Formative Assessment Strategies Research Articles

Exploring Formative Assessment Strategies in the Chemistry Classroom in Secondary School: A Systematic Literature Review (SLR)

Exploring Formative Assessment Strategies in the Chemistry Classroom in Secondary School: A Systematic Literature Review (SLR)

Voices from the Classroom: Exploring the Secondary School Teachers’ Perception Towards Formative Assessment Practices

The present study focuses on exploring the teacher’s perception about formative assessment practices at secondary school. For this study investigator purposively selected 39 participants for study form 23 secondary schools of Mayurbhanj district. The study employed semi-structured interviews schedule for data collection. Collected data were analysed by content analysis and presented by thick descriptions. The study revealed that most of teachers have been four categories of formative assessment strategies have been used by the teachers such as Periodic Paper-Pencil Test, Multiple Assessment Practice, Portfolio Assessment and Subject Enrichment Activities. Further study found most of the teachers were satisfy with the infrastructural facilities of the school. Most of the teachers perceive that students are benefited in their achievements, actively participating in classroom discussion, aroused their interest for better understanding of the concept, able to know their strengths and weakness, fearless for exam and get opportunity to learn again by formative assessment. However most of them not satisfy with in-service training and parent supports for conducting formative assessment practices. Most of the teachers face problems like; absence of remedial teaching, student’s absenteeism in test or classroom, managing time to complete course, language barrier, low economic background of students, and lack of in-service training to teachers. It is suggested that, short term courses, workshops, seminars and, other necessary in-service training activities should be organized by the concern authority for professional development of teachers in formative assessment strategies. Therefore teachers will effectively implement the formative assessment practices in secondary schools.

Developing evaluative judgement for a time of generative artificial intelligence

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has rapidly increased capacity for producing textual, visual and auditory outputs, yet there are ongoing concerns regarding the quality of those outputs. There is an urgent need to develop students’ evaluative judgement – the capability to judge the quality of work of self and others – in recognition of this new reality. In this conceptual paper, we describe the intersection between evaluative judgement and generative AI with a view to articulating how assessment practices can help students learn to work productively with generative AI. We propose three foci: (1) developing evaluative judgement of generative AI outputs; (2) developing evaluative judgement of generative AI processes; and (3) generative AI assessment of student evaluative judgements. We argue for developing students’ capabilities to identify and calibrate quality of work – uniquely human capabilities at a time of technological acceleration – through existing formative assessment strategies. These approaches circumvent and interrupt students’ uncritical usage of generative AI. The relationship between evaluative judgement and generative AI is more than just the application of human judgement to machine outputs. We have a collective responsibility, as educators and learners, to ensure that humans do not relinquish their roles as arbiters of quality.

Online Learning in China within the Internet+ Landscape: A Comprehensive Study

This study investigates the evolving landscape of distance education on the Internet+ environment, focusing on its effectiveness and the factors influencing it. Through a mixed research approach, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative analyses, insights were gathered via interviews with students and administrators in the distance learning sector. Findings reveal that students primarily pursue distance education to meet practical career and skill acquisition objectives, while also gaining metacognitive benefits. Nevertheless, limited subjective communication with teachers is a significant concern. Administrators emphasize interdisciplinary teaching teams and resource-sharing platforms. Recommendations include enhancing communication channels, leveraging metacognitive development, facilitating teacher collaboration, conducting comprehensive technical support and evaluation assessments, establishing specialized resource-sharing platforms, supporting professional development, and implementing formative assessment strategies to adapt to evolving educational needs. These recommendations aim to ensure that distance education remains relevant, effective, and student-centered in the dynamic Internet+ environment.

