AIOU Solved Assignments 1 & 2 Code 6507 Autumn & Spring 2024. Solved Assignments code 6507 Educational Measurement and Evaluation 2024. Allama iqbal open university old papers.

Course: Educational Measurement and Evaluation (6507)
Level: M.A / M. Ed
Semester: Autumn & Spring 2024
ASSIGNMENT No. 2

Q.1      Describe the various types of rating scales and highlight its uses in student’s assessment. Also elaborate the four types of interviews?

Answer:

Rating scale is defined as a closed-ended survey question used to represent respondent feedback in a comparative form for specific particular features/products/services. It is one of the most established question types for online and offline surveys where survey respondents are expected to rate an attribute or feature. Rating scale is a variant of the popular multiple-choice question which is widely used to gather information that provides relative information about a specific topic.

Researchers use a rating scale in research when they intend to associate a qualitative measure with the various aspects of a product or feature. Generally, this scale is used to evaluate the performance of a product or service, employee skills, customer service performances, processes followed for a particular goal etc. Rating scale survey question can be compared to a checkbox question but rating scale provides more information than merely Yes/No.

Scaling is a technique used in measuring responses such as feelings, perception, likes, dislikes, interests, and preferences. Scales are used to measure objective responses and rank them in a given spectrum determinate of the type of scale used to gain the information.

Nominal Scale

The nominal level scale is a very simple scale consisting of an assignment of choices that tend to be mutually exclusive. In a nominal scale, the choices cannot be ranked because all the categories are different from each other. A good example of a nominal scale is gender, where males are put into Group 1 and females into Group 2. It makes no sense to rank male and female because neither is greater than the other. Neither is a better answer, and the numbers merely organize the data into numerical categories. These scales are the least restrictive of all scales and really represent a list of categories.

Ordinal Scale

Ordinal scales are the simplest of attitude-measuring scales used in marketing research. While a nominal scale may contain numbers arbitrarily, each number in an ordinal scale represents a rank of order. In an ordinal scale, products or objects are rated based on their importance within a given category. For instance, an ordinal scale of beers might ask you to rank your preference from 1 to 5, where 1 is the kind you like best and 5 is the one you like least. Such a scale makes no attempt to rank a favorite in any one given product, but rather rates it on a spectrum against competing products.

Interval Scale

Interval scales are also known as ranking scales, because, unlike the ordinal scale, you are asked to rank each object or product on its own scale. An example of an interval scale is if you were asked to rank how well you had enjoyed a particular movie on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is not at all and 5 is very much.

Ratio Scale

A ratio scale is similar to an interval scale, except the answers to these questions have a simple unambiguous starting point, typically zero. Ratio scales are not commonly used in marketing research but are used to describe a physical scale. Ratio scales often measure things like money, miles, height and weight where the answers describe how far the respondent is from zero. A ratio scale might ask you to fill in your annual income or square footage of your house, where instead of choosing an arbitrary measurement, you are filling in a blank. It becomes a scale when the data is all compiled and your answers are put on a spectrum with other respondents.

TYPES OF INTERVIEWS

Every employer has a preferred style of obtaining the information they need for their hiring decision.  These are some basic types of interview styles you may encounter.  Some employers may choose to utilize a combination of different styles, but as long as you’ve prepared well for your interview, you’ll be able to adapt to the situation they present.

Structured Interview

A structured interview is typically formal and organized and may include several interviewers, commonly referred to as a panel interview.  An interviewer who has a more structured style will usually begin with what is known as an “icebreaker” question.  The icebreaker is used to relax you before the more serious questions are asked.  A discussion about the weather might be used or perhaps a question about the traffic on your way to the office.

Next, the interviewer may talk for a few minutes about the company and the position.  During this time, the interviewer may describe the day-to-day work responsibilities and the general company philosophy.  He or she may then ask you a series of questions regarding your past educational, co-curricular, and work experiences.

Unstructured Interview

The unstructured interview is what the name implies.  The only structure to the interview is the one that you provide.  Basically, the interviewer is interested in hearing from you, so you may be asked a variety of different open ended questions.

