Feedback
Another challenge in direct assessment is scoring and giving meaningful feedback to students on their performance. Certainly, compared to grading multiple-choice questions, direct assessment takes more time to score. Also, the scoring and feedback needs to be considered carefully because it will be more subjective than selected-response questions. The teacher needs a clear idea of what they are measuring in the performance, and students should be given feedback that they can understand.
Making feedback clear and manageable in direct assessment.
Duration: 03:42
Some ways to provide better feedback in direct assessment include:
- using a scoring rubric,
- sharing the rubric with students before the test,
- having students use the rubric to rate their own or peers performance,
- having students design the rubric, and
- rating selectively rather than providing feedback on everything.
Rubrics
Rubrics or scales are commonly used in direct assessment. Teachers may design their own rubrics, have students develop them, or adapt rubrics found elsewhere. It is important to be very conscious of the criteria and language features in a rubric. They should match what has been covered in the class and what you think language is. If points are given for each feature in the rubric, analytic scoring, this distribution should make sense.
Sample Rubric: Group Presentation
Sample Rubric: Beginning Writing