A study of formative assessment strategies in teachers’ school-based in-service training

Eva Marianne Nyberg, Mona Holmqvist Olander

Abstract


The aim of this study was to explore a team of teachers’ (n=4) use of theoretically based formative assessment strategies within the course of a learning study. The thematic analysis is based on video observations of teachers’ discussions during planning meetings, teaching in the classroom and evaluation meetings. The subject-specific content focused on learning about fractions, specifically the concepts of double and half, in three groups of six- to seven-year-old students (n=51 in total).  An iterative process was used in which the teachers in the study used video recordings as a tool for analyzing their work in the classroom. The thematic analysis shows that the use of a general learning theory – variation theory ­– strengthens the effect of the teachers’ formative assessment. Without explicit use of the assumptions from the theoretical framework, the formative assessment strategies had only a minor impact on students’ learning outcomes.


Keywords


Formative assessment; Classroom-study; Elementary school; Variation theory; Learning studyEducat

Full Text:

PDF

References


Adamson, B., & Walker, E. (2011). Messy collaboration. Learning from a learning study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27, 29-36.

Bennet, R. E. (2011). Formative assessment: A critical review. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 18: 1, 5¬ – 25.

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in education: Principles, Policy and Practice, 5(1), 7–73.

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2009). Developing the theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 5–31.

Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2012). Developing a theory of formative assessment. In J. Gardner (Ed.), Assessment and learning (pp. 206–229). (2nd ed.) London: Sage Publications.

Boyatzis, R.E. (1998). Transforming qualitative information: Thematic analysis and code development. London: SAGE.

Brewer, M. (2000). Research Design and Issues of Validity. In H.T. Reis & C.M. Judd (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology (pp. 3-16). Cambridge, U.K.: University Press.

Elliott, J., & Yu, C. (2008) “Learning Studies as an Educational Change Strategy in Hong Kong: An independent evaluation of the ‘Variation for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning’(VITAL) Projectâ€, funded by the Dept for Education and Manpower, Hong Kong. Published by the Centre for Learning Studies, HK Inst Educ. http://www.ied.edu.hk/cls/resources.htm

Elliott, J., & Yu, C . (2013) Learning Studies in Hong Kong Schools: A Summary Evaluation Report on ‘The Variation for the Improvement of Teaching and Learning’ (VITAL) Project, Education and Didactique, 7(2), 147-163.

Gustavsson, L. (2008). Att bli bättre lärare. Hur undervisningsinnehållets behandling blir till samtalsämne lärare emellan. [To become better teachers. How the handling of the lesson content becomes a topic of conversations between teachers.] Umeå: University of Umeå.

Hermerén, G. (2011). Good research practice. Stockholm: The Swedish Research Council.

Holmqvist, M. (2002). Lärandets pedagogik. Forskningsansökan till Vetenskapsrådet.

[The Pedagogy of Learning. Research application to the Swedish Research Council.] Dnr 721-2002-3386

Holmqvist, M., Gustavsson, L., & A. (2007). Generative learning: learning beyond the learning situation. Educational Action Research, 15(2), 181-208.

Holmqvist, M., Gustavsson, L. & Wernberg, A. (2008) Variation Theory – An Organizing Principle to Guide Design Research in Education. In Kelly, A.E., Lesh, R., &. Baek J. (eds) Handbook of design research methods in education, p 111-130. New York: Routledge.

Holmqvist, M. (2011). Teachers’ learning in a learning study. Instructional Science, 39(4), 497-511.

Holmqvist Olander, M., & Nyberg, E. (2014). Learning study guided by variation theory: Exemplified by children learning to halve and double whole numbers. Journal of Research in Childhood Education . 28(2), 238-260.

James, M., & Pedder, D. (2006). Professional learning as a condition for assessment for learning. In J. Gardner (Ed.), Assessment and learning (pp. 27–43). London: Sage Publications.