You will find an unstructured interview to be more conversational and less formal in tone than a structured interview. You may be asked questions about your hobbies, what you do on the weekends, or other casual questions designed to put you at ease.  Many students prefer this laid back style of interviewing, but you must be cautious.  Sometimes employers intentionally adopt this casual demeanor so that you feel comfortable enough to let down your guard and potentially reveal something that you normally would not.  If you find yourself in an unstructured interview, be friendly but maintain your professionalism.

Stress Interview

This style is used primarily by interviewers who are hiring for positions where there is a high level of daily stress in the work environment (i.e., sales, stockbroker, etc.).  The same questions that are asked during a structured or unstructured interview may be asked for a stress interview.  However, there may be a difference in the behavior or demeanor of the interviewer.  The interviewer during a stress interview may appear distracted, contrary, or indifferent to you.  The idea behind this type of interview is to assess your reaction to the pressure of indifference, rejection, and overall stress.  To be successful in the stress interview, it is recommended that you focus on the question that is asked and not the manner in which it is asked.

Another hallmark of a stress interview is the “strange question.”  For instance, some interviewers like to ask questions such as, “How many ping pong balls can fit in a 757 jet?”  To answer a question like this, break it down into smaller, more manageable components.  Verbally convey your decision making process.  The interviewer will be less focused on whether or not you came to the “right” answer and more focused on your ability to problem-solve and think logically.

Behavioral Interview

Behavioral interviewing is a widely used method of job interviewing.  This approach is based on the belief that past performance is the best predictor of future behavior.  Therefore, behavioral interview questions are designed to probe your previous experiences in order to determine how you might behave in similar situations in the future.  In this type of interview, you will not be asked hypothetical questions about how you would handle a situation if confronted with it in the future.  Instead you will be asked how you did handle a specific situation when you encountered it in the past.  Keep in mind that employers are not interested in what you should have done, or what you will do next time…they want to know what you actually did.  Behavioral interview questions generally start with any one of the following phrases:

• Tell me about a time when you…
• Describe a circumstance when you were faced with a problem related to…
• Tell me how you approached a situation where…
• Share with me an instance in which you demonstrated…

Problem Solving or Case Interview

Employers utilize this style of questioning to test a candidate’s analytical ability and communication skills.  In a problem solving or case interview, you will be presented with a real or simulated problem to consider and solve.  You are not necessarily expected to arrive at the “correct answer.” What the interviewer is most concerned with is your thought process, so be sure to “think out loud” when responding to this type of question.  An effective answer is one which demonstrates your ability to break a problem down into manageable pieces and to think clearly under pressure.

Panel Interview

Employers often like to gather the opinions of several members of their staff prior to deciding which candidate to hire.  To accomplish this, panel interviews are often used where one candidate may be interviewed by a few people at once.  In a panel interview, take note of each interviewer’s name, and refer to them by their names.  When giving your answers, focus on the person who asked you the question, but make eye contact with the other members in the group from time to time.  Panel interviews can vary in style and tone, but generally they will be more formal and include behavioral based questions.

Aiou Solved Assignments 1 & 2 code 6507 Autumn & Spring 2024

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Q.2      What is mean by test anxiety? As a teacher what measures you suggest to reduce that test anxiety of the students?

Answer:

Test anxiety is a psychological condition in which people experience extreme distress and anxiety in testing situations. While many people experience some degree of stress and anxiety before and during exams, test anxiety can actually impair learning and hurt test performance.

Test anxiety is a type of performance anxiety. In situations where the pressure is on and a good performance counts, people can become so anxious that they are actually unable to do their best.

Other examples of performance anxiety:

• A high school basketball player becomes very anxious before a big game. During the game, he is so overwhelmed by this stress that he starts missing even easy shots.
• A violin student becomes extremely nervous before a recital. During the performance, she messes up on several key passages and flubs her solo. 
• During a work presentation, a businessman freezes up and forgets the information he was going to present to his co-workers and manager.

While people have the skills and knowledge to do very well in these situations, their excessive anxiety impairs their performance.

