Assessment Techniques Use in Guidance

1. Test A test is a task, treatment or situation designed to elicit the behavior or performance of pupils or persons with a view to determining or drawing inferences about specific abilities or other attitudes of pupils (Abiri, 2006) Test can also be describes as an instrument used for assessing individual differences in one or more behaviors (Akinpelu, 2004) Kolo (2001) identified six categories of tests that are used in schools, they are: A. Achievement Test This test assesses the performance of pupils after an exposure to a prescribed content. It measures the extent to which pupils have mastered the subject or content they had been taught. Examples: NCAE (National Career Assessment Examination) NAT (National Assessment Test) B. Aptitude Test This test is designed to measure the potential for success of pupil in a given area of training and learning. Aptitude predicts potentials and can provide information on the ability or inability of pupils to succeed in a task. Different types of aptitude test:  Mechanical aptitude test  Scholastic aptitude test  Clerical aptitude test  Musical aptitude test C. Attitude Test The test measures pupils reactions to events, situations or objects in their environment. Pupils attitude could be negative or positive. This information is required by primary school teachers in perform their duties. Mental ability test is also known as intelligence tests. It is designed to assess the intellectual capability of pupils.

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The mental ability of any pupil consist of his/her perception, conceptions, memory, language, reasoning and creative abilities. Examples of mental ability tests are Standard Progressive Matrix and Weschler Intelligence Scale. D. Mental Ability Test Mental ability test is also known as intelligence tests. It is designed to assess the intellectual capability of pupils. The mental ability of any pupil consist of his/her perception, conceptions, memory, language, reasoning and creative abilities. Examples of mental ability tests are Standard Progressive Matrix and Weschler Intelligence Scale. E. Interest Inventories These instruments designed to asses pupils likes and dislikes. Thus, interest inventories are usually based on pupils education, vocational and social interest. Examples of interest inventory are Vocational Interest Inventory and Strong Vocational Interest Blank. F. Personality Test The test is designed to measure human characteristics such as emotions, adjustment, social interaction and motivation. The test assesses an individuals characteristics, temperament and behavioural dispositions. Personality test is broader in scope and measures different dimensions of human behaviours. 2. Observation y y Observation is the base for most of the various non-testing appraisal. Observing and recording descriptions of students have a number of important purposes for those who work with it. y Of particular importance in observation is the ability to determine the factors that initiate behavior and to describe accurately the way the person observed reacts to a given situation. y Observation may yield data that can refute certain tentative hypotheses about the individual; and it can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the steps that are being taken to facilitate the individuals learning, development, and adjustment 3. Conducting an Observation Based on the research conducted by Shertzer (1976), the following guidelines may be used to improve observation:

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Before observation takes place, determine what is to be observed. The purpose of observation should be known in advance.

Observe only one pupil at a time. Few well-trained observers can watch with any degree of accuracy two or more pupils at one time.

Watch for significant behaviour. Just what is significant may not be entirely clear at the time it occurs just as many things a pupil does are trivial and reveal nothing about him.

Spread observations over the school day. Observing a pupil for brief periods of time often gives a truer, more comprehensive description of behaviour than does a description obtained from a few prolonged observations.

Learn to observe without resorting to writing notes during the observation period. The presence of a pad and pencil often cues children regarding what is occurring and results in behaviour different from what might be obtained if these were absent.

If possible, record and summarize the observation after it is completed.

4. Self-Reporting y Is a type of survey, questionnaire, or poll in which respondents read the question and select a response by themselves without researcher interference y Any method which involves asking a participant about their feelings, attitudes, and beliefs and so on. y Self reports are often used as a way of gaining participants responses in observational studies and experiments. 5. Questionnaires y y Is a set of written questions which are usually highly structured The researcher will normally assemble a number of questions which are then posed to a representative sample of the relevant population. y Can either be highly structured, with fixed alternative responses which can then be collated and analyzed, or more open-ended, with the respondents able to express themselves in their own words

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Four main ways of administering questionnaires: y y y y face-to-face handout questionnaires postal questionnaires Telephone questionnaires

Strengths: y y y Surveys are able to study large samples of people fairly easy. Surveys are able to examine a large number of variables. Survey research can ask people to reveal behavior and feelings which have been experienced in real situations. y If samples of people are selected at random and are large enough it should be possible to generalize the results to a larger population. y Questionnaire surveys can be carried out relatively cheaply.

Weaknesses: y People may not respond truthfully, either because they cannot remember or because they wish to present themselves in a socially acceptable manner. y We cannot establish cause and effect relationships from survey data as other variables which could have had an effect may not have been considered in the questionnaire or interview. y It may be difficult to obtain a random sample of the population because some people who are selected refuse to answer questions or it may be difficult to obtain a full list of the population from which to select a random sample. y Whether the method is open-ended or highly structured, there can be difficulties. In the case of the highly structured questionnaire, the structure will probably reflect the preconceptions of the compiler, and may force respondents to answer in a way which does not entirely accord with their views. A more open-ended survey, on the other hand, may lead to much more subjectivity when it comes to its interpretation. Of course surveys deal with people's verbal responses to questions posed verbally, as well as with behaviour. There is no way you can be certain that what people say they do accords with what they actually do.

