Role of assessments in enhancing teacher education at a rural-based University In South Africa

Abstract

Assessments, in whatever type or form, play a crucial role in English Language Education at institutions of Higher Learning. Assessments serve as a conduit for students to progress from one level to the next. More importantly, assessments are significant markers to students, lecturers and society as to whether students have mastered the requisite skills in their chosen fields of study. Hence, if assessments play such a pivotal role in the teaching and learning context in Higher Education, then it is vitally important that lecturers make themselves au fait with the best practices of assessment. This paper, in foregrounding the best practices for assessing students, will use as its main referent an assessment task in essay writing. In preparing and presenting the assessment task, cognisance will be taken of the following determinants: the alignment of the assessment task to the module outcomes; the selection of assessment strategies and the rationale thereof; criteria for assessing the task; an implementation and evaluation plan and how students will be prepared for the assessment.

Keywords: Assessments; constructive alignment; assessment strategies and criteria.