Assessment For Learning Practices Research Articles

ESL TEACHERS’ BELIEFS ABOUT ASSESSMENT FOR LEARNING IN THE BOLE DISTRICT OF THE SAVANNA REGION OF GHANA

Assessment for learning or formative assessment is a process of gathering and analysing information about what learners know and can do and using that information to make instructional decisions. The role of assessment for learning, especially in an ESL classroom cannot be overemphasized. Among other things, formative assessments can go a long way in helping learners to set learning goals and prepare well for summative assessments. Regrettably, many teachers are unable to implement assessments for learning in their ESL classrooms. This study examined what the ESL teachers at Bole District of the Savanna Region of Ghana think about the assessment for learning, how they implement it, and the challenges they face in implementing it. The study adopted the mixed methods approach and the convergent parallel design. Census sampling was used to select all the 82 ESL teachers in the Bole District. The findings showed that ESL teachers had positive beliefs about assessment for learning practices. However, they did not implement it in their classrooms due to challenges such as inadequate time on timetables, large class sizes, lack of resources, limited access to technology, and overloaded English curriculum. It is recommended that school heads should make every endeavour to provide adequate time on timetables and they should also provide the ESL teachers with the needed assessment for learning resources for effective teaching and learning.

Translating assessment for learning to work in groups of students with intellectual disabilities

ABSTRACT The potential of using Assessment for Learning (AfL) is well established, but studies of AfL practice in groups of students with intellectual disabilities (ID) are rare. The respondents in this study were assistants and teachers working in compulsory school for students with ID. In a two-year project they had worked with translating five AfL key strategies (KSs) to fit their context. The study aimed at exploring this translation to depict the use of AfL KSs in the classes of students with ID and reveal opportunities and challenges. The AfL KSs were used to structure interviews and classroom observations, and an ensuing thematic data analysis. The overall conclusion confirms the potential of using AfL in this context. Three themes depict the overall use of AfL: a whole-class focus, a team approach, and the integrated use of the AfL KSs. Various themes characterise the implementation of each KS, and the opportunities and challenges. The findings implicate benefits for the students, and advantages as well as concerns for the staff. The findings are expected to be of value inside and outside the study’s context. The study demonstrates how contextual variation can contribute to new insights and questions for the AfL research field.

Enhancing the enactment of assessment for learning principles during school placement: preservice teachers as practitioner researchers within a learning community

ABSTRACT Enacting Assessment for Learning (AfL) is challenging for teachers and even more for Preservice Teachers (PSTs). The support for those attempting to enact it has been considered insufficient and/or inadequate. This study aims to examine how positioning preservice teachers as practitioner researchers while belonging to a learning community can facilitate PSTs’ enactment of AfL during their school placement. It draws on the triangulation of different qualitative data sources, e.g. focus group, researcher’s field notes, testimonial survey, and school placement report, inquiring the practice of eight PSTs and the interaction within a learning community supported by a researcher, university supervisor and cooperating teachers. Despite belonging to the same learning community, PSTs struggle differently in embedding assessment in the learning experiences, including students, and facilitating students’ understanding of feedback and the teaching-learning process. Teacher education programmes are prompted to consider how best to support PSTs enacting AfL practices.

The Effectiveness of Distance Learning Assessment Practices: Case Study

Assessment is an essential component of the educational process as it tracks the progress of lessons, activities and facilitates learning through formative assessment or measures performance towards graduation or entry to higher levels of education or employment through summative assessment. However, increasing student enrollments in open-access educational institutions and the need for frequent assessments have led to a shift towards ICT (information and communication technologies) based remote assessment methods. The emergence of health emergencies and the strategy of Moroccan higher education has further accelerated this transition from traditional in-person assessments to remote assessments. This study uses a transversal research design to analyze the impact of distance assessment practices at Sultan Moulay Slimane University in Morocco. The research method includes the development of a benchmark for distance education evaluation methods and a statistical survey of randomly selected students (293) in eight university establishments, as well as other stakeholders involved in the remote assessment process. The objective is to determine the evaluation methodologies most appropriate to the specific context of Sultan Moulay Slimane University. Data is analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Key stakeholder voices: Investigating student perceptions of teachers’ use of assessment for learning

