Assessment Chapter 3 – Authentic Assessment in the Affective

in Domain
Learning 2 Lesson 8: Development of assessment tools and 21st century skills
At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:
 design a checklist; and
 construct assessment tools that will incorporate 21st century skills.
Objectives
Assessment tools in the affective domain, in particular, those which
are used to assess attitudes, interests, motivations, and self-efficacy, have
been developed There are certain good practices in developing, these
instruments. We consider a few of the standard assessment tools in the
Introduction
affective domain.

Development of Assessment Tools

Self-Report. Self-report is the most common measurement tool in the

Discussion
affective domain. It essentially requires an individual to provide an account
of his/her attitude or feelings toward a concept or idea or
people. Self-reports are also sometimes called “written reflections”. In using
this measurement tool, the teacher requires the students to write his/her
thoughts on a subject matter, like, “Why I Like or Dislike Mathematics”. The
teacher ensures that the students write something which would demonstrate
the various levels of the taxonomy, e.g. lowest level of receiving up to
characterization.

Rating scales. A rating scale is a set of categories designed to elicit

information about a quantitative attribute in social science. Common
examples are the Likert scale and 1-10 rating scales for which a person
selects the number which is considered to reflect the perceived quality of a
product. The basic feature of any rating scale is that it consists of a number of
categories. These are usually assigned integers.

Semantic Differential Scales

The Semantic Differential (SD) tries to assess an individual’s action
to specific words, ideas or concepts in terms of rating on bipolar scales
defined with contrasting adjectives at each end. An example of an SD scale
is:
Good ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Bad
3 2 1 0 1 2 3

Usually, the position marked 0 is labelled “neutral”, the 1 positions are

labelled “slightly”, the 2 positions “quite”, and the 3 positions “extremely”.
In the illustration above, for instance, a “3” close to good would mean an
"extremely good” reaction while a “3” close to bad would be an “extremely
bad” reaction. The scale actually measures two things: directionality of a
reaction (e.g., good versus bad) and also intensity (slight through extreme).
Usually, a person is presented with some concept of interest without any
other explanatory remarks e g. Math teacher, and asked to rate it on a number
of such scales. Ratings are combined in various ways to describe and analyze
the person’s feelings. A number of basic considerations are involved in SD
methodology:
 Bipolar adjective scales are a simple, economical means for obtaining
data on people’s reactions. With adaptations, such scales can be used
with adults or children, persons from all walks of life, and persons
from any culture.
 Ratings on bipolar adjective scales tend to be correlated and three
basic dimensions of response account for most of the co-variation in
ratings. The three dimensions, which have been labeled Evaluation,
Potency, and Activity (EPA) have been verified and replicated in an
impressive variety of studies.
 Some adjective scales arc almost pure measures of the EPA
dimensions; for example, good-bad for Evaluation, powerful-
powerless for Potency, and fast-slow for Activity. Using a few pure
scales of this sort, one can obtain, with considerable economy, reliable
measures of a person’s overall response to something. Typically, a
concept is rated on several pure scales associated with a single
dimension, and the results are averaged to provide a single factor
score for each dimension. Measurements of a concept on the EPA
dimensions are referred to as the concept's profile.
 EPA measurements arc appropriate when one is interested in affective
responses The EPA system is notable for being a multivariate
approach to affective measurement. It is also a generalized approach,
applicable to any concept or stimulus, and thus it permits comparisons
of affective reactions on widely disparate things. EPA ratings have
been obtained for hundreds of word concepts, for stories and poems,-
far social roles and stereotypes, for colors, sounds, shapes, and for
individual persons.
 The SD has been used as a measurement of attitude in a wide variety
of projects. Osgood, et al, (1957) report exploratory studies in which
the SD was used to assess attitude change as a result of mass media
programs and as a result of messages structured in different-ways.
Their chapter on attitude balance or congruity theory also presents
significant applications of the SD to attitude measurement. The SD
has been used by other investigators to study attitude formation (eg.,
Barclay and Thumin, 1963), attitudes toward organizations (e.g.,
Rodefeld, 1967), attitudes toward jobs and occupations (e.g., Triandis,
1959; Beardslee and O’Dowd, 1961; Gusfield and Schwartz, 1963),
and attitudes toward minorities (e.g., Prothro end Keehn, 1957;
Williams, 1964; 1966). The results in these, and many other studies,
support the validity of the SD as a technique for attitude
measurement.

