Assessment Tools in the Affective Domain
The assessment tools in the affective domain are those that are used to assess attitudes, interests,
motivations, and self-efficacy. We consider a few of the standard assessment tools in the affective
domain.
1. Self-Report. This is the most common measurement tool in the affective domain. It essentially
requires an individual to provide an account of his attitude or feelings toward a concept or idea or people.
Self-reports are also sometimes called "written reflections". In using this measurement tool, teacher
requires the student to write his/her thoughts on a subject matter, like, "Why I like or dislike Mathematics".
The teacher ensures that the students write something which would demonstrate the various levels of the
taxonomy (from receiving up to characterization)
2. Rating Scale. This is a set of categories designed to elicit information about a quantitative
attribute in social science. Common examples are the Likert scale and 1-10 rating scales for which a
person selects the number which is considered to reflect the perceived quality of product. The basic
feature of any rating scale is that it consists of a number of categories. These are usually assigned
integers.
Semantic Differential Scales - tries to assess an individual's reaction to specific words,
ideas or concepts in terms of ratings on bipolar scales defined with contrasting adjectives at each end. An
example is shown below:
Likert Scale - requires that individuals tick on a box to report whether they "strongly
agree", "agree", "undecided", "disagree", or "strongly disagree", in response to a large number of items
concerning attitude object or stimulus. An example is shown below:
Checklists - are the most common and perhaps the easiest instrument to construct in the
affective domain. A checklist consists of simple items that the student or teacher marks as "absent" or
"present". Here are steps in constructing a checklist:
Enumerate all the attributes and characteristics you wish to observe relative to
the concept being measured. For instance, if the concept is "interpersonal relation", then you might
want to identify those indicators or attributes which constitute an evidence of good interpersonal
relation
Arrange these attributes as a shopping list of characteristics
Ask the students to mark those attributes or characteristics which are present
and to leave blank those which are not.
Example of checklist is shown below:
Checklists for Teachers
By: Sandra F. Rief (1997)
Getting students' attention
Ask an interesting, speculative question, show a picture, tell a little story, or read a related
poem to generate discussion and interest in the upcoming lesson
Try "'playfulness," silliness, a bit of theatrics (props and storytelling) to get attention and
peak interest.
Use storytelling. Students of all ages love to hear stories, especially personal stories. It is
very effective in getting attention.
Add a bit of mystery. Bring in an object relevant to the upcoming lesson in a box, bag, or
pillowcase. This is a wonderful way to generate predictions and can lead to excellent
discussions or writing activities.
Signal students auditorily: ring a bell, use a beeper or timer, play a bar of music on the
piano or guitar, etc.
Vary your tone of voice: loud, soft, whispering. Try making a louder command "Listen!
Freeze! Ready!" followed by a few seconds of silence before proceeding in a normal voice to
give directions.
Use visual signals: flash the lights or raise your hand which signals the students to raise
their hands and close their mouths until everyone is silent.
Frame the visual material you want students to be focused on with your hands or with a
colored box around it.
If using an overhead, place an object (e.g., little toy car or plastic figure) to be projected on
the screen to get attention.
Clearly signal: "Everybody…Ready…"
Color is very effective in getting attention. Make use of colored dry-erase pens on white
boards, colored overhead pens for transparencies and overhead projectors, and colored
paper to highlight key words, phrases, steps to computation problems, spelling patterns,
etc.
Model excitement and enthusiasm about the upcoming lesson.
Use eye contact. Students should be facing you when you are speaking, especially while
instructions are being given. If students are seated in clusters, have those students not
directly facing you turn their chairs and bodies around to face you when signaled to do so.
