Observational Technique as an Assessment Agenda: Teacher and Student Perceptions

Abstract

This studylooked at teachers’ and students’ views on the use and usefulness of observational techniques in the teaching and learning of English. Twenty nine (29) teachers and 1030 students participated.Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient was used to estimate the internal consistency of items in the questionnaire and a coefficient above 0.6 was accepted as reliable. The Mann-Whitney test was used to determine the difference in the perception of students and teachers on the teachers’ use and usefulness of observational techniques. The Kruskal-Walis (K-W) test was used to determine the difference in perception of teachers on the use and usefulness of observational techniques.Scoring rubrics, anecdotal records and portfolios have similar impact when used in the evaluation of performance, while checklists, rating scales, and usefulness of observational techniques have different impact when used in the evaluation of English performance. Students in the girls’ schools find observational techniques more useful than the students in boys’ and mixed schools, but the teachers were in agreement that the techniques are beneficial to all schools irrespective of their types. Teachers and students had varied opinions on the use and usefulness of observational techniques in Provincial and District schools. The students’ accepted that only scoring rubrics could be used in both Provincial and District schools while the teachers agreed that all the observational techniques were useful in evaluating performance in both Provincial and District schools.

Keywords:Observational techniques, scoring rubrics, anecdotal records, rating scales, Kenya