Affective Assessment Is Necessary and Possible

Two major purposes for assessing af fective characteristics are: to gain a bet ter understanding of students prior to instruction, and to examine the extent to which students have acquired the affect ive objectives of a course or cumculum. In the first situation, affective charac teristics are means to ends. They are assessed so that instruction can be al tered for particular students or types of students with the hope that such altera tions will lead to increased learning, often cognitive in nature, on the part of students. In the second situation, affec tive characteristics are ends in them selves. That is, specific programs are designed and implemented in order to help students achieve affective objec tives. Whether affective characteristics are important as means or ends has conse quences for the type of characteristics assessed. If they are viewed as means, those chosen for assessment must relate 10 one or more of the available alterna tive classroom settings or teaching