Affective Domain In Assessment Of Learning

Affective Domain in Assessment in Learning

1. Lesson 4 Affective Assessment By: Group 1

2. What is affective assessment ? Why assess affective domain? think about your answer to the following question : how so you feel doing mathematics? What so you like in mathematics? Your responses may vary .Some may like the subject ,or for the majority ,the feeling is the opposite .If we deal with measurement of feelings and attitudes or interest.

3. From the word itself, this type of assessment deals with the affect dimension of students' learning. The affective domain ( from the Latin affectus , meaning "feelings ") includes a host of constructs, such as attitudes, values, beliefs, opinions, interests, and motivation. They are the noncognitive outcomes of learning that are not easily seen or explicitly demonstrated. The type of assessment in this domain is not aimed to determine what the students have learned. Rather, it looks into how students feel while they are learning, how their learning experiences have influenced their emotions and future behavior. Teaching is not only imparting content knowledge that requires cognition. It is also knowing and understanding students as learners and humans. Therefore, it is essential that teachers know the feeling of pleasure, enjoyment, or even anxiety that learners experience because these feelings will have bearing on their attitudes, motivation, and beliefs that will eventually be manifested in their future behavior. Further, with information about the students' affective characteristics, teachers will be able to individualize their approaches to students and reshape the lesson plan based on the identified needs of students. Assessment on the affective domain is not only on the part of teachers to know information about students. It is also useful for student themselves. Self- awareness of feelings, emotions, and attitudes can make students reflect on how they are in the process of learning . This type of metacognition has proven to enhance learning and contribute to success in the academic task. Student attainment is a result of the functioning of his or her whole personality . Cognitive and affective assessment should work in tandem as what empirical studies have proven. AFFECTIVE ASSESSMENT

4. Unlike cognitive and psychomotor assessment, affective assessment does not determine the grades the students get. It rather helps teachers determine what steps need to be taken to help students achieve academic success. Knowledge of what students view, perceive, and feel as they are engaged in learning activities will guide teachers to improve their teaching strategies and enhance learning. Affective assessment can provide supplemental information about a learning difficulty or behavior problem that affects learning. For example, if students feel nervous in just seeing numerical symbols and sign of operations, how will the students be helped in this kind of anxiety? Fear about mathematics will cause nervousness and possibly lead to poor performance, if not failure. Teachers have always been focused on the attainment of student content knowledge and more often, feel frustrated with students' poor achievement. The low performance may be caused by affective factors, such as attitude, interest, and motivation. According to Stiggins (2005), motivation and desire represent the very foundation of learning. If the students do not want to learn, there will be no learning. Further, Popham (2011 ) contends that affective variables are often more significant than cognitive variables. In the past, more effort was devoted in the measurement of cognitive learning behavior, but in recent years, assessment of affective characteristics of learners has been given more importance. Admittedly, assessment is far more difficult domain to assess and to objectively analyze since affective objectives range from simple attention to complex and internal qualities of character and thinking of learners . Nethertheless,theachers need to deal with assessment and measurement of students abilities in this domain.

5. Taxonomy of Affective Domain in Learning by: Krathwohl et. Al (1964)

6. 1. T O R E C E I V E

7. In this level of affective behavior, the learner demonstrates an awareness in an activity that is happening such that he/she gives attention to that activity. This level involves willingness to receive the stimulus. For example : looking at the teacher during lecture is an awareness on a learning stimulus, but listening and paying attention indicate willingness in receiving that stimulus. Definition and Example

8. 2. T O R E S P O N D

9. In this case, the learner reacts to a given stimulus or information that has been received. If a learner participates in a class discussion, and not merely listening, then the learner is in this level of behavior. This behavior may be compliance to a given task, voluntary engagement, or doing an activity with interest.

10. 3. T O V A L U E

11. This is the level where the learner demonstrates commitment to the object, knowledge, or activity. Here, the learner has internalized a set of specific values such that these values are manifested through overt behaviors. For example : Picking up litters outside the classroom without teacher's presence or saving money for a book, or putting off lights after class on own volition are "valuing" behaviors.

