Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) as a Basis for an Alternative Approach to Assessment

Abstract

This article discusses how Mediated Learning Experience (MLE) is incorporated into testing practices to define a relatively new addition to the assessment repertory called dynamic assessment. Dynamic assessment (DA) typically follows a pre-test-intervene-posttest format. The author has designed procedures where the intervention portion offers mediational interactions that are designed to promote higher mental functioning in the student. The response of the student to these interventions provides important information about the student's abilities and functioning within a teaching/learning situation. The article first operationalizes MLE in a rating scale and then describes four approaches to DA: a group administered screening procedure; a generic curriculum-based approach; an individual assessment for pre-school children and a procedure for determining eligibility for gifted programming demonstrated to be successful with students from ethnic and linguistic minority backgrounds. Some concluding thoughts about the contribution of MLE to assessment are offered.