If you’re new to teaching, training or assessment you may be wondering about the different types of assessment and when is the most appropriate time to use them.
In the first of a three part blog series, we explore Initial Assessment. A guide to Formative and Summative Assessment to follow.
Types of Assessment: Initial Assessment
When and Why?
Before you start working with a learner, you must carry out an initial assessment.
This is so important as all learners are different, with different knowledge, skills, experiences, values, beliefs and expectations.
This will help you plan learning, to ensure it is fully inclusive to their needs. The sorts of things you need to find out include:
- Individual support needs e.g. digital support, bilingualism, working hours
- Additional learning needs e.g. dyslexia, dyspraxia,
- Their level of knowledge and skills
- Values, beliefs and motivations
- Expectations of the course
- Previous experience and qualifications
- Current Knowledge and Skills
- Information from external agencies e.g. youth offending teams, CAMHS,
By being inclusive to all learners, this ensures that you are meeting the requirements of the Equality Act (2010). It will remove potential barriers to learning and give your learners the best opportunity to succeed.
How?
Initial assessment can be carried out in a number of ways:
Discussion
Talk to your learners. Find out what their current levels of knowledge and experience are. If you are working to industry or qualification standards, use these as a basis.
This will also start the process of building a rapport with your learners.
They may tell you about previous learning experiences they have had – good and bad, which can help you plan how you are going to teach and support them.
You can also find out what their motivations are for learning, and refer back to these if the learner should lose steam later in the programme.
- Advantages – Helps build rapport, allows you to get a good feel for your learner
- Disadvantages – Can take a long time
Skill Scan
You can carry out a digital / paper based skill scan, where learners self assess their knowledge and skills against industry or qualification criteria.
They can rate themselves as “Confident” or “I know lots about this” down to “Not confident” or “I have no idea about this”.
They can expand on their judgements with examples and further information. If the learner is on an apprenticeship programme, this can also be discussed with the employer, so the they can corroborate areas of strength and development.
This Skill Scan from City and Guilds is a great example.
- Advantages – you can find out about specific knowledge or skills
- Disadvantages – learners may under estimate or over estimate their skills and knowledge, or may not be honest
Diagnostic assessments
These are specific assessments around a particular topic or subject, usually literacy, numeracy or digital literacy. (Functional Skills in England, Essential Skills in Wales)
The diagnostic assessment will reveal a “profile” for learners that show their areas of strength and development.
This will allow specific support to be planned, or the learner can be challenged to work at a higher level than the outcome.
An example of a diagnostic assessment can be found on the World Skills UK website, which has mini-skills assessments in a range of vocational areas.
Other examples include WEST (Wales Essential Skills Toolkit) and BKSB (Basic Key Skills Builder) for literacy and numeracy assessments.
- Advantages – pin point specific areas of strength / development
- Disadvantages – learners may feel pressured under a “test” environment and the outcomes may not reflect their abilities
The Learning Styles Debate
In the past teachers, trainers and assessors have used Learning Styles diagnostic assessment e.g. VARK (Visual, Auditory, Read-Write, Kinaesthetic), to assess how a learner likes to learn. In recent years there has been much debate over whether our style of learning actually does make a difference to how we learn.
There is no doubt that we all have learning preferences. Some people may listen to audiobooks and retain what they have heard. Others may prefer to research from books and make notes. Others prefer to watch a YouTube video.
The only thing for certain is that you should use a range of learning materials and sources in your teaching and training to meet the needs of all learners – this is called a multi-modal approach.
Educators are now using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) model to ensure that their planned learning is inclusive and accessible to all learners. Informed by cognitive neuroscience, the framework first defined by David H. Rose (1990s) offers learners more flexible learning environments and choice in assessment methods. The three main principles of UDL are:
- Multiple means of representation to gain information and knowledge
- Multiple means of action and expression to provide alternatives for learners to demonstrate what they know; and
- Multiple means of engagement to help challenge and motivate learners.
In practice this means that learners could decide to complete an assignment by creating a video or comic strip, instead of writing an essay for example.
Watch this useful video below or check out this useful blog to find out more about UDL.
So, what form of initial assessment is best?
You should ideally use all the types of initial assessment shown above to get a good all rounded view of the learner to help individually plan their programme of learning.
Read more about planning learning in our blog.
If the initial assessment is completed collaboratively, the learner will be more likely to take ownership for their learning, and be more motivated to complete their short term targets and long term goals.
What next for assessors?
If you are interested in find out more about the purposes of assessment, and different assessment methods, please join our next assessor course.
Alternatively, if you are a trainer who would like to learn more about developing inclusive training sessions, join our Training Skills Level 3 course.
