Educational Testing and Assessment (EDU0912)

Week 5 - Diagnostic and Formative Assessment

3h 0min

Diagnostic and formative assessment, equipping students with tools like checklists, anecdotal records, and rating scales to monitor and support learning in real time.


Lecture and Discussion

-     Introduction to Diagnostic and Formative assessment.

Nitko and Brookhart, Ch. 7


Acquisition
1 Lecture and Discussion

Activate prior knowledge

Conceptual Foundations: Define and differentiate diagnostic vs formative assessment

Think-Pair-Share (15 mins): “Why is formative assessment critical for learning?”

Comparative Analysis (15 mins): Provide scenarios and ask students to classify them as diagnostic or formative.

 


2h 0min
Tutorial
Production
1 Tutorial

Forum: Students post a reflection on the formal and informal diagnostic assessment practices currently used in their school context, discussing their strengths and limitations.

Activity: "The School Diagnostic Audit and Intervention" (Group - 60 mins).

Task: Divide the class into groups of 4-5. Each group must address the following using a shared online Jamboard or Miro board:

  1. Audit (15 mins): Based on the discussion forum posts, identify the single most common diagnostic tool or practice used across the schools represented in the group (e.g., entrance test, pre-unit quiz).
  2. Critically evaluate it against the Pellegrino (2001) Assessment Triangle—specifically, does it effectively pinpoint the cognitive gap?

60 min