Abstract
This study investigated the impact of ‘assessment for learning’ on learner performance in Life Science. Simple random sampling was used to select four schools from the King Cetshwayo District of KwaZulu Natal Province, South Africa, to participate in the study. A quasi-experimental, pretest-posttest comparison group design was used, involving four schools - two forming the ‘treatment condition’ while the other two served as the ‘comparison group’. Altogether, 160 grade eleven learners participated in the study. Two teachers were trained to use assessment for learning (AfL) as an instructional approach, while the two teachers of the comparison group used their usual instructional approaches. Data were analysed using SPSS (V23) and the statistical technique used was the 2-factor ANOVA with repeated measures. The result revealed that learners following an AfL instructional approach performed statistically higher that those following normal classroom instruction. This result is discussed, and recommendations made in respect of both classroom practice and further research. The findings of this study had implications for policy, further research as well as instructional and assessment approaches to be used in the teaching of Life Science in the South African education system.
Highlights
Assessment is considered to be one of the main educational tools available to use for different purposes, among which is to maximize learning as well as to motivate students, to improve their performance so that they can meet pre-specified goals and standards
The result of this study has revealed that learners following the assessment for learning (AfL) instructional approach performed significantly higher than their counterparts in the comparison group who received normal instruction
The fruits of the teachers’ willingness to try out something different, and the learners’ ability to first tolerate and subsequently embrace the new way to learn, became evident in the performance of the learners. Their collective efforts yielded significant learning gains far above the performance level of learners who received normal instruction. This achievement should be seen in the light of the five attributes of the Assessment for learning (AFL) strategy which was applied in respect of the group that was exposed to the treatment condition
Summary
Assessment is considered to be one of the main educational tools available to use for different purposes, among which is to maximize learning as well as to motivate students, to improve their performance so that they can meet pre-specified goals and standards. The conventional assessment approach adopted by most curricula is one where teachers teach and administer tests and examinations to find out what learners have achieved (summative assessments). This approach leaves the teachers at the centre of the teaching-learning process, where they continue to teach and grade learner performance. This approach tends to ignore and disregard the learning needs of the weaker students who do not possess the capacity to learn at the same pace and timeframes as the others. They end up at the bottom of their classes in their schools’ grading system or packing order (Chappuis & Stiggins, 2002)
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