**6. Course competencies**

In IBL, educators must focus on one or another specific course competence to enhance students' acquisition of knowledge. According to Efendi et al. [16], this can help ensure that students grasp the required skills and knowledge taught in a course at an individual level. However, it is necessary to combine inquiry-based and traditional learning approaches for maximum student achievement. Previous studies have shown that even though the inquiry-based approach has been in widespread use in science for several years, it has only witnessed a limited integration in mathematics [16]. In spite of these claims, it is evident that the adoption of an inquiry-based approach is more effective for enhancing teaching and learning relative to traditional approaches. The research gap regarding the use of inquiry-based methods in mathematics is a call for action. Where this approach has been adopted in mathematics, the focus has been limited to plane geometry instruction [17]. In a teacher education program. For example, the instructor

*Perspective Chapter: Performance-Based Assessment through Inquiry-Based Learning DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109217*

examined the use of inquiry-based approach to facilitate final summative assessment by means of performance assessment. The instructor designed tasks and sub-tasks to ensure fair opportunities in achieving the course learning objectives. The students valued the constructive feedback that they received, which enabled them to work in teams and motivated them to complete their final assessment collaboratively although the planned individual interviews enabled the instructor to assess the students' individually [11].

### **7. How to approach assessment**

Assessment is a core aspect of overall learning and teaching process. Usually, its outcomes are used as a basis for determining future undertakings among learners, such as selection for job interviews and entering institutions of higher learning [17]. As such, there is a need to integrate both learners and educators in an assessment process to allow its outcome can be beneficial to all stakeholders. However, in most cases, teachers orient their assessment to attain the purposes of the curriculum rather than considering learners' specific learning goals. Some educators have been critical of the persistent use of old standardized tests by educators, ignoring considering learners' particularities [17]. Indeed, most assessment tools used are decontextualized traditional instruments that sometimes fail to address modern learning goals.

Concerns have been raised that assessors may themselves struggle to provide their learners with a constructive feedback that can promote their learning. Such criticisms are prompted by the fact that many teachers may provide little or no formative feedback that could be instrumental in guiding learners in their future studies [17]. Much of this takes place through overreliance on traditional assessment methods. Logically, when an assessment fails to meet the specific requirements that an individual learner sets, learners experience demotivation and anxiety. However, this is opposite to the response an ideal assessment would provide [1]. Therefore, the need to reorient assessment as a whole toward contemporary real-life situations and then contextualize it can significantly help stimulating a higher level of learning. Ultimately, this can boost the interest of learners in assessment-related tasks for maximum educational benefit.

Broadly, assessment should be at the core of learning practice in a classroom and should link learning, teaching, and the curriculum. However, this is not always seen, as assessment is often used by educators to assign grades at the end of instructional units [1]. Further, assessment tends to be used to categorize students as successful or unsuccessful after the end of an instructional term. In most cases, teachers rely on written work that entails the completion of imaginative learning routines and exercises. Generally, this approach is contrasted with the modern conception of assessment, particularly, the PBA, which is administered in many ways. As noted above, PBA is implemented through observation, listening, and talking with individual students [2]. During this process, teachers have the responsibility of asking students questions and identifying their reasoning.

When the PBA is used in this constructive manner, teachers can develop a better understanding of the reasoning and thinking abilities of their students. This kind of approach can also be a powerful tool for enabling educators to monitor the overall effectiveness of the learning process [17]. In the end, teachers can judge the utility of general learning tasks and determine next steps for learning instructions. According to Lund and Kirk [1], however, PBAs can be ineffective if teachers do not design classroom instruction. Significantly, it is the responsibility of educators to incorporate performance-based tasks in combination with ongoing assessment [17]. Designing and administering effective PBAs can follow students' learning goals, communicate

the right message to them, be aligned with the current instructional theory, and describe individual learners rather than sorting them.

