Alternative Assessment Tools

Alternative assessment tools can be defined as those that are not discrete point tests. The advantages of alternative assessment focus on "how well," rather than "how many" (Gripps, 1994) and the individual achievement relative to self. The other advantage of alternative assessment is the emphasis on competence rather than intelligence or in simpler terms, how well one knows the material for the test.

In these best case scenarios, the students are not haunted by standardization, but focus on how to improve rather than to prove. An individual student can make an enormous amount of progress and can learn a great deal from working with alternative assessment tools.

Student Assessment

Student assessment, otherwise known as self-assessment, is one of the most reliable forms of assessment. Here are a few examples of student assessment.

At the end of each lesson, learners can either fill in a type of student assessment form or write for ten minutes what they have learned from the following main assessment tools:

Individual projects. The focus is on self-assessment or the learner is responsible for giving him/herself a grade based on performance.
Criteria for grading is known from the start of the project work. The grade must be approved by the teacher and other members of the group if applicable. The grade reflects areas of problem solving and learning the subject matter.

Criteria for assessment of portfolios is another assessment tool. These can be determined from the portfolio:

level of entries based on the learning outcome and the achievement
how serious is the revision
reflection - how deep does the learner look at him/herself in regard to his/her learning.
visual layout - a positive attitude towards a portfolio reflects in the level of care taken in its presentation

Self-Assessment Questionnaires