Content-Based Assessments

1) What evidence should be provided that learners have mastered content?

When teachers give content-based assessments, they are measuring how much information students have retained from lectures, discussions, readings and other learning experiences (e.g., homework, projects). In creating a content-based assessment, the teacher must look at all the learning materials and experiences that have taken place during the unit or course of study. The questions that are asked must accurately reflect this content so mastery can be assessed. Teachers have to ask the right questions to give students an opportunity to give the right answers.

2) How would an instructor determine whether a content-based assessment reflects learner knowledge?

Instructors must design test instruments that allow students to demonstrate their content knowledge and also put that knowledge into practice. It is not enough for students to remember facts; they must be able to put the facts in the greater context of what the unit or course is designed to teach them.

The Christian Science Monitor reported last year that American students lag behind their global counterparts in science and math (Paulson, 2010). The Programme for International Assessment (PISA) has long been used to demonstrate so-called failures in the American education system, though "some experts caution that comparing countries with vastly different populations is frought with complexities, and that the rankings aren't as straightforward as they might seem" (Paulson). Nevertheless, recent attention has been focused on increasing the use of inquiry-based methods as a better choice than content-based assessments to reflect learner knowledge. As Day and Matthews (2008, p. 336) point out, science inquiry requires higher-order thinking skills and these are difficult to measure with large-scale assessments. In individual classrooms, it is easier for teachers to move away from the traditional multiple-choice tests that largely test factual knowledge and comprehension of science content. Test designers in New York State, as in a handful of other states, have had some success designing more process-based assessments. For example, an item on the August 2004 exam (NYSPD, 2006, cited in Day & Matthews, 2008, p. 340) presented...

As Day and Matthews conclude, this is "a great way of assessing both students' understanding of the inquiry process and their ability to use higher-order thinking skills."
3) Are there any shortcomings to content-based assessments?

Content-based assessments provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of facts. Using these types of assessments helps to ensure that all students are getting the same education, based on a set of standards that governs what all students should know. However, content-based assessments do not always measure students' ability to put knowledge into practice. Content-based assessments do not let students show that they know how to find information and use it. These types of assessments do not always let students apply their knowledge to solve real-world problems, which can make students feel as though there is a "disconnect" between school and what they really need to know. Students must have some factual knowledge as a basis for process knowledge. The challenge will continue to be in the design of assessment tools that account for various learning styles and allow students to demonstrate higher-order thinking skills. This is difficult on a large scale because of problems inherent in evaluating these kinds of tests and tabulating the results.