The severity of test anxiety can vary considerably from one person to another. Some people might feel like they have “butterflies” in their stomach and while others might find it difficult to concentrate on the exam.

A little bit of nervousness can actually be helpful, making you feel mentally alert and ready to tackle the challenges presented in an exam. The Yerkes-Dodson law suggests that there is a link between arousal levels and performance. Essentially, increased arousal levels can help you do better on exams, but only up to a certain point. Once these stress levels cross that line, the excessive anxiety you might be experiencing can actually interfere with test performance.

Excessive fear can make it difficult to concentrate and you might struggle to recall things that you have studied. You might feel like all the information you spent some much time reviewing suddenly seems inaccessible in your mind. You blank out the answers to questions to which you know you know the answers. This inability to concentrate and recall information then contributes to even more anxiety and stress, which only makes it that much harder to focus your attention on the test.

Overcoming Test Anxiety

So what exactly can you do to prevent or minimize test anxiety? Here are some strategies to help:

• Make sure you’re prepared. That means studying for the test early until you feel comfortable with the material. Don’t wait until the night before. If you aren’t sure how to study, ask your teacher or parent for help. Being prepared will boost your confidence, which will lessen your test anxiety.
• Banish the negative thoughts. If you start to have anxious or defeated thoughts, such as “I’m not good enough,” “I didn’t study hard enough,” or “I can’t do this,” push those thoughts away and replace them with positive thoughts. “I can do this,” “I know the material,” and “I studied hard,” can go far in helping to manage your stress level when taking a test.
• Get enough sleep. A good night’s sleep will help your concentration and memory.
• Take deep breaths. If you start to feel anxious while you’re taking your test, breathe deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth. Work through each question or problem one at a time, taking a deep breath in between each one as needed. Making sure you are giving your lungs plenty of oxygen can help your focus and sense of calm.
• Avoid the perfectionist trap. Don’t expect to be perfect. We all make mistakes and that’s okay. Knowing you’ve done your best and worked hard is really all that matters, not perfection.

Therapy and Medications Can Also Help

• If you need extra support, make an appointment with your school counselor or primary care physician.
• Depending on the severity of your symptoms, your physician may also recommend cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), anti-anxiety medications, or a combination of both. CBT focuses on helping people change both the behaviors and underlying thoughts that contribute to the unwanted behaviors or feelings.

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Q.3      Describe different kinds of marking and reporting system. Also highlight the significance of latter grades assigned to students’ progress:

Answer:

All students should be given the opportunity to show what they know, understand and can do. In order to help students develop their understanding, knowledge and skills we see assessment, marking and reporting as vital tools.

Through assessing, marking and reporting on students’ work, we aim to:

• Enable students to understand what they have to do to attain specific levels and grades
• Provide time in lessons for student reflection to support their progress
• Facilitate the setting of clear targets for improvement
• Enable staff and students to plan more effectively
• Involve students and their parents/carers in the students’ progress
• Provide information to evaluate the quality of teaching and learning
• Give students helpful feedback and feedforward on their achievements and areas for development, in order that they can learn more effectively
• Ensure that our practices in this area adhere to the school’s Equality Policy, Curriculum Policy, Teaching & Learning Policy and Literacy Policy.

Principles

Assessment, marking and reporting at Notley High School & Braintree Sixth Form will:

• Be based on an agreed framework of consistent principles used throughout the school as developed in the Teaching & Learning Tree
• Enable the school to fulfil its obligations as directed by the Academy Trust
• Inform teachers’ forward planning
• Involve the learners, so that students are aware of the criteria by which they are assessed and that they are provided with feedback so that they can learn more effectively and make good progress
• Be integrated into schemes of learning – individual 11-16 faculties and 16-19 subject groups are responsible for choosing assessment opportunities, procedures and systems, in order that the student is best served in each separate 11-16 faculty and 16-19 subject group
• Provide regular and meaningful information for parents and carers
• Be manageable within existing resources and time
• Use a wide variety of assessment techniques including peer and self-assessment.

