Knowledge Assessment or New Procrustean Bed

Ulker Shafiyeva

Abstract

What is knowledge? What kind of knowledge must be assessed? These are the two closely interlinked questions that can set the base to the philosophy of education we need at schools. Today, knowledge assessment is heavily relied on standardised testing. At the same time, the innovations in education and technology have made it essential to create more modern knowledge assessment tools. Students’ knowledge evaluation has gone through different stages of changes in different societies. It is widely accepted that educators need a tool to evaluate students’ academic performance and knowledge level. Traditionally students demonstrate and certify their knowledge by answering questions on past material. What became different in the last years is that the arrival of the knowledge economy and new teaching philosophy, which emphasises critical thinking, has created the need for more precise knowledge evaluation. The widespread use of standardised testing has generated questions about its accuracy and efficacy for the demands of modern teaching methods and the job market. The question of what kind of tests can best evaluate students’ knowledge is still debatable. Unlike the past, when the source of knowledge was teachers and libraries, today, the internet had become a significant source of easily accessible knowledge. As a result, it significantly impacted how knowledge must be delivered, learned, and assessed. This paper, besides the inquiry into the problem from the general perspective, reflects on the dilemma of standardized testing in Azerbaijan.


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