Quality Assurance of Assessment: A Potential to Support learners' learning

Abstract

Teaching and learning occur simultaneously. The ultimate aim of teaching is to make learners learn how to learn. Thus learning to learn is a skill needed for lifelong developmental process. For most of the teachers teaching is a process of providing information of content of a course and learning is considered as a product rather than a process. Mostly the assessments focus on the amount of abilities and skills acquired by the learners. But it never reflects on the weaknesses, confusions, lack of or inabilities of comprehension/understanding and concept ambiguities of learners. Simply ranking, grading on norms with comparing an individual within groups has no such importance. In fact the weaknesses of learners should also be taken care of by remedial teaching. Particularly formative assessment with feedbacks is essential to learners' meaningful, deep and active learning. Such feedbacks provide motivation for future learning and suggestions for improvements on their weakness, short comings and limitations. Assessment associated with quality assurance of its potential to support learners' learning based on suggestions for improvement through feedbacks matter most. Assessment scale varies from individual to individual were internal and/or external options in a question paper are given. Simply ranking, grading and comparing an individual within groups on the basis of marks
obtain is a false claim. These marks are incomparable. So the present assessment process does not offer any opportunities
for improvement to learners. A paradigm shift is an essential need to overcome the drawbacks and limitations of the present assessment system. During assessment process reporting of the revealed or expressed weaknesses in form of misconceptions, ambiguities, false guessing etc. are the reported. Such assessment design has a potential to support learners' learning.