Functions of Assessment of University Students' Learning Outcomes

1.3.2.3. Functions of assessing the learning outcomes of university students

competency-based approach

Assessment activities all perform four basic functions: orientation, motivation, classification and forecast improvement at different levels. The more appropriate the assessment activities are, the more reliable and valuable information teachers will obtain. This will be a reliable basis for setting goals and implementing activities to improve education, aiming for higher quality.

Thus, it can be said that assessing students' learning outcomes according to the TCL in universities in general and pedagogical universities in particular is a breakthrough, contributing to improving the quality of teacher training, meeting the general education program in the direction of developing students' qualities and abilities.

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1.3.3. Principles of evaluating the learning outcomes of university students

competency-based approach

According to the viewpoints of some researchers [10], [16], [30], [35], [41], the activities of evaluating and assessing students' learning outcomes according to TCL need to ensure the following principles:

1.3.3.1. Ensuring objectivity

This is a basic requirement in assessing students' learning outcomes according to the TCL, whereby assessment must accurately measure the level of learners' capacity development based on comparison with the set goals (based on the weight of subjects); the results of learners' assessment must be stable, not dependent on the assessor, accurate and objective.

Ensuring accuracy and objectivity creates positive psychological factors for the assessed subjects (learners), helping them to self-regulate their learning and self-improvement, preventing negative actions in assessment.

1.3.3.2. Ensuring comprehensiveness

Competency assessment is most effective when it reflects a multidimensional, integrated understanding of the nature of behaviors expressed over time. Competency is a combination, requiring students not only to understand but also to be able to do. Therefore, assessment activities must fully, accurately and objectively cover the aspects that need to be assessed according to the determined purpose. Assessment results must accurately provide the development of the measured competencies. From there, it is necessary to choose and implement a variety of assessment forms and methods suitable to the determined learning objectives, closely linked to the characteristics of the subjects and specific conditions so that learners have the opportunity to demonstrate their competencies well.

1.3.3.3. Ensuring fairness and reliability

Assessment content, criteria and results are publicly and promptly announced to learners. The assessor and the assessee must understand the assessment criteria and behaviours equally to ensure fairness. Assessment procedures must be implemented so that learners can access them to help learners easily transition from one performance capacity to another. Assessment results are stable, accurate and do not depend on the assessor or tasks in different areas. Assessment results must be consistent when repeated many times.

1.3.3.4. Ensure regularity, systematicity and for the development of students

According to the current trend of assessment innovation, assessment activities need to be continuous and regular throughout the learning process of students and according to a certain plan. That is the basis to help managers and teachers promptly adjust students' learning activities.

- Assessment should consider both the outcomes and the learning process to achieve the outcomes.

learner results:

Assessment can help to identify conditions for individuals to achieve better results, promoting students' self-improvement ability in learning activities. To improve the assessment results of learners' learning outcomes, assessors need to know the experiences of those being assessed to determine the effectiveness of the activities, and explain the results that learners achieve.

- Assessment for student development:

Assessment is a process whose reliability is demonstrated through the accumulation of evidence. Assessment is best when the activity is ongoing, not when it ends. Assessment results will be more valuable when assessed in a certain time sequence. Assessment for the development of the person being assessed means helping the person being assessed to be continuously provided with feedback to know where they are lacking or weak, to know to what extent they have developed, which areas of knowledge/skills have progressed, which areas of knowledge/skills are still lacking... to adjust the teaching and learning process. Assessment for the development of the person being assessed is to create opportunities to motivate the person being assessed to make efforts, to nurture interest in learning. This assessment must take place throughout the teaching and learning process, helping the person being assessed to compare and discover how he or she has changed and progressed on the path to achieving the learning goals that the individual has set.

1.3.3.5. Ensure assessment of student abilities

Assessment according to the TCL requires assessment tasks to be based on close connections with the activities that students must perform in their professional lives and

real life everyday. Assessment of NL will change the way of assessment, that is assessment

through activities and by students' own professional practice.