12. 4. T O O R G A N I Z E

13. This is the level where the learner has internalized and integrated his or her feelings, emotions, beliefs, opinions, etc., resulting to actions where new values and traits emerged. In this level, the learner is able to discern Independently the right from wrong, and he/she is able to make a decision on what is more valuable based on his or her own judgment

14. 5. T O C H A R A C T E R I -ZE

15. In this level of affective trait, the learner demonstrates his or her beliefs and attitudes not only in a single event or situation but in multiple events, showing consistency of the behavior that establishes an image or character of the learner. The behavior extends beyond the school setting and becomes part of his or her lifestyle. For example, if doing an experiment has instilled the value of patience, such trait could be carried over to the student's non science activit ies.

16. What are the affective variables in learning? As mentioned earlier, a number of variables can be investigated using affective assessment and these basically deal with how students feel or think about a lesson, a person, or an activity. In the education field, the most common variables for affective assessment are the following : 1.Attitudes. This is the most talked about affective factor in a student's learning. We always talk about attitude toward something. This means we are referring to a person's reaction whether negative or positive, favorable or unfavorable toward an object, activity, person, or environment. In teaching, this will be concerned with the attitude toward learning, subject, teachers, classmates, homework, and projects or even attitude with wearing of uniforms, attendance to flag ceremony, and others. Here, we all desire to foster positive attitudes. On the other hand, we also want students to have negative attitude on things like cheating, bullying, fighting, drugs, absenteeism, and smoking. It is important to note that attitude cannot be taken as solely affective. It also has a cognitive component where the learner has the content knowledge that defines the worth or value of the object or situation. For example, knowledge about the effect of smoking on health and knowledge about nicotine ideally should make students have negative attitude toward smoking. However, this is not always the case. One may have the knowledge but applying the knowledge is another thing. Cognitive knowledge can just be a contributing factor to effect a desired affective outcome. Some empirical research reinforced the importance of assessing attitude. Othuon (2010) found out that negative attitude toward English is the most affective and psychological factor that results in the students' poor performance in English. The ability of students to master a second language is not only influenced by the mental competence or language skills but also by the students' attitudes and perceptions toward the target language ( Abidin et al. 2012 ).

17. 2.Values and Beliefs . Values are characteristics or traits that a person holds in high importance. These include principles that one considers to be right, and consequently which guides the person's future actions and decisions. in a school setting, values that are included in the curriculum are honesty, patience, perseverance, respect for others, cleanliness and order, care for environment, etc. Beliefs, on the other hand, refer to our convictions or opinions we hold to be true even without evidence. While beliefs are traditionally associated with religion, they have been talked about in the field of education. There are such things as beliefs about mathematics, freedom, gender equality, etc. Beliefs emanate from multiple sources, from what one hears, sees, reads, and experiences. Values are developed from beliefs. Beliefs, as wellas values, can change over time from learned experiences. As such, it is important that teachers provide positive learning experiences to students because from these experiences, they form beliefs that lead to the formation of values that are desired. Further, these beliefs and values determine attitudes which are correlated wither learner's performance. This sequential relationship reinforces the importance to assess these affective factors that can aid teachers in developing their instructional plan to attain intended curriculum goals and objectives .

18. 3.Interest. Interest is a psychological state that draws a person's attention to an object, idea, or event. In a classroom setting, it is what students are "into" or the learner's disposition about a topic, such as reading, science, mathematics, history, etc. It is interest that drives the learner to be attentive to the topic of discussion or engage in any academic activity. Interest may be personal or situational. If a student reads a book or saves money to buy books, even if this is not a course requirement, this means that he/her has personal interest in reading. However, if a student has a liking for mathematics because he/she likes his or her mathematics teacher, then his or her interest in mathematics is situational. Whether personal or situational, it is important for the teacher to know how students are receptive on the content that is covered in the lesson. If there is low interest as revealed from the assessment results, the teacher can think of intervention strategies to address the problem, like creating learning experiences that are more exciting to engage students in interaction with peers, or with teachers. Interest is directly linked with enjoyment and joy in doing something.