Formative Assessment Strategies by Monitoring Science Students’ Problem-Solving Skill Development

AbstractTo be able to support students’ competence development in solving physics problems over the course of a lesson series effectively, teachers need a proper appreciation of students’ deficiencies. As teachers commonly assess students’ competence by means of written tests, teachers are challenged to interpret students’ work on these tests and to intervene when some students fail to understand the proper application of solution methods in different contexts. This paper evaluates a formative assessment practice where teachers have been instructed to pinpoint students’ level of understanding of kinematics problems by means of a cognitive diagnostic instrument and to provide personalized hints that match students’ current level of understanding. The study is novel in this sense that the assessment of written tests results of students’ problem solving is not expressed in grades and pass rates, but in terms of cognitive level of understanding. The results show that teachers can determine and monitor shifts of performance of students’ cognitive level of understanding by using this instrument. Second, the results indicate that among students with low initial results, the group that received sufficient feedback via sticky notes made significantly more progress in solving problems than the group that did not receive feed forward on sticky notes. Third, the timing of feedback in the form of sticky notes did not affect on students’ progress in achieving mastery at the end of the instruction period. Our conclusion of this study is: Cognition develops through levels and tiers and support is essential to move to the Zone of Proximal Development. Subsequently, we evaluate group and subgroup implications for didactic interventions and propose suggestions for further investigations.

Examining Assessment Design in the Pakistan English Language Curriculum at Secondary Level: A Comprehensive Qualitative Analysis of its Implementation

ABSTRACT 
 The assessment is an integrated part of the learning process. The effectiveness of assessment design and practice during and after teaching will determine how language skills develop. This research study critically analyzes the Pakistan language curriculum 2006, regarding language assessment design. The study aimed to investigate the assessment design, mechanism, methods, and strategies envisaged in Pakistan's 2006 language curriculum. The study's goals were to investigate the LNC's 2006 language assessment plan and comprehend how extensive the 2006 national curriculum's assessment design is intended. Another goal is the extent to which this design supports language assessment and addresses language assessment ideas.
 The Pakistani national curriculum from 2006 will be the subject of a document analysis that considers both formative and summative assessment methods, techniques, and strategies. The language assessment theories and Bloom’s assessment mechanism were used as theoretical lenses. The document analysis model proposed by Bowen (2009) was used for this investigation.
 The study's findings demonstrate that Pakistan's LNC 2006 assessment design could be more helpful in developing language skills, by improving its level. The assessment strategies and methods for the development of every language skill are missing. The action verbs used for, Standards, benchmarks, and SLOs are at a deficient level and belong to Bloom's Taxonomy's first three stages of the cognitive domain. The summative test rather than ongoing assessment is indicated; hence the marking scheme is solely meant to be used for writing skills. Speaking and listening skills are nearly entirely ignored in assessment design. The standard for the development of textbook activities is likewise deficient in terms of assessment. The guidelines for teachers that train them on assessment are absent. In order to improve the language assessment design, policymakers and curriculum developers will use the study's findings. The findings will also help teachers comprehend and implement language assessment design appropriately.
 Keywords: Assessment, assessment design, language assessment, curriculum, textbooks, instruction.
  

Effects of formative assessment with technology on students’ meaningful learning in chemistry equilibrium concepts

This study examines how students’ conceptual and procedural knowledge of chemical equilibrium is affected by technology-supported formative assessment (TSFA) strategies. This study's embedded/nested mixed method research design was used to achieve the study's objective. A random sampling method was used to choose the sample of two intact classes for the treatment group and one intact class for the comparison group. To gather quantitative data, the chemical equilibrium conceptual test and the chemical equilibrium procedural test were adapted from the literature. The qualitative data were also gathered using semi-structured interviews and classroom observations. Descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA were employed to analyze the quantitative data, and theme analysis was utilized to examine the qualitative data. One-way ANOVA results revealed that, in comparison to students who were taught using conventional methods and formative assessment strategies, students who were taught using technology-supported formative assessment strategies demonstrated improvements in conceptual and procedural knowledge. The results of semi-structured interviews and classroom observations also show that, when compared to students who are taught using conventional methods and formative assessment alone, students who are taught using technology-supported formative assessment strategies have a high improvement in learning outcomes of learning chemical equilibrium concepts. In conclusion, conventional methods and formative assessment alone were shown to be less successful for students’ conceptual and procedural knowledge in learning chemical equilibrium concepts than technology-supported formative assessment strategies. These results led the authors of this research to recommend that TSFA be used by chemistry teachers to enhance their students’ conceptual and procedural understanding of chemical equilibrium concepts.

