Page 17 - The Ontario Curriculum Grades 10 to 12 Computer Studies - Revised (2008)

performance task will vary with the particular criterion being considered. Assessment of effectiveness may therefore focus on a quality such as appropriateness, clarity, accuracy, precision, logic, relevance, significance, fluency, flexibility, depth, or breadth, as appropri- ate for the particular criterion. For example, in the Thinking category, assessment of effec- tiveness might focus on the degree of relevance or depth apparent in an analysis; in the Communication category, on clarity of expression or logical organization of information and ideas; or in the Application category, on appropriateness or breadth in the making of connections. Similarly, in the Knowledge and Understanding category, assessment of knowledge might focus on accuracy, and assessment of understanding might focus on the depth of an explanation. Descriptors help teachers to focus their assessment and eval- uation on specific knowledge and skills for each category and criterion, and help students to better understand exactly what is being assessed and evaluated.
Qualifiers
A specific “qualifier” is used to define each of the four levels of achievement – that is, limited for level 1, some for level 2, considerable for level 3, and a high degree or thorough for level 4. A qualifier is used along with a descriptor to produce a description of perfor- mance at a particular level. For example, the description of a student’s performance at level 3 with respect to the first criterion in the Thinking category would be: “the student uses planning skills with considerable effectiveness”.
The descriptions of the levels of achievement given in the chart should be used to iden- tify the level at which the student has achieved the expectations. In all of their courses, students should be given numerous and varied opportunities to demonstrate the full extent of their achievement of the curriculum expectations across all four categories of knowledge and skills.
aSSESSmEnt and EValuation oF StudEnt achiEVEmEnt
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