Guide on KPUP 1

A Guide in Assessing Knowledge, Process,

Understanding, and Performance/Product

Carlo Magno, PhD.


Education in the Philippines has reformed to the K to 12 Enhanced Basic Education. Part of this
reform is the development in the process of assessing student learning. The skills that need to be
assessed in the classrooms are presented in a nomenclature on knowledge, process, understanding, and
performance/product. This nomenclature was proposed in order to develop the necessary skills of
school children. In the past curriculum, educators use different taxonomies that guide their assessment
of students learning such as the revised Blooms taxonomy, Gagnes Taxonomy, Stiggins and Conklins
Taxonomy, Marzanos dimensions of learning, DeBonos six thinking skills, and others. The new
curriculum provides standards and a mechanism how to assess appropriately these standards.
At present, the Department of Education proposed that students need to be assessed on the
domains of knowledge, understanding, process, and product/process (DepEd Order No. 31, s. 2012).
This nomenclature were made in order for the students to reach the content and performance
standards of the curriculum. The assessment system is described to be holistic where teachers use
both formative assessment and summative assessment. Formative assessment involves students
accomplishing a bank of items accompanied by a series of feedback, it is non-threatening and provides
students a series of practice for the mastery of the lesson,it reinforces students understanding and
interest in the subject matter (Black & William 2003; Gonzales & Birch, 2000). Kulik and Kulik (1998)
explained that the best assessment practice incorporates several assessment and feedback that
enhances students learning. The nature of formative assessment provides a more authentic nature of
student learning because it is a combination of what the students know and monitoring their progress.
On the other hand, summative assessment is given when students have mastered the lesson, to
determine the learners achievement on a unit or course. Formative assessment is emphasized in the
new assessment system in order to help students reach the standards. Through a series and multiple
assessment, the teacher is able to see the immediate evidence what students have learned and
therefore be able to design and adjust the instruction based on their needs.
Assessment in the K to 12 becomes more useful to help students learn better. This brings in
mind the idea of assessment for learning. According to Stiggins (2001) that when we assess for
learning, teachers use the classroom assessment process and the continuous flow of information about
student achievement that it provides in order to advance, not merely check on, student learning (p. 5).
This process requires teachers to become assessment literate where they should have the ability to
transform their expectations into assessment activities and utilize the assessment results to further
improve their instruction and eventually student learning.
A more contemporary viewpoint of assessment is also introduced. Through formative
assessment, the process of assessment becomes closely integrated with instruction and becomes
instruction itself. Teachers may provide activities through games, small groups, exercises that
immediately provide information on how the teacher begins her instruction. The teacher after teaching
some small bits of skills follow with immediate assessment to determine if the lesson will be repeated or
who among the students need further help. The actual activities in the classroom such as games can
provide information to the teacher about what the students can and cannot do.


Dr. Carlo Magno can be further contacted through his email at crlmgn@yahoo.com, mobile phone at +639176070823, and at his
Manila office at (02) 5257238. Website: www. sites.google.com/site/drmagnocarlo/home
Guide on KPUP 2

Assessing Knowledge

Knowledge was defined by the Department of Education as facts and information that students
need to acquire. The knowledge domain contains similar skills with Blooms taxonomy that includes
defining, describing, identifying, labeling, enumerating, matching, outlining, selecting, stating, naming,
and reproducing. Examples of questions to assess the knowledge domain would include the following
examples:

Table 1
Example of Questions for Knowledge
Learning Areas Performance Standard Assessment question
English Note specific details of the text listened to. Who is the main character in the story?
Mathematics Order sets from least to greatest and vice
versa.
Arrange the following numbers from highest
to lowest value: 8, 6, 9, 4, 3, 7
Science Labels the external parts of the human body. Point to the illustration of the human body
where the eyes are.
Social Studies Nailalarawan ang mga anyong lupa. Natutukoy ang ibat ibang anyong lupa.
Filipino Natutukoy ang ginamit na unlapi sa bawat
salita.
Guhitan ang unlapi sa bawat salita.

