Assessment vs Evaluation: what's the difference?
Assessment and evaluation are not the same. But, what are the differences between an assessment and evaluation in education. This article will describe both of these terms and outline the differences between them.
Get started with Easy LMS
What is an assessment?
What's the definition of assessment in education? Assessment is the systematic process of documenting and using empirical data to measure knowledge, skills, attitudes and beliefs. By taking the assessment, teachers try to improve the student's path towards learning. This is a short definition of assessment. If you want to read more about assessment, click on this link.
What is evaluation?
What's the definition of evaluation in education? Evaluation focuses on grades and might reflect classroom components other than course content and mastery level. An evaluation can be used as a final review to gauge the quality of instruction. It’s product-oriented. This means that the main question is: “What’s been learned?” In short, evaluation is judgmental.
Example:
You’re gifted a flower.
Evaluation: “The flower is purple and is too short with not enough leaves.”
Evaluation is judgmental
Assessment: “I’ll give the flower some water to improve its growth.”
Assessment increases the quality
Relationship between Assessment and Evaluation
Besides the differences, there are also some similarities between assessment and evaluation. The both require criteria, use measures and are evidence-driven.
So, what’s the difference?
Assessment Evaluation
Is ongoing Provides closure
Improves learning quality Judges learning level
Individualized Applied against standards
Ungraded Graded
Provides feedback Shows shortfalls
Process-oriented Product-oriented
Read more about assessment vs testing.
Useful resources
Get started with Easy LMS
More articles that might interest you
Are quizzes formative or summative?
Quizzes are a way to test the knowledge of students. But are quizzes formative or summative? This article will give you a definition of formative and summative and when it’s better to use formative or summative assessment. After that, it will tell what our tool can do for you, if want choose for formative or summative assessment.
Assessment vs Testing: what's the difference?
Assessment and testing are often used interchangeably. What’s the difference between assessment and testing in education? When developing instruction, it’s important to know what the difference is between assessment and testing. This article will give the answer, so keep on reading!
Advantages and disadvantages of online assessments
Online assessments or e-assessments are online tests conducted with the purpose of evaluating, measuring, and documenting the academic readiness, learning progress, skill acquisition, or educational needs of the test takers. In the past, assessments were usually given in paper printouts and had to be handed out manually. Nowadays, you can create assessments online, share the link with your users, and immediately see their results.