Unit 5: Affective Assessment

Introduction
Schools should care about students’ attitudes toward learning and they should nurture students’
self-esteem. Affective variables influence student behavior. Values shape daily conduct.
Attitudes toward learning effect progress and achievement. Motivation contributes to students’
academic success. Most importantly, student status on affective variables informs and guides
instruction. Then, it is a must for would-be teachers like you to learn affective assessment. This
will guide you in dealing with students diverse in terms of intelligence and emotional quotient. It
is essential for teachers to know how students learn and what interest them. In this unit, you will
be learning different affective assessment tools which will help you to determine students’
attitude, values, academic self-concept, locus of control, self-efficacy, interest, academic
aspiration, and anxiety.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this unit, you are expected to:
1. Define affective assessment and related concepts
2. Select appropriately developed, high quality affective assessment tools
3. Use target- and learner-appropriate affective assessment methods and tools
4. Interpret affective assessment data/ results for monitoring and evaluating learner
achievement to improve learner performance and inform instruction

Activating Prior Knowledge

Can you still remember the domains of learning by Bloom’s taxonomy, the cognitive,
psychomotor and affective domains? This activity will focus on assessing your previous
knowledge on affective domain of the Bloom’s taxonomy. Accomplish the graphic
organizer given below.

Write the definition: Use it in a sentence:

Write a synonym: Draw a picture:

Topic 1. Basic Concepts in Affective Assessment

Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:
1. Determine the levels of learning and behavior verbs used in affective domain
2. Define affective assessment
3. Discuss the different affective and disposition targets such as attitude, values, academic self-
concept, locus of control, self-efficacy, interest, academic aspiration, and anxiety
4. Use the different concepts of affective assessment in dealing with situations/problems in
school

Presentation of Content
In Bloom’s taxonomy published, three domains were identified: cognitive, affective and
psychomotor domains.
The affective domain is part of a system that was published in 1965 for identifying,
understanding, and addressing how people learn.

Domains of Learning (Bloom)

Levels of Learning in Affective Domain
Behavioral Verbs in Affective Domain

Definition of Affective Assessment

This is the process of gathering information about the outcomes of education that involve
disposition or personal feelings such as attitudes, sense of academic self-confidence or interest in
something that motivationally predisposes a person to act or not to act.
It also involves individual’s choice whether he/she likes to finish a task or how s/he would
like to do it.
What does it measure?

Affective/Disposition Targets
Anderson & Bourke (2000) cited by Stiggins (2001)

1.Attitude
It is learned predisposition to respond in a consistent favorable or unfavorable manner with
respect to a given object.

2. School-related Values
Values are beliefs about what should be desired, what is important or cherished,
and what standards of conduct are acceptable.
Values influence or guide behavior, interest, attitudes and satisfactions. Values are
enduring. They tend to remain stable over fairly long periods of time.
Values are learned and tend to be of high intensity and tend to focus on ideas.
The following are values related to academic success:
Belief in the value of education as a foundation for a productive life Belief in the benefits
of strong effort in school
 A strong sense of the need for the ethical behavior at testing time (no cheating)
The belief that a healthy lifestyle (for ex. No drugs) underpins academic success
Feeling about the key aspects of their schooling, that predispose students to behave in
academically productive ways

3.Academic Self-concept
It is a learned vision that results largely from evaluation of self by others over time. It is the
sum of all evaluative judgements one makes about one’s possibility of success and/or
productivity in an academic context.

4.Locus of Control
It is the student’s attributions or belief about the reasons for academic success or failure.
Internal- the attributions come from within.
“I succeeded because I tried hard.”
External- the attributions come from external contributions or factor.
“I was lucky to receive a grade of 99 .”
“I performed well because I had a good teacher.”

5.Self-efficacy
Its target is a task, a (school) subject, an instructional objective and the like. The direction is best
captured by “I can” versus “I can’t”. A “can’t do” attitude lies at the heart of a concept known as
learned helplessness.
The symptoms include a lack of persistence in the face of failure, negative affect and negative
expectations about the future.

6.Interest
A disposition organized through experience which impels an individual to seek out particular
objects, activities, understandings, skills or goals for attention or acquisition.

7.Academic Aspirations
The desire to learn more, the intent to seek out and participate in additional education
experiences.

8.Anxiety
It is the experience of (emotional) tension that results from real or imagined threats to
one’s security.
Application
Write a reaction paper on the given picture below.

Guide questions:

Do you agree on this education practice of Japan? Why?

Should this be implemented in the Philippines? Why or why not?
What are the advantages and disadvantages if we implement this practice?

Note: Use the affective assessment concepts in answering. Limit your answer to 500-600
words.
The rubrics given below will be used in evaluating your response.
Features 4 3 2 1 %
(Expert) (Accomplished) (Capable) (Beginner)
Quality of Piece was Piece was Piece had Piece had no style 70
Writing written in an written in an little style or or voice
extraordinary interesting style voice
style and and voice Gives no new
voice. Gives some information and
Somewhat new very poorly
Very informative and information organized
informative organized but poorly
and well organized
organized
Grammar, Virtually no Few spelling A number of So many spelling, 30
Usage, and spelling, and punctuation spelling, punctuation and
Mechanics punctuation or errors, minor punctuation or grammatical errors
grammatical grammatical grammatical that it interferes
errors errors errors with the meaning
 Assessment in Learning 2

Write your answer here!

