surface. takes turns in using the tools and equipment. takes care with materials and tools. works safely.
2. Identify the resources needed and develop a flow chart of the construction steps before safely and carefully making a moving toy.	prepares a list of materials and tools to be used. uses the correct names for equipment and tools. improves the sequences of steps for making the toy, presenting it as a flow chart. shapes the pieces of material to create a desired effect. works on an appropriate surface. selects the correct tool for attaching a mechanism to achieve movement of the toy. joins parts of the toy together using suitable materials and techniques appropriate to the materials. shares equipment, holding it correctly and passing it carefully. applies classroom safety rules. finishes the toy's surface to make sure it is safe to handle, manipulating the toy so that it does not fall apart.
3. Select the resources needed and develop a flow chart of the construction steps and associated time plan before safely, efficiently and carefully making their moving toy.	from a selection of materials and tools decides on what is to be used. prepares a list of materials and tools to be used. uses the correct names for equipment and tools. improves the sequences of steps for making the toy, presenting it as a flow chart. prepares a time plan for working over an extended period. collects all resources before commencing to work. works on an appropriate surface. selects the correct tool for attaching a mechanism to achieve movement of the toy. joins parts of the toy together using suitable materials and techniques appropriate to the materials. shares equipment, holding it correctly and passing it carefully. applies classroom safety rules. finishes the toy's surface to make sure it is safe to handle, manipulating the toy so that it does not fall apart.