The Practice of Formative Assessment by Indonesian Vocational School’s English Teachers during the Covid-19 Pandemic

This study aimed to describe how Indonesian vocational school’s English teachers implemented formative assessment methods amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. The research employed a qualitative approach with a case study design. Data was gathered through interviews. Two English teachers from one of public vocational school in Rokan Hulu Regency, Indonesia participated in the study. The data analysis followed the Miles and Huberman three-step process, which included data condensation or reduction, data display, and drawing and verifying conclusions. The findings revealed that vocational school’s English teachers utilized both online and offline formative assessment strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Online formative assessment was implemented by using Google Classroom and Google Forms, while offline methods included quizzes, questioning and group discussions, short-answer tasks, listening cloze, role play, reading aloud, mind mapping, and dialogue writing. The teachers encountered various challenges in implementing these assessments, such as a lack of human resources, limited internet connectivity in students' homes, and some students lacking access to mobile devices. Additionally, student engagement and motivation were identified as concerns. Nevertheless, the teachers devised solutions to overcome these obstacles, including providing Wi-Fi in designated areas, encouraging students to use their parents' or friends' devices, and actively engaging with less interested students.

Thinking ‘out of the box’ When Designing Formative Assessment Activities for the E-Portfolio

E-Portfolios of on-line scholars are integral to instructional planning and the design of authentic, engaging, and active tutoring for periodic self/peer-and-instructor formative assessments. In addition, the formative assessment in open distance and e-learning (ODeL) is meant to provide and facilitate contact, support, and structure to the learning experiences of students who are often unfamiliar and alienated by the distance learning experience. Previous research has focused on formative assessment strategies, results, and feedback in distance learning, but little has been studied on how to design suitable formative assessment activities in this format. This article, therefore, presents findings of how lecturers can the design a formative assessment for e-portfolio activities for online learning. Ten lecturer participants were purposively sampled from three colleges within the ODeL university. These semi-structured interviews, together with an e-portfolio checklist formed the basis for the interpretative analysis of how formative assessment activities are designed for the e-portfolios. The lecturers are guided by the student’s learning outcomes and use sequential activities for students to do via the e-portfolio. This, therefore, involves the lecturer’s consideration of graded and non-graded formative assessment activities of individual and group work e-portfolios to provide evidence and make judgments about each student’s progress.  This study’s findings emphasize the importance of designing formative assessment activities to help students learn the content and develop their understanding which further deepens their knowledge and acquisition of the module outcomes. The research shows that the benefits of optimal student engagement, performance, and learning are the result of the creative design of formative assessment activities. 

Online Assessment in Large Undergraduate Courses During COVID-19 Emergency Response Teaching

The transition to online instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic was unprecedented and forced many universities to quickly embrace online distance learning. This context created new challenges, particularly around assessment strategies. Empirical research has demonstrated that formative assessment fosters more active learning in online classrooms. However, formative assessment strategies are not always adapted well to online platforms based on the nature of the subject matter and the size of the class. This qualitative case study sought to understand instructors’ experiences and strategies for conducting assessment remotely, specifically for large-size undergraduate courses. The investigation relied on data from semi-structured interviews with University of Maryland, College Park instructors who received a Teaching Innovation Grant from the Provost’s Office in Summer 2020 intended to fund sustainable online delivery beyond the emergency response teaching phase. For this analysis, we analyzed the transcripts of 13 interviews, representing a diverse range of programs, schools, and faculty seniority levels at the university. Findings show instructors experienced several successes during course retooling, including significant increases in student performance. Most instructors also indicated that they would continue to keep new online assessment strategies for the future, regardless of whether that future includes online, blended, or in-person delivery. Despite the anticipation that the pandemic would fuel more opportunities for cheating, there was only one experience of academic dishonesty.

