Educator as an assessor

TABLE OF CONTENTS

QUESTION 1: Definitions of assessment conceptS 2

a. Moderation 2
b. Recording 2
c. Continuous assessment 2
d. Criterion-referenced assessment 3

QUESTION 2: “THE NOBLE PROFESSION” – THE PURPOSE AND IMPORTANCE OF ASSESSMENT IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN CURRICULUM 3

QUESTION 3: COMPARISON OF FORMATIVE AND SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT 4

QUESTION 4: ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY SCORING RUBRIC 7

QUESTION 5: DESCRIPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ASSESSMENT PRINCIPLES 8

a. Validity 8
b. Fairness 8
c. Currency 8

QUESTION 6: DISCUSSION OF THE ROLE OF THE MODERATOR IN ASSESSMENT 9

a. The Role of the Moderator before Assessment is Conducted 9
b. The Role of the Moderator following Completion of Assessment Tasks 10

QUESTION 7: APPLICATION OF BLOOM’S TAXONOMY IN CATEGORISING QUESTIONS 11

QUESTION 8: EXPLANATION OF EFFECTIVE FEEDBACK GUIDELINES 12

REFERENCES 13
QUESTION 1: DEFINITIONS OF ASSESSMENTS CONCEPTS

a. Moderation
Moderation can be defined as the practice of safeguarding or securing that educators are assessing learners’ work in line with certain agreed specifications and required norms or standards (Maphalala, 2015:13). This is achieved by ensuring that assessment tools are of the required/necessary standard and quality, by making sure the entire assessment procedure including marking and feedback is credible and ensuring that the learning process has been effective (Maphalala, 2015:14). Thus moderation can be defined as a process that ensures that the entire assessment procedure is “fair, valid and reliable” (CAPS 2011:93) and ultimately credible i.e. whether the assessment judgement can be believed or not (Van Schalkwyk, 2015:51). Moderation is ultimately a process of quality control and assurance, that monitors and ensures that assessment procedures (as described in the NCS for every subject) are fair, valid and reliable (Ramalepe, 2010:9).

b. Recording
Recording can be defined as the collecting/gathering of data/evidence from learners’ assessments

References: AUSTRALIA. ACT GOVERNMENT EDUCATION AND TRAINING (2011). Teacher’s Guide to Assessment. [Online] Available from: http://www.det.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/297182/Teachers_Guide_to_Assessment_Web.pdf [Accessed: 1 April 2015]. Dreyer, JM. (ed.) (2014). The Educator as Assessor, 2nd Ed. Pretoria: Van Schaik. Maphalala, MC. (2015). The Educator as Assessor Tutorial Letter 101/3/2015. Pretoria: University of South Africa. McAlpine, M Ramalepe, ML. (2010). The Role of School Managers in the Implementation of Continuous Assessment in the Further Education and Training SOUTH AFRICA. DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION (2011). National Curriculum Statement (NCS): Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement: Senior Phase Grades 7- 9. South African Qualification Authority (SAQA) (2001). Criteria and Guidelines for Assessment of NQF Registered Unit standards and Qualifications. [Online] Available from: http://www.saqa.org.za/docs/guide/2001/assessment.pdf [Accessed: 2 April 2015]. Spiller, D. (2009). Principles of Assessment. New Zeeland: Teaching Development Unit/ Wāhanga Whakapakari Ako. [Online] Available from: http://www.waikato.ac.nz/tdu/pdf/booklets/16_AssessmentPrinciples.pdf [Accessed: 2 April 2015]. Van Schalkwyk, H. (2015). The Educator as Assessor Tutorial Letter 102/3/2015. Pretoria: University of South Africa.