assessing_the_psychomotor_domain

Assessing the Psychomotor Domain

To Enhance Student Learning

Learner Assessmeent in School-based Physical Education

Purpose of Assessment

• Two major categories of assessment
• Formative
• Used during instruction
• Summative
• Used to document final student learning on a unit or topic.
• Typically associated with grades.
• The same assessment can be formative or summative, depending on its purpose.
• Formative assessments are not a type of assessment but rather refer to the purpose of the assessment or how it is used.
• Examples: Gameplay, dance routine

Assessments Used Formatively

Process

Future

Comparison

Formative Assessment: A planned process in which assessment-elicited evidence of students’ status is used by teachers to adjust their ongoing instructional procedures or by students to adjust their current practices (Popham 2008, 6).

Teachers know whether students have learned and can plan future lessons appropriately.

Students can compare their performance to that specified by the teacher through the assessment.

Assessments Used Formatively

Improvement

Adapt

Involvement

Evidence shows that assessments used formatively improve learning (Black and Wiliam 1998, 2004).

• Low-achieving students benefit most.

Teachers adapt instruction as the learning progresses.

Assessment for learning:

• A subset of formative assessment that involves students in the learning process (Stiggins 2017).
• Students analyze their performance and use the information to set a new learning goal.

Other Types of Assessment

Both are used as a unit begins

Pretest

Diagnostic

• Used with the measurement paradigm.
• Pretest is followed with a posttest to measure student improvement.

• Purpose of the diagnostic assessment is to determine the starting point of instruction.
• May not be administered again at the conclusion of instruction.

Grant Wiggins: Performance-Based Assessment

• Testing should represent central experiences in learning.
• Allow students to showcase learning in areas where they should be competent.
• Wiggins and McTighe (1998): Three basic types of assessment
• Quiz and test items
• Academic prompts
• Performance tasks and projects

Performance-Based Assessment

Grant Wiggins

Assessments Used in Physical Education

• Skill tests
• Were once used as proxies for game-play ability
• Should be viewed as intermediate assessments
• Other assessments are needed so students demonstrate their ability to use skills in meaningful activities such as gameplay.
• Gameplay allows students to demonstrate the ability to
• Select the appropriate skill for use at the appropriate time,
• Move into position to use the skill effectively, and
• Use the skill strategically.

Characteristics of performance-based assessment

• Open-ended
• Complex
• Authentic
• Require the presentations of worthwhile tasks designed to be representative of performances in the field
• Emphasize higher-level thinking and more complex learning

Characteristics of performance-based assessment

• Articulate criteria in advance so students know how they will be evaluated.
• Embed assessments so firmly in the curriculum that they are practically indistinguishable from instruction.
• Expect students to present their work publicly.
• Involve the examination of the process as well as the products of learning.

Worthwhile Tasks

Multiple

Ideas

• Performance-based assessments can include game play, dance or gymnastics routine, track meet or swim meet, and projects (e.g., design a fitness center).

• The tasks that physical activity experts (e.g., announcers, officials) are required to do can provide ideas for possible performance-based assessments.

Higher-level Thinking & Complex Learning

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Challenge

Choices

Analyze

Decisions

Many complex decisions for choice of skill or strategy during gameplay.

Successful assessments make students analyze, synthesize, and evaluate.

Game-play assessments evaluate students’ ability to make choices.

Assessments using higher-level thinking are more challenging and meaningful.

Articulate Criteria in Advance

Demystify

Focus

Expectations

Providing students with criteria helps demystify the assessment.

Articulating criteria allows them to focus on important factors while completing the assessment.

Writing down expectations helps students understand what exactly is expected of them.

Student's Work is Presented when possible

• Gameplay and athletic activities are done with an audience.
• Audience affects assessment in two ways:
• Holds people accountable for their best work.
• May change the focus for the assessment.
• An audience, real or simulated, provides an element of authenticity (Wiggins 1989a).

Assessment Linked to Instruction

• Gameplay allows students to apply information and skills learned and increase levels of competence.
• Teachers can assess game-play skills while students continue to learn.
• Students can self-assess throughout the unit.

Process & Product of Learning Are Both Important

The Process

Evaluation

The process of learning is just as important as the final product.

The process students use to complete the assessment task must be included in the evaluation criteria.

Teaching to the Test

When teaching to a standardized written test, teachers tend to narrow the curriculum and focus instruction on facts needed to perform well.

If the test is worthwhile, teaching to the test is not a bad thing (Wiggins 1989b).

Performance-based assessments are also designed so that teachers “teach to the test.”

Many of the performance-based tests used in physical education are meaningful activities.

Types of Performance-Based Assessments

• Gameplay and modified game play
• Event tasks
• Student performances
• Student projects

• Student logs
• Teacher observation
• Peer assessment
• Self-assessment

Gameplay & Modified GamePlay

• A performance-based evaluation is done while students are playing a sport or activity.
• Various aspects can be evaluated: psychomotor skills, knowledge of rules, use of strategy, teamwork.
• Provides the first step in improving game-play performance.
• Small-sided games are easier to evaluate because there are fewer people to observe.

Gameplay & Modified GamePlay

• Allows teachers to look at students’ abilities to apply skills and other elements important for game play.
• Modified games are an essential part of skill development.
• If assessing skill during game play, students should not be penalized for using poor form in a possibly less than ideal situation.