Teaching oral skills in Higher Education (HE) language learning

The aim of this study was to test two UDL-informed models to inclusive, accessible language teaching in a Business English course at a B1+ level. We adopted a task-based learning (TBL) approach in the experimental group and a presentation, practice, production (PPP) approach in the control group. Our hypothesis was that the former approach would lead to a more significant performance gain in oral skills than the latter. The hypothesis was tested by conducting oral pre- and post-tests prior to and following instruction, the scores of which were analysed quantitatively. These results were triangulated by a qualitative analysis of the answers learners gave to open questions on exit tickets throughout the course. The quantitative findings showed significant performance gain in both groups after the treatment, but the difference between the two was not marked. However, the qualitative analysis revealed variation in the participants’ perceptions of their learning process, which may have been influenced by the approach applied. A future teaching model may, therefore, include both PPP and TBL elements, complemented by formative assessment strategies.

Development of advanced digital ecosystems at universities: A study comparing experiences from Ukraine, Poland and Slovakia

AbstractDuring the war, a significant number of Ukrainian universities were tragically destroyed, while others were relocated. The challenging wartime circumstances in which universities operate in Ukraine have increased the use of distance education. University management and academic staff agree that the quality of services offered hinges on the establishment of comprehensive open electronic student campuses. These online campuses will deliver educational content, but also innovative pedagogical technologies for fostering competency development. This can be used for competency development in the use of gamification techniques, promoting entrepreneurship and start‐ups, implementing project methodologies, leveraging research and cognitive technologies, as well as using digital tools for communication and collaboration, and employing formative assessment strategies. The objective of the study on which this article reports was to determine the university ecosystem model most amenable for providing high quality digital education. We describe and analyse current digital education ecosystem models and examine their implementation at three universities: (1) Borys Grinchenko Kyiv University (BGKU), Ukraine; (2) University of Silesia (US), Poland; and (3) Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra (UKF), Slovakia. Both strengths and limitations of online campuses are outlined. Our analysis supports the development of key performance indicators to assess the development of university digital education ecosystems and establish the necessary and sufficient conditions for implementation. Insights gained from organising education in remote learning conditions in wartime Ukraine are valuable also for educators in other countries.

Demotivating Online Formative Assessment Strategies at an Open Distance Learning University

Online formative assessment strategies are an important element in the level of engagement needed for motivating students learning online in open distance learning (ODL) because they are key in offering large-scale interactive participation. While many studies have looked at the advantages of online formative assessment strategies, they have neglected demotivating online formative assessment strategies that students struggle with. To ensure the quality of the online assessment, it is also important to understand the nature of assessment practices that demotivate students from persisting with their studies. This is because the type of online assessment that students struggle with should guide the choice and design of the online formative assessment strategies. Therefore, this article identifies online formative assessment strategies that demotivate students from participating persistently in online formative assessment in ODL in order to improve the design and development of online learning. This study used a developmental research approach to carry out a descriptive quantitative case study survey involving 112 purposefully sampled students, of which 58 responded, who were registered for a master’s in education in ODL course at an ODL university in South Africa. A thematic coding process was adopted during the analysis of students’ responses to an online Google form. Though students differed in their choices of the online formative assessment strategies that demotivated them in their studies, there was consensus on seven significant themes. The socio-technological perspective and the self-determination theory were used as the theoretical frameworks to drive the investigation since they encompassed all relevant aspects of the design of online learning and motivation to learn online. Information regarding demotivating online formative assessment strategies provide insight to course leaders and instructional designers attempting to build successful online learning strategies that motivate students to participate persistently in online learning environments. 

