3.7 Moodle curriculum Signals
3.7.4 Assessing a module using Moodle
The study conducted by Reddy and le Grange (2017, p. 159) on assessment and curriculum in higher education, asserts that the etymological definition of assessment comes “from the Latin verb called asssidere, which means to sit beside”. This means that assessment is something lecturers do with students and for students including themselves. In other words assessment addresses the student’s needs (informal reflection) by unpacking the module content (formal reflection) by lecturers (personal reflection) (Singh* & Mabasa, 2015; Wamba, 2017).
Furthermore, Khoza' (2016a), Hoadley and Jansen (2013), Van den Akker- et al. (2012), as well as Berkvens et al. (2014), assert that assessment plays a major role during the teaching and learning process; this process involves the achievement of goals (aims, objectives, and learning outcomes).
As a result, for lecturers to ensure that goals are achieved, it has to be an assessment in place, which will measure and evaluate the progress towards the achievement of those stipulated curriculum goals or signals (Kennedy*, Hyland, & Ryan, 2006; Nkohla, 2017). That is why the study conducted by Black and Wiliam (2009) on assessment in higher education outlines that measurement is a process of gathering evidence during the teaching and learning process in order to quantifying the degree to which someone or something possesses a given characteristic, level,
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or feature. Measurement produces quantitative data such as scores and numerical ratings like percentage for grading purposes. However, Fernández- et al. (2013), and Purvis et al. (2011), aver that evaluation is a process of judging the worth or value of something during the teaching and learning process and it is not done for grading purposes but rather for the purpose of monitoring of the learning process so as to check if learning goals are attained.
In addition to the above, studies aver that definition of assessment consists of both evaluation and measurement phenomenon; assessment includes both quantitative (measurement) and qualitative data (evaluation) from a variety of sources; and assessment can be thought of as the bridge between teaching and learning in order to provide feedback to the participants such as students, parents, lecturers, and universities (Biggs', 2011; Black & Wiliam, 2009; Kennedy', 2006; Moon-, 2002;
Ramsden, 2003; Spiller & Ferguson, 2011; Stein et al., 2013). This suggests that, in education, assessment is mostly influenced by informal reflection (evaluation) and formal reflection (measurement). In other words, assessment requires lecturers reflect on a wide variety of methods or tools that can be used to evaluate and measure, the progress of the process of teaching and learning in order to cater for the needs of students and the needs of a module, including the needs of the lecturers. Black and Wiliam (2009), and Biggs' (2011), assert that the primary objective of assessment is to improve students’ learning and teachers’ teaching process. Furthermore, assessment is done in order to monitor the student's progress (diagnosis of student's problems and provide feedback), grading (assessment done on the basis of marks allocated), selection (selection for courses, subjects, jobs and others), and certification (giving certificates or degrees).
Moreover, studies are of the same view that any assessment should follow some guiding principles that will ensure trustworthiness to all stakeholders, including learners, lecturers, parents, and HEIs (Combrinck, 2003; Killen, 2003; Le Grange' & Reddy, 1998; Le Grange* & Reddy, 2017; Marsh, 2009; Siebörger, 2004; Vandeyar & Killen, 2003). These studies affirm that validity, reliability, and fairness are some of the guiding principles of assessment. Reliability is referred to as the principle that has got to do with consistency in the assessment (Black & Wiliam, 2006). This suggests that this principle is concerned with the accuracy with which assessment task or tool is used to meet the needs of society. In other words, this principle is influenced by informal reflection
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because it addresses societal needs. For instance, if assessment is administered in two different social lecture halls, assessors marking the task will come to the same measurement. On the contrary, validity “refers to the extent that a measurement measures what it is supposed to not something else-the measurement must be true” (Naude & Davin, 2017, p. 15). In other words, any assessment task is valid if it serves the specific purpose or a goal based on the content taught in class, and this assertion indicates that validity is influenced by formal reflections since it is done to serve a particular goal during the teaching and learning process. Further to these principles, fairness when conducting assessment must prevail, “fairness relates to whether different learners are given equitable opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do” (Reddy & le Grange, 2017, p. 166).
Furthermore, Reddy and le Grange (2017), Vandeyar and Killen (2003), Naude and Davin (2017), and Killen (2003), outline that lecturers should be guided by produced/personal reflection, and formal reflection in order to administer these principles (reliability, validity, and fairness) when conducting assessment. Studies further outline that lecturers should use their reflection to check if assessment is administered on the same basis of all learners. The marking process follows same criterion or memorandum and all learners are to be treated equally, stick to the purpose of assessment, results are to be confidential, assessment must be goal oriented an others in order to abide by the principles of assessment. Be that as it may, Mpungose* (2016) concurs with Kennedy' (2006) that assessment may be categorised as assessment for learning (personal reflection), assessment of learning (formal reflection), as well as assessment as learning (informal reflection) as depicted in Figure 3.18
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Figure 3.18: Forms of assessment with their own respective reflections