Perceptions Of Assessment Tasks Research Articles

Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions of Assessment Tasks that Measure Content Knowledge for Teaching about Matter

ABSTRACT Developing knowledge about science instruction is critical for preservice teachers. This study explores how 79 elementary preservice teachers perceive the relevance and importance of assessment task scenarios designed to elicit information about content knowledge for teaching (CKT) about matter and its interactions—a foundational topic for teaching physical science. Participants completed practice-based assessment tasks that described teaching scenarios about elementary science teaching and that addressed five matter topics: properties of matter, changes in matter, the model of matter, materials, and conservation of matter. We aimed to explore how relevant preservice teachers felt these task scenarios were to their teaching experience and how important knowing how to answer these tasks was for the work of elementary teachers. Findings suggest that preservice teachers tended to recognize the centrality of these task scenarios for the work typically done in elementary classrooms, even if they do not report having firsthand experience with the content and practices represented in the scenarios. Moreover, participants tended to provide a general rationale about why these scenarios were important for the work of teaching science, but a limited number of responses made explicit connections between a task scenario and the specific instructional practice related to elementary teachers’ work. This study poses implications for the use of CKT tasks in elementary education programs.

Construct Validation of the Perceptions of As-sessment Tasks Inventory

Introduction: Students' perceptions of the assessment tasks can be a basis for optimizing the classroom assessment environment. In an attempt to quantify students' perceptions of assessment, Dorman and Knightley (2006) developed Perceptions of Assessment Tasks Inventory (PATI). This study sought to provide evidence for the construct validity of the PATI. Method: A descriptive research design was employed in this study. Using a cluster sampling process, the participants were 330 Omani students (175 females and 155 males) enrolled in grade 11 science classes. Three instruments were used in the study concerning self-efficacy, perceptions of classroom assessment environment, and perceptions of assessment tasks. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, cluster analysis, multivariate analysis of variance, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson product-moment correlation analysis. Results: Results indicated that a five-factor structure of the PATI provided a good fit to the observed data. Cluster analyses suggested three clusters of students who were distinct with regard to their perceptions of the assessment tasks. Scores of the PATI subscales correlated positively with perceived learning assessment environment and negatively with perceived performance assessment environment. The PATI scores had acceptable levels of internal consistency reliability.Conclusion: In conclusion, the results support the utility of the PATI for research and instructional purposes. It offers information that can be used by teachers to better orient classroom assessment toward improved student motivation and learning. Researchers might need to conduct studies linking between perceptions of assessment tasks and other characteristics of students and teachers.

Predicting Students’ Academic Achievement: Contributions of Perceptions of Classroom Assessment Tasks and Motivated Learning Strategies

Introduction. Students are daily exposed to a variety of assessment tasks in the classroom. It has long been recognized that students’ perceptions of the assessment tasks may influence student academic achievement. The present study aimed at predicting academic achievement in mathematics from perceptions of the assessment tasks after controlling for gender and motivated learning strategies.Method. The participants were 232 students enrolled in grade 11 mathematics classes selected from public schools in Oman. Data were collected using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire and Perceptions of Assessment Tasks Inventory. Students’ final grades earned in the subject were obtained from the school administration at the end of the semester.Results. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that consultation and transparency were significantly related to mathematics achievement after controlling for gender and motivated learning strategies.Discussion. The findings contributed to the existing assessment literature by demonstrating the intersection between classroom assessment and self-regulation of learning and their effects on student achievement. Implications and recommendations for research and practice were discussed.

Chinese university students’ perceptions of assessment tasks and classroom assessment environment

Classroom assessment tasks and environment are central to supporting student learning, yet are under-studied at the tertiary level, especially in China’s test-driven culture. This study explores the relationship between students’ perceptions of assessment tasks and classroom assessment environment, within the university context of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in China. A questionnaire was designed and administered, based on Dorman & Knightley’s (2006) Perceptions of Assessment Tasks Inventory (PATI) and Alkharusi’s (2011) scale, in order to measure students’ perceptions of the classroom assessment environment. PATI includes five subscales: congruence with planned learning, authenticity, student consultation, transparency, and diversity. Alkharusi’s scale comprises two subscales: learning-oriented classroom assessment environment and performance-oriented classroom assessment environment. Participants were 620 university students from three universities in China. The factor analysis findings identified the original five-factor PATI, and Alkharusi’s two-factor scales within this Chinese research context. Multiple regression analyses exploring the interrelationship showed that congruence with planned learning, authenticity, student consultation, and transparency significantly predicted the learning-oriented classroom assessment environment, explaining 48 % of the variance. Congruence with planned learning and student consultation negatively, and diversity positively, predicted the performance-oriented classroom assessment environment, explaining 12 % of the variance. The findings highlight the two core values in classroom assessment tasks: congruence with planned learning and student consultation in mediating the classroom environment. This study addresses the research gap in our limited understanding of the relationship between classroom assessment tasks and assessment environment, and aids teachers in structuring their day-to-day classroom assessment practices in support of their students’ learning.

