Assessment Must Be Seen As An Opportunity
Assessment is simply quantifying something and giving it a value. The action of measuring is normally and generally something objective and precise. However, assessment is something less Cartesian, often influenced by subjectivity.
Why Trivialize Assessment By De-dramatizing It?
Evaluation often has positive or less favorable consequences, whether in an educational or professional context. Thus, assessing someone in the wrong way can lead to erroneous and therefore unfair results, which will result in unfair decisions. Add to that the long term loss of confidence and motivation on the part of the person who has been evaluated. Assessment must therefore be rigorously considered, designed, and conducted. This rigor can be achieved using a scientific approach, but is also possible thanks to adapted and efficient tools.
These tools are now mainly digital (LASs and LMSs) so that both training and assessments can be done online, on a computer, tablet, or phone. Trainers also need easy access to results. Digital assessment solutions give the opportunity to automate some essential tasks such as corrections, explanations, invites, and many others.
It will be impossible to completely eliminate imperfections and subjectivity. However, by limiting the defects, it will be possible to measure their impacts statistically, thus making them almost negligible. An evaluation approach aims to support or control the definition of training needs, validation of knowledge acquired following teaching, filling in gaps in knowledge, etc. Assessment is therefore essential in any training process. Evaluation must therefore be trivialized and de-dramatized in order to be used effectively.
Making Assessment Better Accepted
The most effective way to trivialize and play down assessment is to set up anonymous tests and quizzes with free access. The goal is that everyone within the company should freely be able to measure the current level of their knowledge, and compare it to the level targeted by the organization. Employees can thus obtain a precise vision of shortcomings and the subjects to be worked on. An employee will therefore have the possibility of learning and completing their missing knowledge, and then taking the tests as many times as they wish: they will thus be able to see the progress they have made. A company wishing to standardize assessment can therefore set up the procedure below:
- Make it known that an open access test is available (on an intranet or an internal platform, for example). While specifying that the results are anonymous or confidential, the company must also indicate the level to be aimed for by all, and the deadline before which they have to take the real test.
- The employees take the assessment one or more times and at their own pace. They can freely answer the questions, look for the answers, and read the explanations shown when they give the wrong answer.
- When the deadline has elapsed, employees are invited to take the definite assessment. This stage will not be anonymous. Since this is the actual test, it can be taken under controlled conditions and with a time limit.
For this approach to be relevant and to work properly, it is necessary to have a sufficiently broad base of questions. Always with the goal to trivialize assessments, it is important that even in the event of failure in the final test, no sanction is given. Failure in itself is enough punishment to motivate people to work and succeed, in order not to fail a second time.
For those who have not succeeded in having the required level, simply send them an invitation to retake the assessment one month later. Again, there is never a penalty for failure. Of course, as part of the quality control process, if the knowledge that is measured during the test is essential to the success of a project, a mission, or a post, the decision can remain pending.
Companies deprive themselves of the advantages of objective evaluation for fear of the negative perception of employees. Trivializing evaluation and playing it down is the best way to generalize it.
Originally published at www.experquiz.com.