Assessing Process

Process was defined by the Department of Education as cognitive operations that the student
performs on facts and information for the purpose of constructing meanings and understanding.
Cognitive operations are specific procedures, tasks, heuristics, strategies, techniques, and mental
processes that learners use in order to arrive with an answer. It is concerned with what individuals will
do, think about, and go through in order to derive an answer. Cognitive operations are manifested when
students answer word problems in mathematics, they show the teacher the strategy they used to arrive
with their answer. After students explain the concept of electricity in science, the teacher may ask how
they learned the concept. An English teacher can ask student their techniques how they identify
adjectives and adverbs in a sentence.

Table 2
Example of Questions for Process
Learning Area Assessment Question Cognitive operation
English What strategy did you use to identify the topic
sentence in the paragraph?
Strategic thinking
Math Prove that 2 x 10
2
= 100 + 100 Proving answers
Science How did you learn the information that plants make
their own food?
Techniques in generating
knowledge
Social Studies Paano mo mapapatunayan na tinulungan ng mga
Amerikano ang mga Pilipino noong ikalawang
digmaang pandaigdig?
Proving answers, data gathering
Filipino Paano malalaman kung ang isang lupon ng mga
salita ay parirala o pangungusap?
Strategic thinking

The cognitive operations involve the use of metacognition, self-regulation, and learning
strategies. Metacognition is thinking about ones thinking. According to Winn and Snyder (1998),
metacognition as a mental process that involves monitoring the progress in learning and making
Guide on KPUP 3

changes and adapting ones strategies if one perceives he is not doing well.On the other hand, process
skills are also manifested through self-regulation. Self-regulation is defined by Zimmerman (2002) as
self-generated thoughts, feeling, and actions that are oriented to attaining goals. Learners who are
academically self-regulated are independent in their studies, diligent in listening inside the classroom,
focused on doing their task inside the classroom, gets high scores in tests, able to recall teachers
instruction and facts lectured in class, and submits quality work (Magno, 2009). The idea now is that
teachers do not only teach the content but also teach and assess these processes among students.

Table 3
Example of Tasks for the Metacognitive Process
Metacognitive Factors Acitivity
Declarative Knowledge

Knowing what is needed to be solved
Understanding ones intellectual strengths and weaknesses in solving math
problems
Procedural knowledge

Awareness of what strategies to use when solving math problems
Have a specific purpose of each strategy to use
Conditional knowledge

Solve better if the case is relevant
Use different learning strategies depending on the type of problem
Planning

Pacing oneself when solving in order to have enough time
Thinking about what really needs to be solved before beginning a task
Information Management
Strategies

Focusing attention to important information
Slowing down when important information is encountered

Monitoring

Considering alternatives to a problem before solving
Pause regularly to check for comprehension
Debugging Strategies Ask help form others when one doesnt understand
Stop and go over of it is not clear
Evaluation of learning Recheck after solving
Find easier ways to do things

Assessing Understanding

Understanding was defined by the Department of Education as the enduring big ideas principles
and generalizations inherent to the discipline which may be assessed using the facets of understanding.
The perspective of understanding by Wiggins and McTighe (2005) is used. The big idea is a concept,
theme, or issue that gives meaning and connection to discrete facts and skills (p. 5). Understanding is to
make connections and bind together our knowledge intosomething that makes sense of things. Wiggins
and McTighe (2005) further elaborated that understanding involves doing and not just a mental act
and thus includes application. Understanding is classified into six facets: Explain, interpret, apply, have
perspective, empathize, and have self-knowledge.

Table 4
Six Facets of Understanding
Explain Provide thorough and justifiable accounts of
phenomena, facts, and data.
Why is it that that fruits that are in
season have cheaper prices?
Interpret Tell meaningful stories, offer apt translations,
provide a revealing historical or personal
dimension to ideas and events; make subjects
personal or accessible through images,
anecdotes, analogies, and models.
What trend can be described in the
graph shown?
What is the meaning of the statement
an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth?
Guide on KPUP 4

Apply Effectively use and adapt what they know in
diverse contexts.
Which of the following situations use
the first law of motion?
Have perspective See and hear points of view through critical
eyes and ears; see the big picture.
How will you classify insects if you are a
frog?
What will be the stand of the religious
groups on the RH Bill?
Empathize Find value in what others might find odd, alien.
or implausible; perceive sensitively on the basis
of prior indirect experience
Why did Lapu lapu immediately decided
to fight Magellan when they were asked
to pay taxes?
Have self-knowledge Perceive the personal style, prejudices,
projections, and habits of mind that both shape
and impede our own understanding; they are
aware of what they do not understand and why
understanding is so hard
If the long method of multiplication is
difficult for you, what other methods
can you use to perform the same task?
Why is the long method procedure
difficult for you?