Classroom Assessment: Teacher Practices, Student Perceptions, and Academic Self-Efficacy Beliefs

We examined the effects of teachers' classroom assessment practices and students' perceptions of assessment tasks on students' academic self-efficacy beliefs as 1 dimension of student academic motivation. Participants (N = 1,457) were students sourced from 99 classrooms of public secondary schools in Oman. Results of multilevel analysis showed that student academic self-efficacy beliefs were significantly and positively influenced by students' perceptions of the assessment tasks. Specifically, congruence with planned learning, authenticity, transparency, and diversity all had significant positive influences on self-efficacy beliefs, as did frequent communication by the teacher about the assessment with students and teachers' frequent use of nonachievement grading factors. Implications are discussed for classroom practices and research related to classroom assessment.

The Impact of Students' Perceptions of Assessment Tasks on Self-Eefficacy and Perception of Task Value: A Path Analysis

Using path analysis, we examined the direct effects of students' perceptions of assessment tasks on self-efficacy, and the indirect effects through the students' perception of task value. Data were collected from 2,137 school students in Oman. Their perceptions in terms of congruence with planned learning, authenticity, student consultation, transparency, and diversity were measured using Alkharusi's (2013) Arabic version of Dorman and Knightley's (2006) Perceptions of Assessment Tasks Inventory. Task value and self-efficacy were measured using items from Pintrich, Smith, Garcia, and Mckeachie's (1993) Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Results showed that congruence with planned learning and authenticity had direct effects on self-efficacy. Student consultation and diversity affected self-efficacy indirectly via task value. Transparency had a direct positive effect on self-efficacy. Therefore, students' perceptions of assessment tasks had both direct and indirect effects on their self-efficacy and their perception of task value.

Modeling the Relationship Between Perceptions of Assessment Tasks and Classroom Assessment Environment as a Function of Gender

A substantial proportion of the classroom time involves exposing students to a variety of assessment tasks. As students process these tasks, they develop beliefs about the importance, utility, value, and difficulty of the tasks. This study aimed at deriving a model describing the multivariate relationship between students’ perceptions of the assessment tasks and classroom assessment environment as a function of gender. Using a clustering sampling procedure, participants were 411 students selected from the second cycle of the basic education grades at Muscat public schools in Oman. As defined by McMillan (Educational research: Fundamentals of the consumer, 2012, pp. 176–177), the research design employed in this study was descriptive in nature that includes correlational and comparative aspects. Results revealed statistically significant gender differences with respect to the perceptions of the assessment tasks and classroom assessment environment favoring female students. Also, results showed that for both males and females, a learning-oriented assessment environment tended to be associated with high degrees of congruence with instruction, authenticity, student consultation, and diversity. However, the relationship between performance-oriented assessment environment and perceptions of the assessment tasks differed in male and female classrooms. Implications for instruction and assessment as well as recommendations for future research were discussed.

Perceptions of middle school assessment: an ecological view

Background: The ecology of physical education is created through the interaction of three task systems: managerial task system, instructional task system, and the student social system. Within the ecological framework tasks are presented and task development is influenced by concepts such as ambiguity, risk, and accountability. Teachers' and students' perceptions of assessment tasks have been examined to some extent in physical education; however, they have not been investigated through an ecological lens. Purpose of study: The purpose of this study was to examine middle school students' and their teacher's perceptions of assessment through an ecological lens in order to investigate how assessment influenced both the teacher's and the students' agenda in the classroom. Setting: The research took place in a suburban middle school located in the western part of Massachusetts. Participants: Participants were an intact class of 36 seventh-grade students and their teacher. Research design: Qualitative case study. Data collection and analysis: Data were collected in four ways: (a) videotaped record of each lesson, (b) field notes, (c) formal interviews using a semi-structured interview guide and (d) documents. Field notes and interview data were inductively analyzed using constant comparison. Categories were developed and examined for common elements that ran throughout and tied them together. Themes were then extracted from these categories. Data were selectively coded for examples that illustrated the themes. Results: Three main findings are reported. First, students' perceptions of assessment were influenced by the ambiguity of what was being assessed and the lack of risk associated with their level of performance on the assessments. Although ambiguity was present, there was little to no risk because students were not held formally accountable by a grade exchange for assessment tasks. Second, since the assessments were not used as a form of formal accountability (i.e., not linked to a grade) the students did not value assessment. Furthermore, the teacher did not value assessment tasks because she was not held accountable to assess student learning. Finally the student social system impacted students' perceptions of assessment. The students wanted to have fun and many believed assessments were not fun, rather they were boring. Students also perceived that working with their friends to do assessments resulted in more effort because students wanted to work and socialize with their friends, as well as perform the skills correctly in front of their friends. Conclusions/recommendations: Specific recommendations for practice include designing assessments that are implemented in the context of the activity. Assessments may be more effective as well as meaningful to students if physical educators are able to design assessments that incorporate students' agendas of working with friends and having fun. Future research should be conducted at other educational levels to further ascertain the role of assessment tasks in the ecology of physical education at these levels.

Development and validation of an instrument to assess secondary school students’ perceptions of assessment tasks

Research aimed at developing and validating an instrument to assess secondary school students’ perceptions of assessment tasks was conducted. Following a review of literature, a five‐scale instrument of 40 items was trialled with a sample of 658 science students in 11 English secondary schools. Based on internal consistency reliability data and exploratory factor analysis, refinement decisions resulted in a five‐scale instrument called the Perceptions of assessment tasks inventory (PATI). The scales of the PATI are Congruence with planned learning, Authenticity, Student consultation, Transparency and Diversity.