eAssessment and eRARPA Portfolios are very much about assessment; are they valid and reliable?

Validity...

A valid eAssessment/eRARPA Portfolio is one which measures what it is intended to measure.

For example

...it would not be valid to assess driving skills through a written test alone.

A more valid way of assessing driving skills would be through a combination of tests that help determine what a driver knows, such as through a written test of driving knowledge, and what a driver is able to do, such as through a performance assessment of actual driving.

Teachers frequently complain that some examinations do not properly assess the syllabus upon which the examination is based; they are, effectively, questioning the validity of the exam.

Reliability...

Reliability relates to the consistency of an eAssessment/eRARPA Portfolio.

...a reliable eAssessment/eRARPA Portfolio is one which consistently achieves the same results with the same (or similar) cohort of learners. Various factors affect reliability - including...

• ...ambiguous projects/assignments/tasks,
• ...too many options within a project/assignment/task,
• ...vague marking instructions and
• ...poorly trained assessors.

...has both validity and reliability.

In practice, an assessment is rarely totally valid or totally reliable. A tape measure or set of scales which are incorrectly calibrated will always give the same (wrong) measurements. They are very reliable, but not very valid.

- Validity.mp3 - Reliability.mp3 - Good Assessment.mp3 .

(Note: this page was made using three Free Text iDevices; embedding MP3 files with player and attaching files for download; Online resources, like this can support different learning styles and provide self-paced learning. Use of audio files can support the development of conceptual learning. The audio files were produced using Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ however SwiffRec - http://www.snapfiles.com/get/swiffrec.html is in many ways a simpler option.

Where will I get the time to record thes mp3s? I hear many of you say. From my experience, I find the best way to proof read is to read text out loud; so why not record the files when proof reading?)