Assessment is an essential component of teaching and learning, and it provides the instructor with immediate feedback on the quality of instruction. Instructors continuously evaluate a learner’s performance in order to provide guidance, suggestions for improvement, and positive reinforcement.

This chapter examines the instructor’s role when assessing levels of learning, it describes methods of assessment, and it discusses how instructors may construct and conduct effective assessments. Since learners are different and each situation is unique, instructors individualize an assessment as needed. Aviation instructors can use the techniques and methods described in this chapter as appropriate.

This chapter presents two broad categories of assessment. The first is traditional assessment, which often involves the kind of written testing (e.g., multiple choice, matching) and grading that is most familiar to instructors and learners. To achieve a passing score on a traditional assessment, the learner usually has a set amount of time to recognize or reproduce memorized terms, formulas, or data. There is a single answer that is correct. Consequently, the traditional assessment usually assesses the learner’s progress at the rote and understanding levels of learning. However, carefully crafted scenario questions can assess higher levels of learning.

The second category of assessment is authentic assessment. Authentic assessment requires the learner to demonstrate not just rote and understanding, but also the application and correlation levels of learning. Authentic assessment generally requires the learner to perform real-world tasks and demonstrate a meaningful application of skills and competencies. In other words, the authentic assessment requires the learner to exhibit in-depth knowledge by generating a solution instead of merely choosing a response.

In authentic assessment, there are specific performance criteria, or standards, that learners know in advance of the actual assessment. The terms “criteria/criterion” and “standard” are often used interchangeably. They refer to the characteristics that define acceptable performance on a task. Another term used in association with authentic assessment is “rubric.” A rubric is a guide used to score performance assessments in a reliable, fair, and valid manner. It is generally composed of dimensions for judging learner performance, a scale for rating performances on each dimension, and standards of excellence for specified performance levels.

Whether knowledge or skill, an assessment can be either formal or informal. Formal assessments usually involve documentation, such as a quiz or written examination. They are used periodically throughout a course, as well as at the end of a course, to measure and document whether or not the course objectives have been met. Informal assessments, which can include verbal critique, generally occur as needed and are not part of the final grade.

Other terms associated with assessment include diagnostic, formative, and summative.

An effective assessment provides critical information to both the instructor and the learner. Both instructor and learner need to know how well the learner is progressing. A good assessment provides practical and specific feedback to learners. This includes direction and guidance indicating how they may raise their level of performance. Most importantly, a well-designed and effective assessment provides an opportunity for self-evaluation that enhances the learner's aeronautical decision-making and judgment skills.

A well-designed assessment highlights the areas in which a learner’s performance is incorrect or inadequate, it helps the instructor see where more emphasis is needed. If, for example, several learners falter when they reach the same step in a weight-and-balance problem, the instructor should recognize the need for a more detailed explanation, another demonstration of the step, or special emphasis in the assessment of subsequent performance.

In order to provide direction and raise the learner’s level of performance, assessment needs to be factual, and it should align with the completion standards of the lesson. An effective assessment displays the characteristics shown in Figure 6-1.

The personal opinions, likes, dislikes, or biases of the instructor might affect an assessment. A conflict of personalities can alter an opinion. Sympathy or over-identification with a learner, to such a degree that it influences objectivity, is known as “halo error.” To what extent does effective assessment need to focus on objectivity and actual learner performance? If an assessment is to be effective, it needs to be honest; and it must be based on the facts of the performance as they were, not as they could have been.

The instructor should evaluate the entire performance of a learner in the context in which it is accomplished. Sometimes a good learner turns in a poor performance, and a poor learner turns in a good one. A friendly learner may suddenly become hostile, or a hostile learner may suddenly become friendly and cooperative. The instructor fits the tone, technique, and content of the assessment to the occasion, as well as to the learner. An assessment should be designed and executed so that the instructor can allow for variables. The ongoing challenge for the instructor is deciding what to say, what to omit, what to stress, and what to minimize at the proper moment.