Performance Assessment and Authentic Assessment: A Conceptual Analysis of the Literature

Performance assessment and authentic assessment are recurrent terms in the literature on education and educational research. They have both been given a number of different meanings and unclear definitions and are in some publications not defined at all. Such uncertainty of meaning causes difficulties in interpretation and communication and can cause clouded or misleading research conclusions. This paper reviews the meanings attached to these concepts in the literature and describes the similarities and wide range of differences between the meanings of each concept. Accessed 54,055 times on https://pareonline.net from April 11, 2008 to December 31, 2019. For downloads from January 1, 2020 forward, please click on the PlumX Metrics link to the right

Predicting formative feedback practices: improving learning and minimising a tendency to ignore feedback

IntroductionTeacher conceptions of feedback ideally predict their feedback practices, but little robust evidence identifies which beliefs matter to practices. It is logical to presume that teacher conceptions of feedback would align with the policy framework of an educational jurisdiction. The Teacher Conceptions of Feedback (TCoF) inventory was developed in New Zealand which has a relatively low-stakes, formative policy framework.MethodsThis study surveyed 451 Swedish teachers working in Years 1-9, a policy context that prioritises teachers using multiple data sources to help students learn. The study used a translated version of the TCoF inventory, but isolated six items related to formative feedback practices from various factors.ResultsA six-factor TCoF was recovered (Praise, Improvement, Ignore, Required, PASA, and Timely), giving partial replication to the previous study. A well-fitting structural equation model showed formative practices were predicted by just two conceptions of feedback (i.e., feedback improves learning and students may ignore feedback).DiscussionThis study demonstrates that the TCoF inventory can be used to identify plausible relations from feedback beliefs to formative feedback practices

Antecedents and Relative Importance of Student Motivation for Science and Mathematics Achievement in TIMSS

Although motivation has been shown to have substantial influence on learning, the relative significance of Students’ motivational characteristics, compared to other school-related factors, for student learning and performance is still unclear. Furthermore, knowledge about the relative importance of different situational variables for predicting these motivational characteristics is crucial for educational decisions about how to enhance student motivation. This study examined (1) the relative importance of motivational characteristics derived from five different theories on motivation and epistemic beliefs, compared to almost 300 situational factors, for predicting student performance on the TIMSS 2011 achievement tests in science and mathematics, and (2) how student motivational characteristics can be predicted by the background variables in the TIMSS 2011 questionnaires and an additional questionnaire about motivation accompanying TIMSS in Sweden. Up to 52% of the variation in student performance could be predicted by models containing all background variables, and student motivational characteristics were among the most important variables in the model. Models that comprised only student motivational characteristics from several motivation theories predicted up to 27% of student performance on the achievement test, while models using only single motivational characteristics predicted, on average, 7%. Results emphasize teachers’ importance for student motivation. Five teacher features were consistently among the most important variables in predicting Students’ motivational characteristics. These five variables predicted as much of the variation in important student motivational characteristics as the remaining 300 situational variables together.Interaction between the learner and the learning environment: Effects on the learner’s affective experiences and learning outcome

Expectancy-value theory as an explanatory theory for the effect of professional development programmes in formative assessment on teacher practice

Research has identified characteristics of professional development programmes (PDPs) that are important for accomplishing change in teachers’ practice and student achievement. However, these characteristics do not predict and guarantee the outcomes of a specific PDP. In the present study the authors investigated whether the expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation can be used to explain teachers’ change of practice. Through teacher interviews and questionnaires the authors investigated why randomly selected year-7 teachers, after participating in a PDP on formative assessment, changed their practice in ways identified in an earlier study, and why these changes differed from those of year-4 teachers participating in a similar PDP. The results show that expectancy-value theory can be used to explain both the schoolyear-7 teachers’ changes in practice, and why the PDP for the year-7 teachers produced different outcomes in teacher practice than the parallel PDP, with the same general design features, did for the year-4 teachers

A professional development program in formative assessment for mathematics teachers – Which changes did the teachers do and why?

International audienceThis study is part of a larger research project about a comprehensive professional development program (PDP) in formative assessment for mathematics teachers. The aim of the study is to investigate in which ways the teachers' classroom practice change, with respect to formative assessment, after participating in the PDP, and which some of the reasons may be for these changes. Fourteen randomly chosen grade-seven mathematics teachers participated in the PDP. The teachers were interviewed and their classroom practices observed, before and after the PDP. They also answered two questionnaires about the PDP. Preliminary results show that all teachers were motivated to change and did change their practice, but to varying degrees

Characteristics of improved formative assessment practice

An earlier study showed that the changes in teachers’ classroom practice, after participation in a professional development program in formative assessment, significantly improved student achievement in mathematics. The teachers in that study were a random selection of Year 4 teachers in a Swedish mid-sized municipality. In the present study, we analyse and describe the characteristics of these changes in classroom practice, which were based on a combination of various strategies for formative assessment. Data were collected through teacher interviews and classroom observations. The teachers implemented many new activities that strengthened a formative classroom practice based on identifying student learning needs and modifying the teaching and learning accordingly. The characteristics of the changes the teachers made reveal the complexity of this formative assessment practice and why such developments of practice are likely to require major changes in most teachers’ practices. We also discuss how such changes in practice afford new learning opportunities

Reasons for teachers' successful development of a formative assessment practice through professional development : a motivation perspective

Formative assessment has been shown to have the potential to significantly enhance student achievement, but a strong research base about how to support teachers to implement such a practice is lacking. This is particularly so for a conceptualisation of formative assessment as a unity of integrated formative assessment strategies. The aim of this study is to investigate why the mathematics teachers who participated in a successful professional development programme in formative assessment developed their formative classroom practice to such an extent that it had a significant impact on student achievement. An analysis of data from teacher questionnaires and interviews shows that the teachers' actions can be explained by expectancy-value theory of achievement motivation. Characteristics of the professional development programme that the teachers experienced as important for their development of a formative classroom practice are identified, and the characteristics' affordances for the development of the teachers' expectancy and value beliefs are discussed.Originally included in thesis in manuscript form</p

The effect of a formative assessment practice on student achievement in mathematics

Research has shown that formative assessment can enhance student learning. However, it is conceptualised and implemented in different ways, and its effects on student achievement vary. A need has been identified for experimental studies to carefully describe both the characteristics of implemented formative assessment practices and their impact on student achievement. We examined the effects on student achievement of changes in formative assessment of a random sample of 14 secondary school mathematics teachers after a professional development programme. This study describes practices implemented and students’ achievement as measured by pre-tests and post-tests. We found no significant differences in achievement on the post-test, after controlling for pre-test scores, between the intervention group and control group, and no significant correlation between the number of formative assessment activities implemented and the post-test scores (controlled for the pre-test scores). We discuss characteristics of formative assessment implementations that may be critical for enhancing student achievement.This article is based on parts of a doctoral dissertation by Boström (2017).</p