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

Feedback
Decision Time!
Mr. Mario Asuncion, a grade 8 teacher, measures his students’ attitudes and interests toward
school. At the end of the first week of school, results of the assessment indicate 100% of his
students really like school. However, three months later, the same assessment indicates that over
half of his students no longer look forward to coming to school. Almost 75% were often bored in
class. If you were Mr. Asuncion, what would you do?
Use the concepts of the different affective/disposition targets to plan possible solutions on this
problem. Write your answer in the problem-solving organizer.

The problem

Why is this a problem?

Possible Solutions

Solution 1 Solution 2 Solution 3

Pros Cons Pros Cons Pros Cons

Solution

Possible consequences of the solution

Recommended Solution
 Topic 2. Affective Assessment Tools

Learning Objectives
At the end of the lesson, you are expected to:
1. Differentiate the different tools, techniques, and formats used in affective assessment
2. Select appropriately developed, high quality affective assessment tools
3. Use target- and learner-appropriate affective assessment methods and tools
4. Construct an affective assessment tool

Presentation of Content
Tools and Techniques used in Affective Assessment

1. Interest Inventory- measures learners’ area of interest

2. Personality inventory- measures learner’s traits such as self-concept, social adjustment,

problem solving styles, and other traits.

3. Observation Techniques
3.1.Casual Information Observations- unstructured, unplanned or an observation
without using any instrument
3.2.Observation Guides- structured or with the use of a planned instrument to record
observations
3.3.Clinical Observations- a prolonged process in diagnosing clients in a controlled clinical
setting, which involves the use of sophisticated techniques and instruments
3.4.Anecdotal Records- a narrative record of observations of a particular learner behavior during
a given situation or event free from interpretations and conclusions
3.5.Scales- consists of list of characteristics or behaviors to be observed and an evaluative
scale to indicate the degree to which they occur
3.6.Checklist- a set of traits that an observer has to mark if demonstrated by a particular learner

4. Self-Reporting Techniques

4.1.Autobiography- enables the learners to describe his/her own life and experiences

4.2.Self-Expression Essay- seeks to assess the learner’s response to a particular question

or concern usually in a short essay form

4.3.Self-Description- requires the learner to paint a picture of himself/herself in

words

4.4.Self-Awareness Exercises- designed to help learners become more aware of their

feelings, emotions, and values
 4.5.Questionnaire- provides an opportunity to easily collect a great deal of
information that may be useful in further understanding the learner client in identifying problems as
well as opinions, attitudes, and values

4.6.Structured Interview- enables the counselor to obtain specific information and to

in-depth behavior or responses

5. Group Assessment Techniques

5.1 Sociometric Technique- provides information on social relationships such as degrees of

acceptance, roles and interactions within groups

5.2 Guess Who Technique- best used with relatively well-established groups in which
members are well acquainted with each other

5.3 Communigram- assesses the frequency of verbal participation of a learner in a particular

group within a given period

5.4 Social Distance Scales- measures the distance of a learner between other persons and
himself/herself that is usually identified through the reaction to given statements that compare
attitudes of acceptance of rejection of other people

Formats of Affective Assessment Tools

1. Closed- Item or Forced-choice Instruments- answers are selected from the given choices

1.1 Checklist- measures students’ preferences, hobbies, attitudes, feelings, beliefs, interests, etc.
by marking a set of possible responses.

1.2 Scales- these measure the extent or degree of one’s response

Types of Scale

1.2.1.Rating Scale- measures the degree or extent of one’s attitudes, feelings, and perception
about ideas, objects and people by marking a point along 3- or 5- point scale.

1.2.2.Semantic Differential Scale- measures the degree of one’s attitudes, feelings, and
perception about ideas, objects, and people by marking a point along 5- or 7- or 11- point scale
of contrasting adjectives at each end.

1.2.3.Likert Scale- measures the degree of one’s agreement or disagreement on positive or

negative statements about objects and people.

1.3 Alternative-Response – measures students’ preferences, hobbies, attitudes, feelings,

beliefs, interests, etc. by choosing between two possible responses

1.4 Ranking- measures students’ preferences or priorities by ranking a set of attitudes or

objects.
 2. Open-Ended Instruments- there are no choices for the answers

2.1.Sentence Completion- measures students’ preferences over a variety of attitudes and allows
students to answer by completing an unfinished statement which may vary in length

2.2.Survey- measures the values held by an individual by writing one or many responses to a
given question

2.3.Essay- allows the students to reveal and clarify their preferences, hobbies, attitudes,
feelings, beliefs, interests and the like by writing their reaction or opinion on a given
question