PBA has attracted increasing attention due to the nature of the standards and goals that educators often set for students. In cases, new standards are focused on addressing critical thinking concepts, communication, problem-solving, lifelong working, and collaborative working, leading to a need to consider the standards for task evaluation (Stanley, 2020). Admittedly, this new approach embraces innovative assessment that is useful in the current context. Broadly speaking, performance assessment is not a novel or a new approach. Over the years, teachers have incorporated daily classroom observations of the learning progress of individual students for purposes of evaluation [1]. Nevertheless, new approaches to attach a central role to this evaluation modality have been developed for large-scale assessments and the commitment to make daily evaluation more systematic and consistent.

Broadly, educators must play an active role in making PBAs systematic and objective. Specifically, they must ensure that learning goals be clearly established [17]. As soon as the goals are established, the best assessment technique must be chosen for every goal. Admittedly, performance assessment may or may not be the most effective approach, depending on the nature of the content being assessed. Modern cognitive and brain psychology demonstrates that the learning takes place in situations where students construct their knowledge and play an active role in developing cognitive relationships between facts and concepts themselves. As such, for students to become adept in reasoning and thinking, it is necessary to ensure that they practice solving real problems. According to Lund and Kirk [1], low-achieving students suffer the most when a proficiency-driven curriculum is made the center.

Educators recognize that the most effective instructional techniques are those that actively involve students in the entire process. Initially, educators valued the acquisition of knowledge using traditional teaching and learning methodologies \*\*\*(Stanley, 2020). However, this is no longer the case as information continues to grow and technology to advance. As Wang et al. [17] report, in the contemporary world, students must acquire and utilize information in real-life situations. Throughout their lives, modern students encounter situations and problems that lack clear-cut definite answers. Instead, they must analyze these situations and apply their knowledge and skills to generate acceptable solutions [17]. Learners must adopt novel ways of doing something using different approaches from the ones they use in other instruction, as learning emphases change.

In situations where assessment scores have significant implications, such as town ranking, student placement, and state financing, teachers' role in adhering to the content of the test must be demonstrated. Over the long run, this practice can result in overall instructional corruption [1]. Indeed, teaching for the purpose of the test undermines and deepens the general authenticity of test scores an accurate measure of a student's mastery of the learning content. Furthermore, it leads to an unbalanced focus on tested content while ignoring undertested aspects. For instance, educators must consider discarding essay-type tests because they are more inefficient than multiplechoice tests [1]. The most effective type of instruction relating to the multiple-choice format is those that provide practice and drill on decontextualized and isolated skills.

### **8. Conclusion**

The study of PBA is attracting significant scholarly attention among education researchers. Many studies have investigated the relevance of this approach, especially

#### *Perspective Chapter: Performance-Based Assessment through Inquiry-Based Learning DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109217*

now, due to the prevalence of online assessment. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has created the need for educators and learning institutions to implement online assessment since there was limited human contact. As discussed above, the integration of IBL within performance assessment is crucial for shifting from traditional assessment approaches to modern strategies that give learners the chance to apply their knowledge in real-life situations. Summative assessment is crucial for evaluating learners' mastery of content and their ability to apply the knowledge and skills they learn in the classroom in real-life situations. Logically, this crucial aspect of PBA drives its applicability to modern educational arenas.

 The conceptual framework proposed here is a combination of competencybased learning principles, performance assessment, and IBL. This combination makes it possible to effectively evaluate individual students after completion of learning. In this way, the educator can focus on addressing the learning challenges that students have at the individual level. The initial stage proposed here is to design differentiated IBL activities following the task description, taking into account the required competencies to be achieved. The final stage is to tackle it as an assessment framework that focuses on performance for final summative purposes.

 The use of rubrics enables teachers to set specific standards for performance on assignments and tests. Furthermore, teachers can approach summative assessment through performance assessment by designing effective and clear questions. **Figure 1** depicts the proposed conceptual framework by to indicate a more comprehensive sequence of approaching summative assessment through performance assessment and IBL process.

#### **Figure 1.**  *Performance assessment through inquiry-based learning.*