Many schools aim to implement Assessment for Learning (AfL) to stimulate students to take more ownership of their learning and develop self-regulatory skills. This survey-based study is among the few in the field showing how students experience the extent of implementation of AfL, here in English language and mathematics classes in 12 Dutch secondary schools. Analysis showed no differences between the subjects. Students (N = 685) experienced activities to clarify the learning intentions and success criteria and eliciting evidence on their learning progress regularly (between 50–74% of the lessons). Students hardly ever experienced activities aimed at peer- and self-assessment (less than 25% of the lessons). However, cluster analysis revealed three distinct clusters related to the extent of AfL strategy use students experienced. Overall, we can conclude that AfL is not yet fully integrated into teaching practices. Teachers’ skills, knowledge and attitudes required to increase student engagement in AfL practices and strengthen students’ self-regulated learning need more attention in future teacher professional development trajectories.

How Chinese Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions of Assessment for Learning Influence Their Responsibility for First-Year Mathematics Courses

Assessment for learning (AFL) has been associated with curriculum and teaching reform for the past three decades. However, studies on undergraduate students’ perceptions of their mathematics teachers’ AFL practices are still very limited in the Chinese higher education context. This quantitative study investigated three independent variables—teacher formal feedback and support, interactive dialog and peer collaboration, and learning-oriented assessment—that influence undergraduate students’ ability to take responsibility for their learning through the mediation of the factor of active engagement with subject matter in first-year mathematics courses. One hundred and sixty-eight students from a Chinese “double-first-class” university were recruited to provide valid questionnaire data using the convenience sampling method. Partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data. The results showed that interactive dialog and peer collaboration, as well as learning-oriented assessment, have a direct effect on students’ active engagement with the subject matter and an indirect effect on undergraduate students taking responsibility for their learning in first-year mathematics courses. In addition, learning-oriented assessment was the biggest factor influencing undergraduate students’ ability to take responsibility for their learning in first-year mathematics courses. This study contributes by developing a conceptual model and providing new insights into Chinese higher education sectors on factors that can improve undergraduate students’ ability to take responsibility for their learning.

From fragmentation to coherence: student experience of assessment for learning

AbstractStudent experience of Assessment for Learning (AfL) pedagogies ideally provides multiple entry points for students to take past learning forward into future learning. In practice, points of disconnection may confound the accessibility of AfL’s repertoire of practices. This paper investigates the AfL experiences of students with likely language and attentional difficulties and their peers in three Australian secondary schools. Ninety-two students shared their insights in interviews and focus groups, with data analysed abductively through a conceptual frame of six dimensions. Common practical effects for students included recognition and value of a range of teacher practices. Students with language and attentional difficulties indicated more uneven recall of processes, especially when teacher practice of AfL was fragmented and classroom routines prioritised summative assessment. Fragmentation in turn compromised the emotional and evaluative dimensions of experience that catalyse continuity in learning. Critical insights from students about how they searched for and secured cohesive experiences points to how AfL offers agentic possibilities for learning beyond the immediate activities of the classroom.

The bumpy road of assessment for learning during pandemic of COVID-19

A worldwide discussion about the practice of assessment for learning (AfL) in online classes during the pandemic COVID-19 is scarce. The current research can have a significant impact on teaching and learning practices, and contribute to the development of evidence-based policies and practices that support student success. Thus, the current study aimed at exploring English teachers’ AfL practice in online classes. This study belonged to a basic qualitative approach and recruited four English foreign language or EFL teachers from the secondary school level. Observation and semi-structured interviews using an interview guide were conducted to gain the data. To ensure the trustworthiness of the data, other documents were collected. Subsequently, utilizing the spiral strategy, the gained data were analyzed. The results revealed that the implementation of AfL deviated from the course. Insufficient knowledge, curriculum, internet accessibility, and technological acceptance are pivotal causes of such deviation. Thus, teachers might not diagnose students’ current learning level and decide on a further teaching action. Further studies on other educational levels are demanded to explore the practice of AfL.