The impact of formative assessment techniques on students' self-assessment skills

The introduction of formative assessment to improve students' self-assessment skills was one of the main innovations in Kazakhstan. However, there are issues with the implementation of formative assessment and its introduction. This study aims to examine the impact of the author's formative assessment techniques on students' self-evaluations. One of the methods was experimental work carried out in 2021-2022 at Almaty Secondary School No. 198. This study was carried out using 55 fourth grade students   consisting of 27 students in grade four "A" (16 girls and 11 boys) as the experimental group (EG) and 28 students in grade four "B" (18 girls and 10 boys) as the control group (CG). The results identified problems with the introduction and implementation of formative assessments. This highlighted the importance of developing formative assessment strategies to improve students' self-evaluations.   Our findings confirm that the identified and methodically substantiated procedures for improving self-assessment in students in primary school may be employed in classes with younger students and in teacher training groups.

Practices, validity, and challenges of online formative assessment in Algerian higher education

Online assessment, whether formative or summative, appears to be a problematic issue for many English as a foreign language (EFL) university teachers.  Formative assessment is crucial for improving the quality of teaching and learning. Therefore, it is highly significant to recognize the possible trends of online formative assessment offered in the Algerian university context. In this regard, this paper aims at exploring the online formative assessment practices of EFL university teachers including the type of formative assessment experienced, assessment and feedback techniques, and the validity of the assessment strategies employed virtually. It further seeks to identify the challenges faced in the process. To achieve this, a qualitative approach based on exploratory and descriptive research design was adopted. An online questionnaire was administered to 16 EFL teachers from 12 Algerian universities. The findings revealed that participants employ a variety of online formative assessment strategies for various purposes.  The overall practices are, to a certain degree, valid. Keywords: English as a foreign language (EFL); formative assessment; online assessment; university teacher.

The effects of using analytical rubrics in peer and self-assessment on EFL students’ writing proficiency: a Vietnamese contextual study

This research investigates the effectiveness of utilizing analytic rubrics in peer-assessment (PA) and self-assessment (SA) methodologies to enhance the proficiency of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students’ essay writing skills in the Vietnamese context. It further contributes to the existing body of literature regarding formative assessment and its potential to improve student learning outcomes. A total of 44 university students, all English majors, were divided into two distinct groups, each consisting of 22 participants. One group applied analytic rubrics for SA, while the other used the same tool for PA. The writing performance of the two groups was assessed and compared in pre and post-tests. The findings revealed no significant difference between the SA and PA groups in the pre-test. However, in the post-test, the SA group demonstrated significantly superior performance compared to the PA group, with noticeable improvements across all evaluated criteria. Moreover, these results showed that the use of analytic rubrics in SA and PA methods positively impacted the EFL students’ writing skills, particularly in the areas of content and language use. This has practical implications for teachers, curriculum developers, and policymakers in designing and implementing formative assessment strategies for EFL learners. Further research is needed to examine the long-term effects of employing analytic rubrics, and to understand the potential influence of other contextual factors on student learning outcomes.

Promoting formative assessment practices in senior phase mathematics classrooms using meaning equivalence reusable learning objects

South African mathematics teachers in the Senior Phase (Grades 8 and 9) were introduced to the pedagogical tool, meaning equivalence reusable learning objects (MERLO), as a formative assessment (FA) strategy to promote and support teachers’ professional growth in using FA practices in the classroom. The cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) and meta-didactical transposition (MDT) were used to frame the evolution process of teachers’ praxeologies. In this study we used qualitative participatory action research that encompassed 3 phases: pre-MERLO phase, MERLO workshop and post-MERLO phase. The study was conducted in the northeast of Pretoria in the Tshwane district in the Gauteng province, South Africa. Twelve Senior Phase mathematics teachers were purposively sampled in 6 public schools before the workshop training. During the workshop training, only 5 teachers participated due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The data collection techniques included pre- and post-interviews, workshop training sessions, classroom observations, field notes, teachers’ reflective journals, teachers’ lesson plans, learners’ workbooks and learners’ worksheets, and data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings reveal that the teachers acquired adequate knowledge and skills to effectively structure and integrate the lesson plan of teachers’ didactical praxeologies as FA activities into their mathematics classrooms. The findings also reveal that the learners showed more interest and motivation, were actively involved, developed a deeper understanding of mathematics content, and showed increased autonomy in learning. Future research could involve implementing MERLO in all South African provinces and introducing MERLO to other emerging countries. However, the findings of this study are based on a limited sample of teachers and schools, and the recommendation is that, for future studies, more teachers should be involved in the MERLO professional development.

