A Study of Formative Assessment Strategies in Teachers‘ School-Based In-Service Training
Keywords:
Formative assessment, Classroom study, Elementary school, Variation theory; Learning studyAbstract
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.
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