Thurstone and Likert Scales

Thurstone is considered the father of attitude measurement. He address
the issue on how favorable an individual is with regard to a given issue. He
developed an attitude continuum to determine the position of favorability on
the issue.
Below is an example of a Thurstone scale of measurement.
Example (from Thurstons, 1931):
Directions. Put a check mark in the blank if you agree with the item.
_____1. Blacks should be considered the lowest class of human beings.
(Scale value = 0.9)
_____2. Blacks and whites must be kept apart in all social affairs where
they might be taken as equals. (Scale value = 3.2)
_____3. I am not interested in how blacks rate socially. (Scale value =5.4)
_____4. A refusal to accept blacks is not based on any fact of nature, but
on a prejudice which should be overcome. (Scale value = 7.9)
_____5. I believe that blacks deserve the same social privileges as whites.
(Scale value = 10.3)

In 1932, Likert developed the method of summated ratings (or Likert's

scale), which is still widely used. The Likert scale requires that individuals
tick on a box to report whether they "strongly, agree", “agree", are
"undecided”, “disagree*’, or "strongly disagree", in response to a large
number of items concerning an attitude object or stimulus. Likert scales are
derived as follows: First, you pick individual items to include. You choose
individual items that you know correlate highly with the total score across
items. Second, you choose how to scale each item. For example, you
construct labels for each scale value (e.g., I to 11) to represent the
interpretation to be assigned to the number (e.g., disagree strongly = I,
disagree slightly = 2, etc.) Third, you ask your target audience to mark each
item. Fourth, you derive a target's score by adding the values that target,
identified on each item.
Below is an example of the use of a Likert Scale:
Statement: I do not like to solve algebraic equations.
Response options:
1. Strongly disagree
2. Disagree
3. Agree
4. Strongly Agree
It is common to treat the numbers obtained from a rating scale directly
as measurements by calculating averages or more generally any arithmetic
operations. Doing so is not however justified. In terms of the levels of
measurement proposed by S.S. Stevens, the data are ordinal categorizations.
This means, for example, that to agree strongly with the above statement
implies a least favorable perception of algebraic equations than does to agree
with the statement. However the numbers are not interval-level measurements
in Stevens' schema, which means that equal differences do not represent
equal intervals
between the degree to which one values algebraic equations. For example, the
difference between strong agreement and agreement is, not necessarily the
same as the difference-between disagreement and agreement. Strictly, even
demonstrating that categories are ordinal requires empirical evidence based
on patterns of responses (Andrich, 1978).
In 1944, Guttman suggested that attitude should be measured by
multidimensional scales, as opposed to unidimensional scales such as those
developed by Thurstone and Likert. Guttman pointed out that there should be
a multidimensional view of the attitude construct. He developed the
Scalogram Analysis, Cumulative Scaling, or as usually called Guttman
scaling. The major characteristic of this scale is that
the response to one item helps predict the responses to other items. For,
instance, if the individual responds negatively to the item "I like oranges”, he
is not likely to respond positively to the item “Oranges are great for
breakfast”.

Checklists
The most common and perhaps the easiest instrument in the affective
domain to construct is the checklist. A checklist consists of simple items that
the student or teacher marks as “absent” or present. Here are the steps in the
construction of a checklist:
 Enumerate all the attributes and characteristics you wish to
observe relative to the concept being measured. For instance, if
the concept is “interpersonal relation", then you might identify
those indicators or attributes which constitute an evidence of good
interpersonal relation.
 Arrange these attributes as a “shopping” list of characteristics.
 Ask the students to mark those attributes or characteristics which
are present and to leave blank those which are not.
Below is an example of a checklist for Teachers
(Observational Guide) with emphasis on the behavior. "Getting
Students' Attention" Sandra F. Rief (1997). Notice that the
observational guide will
probably consist of several other items like: focusing students’
attention, maintaining students' attention, and keeping students on-
task during seatwork, each of which requires corresponding series of
observable behaviors like the example given for “getting students'
attention”.

Checklists for Teachers

By: Sandra F. Rief, M.A.E74 (1997)