Assessing Products/Performances

Product and performance was defined by the Department of Education as real life application of
understanding as evidenced by the students performance of authentic tasks. This technique assesses
what it is that students know and can do with the emphasis on doing. Students perform, create,
construct, produce, or do something. Tasksthat are authentic have a high degree of realism about them.
Performance and product assessment involve activities for which there is no correct answer, continues
over an extended period of time, and involves self-evaluation of performances. Likely use open-ended
tasks aimed at assessing integrated higher level cognitive skills. The product and procedure shown and
demonstrated by the students is marked using checklists, rubrics, and scales.

Table 5
Examples of Performance and Product Assessment
English Compose a letter informing your school principal about your intention to run in the student
council. Provide all the necessary parts of a letter.
Mathematics Construct a poster illustrating the flight path of a basketball in a parabola. Estimate the vertex
and roots. Students after computing will demonstrate the maximum height the ball bounced
and total distance the ball traveled.
Science Conduct an experiment to demonstrate the effect of a pollutant on the photosynthetic process
of a leaf.
Filipino Sumulat ng isang tula tungkol sa iyog paboritong pagkain.
Social Studies Create a presentation to promote tourist spots in the Philippines. Include atleast 10 pictures
and provide caption for each.

References

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2003). In praise of educational research: Formative assessment. British Educational
Research Journal, 29(5), 623637.
DepEd Order No. 31, s. 2012 (2012). Policy guidelines in the implementation of grades 1 to 10 of the K to 12 basic
education curriculum (BEC) effective school year 2012-2013. Department of Education.
Gonzalez, G. M., & Birch, M. A. (2000). Evaluating the instructional efficacy of computer-mediated interactive
media: Comparing three elementary statistics tutorial modules. Journal of Educational Computing
Research, 22, 411436.
Kulik, J. A., & Kulik, C. C. (1988). Timing of feedback and verbal learning. Review of Educational Research, 58, 79
97.
Magno, C. (2009a). Assessing and developing self-regulated learning. The Assessment Handbook, 1, 26-42.
Guide on KPUP 5

Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Alexandra, Virginia: Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development.
Winn, W., & Snyder, D. (1996). Cognitive perspectives in psychology. In D. H. Jonassen (Ed.), Handbook of research
for educational communication and technology (pp. 112142). New York: Simon & Schuster MacMillan.
Stiggins, R. J. (2001). The unfulfilled promise of classroom assessment. Educational Measurement: Issues and
Practice, 20(3), 5-15.
Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a self-regulated learner: An overview. Theory into Practice, 41, 64-72.

Dr. Carlo Magno has taught from basic education to higher education. He taught courses on
measurement, evaluation, assessment of student learning, research methods, scaling theory, and
advance psychometric theory. He published more than 85 articles in scientific and refereed journals. He
is the 2011 Outstanding Young Scientist by the National Academy of Science and Technology and the
2012 Global Young Scientist by the Global Science Academy. He has also received several awards for his
excellence in teaching in De La Salle University, Manila. Dr. Magno is a Research Fellow f the SEAMEO
INNOTECH, Honorary Regional Adviser of Time Taylor International, and included in the 2011 Whos
Who and 2012 Whos Who Academics. In 2011 Dr. Magno was commissioned by the Department of
Education and SEAMEO INNOTECH to write the recommendation report for the K to 12 education
program. Dr. Magno has conducted several seminars, workshops, lectures, consultancies, and projects
on educational development in teaching, learning, and assessment around Southeast Asia, Middle East,
and the Pacific.

APA Citation for this article:

Magno, C. (2014). A guide in assessing knowledge, process, understanding, and
performance/product. Retrieved from www.scribd.com/crlmgn