This is the most core principle in evaluating students' learning outcomes according to TCNL.

1.3.3.6. Ensure integration of assessment with teaching and learning

The main content of this principle is that assessment methods must be integrated into teaching and learning, and assessment methods must be integrated with each other and integrated into the curriculum. Assessment integration will ensure the success of tasks and ensure comprehensive assessment of students' competencies.

1.3.4. Content of activities to evaluate learning outcomes of university students of education according to competency approach

As analyzed above, the assessment of the learning outcomes of pedagogical university students according to the TCL must shift from simply assessing knowledge, skills, and attitudes to assessing students' understanding, practical ability, application, and behavior in their careers and in life. Due to the characteristics of the teaching profession, the competencies that need to be assessed for students at pedagogical universities are different from those of students in other training majors. In addition to assessing the general competencies that any student must achieve such as communication, cooperation, problem solving, creativity, autonomy, self-study, etc., the assessment content of pedagogical university students' learning outcomes needs to focus on specific competencies according to professional standards (as identified in section 1.2.3.1). At the same time, it must be linked to the CDR and the content of each basic, fundamental, and specialized course prescribed in the training program at different levels.

Thus, the content of assessing the learning outcomes of pedagogical university students according to the TCL is to assess the ability to master knowledge, skills and apply them to solve practical problems in their careers and lives, focusing on students' practical and creative abilities, and standardizing them according to the levels of students' ability development. This is also the difference between assessment according to the TCL and assessment according to the content approach. The assessment contents must be measurable at the determined levels with specific methods, forms, tools and criteria. To assess the abilities of pedagogical university students, the assessment activities of students' learning outcomes focus on the following contents:

- Develop a toolkit to evaluate student learning outcomes according to the curriculum: design assessment questions, scales; assessment criteria (rubrics) according to levels when performing learning tasks, projects, and assignments;

- Build a question bank system based on 6 levels of thinking (according to Bloom's thinking level scale): remember, understand, apply, analyze, synthesize, create. From there, teachers will combine question banks to evaluate and classify students objectively.

- Implement the process of evaluating student learning outcomes according to TCNL with the following steps:

+ Identify the general and specialized skills that students need to develop after the learning process (specifically after each subject);

+ Determine appropriate methods and forms of assessing learning outcomes (methods, assessment tools, regular assessment, periodic assessment, combined with student self-assessment...)

+ Assessing students' competencies achieved through various channels such as: products created by students in learning activities (essays, objective tests, group and individual projects; results of applying learned knowledge to handle hypothetical teaching situations of students; results of professional experience training for students in high schools...). At the same time, combining students' self-assessment (groups self-assess each other, self-assess, classify the results of training according to the competencies of group members...)

+ Using assessment results as a basis to confirm the quality of teaching and learning, helping lecturers and students to adjust teaching activities, and school management levels to promptly direct teaching activities to improve training quality.

1.3.5. Methods and forms of assessing learning outcomes of university students of education according to the competency approach

1.3.5.1. Methods of evaluating the learning outcomes of university students according to the TCL

Currently, many authors have been interested in researching methods and techniques for evaluating the learning outcomes of university students [16], [24], [28], [42], [49], [79], [116], [118]... The following are some assessment methods that can be used in the assessment of the learning outcomes of university students according to the TCL.

- Observation: Observation is the main method that teachers often use to collect assessment data. Observation includes watching or examining students performing activities (process observation) or commenting on a product made by students (product observation). It helps to evaluate operations, behaviors, practical skills and some cognitive skills. To collect assessment data, teachers can use a number of observation techniques such as: observation sheets, checklists, diary entries, etc.

