Workshop on Good Assessment Practices in Higher Education: Aligning Outcomes, Instruction and Assessment

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Workshop on Good Assessment Practices in Higher Education: Aligning Outcomes, Instruction and Assessment

6th – 9th August, 2019 | Nairobi, Kenya

Background and Rationale

The dawn of the twenty-first century is being recognized as a knowledge era, of which higher education plays a crucial role. For a country to succeed economically, culturally, and politically, it must have a strong postsecondary sector. This has called for a tremendous increase in demand for higher education. In countries where a decade ago 10,000 students attended higher education institutions, that figure has grown many times over to become hundreds of thousands. This has led to the raising of concerns regarding the quality of education measured by teaching and learning outcomes.

In such a globalized and competitive world, students need to know not only the basic reading and arithmetic skills, but also lifelong skills that will allow them to face a continuously changing world. They must be able to think critically, to analyze, and to make inferences. This has made assessment an integral part of teaching and learning. Teachers’ instructional and classroom assessment practices have become a means by which the education system is enhanced and defined.

Assessment of students’ learning is very critical because effective teaching decisions are based on the ability of teachers to understand their students and to match actions with accurate assessments. However, past research has shown that there are many problems associated with teachers’ classroom assessment practices. These include teachers’ lack of an adequate knowledge base regarding the basic testing and measurement concepts, and failure of teachers to employ and adhere to measurement guidelines they learned in measurement courses.

An important consideration when designing a learning experience, course, or programme is to ensure that assessments and instructional strategies are aligned with the intended learning outcomes. Creating an aligned design focuses instructional strategies on development of knowledge, skills, and values while providing formative feedback and preparing learners for formal assessment.

In Higher Education Institutions, assessments are an indispensable part of the teaching and learning process. It is considered a key component for effective teaching and learning, as it determines whether or not the goals of education are being met. It again enables teachers to amass relevant educational information about students’ progress as well as the extent to which methods of instruction used are helping students to achieve the intended learning outcome. It also affects decisions about grades, placement, advancement, instructional needs, curriculum, and, in some cases, funding.

Workshop Objectives

The aim of this workshop is to equip teaching staff in higher education with the requisite skills and knowledge they need in students’ assessment, which will yield a significant improvement in teaching and learning.

The specific objectives of the workshop is to;

  • Introduce participants to the various forms of assessment, its limitations and strengths, as well as how they impact on teaching and learning.
  • Expose participants to the various feedback systems and assessment practices which can improve teaching and learning when used efficiently .
  • Expose participants to assessment practices that either deflate or inflate students’ test scores from reflecting their actual score on an academic task.

Mode of Delivery

Workshop content will be covered through direct lectures, case studies, demonstrations, reading, listening, thinking, problem-solving, group discussion and video presentation. Active participation is expected. Every effort will be made to deliver the workshop as a seminar with substantial participation from the class. Participants, therefore, should come to class prepared to ask questions, contribute ideas, and share experiences.

Target Group

This workshop is meant for all staff of higher education institutions connected with students’ assessments including professors, associate professors, senior lecturers, lecturers, assistant lecturers, teaching assistants and quality assurance officers.

Venue

Nairobi, Kenya

Date

The workshop will take place on: 6th – 9th August, 2019

Registration

Participants are required to register for this workshop via the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/gap-2019

Registration fee is  350 USD for local participants and 400 USD for International participants. The registration fee covers the seminar documents, lunch
and tea/coffee breaks as well as a copy of workshop materials and other packages. Participants will cover the costs of their travel, accommodation and upkeep.

1 Comment

  1. thanks for such impressive article good asesment is is very necessary in higher education ,this is such a impressive article thank you 🙂

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