Gameplay & Modified GamePlay

• Allows teachers to observe much more than skill competence.
• Assess small-sided games first and then progress to more complex situations.
• Modified games can be used for summative assessments.
• Unit objectives are the basis for a rubric.
• Create list of skills essential for competent players.
• Five to seven descriptors for a game-play rubric.

Gameplay & Modified GamePlay

• Use quantitative rubrics with target games.
• Use qualitative rubrics with invasion, net or wall, and field games.
• Use when assessing all three learning domains simultaneously.
• With large classes, teachers can assess every student on one descriptor per day.
• Assess game play on multiple days.
• Statistics can be good indicators of performance.

Event Tasks

Collaboration

Formative

Understanding

Performance tasks are completed in one class period.

• Involves psychomotor activity.
• Allows teachers to check for levels of understanding with certain concepts.

Performance tasks are completed in one class period.

• Useful for formative assessments.
• Students must have criteria for performance.

Excellent for assessing problem solving, cooperation, and teamwork in adventure education units.

Student Performances

• Assessments are usually done over several days or weeks.
• Requires students to combine skills and knowledge in a performance (e.g., dance or gymnastics routine).
• It focuses on a culminating performance.
• A holistic rubric is appropriate.
• Video-recording helps ensure accurate assessment.
• Teachers may choose to add a cognitive assessment to the performance.

Student Projects

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Limitations

New Product

Outside

Real-World

Students use knowledge gained in class and apply to real-world setting.

Require time outside of class to complete.

Use higher levels of thinking by creating a new product, analyzing a situation or performance, or making an evaluation.

Teachers should not penalize students for limited resources.

Student Projects

Time

Evolution

Examples

Typically take several class periods.

Can evolve into meaningful end products.

• Produce a video.
• Use a folk dance project.
• Create an instructional video for younger students to assess sport skills.
• Develop a magazine.

Student Projects

Student projects might involve having older students teach games or activities to elementary school students.

Student Logs

Checklist could be used to evaluate the inclusion of various components.

Students can track skill or fitness improvement over time.

Teachers can observe behavior over time.

Scoring criteria depend on teacher’s objective.

If participation was a goal, logs would show evidence of regular physical activity. Logs can document practice or out-of-class activity.

Observations

• Teachers, peers, and students can observe skills and provide assessments of performance designed to improve learning.

• Types of observations are teacher, peer, and self-evaluation.

Teacher Observations

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Parents

Levels

Is Not

Result

Assessments must result in a written record that documents students’ learning.

Observing students and providing oral feedback is not an assessment.

Focus on varying ability levels when assessing large classes.

Use observations for parent–teacher conferences.

Teacher Observations

Mastery

Form

Focus

Give students a task to perform and then watch to determine if they have achieved mastery.

Observation form is used to formalize the assessment process and allow for documentation.

Record students’ performances to focus on quality of performance and to verify students’ learning.

Teacher Observations

• Teacher observations can help identify competent bystanders.
• Students who are not having behavior problems but who avoid performing in front of others
• May want to sample students instead of assessing the entire class.
• Select students of different ability levels prior to doing the observation.
• Use observation results for future planning.
• Provide essential information about abilities.

Peer Assessments

• With peer observation, students have their teacher to evaluate performance.
• Teach students how to do assessments.
• Identify the most important criteria.
• Encourage students to evaluate honestly.
• The purpose of the observation is to encourage correct practice by a peer.
• Peer observation should not contribute to the observed student’s grade.

Peer Assessments

• Excellent ways to increase feedback by making each student a teacher.
• Can verify cognitive learning for a skill.
• Very useful when first learning a skill.
• When using,
• give students a list of criteria,
• make sure students know what a good performance looks like, and;
• list cues to be used on recording sheet.

Peer Assessments

A recording form is necessary for students.

Should not be used as part of a grade.

Video can help beginners observe.

Suggested order of critical elements:

• Ready position
• Preparation
• Execution
• Follow-through

Self-Assessments

• Self-assessments can improve performance and develop a skill important for adult learning.
• Teachers must educate students about doing this type of assessment.
• Different types of feedback:
• Knowledge of results feedback: Did the ball go into the basket?
• Cognitive knowledge can help students self-assess.
• Kinesthetic feedback lets people know when they are performing skills correctly.
• Video-recording is one way to document self-assessment.

Self-Assessments

• Digital photography or video can be used.
• Sensory cues can help students self-assess.
• The sound of a ball hitting the sweet spot of a racket.
• Students can self-evaluate their affective-domain behavior.
• Students should never be required to self-assess for grading purposes.

Advantages of Performance-Based Assessments

• Student learning is enhanced.
• Good instructional alignment.
• Multiple assessments provide a complete picture of student learning.
• Many types of learning are assessed.
• Students have an active role in the learning process.
• Students have multiple chances to get it right.
• Higher-order thinking skills are emphasized.
• Enjoyable for students.
• Students have choice and are empowered to learn.

Issues when Using Performance-BASED ASSESSMENTS

Parents completing the assessment.

Assessment is time-consuming.

Concerns about reliability and validity,

Concern about keeping students active during class.

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