19. 4.Motivation . Brown (1987) defines motivation as an inner drive, impulse, emotion, or desire that moves one to a particular action. It arouses and sustains behavior. It can lead to increased effort and energy to pursue a goal. If a learner is highly motivated, he/her is willing to give his or her time and effort to reach a goal. It brings a learner to excitement and enjoyment to an academic task and enhances cognitive processing and improves learning. Motivation has other intrinsic factors like curiosity, appreciation, valuing for learning, as well as extrinsic factors like praise, grades for completion, certification, etc. Ausubel (1968) has identified six needs and desires that are integral parts of motivation: (1) the need for exploration, (2) the need for manipulation, (3) the need for activity, (4) the need for stimulation, (5) the need for knowledge, and (6) the need for ego enhancement. From this list, we see the critical role of teachers in creating a learning environment that can provide for these needs in order for the learners to reach the highest level of motivation. Consequently, assessment in this aspect of affective domain is of importance.

20. 5.Self-confidence. This refers to how a person feels about his or her abilities to accomplish a task or reach a goal. It is the person's perception of himself/ herself and his or her capabilities to perform successfully the task given to him/her. Empirical studies showed self-confidence is associated with academic success. In particular, Stankov et al. (2012) have found that students You sent who think they are skilled in Math tend to perform well on Math and English tests in the same study, the researchers contend that confidence tests as an assessment tool can benefit both learning and teaching. For example, the scores from the self-confidence tests on subject contents provide students with insights into the topics they are weak in.

21. What assessment tools are used to measure affective learning? Measurement of affective traits is more challenging compared to measuring cognitive and psychomotor dimension of learning. Such measurement may be direct or indirect. The direct assessment of affective learning outcomes is more attainable at the lower levels in the affective learning taxonomy of Krathwohl et al. (1964), Teachers, for example, can take attendance to measure pupil's willingness to receive information. Likewise, teachers may consider the number of times the pupil raised his or her hand to answer or ask questions, or the number of completed assignments and projects. These are sample evidence at "responding level. However, in this age of globalization, where character and morals of citizens are becoming more critical, educators are giving more attention to higher levels of affective taxonomy. But then, behaviors at these levels are less amenable to direct measurement because affective learning outcomes (e.g., attitudes, values, beliefs, etc.) are internal states that exist in the mind and thoughts of the learners. Because of these, indirect measurements are thought to be less reliable. Nevertheless, researchers and educationists are in continuing effort to overcome these perceived difficulties. The information generated from the use of indirect assessment of affective learning outcomes can come from different sources-student himself/herself, teachers, or peers. A variety of methods for indirectly assessing intended affective learning outcome have been espoused. Some of the most common assessments include self-report inventory, questionnaire, opinionnaire , semantic differential, observation, and interview.

22. 1. Self-Report Questionnaires. As the name implies, self-report or self- inventory is a type of assessment where the respondent is asked to answer a question about himself/herself, his or her behavior, emotions, feelings, or views. It serves many purposes to include diagnosis of students' mental and emotional state. This is also popular in a pre-test and post-test design when the teacher wants to assess change (e.g., in attitude, interest, motivation) before and after instructional period. This assessment tool is easy to administer to get immediate results and information directly from the person who is most knowledgeable about himself/herself. One limitation of this method is the honesty of the person-his or her tendency not to write the truth of what he/she feels. Instead, the student may choose a response that can satisfy the teacher, rather than actually writing the truth. The respondent can also be personally biased because he/she is responding to a nonfactual or subjective statement from his or her own point of view only. To preventthis possibility, the one handling the assessment should try to ensure setting the right environment for getting the most truthful data. Self-report inventories use a variety of formats. The most common are presented in the following:

