ASSESSING STUDENTS ASPIRATIONS : '' DEAR ME '' ESSAY

!WOW! : ESTEEMED Global Founders Engineers Rabo, Haly, Hussain and Salar, Emaan, Maria, Hanyia, please make sure all the Parents and Students get to read this essay over and over again.

THE DEMANDS of the 21st century require a shift from traditional forms of assessment, to one that aligns with the skills and competencies needed in today's world.

These include critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, digital literacy, and the ability to navigate complex and real-world challenges.

It requires moving away from rote memorisation and encouraging students to answer open-ended questions for which they need to synthesise information, analyse issues and propose solutions.

By incorporating diverse, real-world assessments, such project-based learning, collaborative tasks, digital portfolios and competency-based models, teachers can better prepare students to succeed in a rapidly changing world.

The key is to create assessments that not only measure what students know but also how they can apply that knowledge, work with others, think critically, and continue learning throughout their lives, which is, after all the real purpose of education.

GLOBALLY ' educational policies ' have not paid much attention to improving students' assessment, which has become a major hurdle to students' learning.

Just about all over the developing world, the prevailing assessment in its summative form is administered to large groups of students to broadly assess their knowledge across various subjects.

It focuses on memorisation and recall. The written examination typically tests students' ability to recall information and apply knowledge under time constraints.

Students are asked to write extended responses that demonstrate their understanding of a topic. This type of assessment tests students' research, skills, analysis, and writing aptitude.

Multiple choice questions are used widely in examinations, which test recall and the recognition of correct answers. However, while they can assess factual knowledge they can't really evaluate students' thinking skills of a higher order.

In response to the limitations of traditional assessment, various alternative forms of assessment have been developed to better capture students' learning and skills.

Alternative forms of assessment include formative assessment, project based assessment, and competency based assessment.

Many digital platforms provide adaptive quizzes that adjust according to students' responses, thus offering a more personalized assessment experience.

This Master Essay continues to Part [2]. The World Students Society thanks Muhammad Memon, a senior educationist, policy scholar and researcher.