The Teachers’ Assessment Knowledge and Practice: Contribution of the Past-Time Experiences to the Present-Time Decision

Abstract

It is interesting to scrutinize that many variables contribute to a teacher’s assessment knowledge and practice. The teacher’s knowledge is required to comprise not only those of the subject matter and general pedagogy but also that of students. What the teacher experienced as a student-teacher in higher education context likely transformed into her knowledge of teaching, intertwining with her insights of the current development in teaching and learning as well as technology. Using narrative inquiry as its method, the present study highlights a female Indonesian teacher’s assessment knowledge and practice within the context of higher education. The essentials of having a complete story about what she experienced as a student and what she did as a teacher provide an insight on how the experiences shaped her knowledge in making decision regarding the classroom assessment. The qualitative analysis about the content and the nature of assessment knowledge and practice come up with three findings related to time, place, and social. First, current assessment practice was affected by her experiences as a student-teacher. Second, her awareness of the advancement in technology enable her to bring assessment practice to occur in three places: inside, outside, and virtual. Third, her assessment knowledge and practice are influenced by her knowledge and assumptions about learning. Regardless of the findings which are limited to a local context, it is expected that the discussion of this study contributes to the body of knowledge on teacher professional development with specific reference to assessment knowledge and practice.