Assessment CAST is one module of a resource that was developed at Massey University to teach introductory statistics, called Computer-Assisted Statistics Teaching (CAST). This module can be used as professional development to help teachers get useful information from classroom assessment data. The module addresses the following questions, among others.
Mark data
Teachers collect a wide range of numerical information from their classes, mostly from marked assignments and tests. Some forms of assessment are locally authored and marked, whereas others are written externally and may be moderated against national standards.
Class sets of marks are used for many purposes.
To get this kind of information from data, the marks must be looked at in the right way.
Obtaining information from data is the domain of statistics, so this module, Assessment CAST, first covers basic graphical and numerical statistical methods in the context of a set of marks. Later sections of Assessment CAST deal with statistical methods that are particularly appropriate for mark data.