Challenges for Post-Pandemic Virtual Education in Latin America: A Comparative Analysis of the Emergency Remote Higher Education Process in Chile, Mexico, and Ecuador

The COVID-19 pandemic forced Higher Education institutions all around the world to revise their praxis and update tools and numerous procedures. This study offers a comparative analysis of three Latin American students’ and instructors’ perspectives on a selection of both the pedagogical and emotional aspects of higher educational life that were affected. The report is about the participants’ perception of others’ empathy, their evaluation of the organization of teaching and learning and of collaborative learning experiences, their appreciation of the quality of learning assessment practices, and, eventually, their perception of learning. An exploratory study was carried out, based on survey research in Likert-scale form, responded to by 2742 students and 926 instructors. Significant differences were found among subsamples, with Chilean students and instructors having less favorable views in all dimensions compared with their Mexican and Ecuadorian counterparts; also, differences were found with respect to educational levels, discipline areas, and participants’ gender. This study contributes with a double-sided view of both protagonists’ perspectives (students’ and instructors’) to reinforce the importance of instructional design, instructor-student bond, meaningful and realistic assessments that allow for the application of knowledge, and opportunities for feedback in post-pandemic virtual education.

Accessibility in assessment for learning: sharing criteria for success

Assessment for learning (AfL) practices in secondary schools are intended to help learners understand what expert performances in disciplines look like, and then apply this understanding to their own learning and assessment performances. Common AfL practices such as sharing criteria for success through rubrics and students using them to interrogate exemplars and give feedback rely heavily on the students’ language and attention. Students need to understand and draw on conceptual and collaborative language, and to make connections across several activity stages. Consequently, students with language and/or attentional difficulties and their teachers face a dilemma. On the one hand, AfL practices can provide access to developmentally appropriate curriculum. On the other, AfL practices may present additional barriers to learning. This article identifies some of the barriers students with language and/or attentional difficulties may encounter in common AfL practices, and how teachers adapted sharing of success criteria to design for greater accessibility. Access to learning is conceptualized by referring to Dewey’s principles of continuity and interaction. Interviews with 20 teachers were analyzed to find out how they adapted AfL to be more accessible in an 8 week AfL pedagogical intervention focused on success criteria. Ideas for designing accessible AfL practices from the outset are outlined as teachers realized the role of their language, small steps, visual tools, and regular opportunities for connection and interactions in making it more likely for students to benefit from AfL practices. Given that students with language and/or attentional difficulties represent some of the highest occurrences of disability in student populations, these ideas have immediate relevance for teachers and those who support AfL practices in educational policy and research.

Primary school teachers’ assessment for learning practice for students’ learning improvement

Assessment for learning practice and learning improvement are the two vital variables in this study. This article explores primary school teachers’ assessments for learning practices for student learning improvement. The participants (n = 242) were selected through a cluster random sampling techniques for a questionnaire survey from the target primary schools to meet the research objective of this study. Among the total participants 15 teachers for an in-depth interview, and five for informal conversations were randomly selected through purposive sampling. The data collected through closed-ended questionnaire were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, analysis of variance and post-hoc methods. To analyze the qualitative data acquired through interview and informal conversation, thematic verbal descriptions were employed. Conversely, the findings indicated that the primary school teachers had highly positive classroom environments practice, moderate positive learning intentions and success, feedback in assessment practices, and self- and peer-assessment practices toward learning assessment. Although, the findings from the quantitative data showed that the primary school teachers had high and moderate assessments for learning practice, the interviews revealed that they had low confidence in learning practice assessments owing to challenges faced during practice. These overall challenges relate to transparency, experience, training, school problems, and preference reliance. Finally, based on the study’s implications, recommendations are made for future directions of studies that will allow better comprehension of the assessment for learning practice in relation to the students’ learning improvement.