Getting students’ attention

Ask an interesting, speculative question, show a picture, tell a
little story, or read a related poem to generate discussion and interest
in the upcoming lesson.
 Try "‘playfulness," silliness, a bit of theatrics (props and storytelling)
to get attention and peak interest.
 Use storytelling. Students of all ages love to hear stories especially
personal stories. It is very effective in getting attention.
 Add a bit of mystery. Bring in an object relevant to the upcoming
lesson in a box, bag, or pillowcase. This is a wonderful way to
generate predictions and can lead to excellent discussions or writing
activities.
 Signal students auditorily: ring a bell, use a beeper or timer play a bar
of music on the piano or guitar, etc.
 Vary your tone of voice: loud, soft, whispering. Try making a louder
command “Listen! Freeze! Ready!” followed by a few seconds of
silence before proceeding in a normal voice to give directions.
 Use visual signals: flash the lights or raise your hand which signals
the students to raise their hands and close their mouths until everyone
silent.
 Frame the visual material you want students to be focused on with
your hands or with a colored box around it.
 If using an overhead, place an object (e.g., little toy car or plastic
figure) to be projected on the screen to get attention.
 Clearly signal: “Everybody … Ready…”
 Color is very effective in getting attention. Make sure of colored dry-
erase pens on white boards, colored overhead pens for transparencies
and overhead projectors, and colored paper to highlight key words,
phrases, steps to computation problems, spelling patterns, etc.
 Model excitement and enthusiasm about the upcoming lesson.
 Use eye contact. Students should be facing you when you are
speaking, especially while instructions are being given. If students are
seated in clusters, have those students not directly facing you turn
their chairs and bodies around to face you when signaled to do so.

21st Century Skills

S.NO. SKILL DEFINITION
1 Critical Thinking Critical Thinking is the capability of
and Problem objective analysis of information and
Solving includes the following qualities:
• fairness and open-mindedness;
• activeness and being informed;
• willingness to question or to entertain
doubts;
• being independent.
• recognizing and assessing values, peer
pressure and the media influences (for a
creative understanding of critical thinking,
refer to CBSE’s comic book ‘Cogito’)

Problem Solving is the skill of:

• identifying the relevant piece of
information when faced with a mass of
data (most of which is irrelevant),
• discarding information that may not be
useful to give new information, and
finally, • relating one set of information to
another in a different form by using
experience, relating new problems to ones
we have previously solved.
2 Creativity And These are the skills to explore and create
Innovation fresh ways of thinking. Creativity refers to
new way of seeing or doing things and
includes four components:
• fluency (generating new ideas),
• flexibility (shifting perspective easily),
• originality (conceiving of something
new), and
• elaboration (building on others' ideas).
Innovative Skills mean skills for thinking
creatively to develop something new/
unique / improved / distinctive.
3 Collaboration Collaboration is the ability to effectively
work together with others. This skill
involves working together while taking
actions respecting others’ needs and
perspectives and contributing to and
accepting the finale. Collaboration helps to
develop interest and fun in the teaching
learning process. It effectively broadens
the cultural, social, and environmental
boundaries and helps a child to understand
social and environmental concerns better.
4 Communication Communication refers to the ability to
express one’s opinions, desires, needs,
apprehensions etc. oneself appropriately,
verbally and non-verbally.
5 Information These skills involve the ability to access
Literacy, Media information (traditional or digital), media
Literacy, and technology, to understand and
Technology critically evaluate different aspects of
Literacy content and information and create and
communicate effectively
6 Flexibility And Flexibility and Adaptability refer to a
Adaptability person’s ability to change his actions and
steps taken by him according to a new
situation, and efficiently facing an
unprecedented sitiation, without
compromising on ethics and values.
Adaptability can be defined as creating
modifications or changes in oneself to suit
the new environment. For students, these
can be understood as the skills required to
be flexible and adaptive to the situations
around them and find the best possible
solution to go forward despite adverse
conditions.
7 Leadership And Leadership is the ability to lead a team and
Responsibility be capable of effective team management
in relation to real world challenges. These
skills teach a child how to support the
development of key personal qualities
such as perseverance, being committed
and responsible, resilience and self-
confidence and how to foster a
commitment to life-long learning.
Being Responsible means being a good
and effective/ sensitive citizen. Be aware
of the important social and national issues
that may have an impact on our daily lives
both as a human-being and as a student, be
aware of the important social and national
issues that may have an impact on lives in
future both as a human -being and as a
student, be aware of our fundamental
duties and rights and embed the core
democratic values of India and strive to
live by them.
8 Initiative And Self- Initiation skill involves the ability to begin
Direction a task independently. It helps the child to
build his/her own path of development.
Self-direction is a skill to work with
integrity on self-motivation and taking
initiatives.
9 Productivity And Productivity in the student can be
Accountability understood as fulfilment of any task within
a given time period. Accountability can be
understood as feeling responsible for any
task done. Developing these skills in a
student helps him/her to work effectively
and also make him/ her reliable for other
peers by being accountable for his/her
actions.
10 Social And Cross- These are the skills to communicate, work
Cultural Interaction collaboratively and effectively in diverse
social and cultural environments
Exercise No. 1: Construction of checklist
Directions: Construct a checklist for good oral communication

Exercise/s

Exercise No. 2: Assessment tools in 21st century skills

Directions: Incorporate 21st Century Skills in constructing assessment tools