23. a.Likert scale. This measuring tool, invented by Rensis Likert, is a series of questions or items that requires the respondent to select on a scale a rating reflecting the level of agreement or disagreement on items that are related to a particular topic, experience, or issue. The responses, both in descriptive and numeric form, range from one extreme to another, such as "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree", where "5" is the numerical value of the extreme positive feeling and "1" for the extreme negative. This kind of scaling gives deeper insight into what the students are thinking and feeling. An example of Likert scale is shown below From your review of research literature, you must have noted that most of the Likert scale instruments indicate the numeric scale value as seen in the rating scale on Views About Mathematics Strongly agree 5 Agree 4 Strongly disagree 1 Disagree 2 Slightly agree 3

24. One danger of having the numeric scale values of 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 is the possibility that an option with a higher value will be more attractive to the respondents. You have the choice to omit the numeric scale and just indicate the actual scale labels in the instrument. Likewise, descriptive labels and numeric scale value can vary to be more congruent with the Likert items. For example, in a Reading Interest Inventory, some items may be written this way: "I like reading books by myself." "I save my money to buy extra books I like." The two statements above are action statements rather than commonly used Strongly Agree, Agree, etc. It may be more appropriate to use the descriptive scale labels and numeric scale values as: Always (5); Almost Always (4); Sometimes (3); Rarely (2); Never (1) OR Always (5); Very Often (4); Often (3); Not Very Often (2); Never (1). The 5-point scale is the most common continuum, but this will be more fitted if your respondents are adults. A 4-point or 3-point scale will be easier for younger respondents. Also, instead of the numerical values that usually appear in many of the standardized rating scales, some visuals might be more useful to catch the attention of the younger respondents in answering the instrument. The following is another example:

25. Writing Statements for Rating Scale for Self-Report Some guidelines might be of help in creating your self-report assessment instrument. 1. Statements should refer to the present conditions rather than past or future situations. 2 . The statement should be relevant to the psychological construct being measured. 3 . Avoid factual statement since the nature of what is assessed are affective traits. 4 . Statement should elicit a response that lends itself to one interpretation. 5 . Statements should be clear and simple sentences using precise and direct language. 6. Considering that responses in the instrument reflect gradation, statements should no longer contain always, nearly, only, never, and just. These words are ambiguous. 7 . Use vocabulary appropriate for the level of understanding of the respondents. 8 . Avoid double negative sentences.

26. Steps in the Construction of the Rating Scale 1. Select the affective trait you want to assess which you find relevant to teaching-learning situation. Make sure that you or your school is going to benefit from it and use the data to improve the present situation. Example: You may be interested to know students' interest about specific educational issues like climate change and environment. This inventory will not only help the science teacher in classroom situation, but the data may also help teachers to know who can be tapped to participate in Waste Management and Segregation Project the school is launching. 2. Construct items that are clear, definite, and focused on the trait you want to measure. Consider the different levels of affective taxonomy in constructing the items. In addition, since what you are assessing is on emotion or affect, items should include positive and negative positions that will make the respondent think carefully the answer to the item. 3. Pilot test or field try the inventory and revise the parts that appear to be unclear. This is advised when you want to measure more encompassing and long term affective learning outcomes. The purpose of field testing the instrument is to detect unclear questions and statements and procedural difficulties the intended respondents can experience with the questionnaire. It is preferred that field test be given to comparable set of students. If the inventory is intended for Grade 6 students, then having another class of Grade 6 to give feedback to the inventory will best suit the purpose of field testing.

27. 4. Administer the self-report inventory to your target respondents. It is advised that adequate time like on power test is provided for completion of the inventory. 5. Analyze the results and consider the findings and draw the implication. The most common scale is 1 to 5, with 1 as the extreme negative option, followed by the less negative, and mid-range ratings indicating a level of neutrality through 5 being the highest positive or favorable response. For the negative Items, the numerical values are reversed. The use of simple statistics is essential. This involves frequency count relative to each option in the scale, cumulative percentages to see pattern of responses in each item as well as the entire scale. Simple computation of mean will be useful in visualizing the collective outcome as a class, or as a grade level or in the entire school. The most common way to treat data using Likert scale is to sum the values of each selected option and determine the score for each respondent. The score represents a specific trait-agreed or not agree, satisfied or not satisfied, confident or not confident, etc. Again, if your intention is for classroom setting only, data analysis does not have to be complex and computation of a score may not be the focus. The teacher may give more attention to patterns of responses vis-à-vis the content and essence of the affective items. Consequently, the teacher should be able to define the implications of the results to improve the learning environment . b. Semantic Differential . This is a widely used scale that employs ratings of concepts with contrasting adjectives placed at opposite ends of the number scale. For example, the concept of "Problem Solving" can be assessed using the following semantic differential scale:

28. In this example, the students are asked to express their attitudes toward problem solving. They need to make a check mark on the scale indicating the degree of agreement they have with the adjectives listed. Similar to the Likert scale where there are negative items, the position of the positive and negative adjectives in semantic differential are reversed to balance the scale and create a less biased measurement. The response could then be summed, and a mean could be determined in each of the adjective pairs. In this way, the concept "problem solving" would be scaled on the various pairs of the adjectives.

29. C. Checklist. A checklist is a form of self-report that asks persons to indicate whether they demonstrate a set of qualities or behaviors. In particular, for affective assessment, it is a tool for identifying the presence or absence of a feeling, attitude, or behavior. The behaviors that are checked will reflect what values and beliefs learners hold. For example, attitude toward environment may be measured by giving students a checklist that enumerates different actions related to environment awareness and commitment in one column and space in another column where students will put a check or a cross, indicating whether those actions are being done or not.

30. Another form of checklist also provides students a list of adjectives for describing something or making judgment about behavior and actions and asks the respondents to check those that apply to them. Sent

31. 2. Interview . This is an oral assessment of student learning that is conducted through spoken words and casual conversation. This assessment tool allows the teacher to collect and explore more in-depth information about the trait being assessed that cannot be captured by written instrument nor even be observed. The assessment data are not just answerable by "Yes" or "No" or other predetermined responses. Through this assessment technique, the teacher is able to probe responses that other forms of assessment tool cannot. The students can qualify and expand their previous answers, which can be vague at the earlier part of the conversation. It provides students opportunity to open other thoughts and ideas, and the teachers can be flexible to adapt questions as the need arises. It can provide a powerful moment of sharing" where the learner is able to express face-to-face his or her feelings and emotions. Prerequisite to achieve all of these is the trust you have to build with the interviewee by demonstrating care and respect. Interviews may be structured or unstructured. In the structured interview, there is a planned sequence of questions, which lead to open- ended discussions between the teacher and the student, either done individually or by group. One limitation though of the structured interview is that predetermined questions tend to limit flexibility. Some important information about the learner on constructs you want to pursue may be missed or ignored because you can be controlled by the list of questions you need to complete. On the other hand, informal interview will appear to be natural. and it can create a more conversational environment for sharing, wherein the teacher will be able to elicit more truthful information from students about themselves. In many cases, even when trust has been established, students may not also be comfortable talking about values and sharing feelings when he/she is in a one-to-one conversation with the teacher.

32. This is especially true for young adolescents who are more particular with the image they create with others. A group interview may work better on older students to elicit most authentic information. Younger children can be more candid and honest with their answers whether the interview is done individually or in a group. Nevertheless, in whatever manner, interview is considered an effective tool for affective assessment. Imagine yourself as a student and you experience a teacher spending time talking to you about how you are doing in his or her subject, asking you face-to-face on how you are learning, or how you are feeling toward his or her subject. Questions like "How did you do on the assignment I gave you?", "What questions in the test excite you most?", and "What task did you find most difficult?" will make a great deal on students' feelings. In other words, interviews may go beyond cognitive improvement. Spoken words will motivate students to learn. For interview to be an effective assessment tool, the following are general steps in developing and conducting an interview: 1. Select the assessment objectives. 2. List the oral questions in sequence based on the objectives. However, the sequence is not absolute, instead, there should be a room for flexibility. Questions should start with general questions followed by more specific ones. 3. Make a report sheet or any form to record responses 4. Conduct the interview. Start with statements that will make the learner be at comfort level with the teacher. 5. Record the responses, both elicited responses and responses that were aided by prompts. Record as well the questions that were not