- Question and answer: The question and answer method is widely used in the form of regular testing and partial assessment; providing feedback for teachers to promptly adjust teaching activities. This is a method used by teachers in the steps of teaching such as checking old lessons, teaching new lessons, or consolidating at the end of the lesson, thereby helping teachers to make a preliminary assessment of students' level of knowledge acquisition to decide on the next teaching. Depending on the purpose and content of the lesson, teachers can use different types of questions and answers: open questions and answers, consolidation questions and answers, summary questions and answers, test questions and answers with techniques such as asking questions, giving verbal comments, oral presentations, etc. At the same time, students are encouraged to ask each other and teachers questions during the learning process.

- Essay: Essay is a familiar assessment method, commonly used in schools in general and in pedagogical universities in particular. It allows students to answer by choosing, synthesizing and presenting the most appropriate knowledge, with a relatively wide content limit. Therefore, this form of assessment can assess students' analytical and synthetic abilities, written expression abilities and creative thinking abilities.

- Objective test: Objective test is a type of written test, with closed questions. That means the questions have ready-made answers. This type of test provides students with part or all of the necessary information and requires them to choose an answer or just fill in a few necessary words or numbers. Teachers can use a combination of objective test types to evaluate students' learning outcomes such as multiple choice questions, paired questions, true-false questions, and fill-in-the-blank questions.

- Assessment through learning portfolio: Assessment through learning portfolio is when teachers give comments and assessments on products and results of students' activities, thereby assessing students according to each related assessment content. Learning portfolio is a document demonstrating students' progress, in which students self-assess, record their own learning results during their learning process, self-assess against the set learning goals to recognize progress or lack of progress, find the cause and how to overcome it in the future.

Thus, the methods and techniques for assessing the learning outcomes of students in general and university students in particular are very diverse. Based on the goals of general and specific competencies, assessment content, appropriate assessment methods and techniques can be selected and used, and a number of methods can be combined together.

For example, instead of using a test with only one essay format, or

In addition to objective testing, teachers can also combine both methods in a test to enhance students' activeness and initiative in learning and their ability to solve learning situations, increase objectivity, and provide reliable information.

1.3.5.2. Forms of assessment of learning outcomes of university students according to TCNL

There are many studies on the forms of assessment of university students' learning outcomes [16], [29], [35], [42], [44], [49], [116]..., the following are the common forms of assessment used in assessing the learning outcomes of university students.

- Formative assessments: Is the assessment of student development/learning process, is the assessment of student achievement quality in the learning process, promptly receives feedback to be able to guide the next learning steps of students to achieve the goal. At the same time, through assessment to study the teaching process, can promptly improve the teaching methods of teachers and the learning methods of students. Assessment method through questions and answers, observation, monitoring of learning attitudes, diligence, and positivity of students in learning activities, assessment of subject records (including individual assignments, group assignment reports, harvest papers, discussion results reports, evidence of learning products...). Regular assessment is organized by the subject teacher, combining teacher assessment, self-assessment and mutual assessment of students.

- Periodic assessment

This form of assessment is conducted after each learning stage, and is a form of assessment that is often carried out after studying a section, a chapter or mid-term to determine the learning outcomes of learners. Periodic assessment allows teachers and students to obtain feedback on learning outcomes after a certain period of time, to consolidate and expand the learned content, thereby orienting the next teaching and learning process. Periodic assessment provides information to management levels on learning outcomes after a stage in order to have timely measures to direct the learning process of students and the teaching of teachers. Periodic assessment can use methods such as questions and answers, practice, essays, and objective tests.

- Summative assessments : Summative assessment is a judgment of the value of the final results of a learning activity in a period, it also considers the predetermined educational goals as the basic criteria, assesses the level of achievement of the assessment object, is the final result or achievement, or more precisely, assesses the quality of students after the learning process ends. This form is used to assess the level of achievement in knowledge, skills, and attitudes after studying.

student's subject research, assessment purposes focus on application and problem solving level

student problems. Assessment method is essay test or objective test.

