EDUC90048 Chap.5 Assessment, Criteria and Feedback
Assessment, Criteria and Feedback
Assessment gathers evidence, while evaluation interprets that evidence for a decision. Sound design aligns the intended capability, the task that elicits it and criteria that describe quality. Direct assessment becomes especially important when the objective names a real performance such as interaction or explanation. This chapter also treats feedback as a next learning action rather than a verdict.
Evidence, interpretation and inference boundaries are kept separate so that conclusions remain proportionate to what learners actually did. Evidence never explains itself. A teacher must distinguish observation from interpretation, apply criteria and limit the conclusion to the conditions of the task.
Direct performance is especially important when the claim concerns interaction, explanation or repair; a quiz may diagnose supporting knowledge without demonstrating the target capability. Multiple evidence sources can strengthen interpretation when each has a defined role, but more data does not authorise an unlimited claim.
Feedback closes the loop by naming evidence, linking it to a quality dimension and identifying an action learners can try in a later opportunity.
What this chapter covers
- 01
Assessment and evaluation
- 02
Direct and indirect evidence
- 03
Criterion and norm reference
- 04
Objective-task-criteria alignment
- 05
Actionable feedback
- 06
Formative and summative purposes
Worked example · free
Realign a direction-giving assessment
- 1Keep the worksheet as a diagnostic of supporting language, not the final judgement.
- 1Use a map information gap so a listener must follow the speaker's directions.
- 1Include a clarification request that requires the speaker to repair the message.
- 1Judge sequence, usable location language and responsiveness with explicit criteria.
Key terms
- Assessment
- The planned collection of evidence about learner knowledge, performance or development.
- Evaluation
- The interpretation of evidence to make a judgement or decide a course of action.
- Direct Assessment
- A task that asks learners to perform the capability named in the objective.
- Success Criteria
- Descriptions of the dimensions used to judge quality in a performance or product.
- Formative Assessment
- Evidence gathered during learning to decide what teaching or learner action should happen next.
Assessment, Criteria and Feedback FAQ
What is the difference between assessment and evaluation?
Assessment gathers evidence, such as a performance, response or observation. Evaluation interprets that evidence for a decision about quality, achievement or next steps. Keeping them distinct helps teachers avoid treating a score as self-explanatory and makes the reasoning behind a judgement open to review.
Why is direct assessment important in language teaching?
When the objective is a communicative performance, direct assessment lets learners demonstrate that performance. A grammar quiz may reveal supporting knowledge, but it cannot show whether learners can negotiate, explain or repair meaning in context. Indirect evidence can supplement the task without replacing the capability being claimed.
What makes feedback actionable?
Actionable feedback identifies evidence from the performance, links it to a criterion and names a change the learner can make. It also prioritises rather than correcting everything at once. The next task should provide an opportunity to use the advice, so improvement can become visible rather than remaining a comment.
Assessment move
Redraw the alignment triangle and use it to audit one task from each chapter. State the intended claim, identify direct evidence and name the criteria that make the evidence interpretable. Practise distinguishing an observation from an interpretation and limit the conclusion to the task conditions. Rewrite vague feedback into three parts: evidence noticed, criterion affected and next action.
Finally, compare formative and summative versions of the same performance and explain how support, timing and consequence change. Create a three-column evidence ledger: observation, criterion-based interpretation and inference boundary. Populate it with one speaking, writing and lesson-planning example, then check that no interpretation introduces a capability the task did not elicit.
Redesign one indirect assessment so it remains a useful diagnostic beside a direct performance. Write criteria as dimensions of quality rather than completion requirements, and test whether another reader could explain a judgement using them. For feedback practice, replace broad comments with evidence, criterion and next action, then design the next task where the learner can apply that action.
Finally, compare two claims drawn from the same performance under different support conditions. Explain how preparation, partner assistance, familiarity and time change what can reasonably be concluded. Run a small calibration exercise with two contrasting performances.
Record the evidence each reader notices before revealing any score, compare how each criterion was interpreted and rewrite one descriptor where disagreement came from vague quality language. Then ask what a learner could do with the revised descriptor before submission. This links reliable judgement with evaluative judgement instead of treating consistency as a purely administrative concern.
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