33. Student Journals. T hese are effective tools that can be used in assessing and monitoring student thinking and attitudes. Journal writing gives students guided opportunities to "think aloud" through writing. It is a special form of documentation that records personal experiences and thoughts. It is a reflection of learners' own perception about a problem, a situation, or an activity they are tasked with. A student who encountered a difficult problem and is asked to write about the situation through a journal will reflect more deeply and think critically about the problem or situation and what actions and decisions were made to hurdle the difficulties. In journal writing, students are given opportunity to rewind previous experiences that can give them new perspectives in facing future actions. Further, through journals, students are given the opportunity to open up and express their thoughts and feelings, which can reveal their thinking both on the cognitive and affective aspect ofthe problem task. For example, if the student is asked the question, "When is a person a hero to you?", the student's writing will reveal not only his or her set of beliefs and values (the affective component), but also his or her knowledge on the concept of heroism (the content part). Journal writing opens the door for a one-to-one dialogue between the teacher and student. It creates an environment of partnership where teachers and students resolve issues and conflicts of ideas and understanding in confidential manner. The written journal provides information for teachers to give feedback and ask questions to students that can develop different ways of thinking. While the primary intention of journal writing is to capture students' feelings and emotions, the discourse can lead to improving the cognitive domain of learning. To attain this , journals are guided by a set of ideas, questions, or problems.

34. In choosing journal writing as an assessment tool for affective learning outcomes, here are some guide questions to consider: What is your purpose for the student journal writing (i.e., critical thinking, reflection, self-awareness, goal review, developing self-confidence, overcoming anxiety)? What is the format (i.e., handwritten free form, typed, full sentences)? What is the topic? What do you want the students to write about? How much do you want your student to write (i.e., number of pages, number of paragraphs, or number of words)? How will the students be given feedback (i.e., individual, with a small group, with the teacher)? Who will read the journal (i.e., with teacher only, with other teachers, with selected students)? How will the students be graded (i.e., Pass/Fail, Rubric, no scoring needed)? 4 . Observation . It is an assessment tool that involves looking out for the presence or absence of behaviors of learners in a natural setting. Observation allows the teacher to assess student behavior in the actual teaching and learning process unlike other forms of assessment that require separate time with the student to answer the measuring instrument. This method is a rich source of clues that can be both obtrusive and unobtrusive measures of attitude, beliefs, disposition, character, etc. Example: A Physical Education (P.E.) teacher watches students play basketball in a school court. While the focus may be on the skill of playing basketball like shooting or throwing the ball correctly, the teacher can also directly watch who play the "clean" game and who play on "foul" moves or what we often term, the "dirty tricks". Such behavior is indicative of important affective characteristics like honesty, patience, and positive disposition, which we aim to develop not only in P.Ε. but across the school curriculum .

35. Like interview, observation may be structured or unstructured. An unstructured observation is open-ended, with no formal recording of what is observed as assessment process is ongoing. This does not mean though that it does not require planning. You have to be very clear of what to observe and list the behaviors and actions that will indicate the possession of the trait. There is still the need to record observed data right after actual observation time. Recall the more specific events, which can be significant, and include both positive and negative actions. Unstructured observation data had been criticized for being subjective. Thus, be mindful of your personal interpretation of observed data. On the other hand, in the structured observation, you need to prepare a checklist or rating form before the actual observation. This checklist defines the positive and negative behaviors indicative of the trait you wish to measure. The recording is straightforward as it just requires a check on the "Yes" and "No" column for the presence or absence of the behavior, respectively, or a check on the appropriate numerical and descriptive scale if rating scale is used. These are illustrated in the exhibits below.

36. ………………….The end…………………. Members : Ravina,Jane Pearl Ruiz,Greatnice Palucan,irene Glodove,Princess mae Cadavos , julianne Valensona,Cristine Mae Laurel,Zenith