Significance of latter grades assigned to students’ progress:

Although the debate over grading and reporting continues, today we know better which practices benefit students and encourage learning. Given the multitude of studies—and their often incongruous results—researchers do appear to agree on the following points:

Grading and reporting aren’t essential to instruction. Teachers don’t need grades or reporting forms to teach well. Further, students don’t need them to learn (Frisbie and Waltman 1992).

Teachers do need to check regularly on how students are doing, what they’ve learned, and what problems or difficulties they’ve experienced. But grading and reporting are different from checking; they involve judging the adequacy of students’ performance at a specific time. Typically, teachers use checking to diagnose and prescribe and use grading to evaluate and describe (Bloom et al. 1981).

When teachers do both checking and grading, they become advocates as well as judges—roles that aren’t necessarily compatible (Bishop 1992). Finding a meaningful compromise between these dual roles makes many teachers uncomfortable, especially those with a child-centered orientation (Barnes 1985).

No one method of grading and reporting serves all purposes well. Grading enables teachers to communicate the achievements of students to parents and others, provide incentives to learn, and provide information that students can use for self-evaluation. In addition, schools use grades to identify or group students for particular educational paths or programs and to evaluate a program’s effectiveness (Feldmesser 1971, Frisbie and Waltman 1992). Unfortunately, many schools attempt to address all of these purposes with a single method and end up achieving none very well (Austin and McCann 1992).

Letter grades, for example, briefly describe learning progress and give some idea of its adequacy (Payne 1974). Their use, however, requires abstracting a great deal of information into a single symbol (Stiggins 1994). In addition, the cut-off between grade categories is always arbitrary and difficult to justify. If scores for a grade of B range from 80 to 89, students at both ends of that range receive the same grade, even though their scores differ by nine points. But the student with a score of 79—a one-point difference—receives a grade of C.

The more detailed methods also have their drawbacks. Narratives and checklists of learning outcomes offer specific information for documenting progress, but good narratives take time to prepare, and—not surprisingly—as teachers complete more narratives, their comments become increasingly standardized. From the parents’ standpoint, checklists of learning outcomes often appear too complicated to understand. In addition, checklists seldom communicate the appropriateness of students’ progress in relation to expectations for their level (Afflerbach and Sammons 1991).

Because one method won’t adequately serve all purposes, schools must identify their primary purpose for grading and select or develop the most appropriate approach (Cangelosi 1990). This process often involves the difficult task of seeking consensus among several constituencies.

Regardless of the method used, grading and reporting remain inherently subjective. In fact, the more detailed the reporting method and the more analytic the process, the more likely subjectivity will influence results (Ornstein 1994). That’s why, for example, holistic scoring procedures tend to have greater reliability than analytic procedures.

Subjectivity in this process, however, isn’t always bad. Because teachers know their students, understand various dimensions of students’ work, and have clear notions of the progress made, their subjective perceptions may yield very accurate descriptions of what students have learned (Brookhart 1993, O’Donnell and Woolfolk 1991).
When subjectivity translates into bias, however, negative consequences can result.

Teachers’ perceptions of students’ behavior can significantly influence their judgments of scholastic performance (Hills 1991). Students with behavior problems often have no chance to receive a high grade because their infractions overshadow their performance. These effects are especially pronounced in judgments of boys (Bennett et al. 1993). Even the neatness of students’ handwriting can significantly affect a teacher’s judgment (Sweedler-Brown 1992).

Training programs can help teachers identify and reduce these negative effects and lead to greater consistency in judgments (Afflerbach and Sammons 1991). Unfortunately, few teachers receive adequate training in grading or reporting as part of their preservice experiences (Boothroyd and McMorris 1992). Also, few school districts provide adequate guidance to ensure consistency in teachers’ grading or reporting practices (Austin and McCann 1992).

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Q 4.     a)        Suggest measures to reduce cultural bias in the test?

Answer:

Cultural bias in testing refers to a situation in which a given test is inappropriate for a certain audience as it does not test the student’s actual knowledge of a taught subject or includes details tied to a culture that the student is unfamiliar with. As the test is not about the topic of culture, the test should not include cultural tidbits that would throw off certain students. Try as we might to make tests fair, it still happens today.