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6. Psychometrics y y Are instruments which have been developed for measuring mental characteristics Psychological tests have been developed to measure a wide range of things, including creativity, job attitudes and skills, brain damage and, of course, 'intelligence'. y Psychometric means, literally, measuring the mind and, in one sense, any systematic attempt to assess mental characteristics could come into this category. y The term however is usually used to describe specific tests for personality, aptitude, intelligence or some kind of attitude measurement. Strengths: y This technique, of course, provides lots of quantitative data which is easy to analyze statistically. y Psychometric tests are usually easy to administer.

Weaknesses: y y y Constructing valid and reliable tests is very difficult. Tests usually contain culture bias, especially intelligence tests. Most tests will contain designer bias, in the sense that any test is biased in the direction of the author's view. y Most tests make the assumption that characteristics to be measured are fixed and invariant, both in relation to time and also in relation to circumstance or situation. Many studies in psychology, especially social psychology, demonstrate that this is not so. 7. Interviews y There are many different ways to conduct an interview, ranging from casual chats to formal, standardized, set questions which have to be asked in a particular way. y Clinical interviews are lengthy interviews aimed at a detailed understanding of a person's mental processes. y There are no set questions; the questions depend on the last answers given.

Strengths: y Interviews conducted in a casual manner provide information that is more spontaneous and realistic than those obtained in a formal interview.
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If we use standardized interviews it is easier to generalize (as long as the sample is large enough).

Clinical interviews provide insight into the thoughts of individual children or adults which a standardized format would not allow.

Limitations: y y Sampling of subjects is a problem Informal interviews do not allow generalization. One person may talk about something so differently from the way that another person does that it becomes almost impossible to compare what two people said. This applies to some extent to clinical interviews. y In formal interviews, if people feel that they are being asked a set of routine and automatic questions from a list they often do not talk as freely as they would in a casual conversation. The interviewer needs to be thoroughly skilled and trained to make it seem a natural and not an awkward situation. This means that a formal interview study is quite difficult (and expensive) to conduct well. y A major problem with interviews is demand characteristics. This includes interviewer biases and response biases. An interviewer may influence the respondent through, for example, leading questions or subtle reinforcements of 'right' or 'wrong' answers. Response bias may happen when, for example, respondents give socially acceptable answers. 8. Group Guidance y y To assist each individual in the group to solve his problems and make adjustments To gather students who share similar concern, thus gaining meaningful insights from the experiences of others in the group. Kapunan (1974) y To discuss problems common to the group and to develop awareness that problems are also shared by others y To enable each individual to understand how others have met and solved the same problems that confronts him y To broaden the horizons of pupils with reference to occupations available to them

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Jones (1965) y y Guidance services include all forms of group guidance activities. There is group interaction or face to face relationship in the homeroom, in the regular subject classes, assemblies, conferences, and meetings. y They provide opportunities to observe students at regular intervals, thus facilitating the use of a preventive problem-solving approach. y y y They enable students to study and learn from others. They encourage students to become acquainted with their counselor. They serve as a medium for routine administrative functions, for scoring objective tests, and for recording dependable data. y They reach out beyond the school, and classroom setting and they aim at prevention as well as offer remedial means. Purpose of Group Assessment The assessment focus should be on the process of working in groups: 1) Collaboration and cooperation 2) Analysing the task and assigning responsibility for its components, leadership, teamwork, delegation and coordination 3) Preparation and presentation of a report 4) Awareness of issues that arose and techniques for managing difficulties  Group work should not be viewed as a way of reducing the marking load.  Group work requires active involvement by the teaching team, particularly in terms of monitoring problems and intervening should a group become dysfunctional. Sociometry y The sociometric approach involves using students spontaneous choices as an index for arranging interpersonal relations in the classroom, state their preferences for the other member of the group as teammates, seatmates, partners in work activities, leader of the group and similar position implying personal relationship. y quantitative method for measuring social relationships

Sociogram y A systematic method for graphically representing individuals as points/nodes and the relationships between them as lines/arcs.
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The use of a sociogram may be plotted which clearly shows in graphic form the structure of the social pattern within the group.

The sociogram reveals who choose whom.

Methods for assessing group work Some of the assessment methods that can be used, either alone or in combination, include: 1) Peer assessment the task is assessed on the basis of evaluations submitted by each student. This method is particularly useful when the learning outcomes are related to the experience of working in a team. Students comment on and judge their colleagues work, has a vital role to play in formative assessment, but it can also be used as a component in a summative assessment package. 2) Summative assessment on the basis of a seminar presentation and/or written report. This may be more appropriate for higher level units. Refers to the assessment of the learning and summarizes the development of learners at a particular time 3) Formative assessment assessment by the teaching team based on observation of the groups at different stages of the task. Range of formal and informal assessment procedures employed by teachers during the learning process in order to modify teaching and learning activities to improve student attainment

Group 1  Adriano, Justin Angelo  Nucup, Marco Antonio  Hernandez, Errol John  Pobre, Marc Franceso  Padduyao, Karl Joe  Serde a, Adrian  Camua, Arrah

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