Learning assessment challenges from students and faculty perception in times of COVID-19: A case study

A mixed-method study about the perception of students and faculty around learning assessment practices was conducted in a multicampus competency-based approached Mexican private university. The objective was getting new knowledge about higher education community perception around learning assessment practices, learning outcomes production and how authentic assessment was driven while working on different modalities during the pandemic: remote learning, synchronous hybrid learning, alternate hybrid learning, and on-site modality. A questionnaire, and an interview for faculty and focus groups for students were designed, validated, and conducted. A total of 281 faculty and 908 students participated in this study. The main quantitative results indicate that students who took on-site classes evaluate the variables better than those who took hybrid classes. In addition, students who took remote classes evaluate the authenticity variable better than those who took it in alternate hybrid modality. In the case of the faculty, only the equality variable showed significant differences between the reported modalities. Besides, the main qualitative results indicate that perceptions are quite different between faculty and students while getting their perceptions from an evaluation standards scope. Thus, their perspectives around equality, authenticity, feasibility, reliability and ethics were obtained and discussed against literature. The main conclusions of the study remarked that students and faculty were positive towards most of the execution of learning assessment and learning outcomes practices during the pandemic. Nevertheless, students’ preference of on-site modality was determined as the way they have more opportunities for interacting and learning more from assessment and feedback.

Teaching Experiences of E-Authentic Assessment: Lessons Learned in Higher Education

The realities of the 21st century have led professors and lecturers to renew their learning assessment practices so that they are more adapted to and contextualized in the current professional world. Despite advances in teaching and learning, assessment methods may still deviate from practice in authentic contexts. Although some instructors are already familiar with more authentic assessments, most are accustomed to using exams as standard practices to test students’ achievement of course objectives and essays to prepare students for research or written argumentation. Despite their benefits, such typical assessments often lack authenticity and do not develop the full potential of students’ 21st-century learning or literacy skills such as communication, creativity, or working with technologies. Over the past decade, we have been witnessing the beginnings of a broader reflection on teaching, learning, and evaluating with technologies, including more authentic assessments. This reflective essay will present how technologies make it possible to diversify assessment methods, resulting in enhanced authenticity and development of 21st-century learning and literacy skills. Authentic assessment methods with technologies will be illustrated, e.g., recorded video presentations, explanatory interviews with descriptive assessment grids, PechaKucha presentations, blog posts, and social media and e-portfolios, with examples from several disciplines. Authors will also explain how proposing a number of methods to students for the same assessment may help answer their various needs and preferences without increasing instructors’ grading load. Furthermore, authors will discuss how diversifying assessment methods with technologies often results in a transformation of assessment modalities. Beyond assessments as an evaluation of knowledge and/or skills at a fixed schedule, authentic assessments with technologies may become continuous or iterative processes with multiple feedbacks from instructors, thereby combining synchronous interactions and/or discussions with asynchronous reflections to improve students’ involvement and active learning.

Assessing children’s vocabulary: An exploratory cross-sectional survey of speech-language pathologists