Collaborative Translanguaging Formative Assessment in Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education

This research conducted classroom action research in Grade 1 of a Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) program, which aims to promote the use of local languages as mediums of instruction in the early years of education. The study found that Ilokano learners tended to use English more often than Ilokano, which highlighted the importance of supporting their cultural identity and heritage through the MTB-MLE program. The Ilokano-Based Translanguaging Approach to Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education (IBTA-MTB-MLE) was developed to support instruction, and a formative assessment strategy called Collaborative Translanguaging Formative Assessment (CTFA) was developed to align with the teaching approach. The study aimed to test the effectiveness of CTFA by preparing four lesson sessions where learners work together to think, talk, write, and give feedback using their full range of linguistic repertoire. After the implementation of CTFA, a pre-test and post-test were conducted to determine the achievement of the Ilokano learners in MTB-MLE. The results showed that the majority of the students moved to higher ranges of score after the intervention, with an increase in mean scores from 20.1 to 25.87. The study highlights the benefits of translanguaging in language education and collaboration in assessment.

TO ANALYZE THE IMPACT OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT IN FOSTERING THE STUDENT’S LEARNING COMPETENCIES

This research article investigates the effects of formative assessment on students' learning abilities and academic performance. The study aims to examine the efficacy of different formative assessment approaches in enhancing student engagement, selfregulation, and metacognitive skills. Employing a mixed-methods approach, quantitative and qualitative data collected from a diverse group of college students. Various formative assessment strategies, including feedback, self-assessment, peerassessment, and goal setting, were implemented in the classroom. The quantitative analysis focused on evaluating the impact of these practices on students' learning outcomes, such as academic achievement, motivation, and self-confidence. Complementary to this, qualitative data was gathered through interviews and classroom observations to gain deeper insights into students' perceptions and experiences related to formative assessment. The findings highlight the pivotal role of formative assessment in fostering students' learning abilities. Implementation of formative assessment practices resulted in heightened student engagement, improved self-regulation, and enhanced metacognitive skills. Notably, the provision of timely and constructive feedback, along with opportunities for self-assessment and peerassessment, proved particularly effective in enabling students to identify their strengths and weaknesses, as well as to establish attainable learning goals. Furthermore, this research underscores the significance of teacher-student interactions in the formative assessment process. Teachers' supportive and facilitative roles, coupled with clear communication of learning expectations, contributed to students' active participation and sense of ownership over their learning journey. The study emphasizes the ongoing need for professional development among teachers to effectively implement formative assessment strategies in the classroom. In summary, this research article offers valuable insights into the influence of formative assessment on students' learning competencies. The findings suggest that formative assessment practices have the potential to positively impact students' academic growth and empower them to become self-directed learners. By harnessing the benefits of formative assessment, educators can create inclusive learning environments that foster students' overall development and prepare them for future educational challenges.

The Impact of Formative Assessment Towards Students’ Motivation in Learning English: A Meta Analysis

This meta-analysis explores the impact of formative assessment on students' motivation in learning English as a foreign language (EFL) within the context of Indonesia. Drawing on a comprehensive search and analysis of relevant literature, the review investigates the impact of formative assessment on intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and proposes strategies to enhance motivation through formative assessment. This review examined 37 qualifying studies and analyzes the formative assessment impact, which have been categorized into three aspects namely; (1) the impact on intrinsic motivation, (2) the impact on extrinsic motivation, and (3) the impact on academic motivation and the potential strategies which consisted of four aspects such as (1) Promote Collaboration and Group Work, (2) Scaffold Learning and Provide Support, (3) Encourage Reflective Practices, and (4) Foster a Sense of Competence and Progress. The implications for practice highlight practical recommendations for educators to implement formative assessment strategies in the Indonesian EFL context. By integrating these recommendations, educators can create a dynamic learning environment that enhances students' motivation, engagement, and overall language learning success.