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According to Dikli (2003) “Assessment is one of the crucial components of instruction” (p. 13). People have different ideas regarding which are the best and most objective assessments available to measure students understanding and learning. The idea of tests being the only objective assessments of students learning is passé. There are many objective assessments available in this day and age we live in, to limit ourselves to the use of just traditional testing.
Tests are “single-occasion, unidimensional, timed exercise, usually in multiple choice or short-answer form” (Mitchell and Eckes, as cited in Dikli, 2003, p. 13). Currently, with all the technology and advances available in this 21st Century, educators are aware that tests are not the only objective way to gather information about student learning (Dikli, 2003). We can not limit objective assessments to exclusively administering tests, which can exhibit just memorization of facts and recalling of information.
Educators need to step up to the plate, embrace other methods of objective, impartial, and fair assessments, which better fit the 21st Century learner. Assessments such as projects, blog/ journal reflection, technology based educational games, authentic assessments, performance-based assessments, and portfolios are examples of methods that measure more than just what students are able to remember or recall. They measure what learners know, are able to do, and how they can apply the knowledge to the real world (Dikli, 2003). Therefore educators have to keep up with the 21st century learner and accept all the alternative assessments available to measure students learning and understanding; and not just limit the options to tests.
Reference:
Dikli, S. (2003). Assessment at a distance: Traditional vs. Alternative Assessments. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology-TOJET, 2(3), 13-19.
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