Purpose Past research highlights the importance of evaluating word learning abilities to build understanding of an individual’s language-learning capacity and make evidence-informed decisions in speech-language pathology practice. However, little research has explored vocabulary and word learning assessment practices among speech-language pathologists (SLPs). This pilot, exploratory study aimed to explore current assessment practices and guide translation of research to practice among SLPs who work with children of all ages. Method SLPs (N = 127) from three predominantly English-speaking countries (Australia, USA, and UK) completed an online survey. The survey explored methods and purposes for assessing vocabulary knowledge and word learning skills via binary and multiple-choice questions. Responses to three open-ended questions were analysed using conventional content analysis. The survey also asked about perspectives regarding assessment practices with individuals from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. Result Of the surveyed SLPs, 118 (92%) reported using norm-referenced measures of vocabulary, with 27 reporting additional use of non-normed measures. Seventy-seven SLPs (61%) reported that they measure word learning skills, and 20 of these SLPs used dynamic assessment procedures to evaluate word learning. Responding SLPs across all three countries reported using vocabulary and word learning assessment data in a variety of ways (e.g. to support diagnostic decision-making). Regarding the use of standardised, norm-referenced vocabulary assessments with individuals from CALD backgrounds, SLPs reported concerns regarding poor cultural sensitivity and limited access to alternative methods. Conclusion The findings highlight the need for further development and dissemination of accessible resources to support SLPs’ implementation of word learning assessment, including resources for dynamic assessment. This is especially critical considering the established limitations associated with using standardised, norm-referenced tests with minority groups who are underrepresented in standardisation samples.

Assessment Quality at two Ethiopian Universities: Requirements versus Practices

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which learning assessment practices fulfill assessment quality requirements. Two sorts of questionnaires were used to collect data from teachers/researchers, and MA/MSC and PhD students of Education and English Language at two Ethiopian universities. The results have shown that assessment tasks, contents, tools and procedures at the universities hardly fulfilled some desirable assessment requirements including making assessment tasks and contents free from all kinds of biases, mirroring the required skills/knowledge in real life, empowering teachers to assess what they value, encouraging deep approaches to learning, and guaranteeing learners' awarded grades to represent the levels. Some assessment tools, procedures, and practices also failed to fulfill assessment quality requirements. It has, therefore, been recommended that all parties should make utmost conscious efforts to ascertain alignment of assessment practices, procedures and contents with available theories/requirements on learning assessment quality.

Unpacking the efficacy of a continuous professional development programme to support teachers to use assessment in no-fee schools

Since the first democratic elections in 1994, South Africa's education system has undergone four curriculum revisions. In each of these iterations, the teachers who were among the first in line to implement change were the Foundation Phase (FP) teachers. However, since then, the low numeracy and literacy levels of primary school learners have been of increasing concern. In this context, in 2017, a series of continuous professional development (CPD) workshops were run with 18 Grade 3 FP teachers from five no-fee primary schools in the Cape Winelands to enhance their use of assessment to improve teaching and learning. This professional development model comprised six monthly workshops, in which the teachers were introduced to various assessment for learning (AfL) techniques and strategies. Each workshop was subsequently supplemented with a classroom support visit by one of the workshop presenters. A few months after the conclusion of the workshops and support visits, the participating teachers, subject advisers, management, and district officials were interviewed about programme efficacy. What emerged was that although all stakeholders saw value in this CPD initiative, the subject advisers and teachers felt that they had particularly benefitted from the programme in terms of the training received, the training model, materials, and follow-up support visits. However, despite the teachers' enthusiasm, there was a varied level of implementation of AfL practices in classrooms-shaped by the context in which the schools were located and their internal dynamics. Affecting the efficacy of the programme-and thus having implications for sustainability-were extraneous factors such as programme timing, competing priorities, and school dynamics. This suggests that for any such CPD programme to succeed, the various factors that could inhibit programme success need to be noted and circumvented.

Construct validity analysis: Assessment for learning primary mathematics questionnaire

Construct validity is an essential aspect of developing an instrument that involves the collection of evidence to justify decisions. A pilot study was conducted in Hulu Langat, Selangor, to identify the construct validity of a questionnaire developed to measure the practice of Assessment for Learning among primary school Mathematics teachers in the Central Zone, Malaysia. This study applied a simple random sampling technique involving 406 teachers who agreed to perform self-assessment using an online questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using AMOS 23 software. The findings showed only 55 out of 72 items achieved the fit for Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Next, the 12 constructs studied met the statistical requirements for Discriminant Validity and Composite Reliability. The findings of this study are discussed, and suggestions for improvement are given. The construction of a valid and reliable instrument contributes to the study of the field of measurement and evaluation. This contribution meets the needs and fills the research gap in psychometrics.