Gender Bias

Sometimes tests — for example, tests for gifted and talented programs — include questions or probing for leadership from the testing student. What these types of tests do not take into consideration is that there are various cultures in which girls are still trained to be followers and boys the natural leaders. Therefore, due to no fault of their own, girls may not score well on this topic and then not qualify for the program. Likewise on vocabulary tests, gender roles and exposure to certain types of language may also contribute to whether or not a girl or boy gets the vocabulary term right.

Unbalanced Special Education Referrals

In recent years, the process of referring a child for special education services has become more and more complex. Educators and others began to notice the unbalanced number of ethnic minorities being referred to and assigned special education services. Many of the oversights being made were due to other disadvantages such as a low socio-economic level or less exposure to academic materials in early childhood. Second language learners were also regularly referred when their deficiencies were due to learning to pronounce a new language correctly or needing more time to learn the language

Yet these factors were contributing to many students receiving a label early on that cannot be escaped from until their school career was over. They were labeled for life. For this reason, many districts are now implementing policies in which teachers must first show what interventions they have used with these students in order to try to catch them up with the class. By documenting these interventions and monitoring the results, it was easier to see who just needed a leg up and who might actually need special education services. Today, it is more likely that students receiving these services, along with being integrated into classroom strategies and using small group interventions, are students who truly do require these services.

Language Discrimination

The United States today has a changing population. There are more and more languages other than English spoken in homes across the country. When it comes to testing, this can pose potential problems, not because students should not be expected to achieve a high level of English as the mainstream language but because sometimes cultural factors to find their way into what vocabulary a student is exposed to. For example, one test that I gave to early childhood students asked the children to identify which picture was a casserole. Casserole is not a dish that all households make. To be frank, a casserole can be composed of so many combinations of things, it doesn’t seem fair to have to identify one by sight regardless of cultural background; however, this was one of the questions. Children in Iowa where the test was developed may or may not be more culturally aware of what a casserole is, but in inner city schools in Texas, most of us have never really had a casserole in our lives. I would think it safe to assume that many adults here could not identify a casserole by sight.

Fair and Equitable Testing

For gifted and talented programs, some teachers have begun implementing or requesting non-verbal testing, especially for early childhood students, so that language and speech development do not block children who are gifted in other ways from entering the program. Ask your campus gifted and talented teacher what the process is to enter the program and what type of entrance exam the students will be given. Sometimes other forms of evidence can be submitted in the student’s favor as well. You can also suggest or research tests that demonstrate student ability through multiple intelligences instead of standard forms of testing. In the classroom, you can give open-ended tests which allow for student expression and interpretation of knowledge instead of rote memorization and allow for students to justify their ideas and answers. Using these techniques will help to avoid and eliminate cultural bias in testing.

Finally, when standardized testing comes around, be an advocate by noticing questions or topics which reveal obvious cultural bias and report them to your school official or testing agency. Test writers may not be as aware of these intricacies as the teachers who interact with students every day. If enough people speak up, changes might be made.

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Q.4      b)        Elaborate the importance of entrance test in the universities?

Answer:

There are many reasons that university should be mandatory for all students to take an entrance exam. First, an entrance exam can determine how students are interested to that university and career their pursuit. There are many students applying to a wrong university and career because of their parent would like them to going to that university, or their friends are going to that university, or they can get financial aid or scholarship from that university. For a student really likes to be a student of that university, he/she will study and prepare their best to become that university’s student. So, an entrance exam will not matter or too hard to him/her. On the contrary, it will not only waste their money and time but also government and others. In addition, an entrance exam can help university find out the best students. These students will be get scholarship from university, government, or companies let them can spend their time into study or innovations. Social would to train these students to be the best to help our world. Finally, an entrance exam can balance and improve work environment. Each student has different future dreams. They will look for university and career they would like to be. An entrance exam could not hinder these students’ dream. It will help students take more seriously on their career and future. Even though, many students feel an entrance exam might not fair for below average students. They may not pass the entrance exam to get into the university that they dream. Nothing is impossible and your dream will come true if you do it seriously.

