Educational evaluation : definition, purpose and principles

This article is about educational evaluation, its definition, purpose, and principles. Let us first begin with basic definitions of test, measurement, and evaluation.

1. What is Test:-
In the classroom situation, the word ‘test’ means to judge the knowledge understanding and intelligence of the students.
Tests can be held after completing the chapter. A teacher can take a test of his students to know about their grasping power. This test can be informal.
2. What is Measurement:-
Measurement is a limited term and has a shorter area of measurement of some limited behavioral dimensions of the learners. In measurement we measurement only the quantitive ability of the learner.
3. What is Evaluation:-
Evaluation is a broader term than ‘test’. It includes all types and examinations in it. Its purpose is not only to check the knowledge of learner. But all the aspects of the learner.

Definitions of Educational Evaluation

According to Hanna­- “The process of gathering and interpreting evidence changes in the behavior of all students as they progress through school is called evaluation”.
Muffat says – “Evaluation is a continuous process and is concerned with than the formal academic achievement of pupils. It is interpreted in the development of the individual in terms of desirable behavioral change relation of his feeling, thinking, and actions”.
Goods define- “Evaluation is a process of judging the value or something by certain appraisal.”

Characteristics of Educational Evaluation

1. Continuous process:-Evaluation is a continuous process. It leads together with Teaching-learning process.
2. Comprehensive:-Evaluation is comprehensive as it includes everything can be evaluated.
3. Child-Centered:-Evaluation is a child-centered process which gives importance to the learning process, not to teaching process.
4. Remedial:-Evaluation comments on the result which helps in remedial work it is not a remedy Evaluation is remedial in nature.
5. Cooperative process:-Evaluation is a cooperative process involving students, teachers parents, and peer-groups.
6. Teaching Methods:-Effectiveness of teaching methods is the evaluation.
7. Common practice:-evaluation is a common practice among proper growth of the child mentally and physically.
8. Multiple Aspects:-it is concerned with the total personality of students.

Purpose/Importance of Evaluation

Evaluation has great importance in the teaching-learning process, following the common purpose of evaluation.

1. Diagnostic:-Evaluation is a continuous and comprehensive process. It helps the teacher in finding out the problems, it helps a teacher in removing the problem of his students.
2. Remedial:-By remedial work we mean, the proper solution after identifying the problems. A teacher can give a proper solution for a desirable change in learners behavior and to develop his/her personality.
3. To clarify the objectives of education:-An another importance to clarify the objectives of education. The objective of education is to change in learner’s behavior. By evaluation, a teacher can prove of change to learner’s behavior.
4. It provides Guidance:-if a teacher has the proper knowledge and about his learners only than he can guide him. And guidance can only after proper evaluation which involves all dimensions abilities, aptitude, interest, and intelligence etc.
5. Helpful in classification:-Evaluation is a source by which a teacher know the various levels of his students as intelligence, ability, and interest on this basis he can classify his students and provide them guidance.
6. Helpful in Improvement of Teaching and Learning process:- By evaluation is a teacher could not only improve the personality and learner but he is also able to know the level of his teaching and can improve it. Thus it is helpful in improvement of teaching and learning process.

Basic principles of Educational Evaluation

Evaluation is based on the following principles:-

1. The principle of continuity:- Evaluation is a continuous process, which goes on continuously as long as the student is related to education.E valuation is an important part of the teaching-learning process. Whatever the learner learn, it should be evaluated daily. Only then the learner could have better command of the language.
2. The principle of comprehensiveness:- By comprehensiveness we mean to assess all aspects of the learner’s personality.it concerned with the all-round development of the child.
3. The principle of Objectives:- Evaluation should be based on the objectives of education. It should be helpful in finding out that where there is need of redesigning and refraining the learner’s behavior.
4. The principle of Learning Experience:- Evaluation is also related to the learning experiences of the learner. In this process, we don’t evaluate only the curricular activities of the learner but his co-curricular activities are also evaluated. Both types of activates are helpful in increasing learners experiences.
5. The principle of Broadness:- Evaluation should be broad enough to cover all the aspects of life.
6. The principle of Child – Centeredness:- Child is in the center, in the process of evaluation. The behavior of the child is the central point for assessment. It helps a teacher to know the grasping power of a child and usefulness of teaching material.
7. The principle of Application:- During the teaching and learning process the child may learn many things, but it may not be useful in his daily life. He can’t apply it, then it is useless to find. It can be known through evaluation. Evaluation judges that student is better to apply his knowledge and understanding in different situations in order to succeed in life.

The Role of Evaluation in the Education Process
R.F. Wolf has related the evaluation to objectives, learning experiences, learner appraisal and the relationship between the three.