But - it doesn't always have to be that, there are lots of ways for you, the tutor, to assess your learners and even ways your learner's can assess themselves.
Assessment starts as soon as you make contact - this could be an initial conversation at an open evening. This allows you to speak to the learner to see if the course is at the right level, what they want from it etc. This is known as informal initial assessment
If your course doesn't have an open evening or taster day the first way you can assess your learners is through an enrolment form. You can find a lot about your learners from this form - qualifications, experience, if they have an extra needs. This kind of assessment is formal initial assessment. This allows you to see if your learners have any extra needs - for example one of your learners may need to record a voice recording instead of writing an essay.
Setting individual goals is an excellent thing to do at this stage, as some learners may not learn at the same pace - this will motivate learners to reach there own individual goal.
It is important to assess your learners all the way through the course and not just at the end of your course -
but don't worry, it won't leave your learners pulling their hair out!
Assessment throughout the course is called formative and allows the teacher and the learner to see their progress as the course goes on, this helps meets the needs of the learners
Something as simple as question and answer is a great way if assessing your learners
The great thing about this is they don't even feel like they're being put to the test. If you're asking questions to the learners about the subjects you've been teaching then you are assessing how much they have taken in. A really good time to do this is at the end of the session to see if your learners have reached your SMART objectives.
Peer and self assessment are a great way of involving learners as it allows them to give constructive feedback.
Peer assessment really helps the rapport of the group as they are working together by giving constructive criticism and points for development - both of these things are really important!
No one likes being told they're wrong!
You've spent hours grafting away on an essay, you hand it in and you get told it's all wrong - how demotivating!
This is why it's really important that the learners give points of development, not criticism. Point of development will help the learners improve, where as criticism doesn't help anyone! Peer assessment helps both the learners reflect on what they are doing well in and their own strengths by taking positives from the work.
So remember, it is important to include your learners in assessment through peer and self assessment, make sure you're meeting their needs and make sure you try hard to make assessment less scary!!
Well done Ben you have explained how to create assessments (both formative and summative) that meet the needs of your learners. You have made it clear that you understand that adult learners don't need to feel under constant scruiteny and pressure from their assessments. You have included the value of peer and self-assessment as a way of doing this. You have met the assessment criteria for this assignment: Unit 2 - 2.3 and added value to assessment criteria Unit 7 - 2.1 and 2.2
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