In assessing the learning outcomes of university students according to the TCL, it is necessary to flexibly use assessment forms depending on the learning objectives and assessment content. Combine process assessment and summative assessment; qualitative and quantitative assessment, teacher assessment with self-assessment and peer assessment of students. It is possible to apply different assessment forms such as diagnostic assessment (conducted before teaching to help teachers grasp the level of knowledge students have acquired, gaps that need to be filled... to decide on appropriate teaching methods), classroom assessment (a natural activity of teaching and learning, inseparable from the teaching and learning process, mainly collecting feedback from learners to improve learning quality [4], peer assessment (students self-assess each other based on criteria predetermined by teachers).

1.3.6. Process of evaluating the learning outcomes of university students according to the competency approach

The process of assessing students' learning outcomes needs to be based on the training program of each major and subject with the purpose, the learning outcomes, and the professional competencies that teachers have determined to design a system of questions, tasks, and exercises in the direction of developing competencies. There are many ways to classify the process of assessing university students' learning outcomes [29], [49]. From studies on assessment in teaching at universities, in our opinion, the process of assessing university students' learning outcomes according to TCL includes the following steps:

Step 1. Determine the learning outcomes and competencies that students need to know and be able to perform. The learning outcomes, competencies and competency levels that students need to achieve are shown in the training program, detailed course outline and are provided to students.

Step 2. Identify tasks based on the course content. The tasks are designed to assess the competencies identified in the CDR. Task types include questions, group exercises, individual assignments, project implementation, practice reports, experiments, vocational training, experiential learning, etc. On that basis, determine appropriate assessment methods, techniques and forms.

Step 3. Determine the rubric for task completion. The rubric clearly shows the indicators/indexes describing the typical signs of task completion, which are the basis for evaluating and commenting on the results achieved by students. The criteria need to be presented clearly, concisely, easily understood, and specifically for each task so that teachers can easily evaluate and students can self-evaluate their activities when performing tasks and after completing tasks.

Step 4. Build a scale for tasks. The scale includes performance indicators, levels of task completion corresponding to criteria and a scale of competence. The assessment scale helps teachers classify students according to the levels of achievement, good or failure.

Step 5. Organizing assessment and feedback: The organization of assessment of students' learning outcomes is carried out with many methods and forms suitable to the subjects and according to the school's prescribed plan; Feedback on assessment of students' learning outcomes is shared with assessment subjects at all levels, carried out in two directions from upper management levels down and from student level up to higher levels.

1.4. Managing the assessment of university students' learning outcomes

competency-based approach

1.4.1. The importance of managing the assessment of learning outcomes of university students according to the competency approach

1.4.1.1. Meeting the requirements of fundamental and comprehensive innovation in higher education

To meet the requirements of national development in the context of a knowledge-based economy and the 4.0 Industrial Revolution, Vietnam's higher education needs to innovate strongly and comprehensively, according to the guiding viewpoint: "Innovation in higher education must ensure practicality, efficiency and synchronization; select breakthroughs, priority areas and key facilities to focus resources to create a clear shift. Expanding the scale must go hand in hand with improving quality; implementing social justice must go hand in hand with ensuring training effectiveness; innovating from goals, processes, content to teaching and learning methods, and methods of assessing learning outcomes; connecting between sectors, forms and levels of training; closely linking and creating motivation to continue innovating general education and vocational education".[11]

The requirement for fundamental and comprehensive innovation in higher education requires that pedagogical universities must also constantly innovate, including innovating the assessment of students' learning outcomes according to TCL.

1.4.1.2. Meeting the development requirements of pedagogical universities

In the coming time, it is necessary to build pedagogical universities into centers of creativity and innovation of the pedagogical sector nationwide in an advanced, modern direction, with sufficient capacity to meet the needs of developing teaching staff of the preschool, general education, and vocational secondary education systems.

To achieve the above goal, schools/faculties of pedagogical universities need to promote the assessment of students' learning outcomes according to TCL and do a good job of managing this activity.

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