Suggestions in Writing Affective Assessment Items

1. Avoid statements that refer to the past rather than to the present
2. Avoid statements that are factual or capable of being interpreted as factual
3. Avoid statements that may be interpreted in more than one way
4. Avoid statements that are irrelevant to the psychological object under consideration
5. Avoid statements that are likely to be endorsed by almost everyone or by almost no one
6. Select statements that are believed to cover the entire range of affective scale of interests
7. Keep the language of the statements simple, clear and direct
8. Statements should be short, rarely exceeding 20 words
9. Each statement should contain only one complete thought
10. Statements containing universals such as all, always, none, and never often introduce
ambiguity and should be avoided
11. Words such as only, just, merely, and others of similar nature should be used with care
and moderation in writing statements
12. Whenever possible, statements should be in the form of simple sentences rather than in the
form of compound or complex sentences
13. Avoid the use of words that may not be understood by those who are to be given the
completed scale
14. Avoid the use of double negatives

Examples of Affective Assessment Tools

Attitude Scale
 Assessment in Learning 2

Checklist

Semantic Differential

Likert Scale
 Assessment in Learning 2

Word Association

Unfinished Sentence

Unfinished Story
 Application
Use a concept map to show relationships of the tools & techniques and formats of affective
assessment. A concept map is a diagram that depicts suggested relationships between concepts.
Your output will be graded using the following rubric.

Criteria 4 3 2 1 %
Exemplary Exceeds Adequately Below
Standard meets standard Standard
Organizatio
n Well organized Thoughtfully Somewhat Choppy and 60
organized organized confusing
Logical format
Easy to follow Somewhat Contains a
Contains main most of the time incoherent limited
concepts number of
Contains most Contains only concepts
Contains an of the main a few of the
appropriate concepts main concepts
number of
concepts Contains an
adequate
Map is number of
“treelike” and concepts
not stringy
Follows the
Follows standard map
standard map conventions
conventions
Content Linking words Linking words Linking words Difficult to 40
demonstrate easy to follow are clear but follow
superior but at times present a
conceptual ideas unclear flawed No links
understanding rationale
Links are not
Links are precisely Links are not
precisely labeled labeled
labeled
Total
 Feedback
Choose three (3) affective assessment tools discussed on this unit. Then, construct your own tools
following the suggestions in writing affective assessment items. If possible, affective assessment
tools to be crafted should be related on your field of specialization. Your output will be evaluated
using the following rubric.
Criteria 4 3 2 1 %
(Expert) (Accomplished) (Capable) (Beginner)
Clarity of The items in the The items in the Sometimes the Many parts of 30
the items affective affective reader has to ask the affective
assessment tool assessment tool questions to assessment
are are figure out the tool are
understandable understandable; meaning; there ambiguous
in every way; obvious efforts is still room for and may be
nothing is are made to misinterpretation easily
confusing or prevent in some places misinterpreted;
unexplained; misinterpretation the reader has
there is no room or to ask many
for misunderstanding questions to
misinterpretation figure out the
meaning
Content The items in the The items in the The items in the The items in 30
affective affective affective the affective
assessment tool assessment tool assessment tool assessment
were written in were written in had little style or tool had no
an extraordinary an interesting voice. style or voice.
style and voice. style and voice.
Poorly Very poorly
Well organized Organized organized organized
Originality The tool shows a The tool shows Uses other Uses other 30
large amount of some original people’s ideas. people’s ideas.
original thought. thought. Tool There is little No evidence
Ideas are shows new ideas. evidence of of original
creative and original thinking.
inventive. thinking.
Grammar, Virtually no Few spelling and A number of So many 10
Usage, spelling, punctuation spelling, spelling,
and punctuation or errors, minor punctuation or punctuation
Mechanics grammatical grammatical grammatical and
errors errors errors grammatical
errors that it
interferes with
the meaning
Total
Summary
 Affective assessments are systematic measurements of students’ attitudes, interests, motivation,
perception, belief, behavior, opinion and values.

 Results from affective assessments can promote learning by guiding instruction.

 Affective/disposition targets: attitude, values, academic self-concept, locus of control, self-
efficacy, interest, academic aspiration, and anxiety

 Tools and techniques used in affective assessment: interest inventory,

personality inventory, observation techniques, self-reporting techniques, and group
assessment techniques

 Formats of affective assessment tools: closed- item or forced-choice instruments and

open-ended instruments

Reflection
Congratulations! You are done with the fifth unit of this module. Now, go back to the activities
and lessons you have taken in this unit and answer the following questions. Limit your answers
for each question to 5 to 10 sentences only.
What is the best thing you learned on this unit?

How relevant is this unit in your future profession?

What do you still want to learn about on this unit?

References
 Adriano, C.T. (2003). Making a perfect fit: objectives and test items. University of the
Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City.

 Buendicho, F. C. (2010). Assessment of student learning. Manila, Philippines:

 Rex Bookstore.

 De Guzman-Santos, R. (2007). Assessment of learning 1. Quezon City: Lorimar

Publishing, Inc.

 Gabuyo, Y. A. (2012). Assessment of student learning 1: textbook and reviewer.

 Manila, Philippines: Manila, Rex Bookstore.

 Garcia, C. (ND). Measuring and evaluating learning outcomes: a textbook in

assessment of learning 1 and 2. Mandaluyong City,Philippines: Books Atbp
Publishing Corporation.