For teachers to shift from the familiar
traditional assessment to alternative assessment is not going to be easy. A great determination and commitment are
needed. After I had read the Anderson’s article about traditional assessment
and alternative assessment, I came to know that what I have been through during
my school time is the traditional assessment where the focus is teaching to
test. Teachers teach what is coming out in the exam and not teaching the
knowledge that is needed.
Assessments suppose to be conducted to assess students’
knowledge and not about finding out what they have memorized. Because of there
are too many tests, students tend to memorize things that are coming out in the
exam and not actually understand what they have learnt. The effect is that
they forget the information as soon as the test or exam ended. This kind of
assessment need to be put to an end as it does not benefit the students.
As for the alternative assessment, it
can be a good start for our education system. Our exam-oriented students should
be changed. Learning just for the sake of obtaining good grades in exams will
not do any good for students, and teachers that give exam to check on students
‘memorization ability’ have to stop doing that. As what stated by Anderson in
the article, test or assessment should be done to check on students ability or
level in order for teacher to find out their weakness and help them to overcome
it. Alternative assessment gives teachers a new point of view about test and
exams.
Test should not be a routine that students do at the end of lesson it is actually a useful tool that can help students with their learning and teacher
with their teaching.
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