Online teaching–learning assessment practices: Survey analysis of allied health undergraduates and postgraduate professionals

Introduction: Various modalities had been adopted by educational institutes, after declaration of pandemic of COVID-19 by the World Health Organization. Students of higher education cannot be prevented for their right to education due to this severe pandemic and its fallout thereat. All the educators across the Globe started with some or other modality of online learning to keep the pace of teaching–learning activities including examination. School of allied health sciences also tried various modes of teaching. To evaluate this, an online survey was conducted to find out the usefulness and effectivity of this modality. Materials and Methods: The study was cross-sectional which was conducted among students of the School of Allied Health Sciences, DMIMS, Wardha, during April–May 2021. The undergraduate and postgraduate students from first and second graduation years were randomly selected and all 200 students were approached through WhatsApp group after Institutional Ethics Committee approval. The responses received, were collated and analyzed in the form of descriptive statistics. Results: Out of 200 students, 186 had responded to survey questionnaire with response rate of 93%. For communication regarding time table, examination schedule, or interactions or participation, the mean percentage for accepting was 66.9%. However, their satisfaction with online mode was 40.89% only. Perception of helpfulness related to learning or flexibility was about 52%. Conclusions: Although some of the students had good perception for online teaching–learning assessment modalities, some of them did not agree for it and they wanted face-to-face teaching. This may be attributed to Internet connectivity issue or residing at rural places where specified bandwidth was not available.

Learning Assessment Practices in Ethiopian Universities: Quests versus Upheavals

This study examined learning assessment practices in universities taking one Academic Unit in Addis Ababa University (AAU), Ethiopian as a case. A qualitative approach was employed to generate data from 20 instructors who were attending a capacity building training at the Academic Unit. Supplementary data were secured by reviewing literatures and guidelines. The results have shown that students’ mastery of the learning outcomes (LOs), and achievement of the criterion-referenced assessment requirements were not to the required level. As a result, there were practices of manipulations and invalid subversions of marks bay raising scores without changing the phenomena and without enhancing learning and behavioral change to learners. Moreover, there were no modules designed around competencies with explicit, measurable, and transferable LOs to be assessed. Consequently, the quests and expeditions inherent within the criterion-referenced assessment guidelines were unmet - resulting in matchless upheavals. It has, therefore, been recommended that conscious efforts should be made to make alignments and /or linkages among the salient elements that enhance students’ learning with understanding.

Using Assessment for Learning: Multi-Case Studies of Three Chinese University English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teachers Engaging Students in Learning and Assessment.

Student engagement is an important issue in learning and teaching given its positive effects on students' learning outcomes. Assessment for Learning (AfL), an assessment and pedagogic innovation, if done well, can fully engage students in the learning and assessment process. Adopting a multi-case design, the present study explored how Chinese university English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers used AfL to facilitate student engagement in their classrooms and what factors influenced their AfL practices. Three EFL teachers were recruited on a voluntary basis from two universities in Northwest China. Data collected from semi-structed interviews, stimulated recall interviews, and classroom observations suggested that teacher participants demonstrated differed assessment practices, representing Assessment of Learning (AoL), convergent, and divergent AfL, respectively. Three factors: teacher assessment literacy, teachers' beliefs about the relationship between goal orientation and motivation, as well as a trusting relationship between teachers and students, were identified as contributing to teachers' different assessment practices. Our study calls for teacher educators' efforts to equip teachers with necessary assessment-related knowledge and skills, encourage teachers to negotiate learning goals with students, and help teachers establish a trusting environment in their classrooms, if AfL is to be fully embedded in classroom instruction.