They were brought in to root out corruption. In the past MBBS admissions were done on the basis of BSc marks and this was wide open to malpractices. Money would exchange hands for good marks in practical exams which in turn would affect your total score and hence admission. We have an extremely large population and we need to select a few from the hundreds of thousands who appear for these tests. This is another reason why we have multiple choice tests which are easily administered, valued and have been found scientifically valid in being able to discriminate and assess the quality of the candidates. The contention that entrance exams are anti-poor does not hold water. Entrance exams level the playing field to a great extent. No amount of mugging up is going to help solve the problems asked in Physics or Mathematics. And they are tough. This means the studious are able to score better. Contrast this with the board exams with their unimaginative questions and emphasis on rote learning. But here too there is much correlation between board results and entrance results. A similar bunch of students tend to do well in both – they are just the ones who are putting in the work that’s all. 

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Q.5      Give the characteristics of measures of central tendency by giving examples. Also discuss its uses in educational assessment.

Answer:

Converting Data to Information: The goal of a six sigma project is not to produce an overwhelming amount of data that ends up intimidating the concerned people. The goal is to find out as much data as possible and convert it into meaningful information that can be used by the concerned personnel to make meaningful decisions about the process. However for that one needs to learn how to statistically deal with huge amounts of data. Data primarily needs to be understood for its two characteristics viz central tendency and dispersion. Data tends to be centre around a point known as average. The degree to which it is spread out from that point is also important because it has an important bearing on the probability. It is for this reason that we use the following characteristics to make sense of the data involved:

Measures of Central Tendency: Different types of data need different measures of central tendency. Some of the important measures, commonly used are as follows:

• Mean: This is most probably the arithmetic mean or simply the average of the data points involved. It could also be the geometric or harmonic mean however that is unusual. This is the most popular measure of central tendency. Many statistical techniques have evolved that use the mean as the primary measure to understand the centrality of a given set of data points.
• Median: If all the data points given in a particular data set were arranged in ascending or descending order, the value in the centre is called the median. In case where data sets have an odd number of elements like 7, the median is the 4th item because it has 3 data points on each side. In case the number is even like 8, then the median is the average of 4th and 5th data point. Median is used where there are outliers i.e. big numbers that impact the mean giving a false picture of the data involved.
• Mode: This is the value of the most frequently occurring item in the data set. This is the value of the most expected number to occur.

Measures of Dispersion: The degree of spread determines the probability and the level of confidence that one can have on the results obtained from the measures of central tendency. Common measures of dispersion are as follows:

• Range: The two endpoints between which all the values of a data set fall is called a range. It is important because it exhaustively includes all the possibilities.
• Quartiles: The data set is divided into 4 sets and the number of elements is each set is studied to give us data about quartiles. Similar measures include the deciles and the percentiles. However quartiles remain most widely used.
• Standard Deviation: A complex formula is used to work out standard deviation of a given set of data. However standard deviation is like the mean, it is the most important measure of dispersion and is used exhaustively in almost every statistical technique.

Mean:

1. It can only be used with quantitative data.

2. The mean will always exist, but it might not be an actual data value.

3. Every data value has an affect on the mean, unlike the median and the mode.

4. It is the center of the data set in that it is the balance point of the data values.

5. It can be more sensitive to extreme data values than the median.

6. When used as the center value, it minimizes the sum of the squared deviations.

Median:

1. It can only be used with quantitative data.

2. The median will always exist, but it might not be an actual data value.

3. It is the center of the data set in that:  At least half of the data values are greater than or equal to it, and at least half of the data values are less than or equal to it.

4. It can be less sensitive to extreme data values than the mean.

5. When used as the center value, it minimizes the sum of the absolute deviations.

Mode:

1. It can be used with quantitative and qualitative data.

2. The mode won’t always exist, but if it does, it must be an actual value of the data set.

3. It might not be located near the center of the data values.

4. It can be less sensitive to extreme data values than both the median and the mean.

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