Kullberg, A. (2010). What is taught and what is learned: Professional insights gained and shared by teachers of mathematics. Diss. Göteborg : Göteborgs universitet, 2010. Göteborg. http://gupea.ub.gu.se/hdl.handle/2077/22180

Lo, Mun Ling (2012). Variation theory and the improvement of teaching and learning Göteborg: Acta universitatis Gothoburgensis. http://gupea.ub.gu.se/handle/2077/29645¨

Lewis, C. (2015). What is improvement science? Do we need it in education? Educational

Researcher, 44(1), 54-61.

Lewis, C., Perry, R., & Murata, A. (2006). How should research contribute to instructional improvement? The case of lesson study. Educational Researcher, 31(3), 3-14.

Lo, M.L., Pong, W.Y., & Chik, P.M. (Eds.) (2005). For each and everyone: Catering for individual differences through learning study. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.

Lo, M. L., & Marton, F. (2012). Towards a science of the art of teaching: Using variation theory as a guiding principle of pedagogical design. International Journal for Lesson and Learning Studies, 1, 7–22. Doi: 10.1108/20468251211179678

Marton, F. (1981). Phenomenography - describing conceptions of the world around us. Instructional Science, 10, 177-200.

Marton, F. (2003). Learning Study - pedagogisk utveckling direkt i klassrummet. [Learning Study—pedagogical development directly in the classroom]. In Carlgren, I. (Ed.). Forskning av denna världen: praxisnära forskning inom utbildningsvetenskap [Research of this world-practice-oriented research in educational sciences] (pp. 41–46). Stockholm: Vetenskapsrådet [The Swedish Research Council].

Marton, F. (2014). Necessary conditions of learning. New York, N Y: Routledge

Marton, F., & Tsui, A. (2004). Classroom discourse and the space of learning. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Marton, F., & Booth, S. (1997). Learning and awareness. Mahwah, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Olteanu, C., & Lennerstad, H. (2011). Lesson study och Learning study samt IKT i matematikundervisningen: en utvärdering av matematiksatsningen [Lesson Study and Learning Study and ICT in mathematics education: An evaluation of the mathematics initiative]. Stockholm: Fritzes.

Pang, M. F., & Marton, F. (2013). Interaction between the learners’ initial grasp of the object of learning and the learning resource afforded. Instructional Science, 41(6), pp 1065-1082.

Pedder, D., & James, M. (2012) Professional learning as a condition for assessment for learning’. In J. Gardner (Ed), Assessment and Learning (pp. 33-48), (2nd ed.). London: Sage Publications.

Phelan, J., Choi, K., Vendlinski, T., Baker, E., & Herman, J. (2011). Differential Improvement in Student Understanding of Mathematical Principles Following Formative Assessment Intervention. The Journal of Educational Research, Vol 104, pp. 330-339.

Stigler, J.W., & Hiebert, J. (1999). The teaching gap: best ideas from the world's teachers for improving education in the classroom. New York: Free Press.

Stigler, J. W., & Hiebert, J. (2009). The teaching gap: Best ideas from the world’s teachers for improving education in the classroom. New York: Free Press.

Swedish National Agency for Education (2011). Curriculum for the compulsory school system, the pre-school class and the leisure-time centre 2011. Stockholm: Swedish National Agency for Education [Skolverket].

Wernberg, A. (2009). Lärandets objekt: Vad elever förväntas lära sig, vad görs möjligt för dem att lära och vad de faktiskt lär sig under lektionerna [The Object of Learning: What students are expected to learn, what is possible for them to learn and what they actually learn in class]. Umeå: University of Umeå.

Wiliam, D. (2006). Formative Assessment: Getting the Focus Right. Educational Assessment, 11:3-4, 283-289.

Wiliam, D. (2009). An integrative summary of the research literature and implications for a new theory of formative assessment. In H. Andrade & G. J. Cizek (Eds.), Handbook of Formative Assessment (p.18-40). New York: Routledge.

Wiliam, D. (2011). What is assessment for learning? Studies in Educational Evaluation 37, 3–14.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


e-ISSN: 1694-2116

p-ISSN: 1694-2493