ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the newer approaches to assessment such as 'authentic', 'performance' and 'outcomes-based assessment'. 'Assessment' is the term typically used to describe the activities undertaken by a teacher to obtain information about the knowledge, skills and attitudes of students. Assessment is usually undertaken for: grading students; predicting future achievements; motivating students; and so on. Assessment can also be used to predict students' eligibility for selection in future courses. 'Diagnostic' evaluation simply reminds teachers that they must start their instruction at the level the students have reached. 'Criterion-referenced' measures avoid the competitive elements of norm-referenced measures because information is obtained about students' performance in terms of their previous performances rather than in relation to the performances of others. 'Performance assessment' is based on students demonstrating what they can do. Assessment tasks are concrete, performance tasks designed to be part of regular classroom instruction.
