Teaching, Learning and Assessment

This evening, we were asked to do a little activity in group and define the relation and role of teaching, learning and assessment.  Most groups came out with a similar concept with ours' which is quite a relief.  Given below is the relationship among the three elements that my group decided.

 Learning, teaching and assessment are mutual and go three ways.

From a learning perspective

• Learning and Teaching are mutual because teaching is done for the purpose of learning, and when teaching is done in the classroom, whatever the teacher teaches and whatever the student learned, and the lesson plans, and the syllabus are based on the on the teacher’s assessment of the learning.
• Learning and Assessment are mutual because Learning is something that can be measured because teaching has certain objectives, and in order to find out if the objectives of teaching are achieved or not, it can be known only through assessment.

From a Teaching perspective:

• Teaching and Learning are mutual because whatever the teacher teaches, they are not something random or based on the whims of the teacher. What is being taught in the class is based on the teacher’s assessment of the learning which come in the form of feedback as well as curriculum and syllabus.
• Teaching and Assessment are mutual because teaching cannot be done randomly, it has to have objectives, and only through the assessment of the learning, the objectives of learning can be identified.  In other word, assessment is needed to design and plan a lesson for learning, and to prepare and design syllabus and curriculum.

From an Assessment Perspective:

• Assessment and Learning are mutual because without assessment, learning cannot happen.  The assessment can tell what the child learnt, what they cannot learn and as such, it is the learning what decide what is being including in the curriculum.
• Assessment and Teaching are mutual because without assessment, the teacher will not know what to taught, how much the students comprehend, and if the methodology of teaching is helpful for the student or not.

We cannot part learning, teaching and assessment at all, they have to form a cycle for the learning process to be complete and that without each other, it will not be complete.  Without teacher there cannot be learning, and without learning, we cannot assess.  Since teaching has certain objectives, if the teaching is successful (learning happened) or not can be known only through assessment. And, if the objectives of the teaching are successful, we can only call it learning.