Conventional and Alternative Assessment

D5 - Assessment

Students in the modern school setting learn differently because of differences in their individual capabilities, learning styles, and learning needs. Given the differences in learning, different approaches for assessment are necessary to accommodate the numerous ways with which students learn (Stears & Gopal, 2010). Despite recognition of the need for different assessment approaches, different opinions exist regarding traditional and alternative approaches for student assessment. Some experts argue that traditional assessment approaches tend to be more objective and reliable in comparison to alternative assessments. However, other experts contend that are more closely linked to real-world application. On the other hand, there are suggestions that both traditional and alternative assessments are required to create a balanced assessment system.
In my view, traditional assessment is a term used to refer to conventional approaches for evaluating students’ progress in learning. In this case, various kinds of assessments are used to evaluate students’ receptive skills as well as their mastery of learning materials. Some of these different kinds of assessments include constructive-response tests, selected-response tests, summative assessments, and formative assessments. As the name suggests, traditional assessment has been used for a long period of time as the premise for evaluating student learning and grading their academic performance. Traditional assessment focuses on determining students’ educational abilities in relation to mastery of learning materials and achievement of lesson objectives (Nasab, 2015).

On the contrary, alternative assessment refer to relatively modern or new methods for evaluating student learning. These approaches provide a different framework for examining students in comparison to the conventional approaches of student assessment. Alternative assessment emerged as a by-product of increased emphasis on testing on curriculum and visualization of instruction. Consequently, this approach to student assessment provides new ways of inspiring and motivating learners to investigate and exploit their personal dimensions and the world around them (Nasab, 2015). Unlike traditional assessment that emphasizes evaluation of students’ educational abilities, alternative assessment focuses on demonstrating the applicability of learning content to real-world scenarios. Through this process, students effectively connect concepts and information obtained in the classroom to issues or situations they encounter in the real world. Some of the most common types of alternative assessment that are used in today’s learning environment include portfolio assessment, performance-based assessment, and authentic assessment.

My views regarding traditional and alternative assessment are consistent with the existing literature on these approaches of evaluating students. These views are akin to what is demonstrated in existing literature on student assessment and the different approaches for evaluating students progress in learning. I believe that balance should be the deciding factor when examining whether to use traditional assessment or alternative assessment in the classroom. This is primarily because both traditional and alternative assessment have advantages and disadvantages relating to evaluation of student learning (Nasab, 2015). Therefore, a combination of these approaches enable teachers to effectively examine students. Moreover, I believe that balance should be the deciding factor because evaluation of students’ learning requires a comprehensive approach that examines various aspects. To this extent, combining traditional and alternative assessments enable teachers to establish a comprehensive framework with which they effectively examine students. The combination also enables teachers to inspire and motivate learners to explore their individual attributes and the world around them.