Genomförda undersökningar visar att formativ bedömning förbättrar elevers inlärning och förståelse. Den svenska läroplanen från 2011 ger tydliga indikationer på att formativ bedömning ska inkluderas i undervisningen. Vår diskussion i denna uppsats är därför aktuell och den visar hur forskare artikulerar fenomenet formativ bedömning. Litteraturstudien inkluderar information om vad formativ bedömning innebär och förslag på hur man kan arbeta utifrån ett sådant arbetssätt. Vår studie visar att de viktigaste komponenterna inom formativ bedömning är att tydliggöra målen, återkoppling samt själv- och kamratbedömning. Beskrivningarna av dessa resulterar i en analys där vi diskuterar det formativa arbetssättet. Både positiva och negativa aspekter tas upp. Vårt syfte med denna uppsats är att införskaffa djupare kunskaper om formativ bedömning likväl för oss själva som för redan aktiva lärare. Vi har en föraning om att många lärare inte har tillräckliga kunskaper kring ämnet och vår förhoppning är att denna uppsats kan fungera som ett verktyg för lärare som arbetar med eller skulle vilja arbeta med formativ bedömning. / Previous research shows that formative assessments improve pupils’ learning and understanding. Also, the Swedish Curriculum 2011 gives clear guidance that formative assessment should be included in school. Our discussion in this essay is therefore needed and it deals with how researchers articulate the phenomenon formative assessment. The study includes information about what formative assessment means and suggestions for how to work with it are given. The main parts within formative assessment are to clarify learning goals, feedback and self- and peer assessment. The information about these main parts ends in an analysis where a discussion about formative assessment and its positive and negative effects takes place.   Furthermore, the purpose of this essay is to inherit deeper knowledge about formative assessment as well for ourselves as for teachers already on duty. We anticipate that many teachers do not have sufficient knowledge about formative assessment and our expectation is that this essay can function as a tool for teachers who work or would like to work with formative assessment.

This thesis focuses on teachers’ assessment practices in primary and lower secondary schools for technology education (Sv. Teknik). It is grounded in my prior experience as a teacher but also addresses the national and international research fields of technology education and assessment. The thesis is based on four papers covering different aspects of teachers’ assessment practices in technology. Its aim is to contribute to knowledge regarding how teachers use assessments in primary and lower secondary school. The thesis explores: teachers’ formal documenting practices; primary teachers’ minute-by-minute classroom assessment; teachers’ views on assessment and finally teachers’ statements and motives relating to criteria for success while assessing students’ e-portfolios. The choice of methods varies, depending on the focus of each sub-study, including quantitative data, collected from official governmental databases, software-generated statistical data and questionnaires as well as qualitative methods such as observations and interviews. Formal documents proved to be unsupportive for teachers’ assessment practices. Lack of instruction and deficiencies in design templates made these documents practically useless. The classroom study shows that the studied teachers have great ambitions for their pupils to succeed but lack collegial support concerning their assessment practices. Findings also show that teachers who are specifically trained in technology show higher self-efficacy regarding their assessment practices. Based on the results from the teachers' assessments of e-portfolios, it is concluded that there is consensus among the teachers to focus on the whole rather than on particular details in student’s work. The overall results strengthen the importance of designing activities and that students should be taught and not left to unreflective doing in technology. Teachers’ assessment practices are complex. This thesis shows that teachers work with assessment in different ways. It is also shown that the educational environment is not supportive enough. Assessment is a necessity in the endeavour of bridging teaching and learning in technology, thus affordance for teachers’ assessment practices must be increased. / <p>QC 20150216</p>

I denna uppsats görs en ansats till att beskriva de åländska grundskollärarnas tolkning och praktiserande av formativt lärande, detta med ett samhällsvetenskapligt perspektiv. Studien görs i ljuset av aktuella pedagogiska mediala inlägg och den trend kring formativa metoder som just nu råder. Resultatet baseras på aktuella nationella (Sverige och Finland) och internationella studier och forskningsöversikter samt aktuella teorier om formativt lärande. Empirin utgörs av en enkätundersökning riktad till samtliga grundskollärare på Åland. Resultat och syntes presenteras utgående från de två frågeställningarna: Vad inbegriper de åländska lärarna i begreppet formativt lärande, samt hur praktiserar de åländska lärarna formativt lärande och vilka samband kan utläsas på basen av förutsättningarna på Åland? De insamlade enkätsvaren består av kvalitativt material vilket sedan kvantifierats inför analyserna. Analyserna utgörs av deskriptiv kvalitativ sammanställning i form av tabeller och katalogisering av utsagor samt genomförande av kvantitativa sambandsanalyser bland annat med hjälp av index. Några allmängiltiga slutsatser låter sig inte formuleras på grund av ett stort externt bortfall men en del tendenser och antydningar träder fram i resultatet. Kring förståelsen av begreppet formativt lärande verkar de flesta åländska lärarna koppla ihop det med de tre metodfaserna: elevens nuläge, mål och vad nästa steg är. Få lärare drar paralleller till att formativt lärande också består av lärarperspektivet där denna skall (om)forma sin egen undervisning. Att feedbacken har en viktig roll inom formativt lärande framträder också i resultatet. Forskningsbaserade utvecklingsarbeten inom pedagogiska områden verkar inte vara utbrett på Åland. Vad gäller de sambandsanalyser som genomförs med bakgrundsvariabler - exempelvis lärarnas examinationsland och arbetserfarenhet - och index är det svårt att dra några slutsatser. Starkast samband går dock att finna mellan index Feedback och index Elevdelaktighet samt mellan index Feedback och index Kollegialt lärande. Resultatet antyder också att lärare med finländsk examen jämfört med de med svensk kan vara mer frekventa användare av formativa metoder. / In this thesis, an effort is made to describe the interpretation and practice of formative learning by the Åland elementary school teachers from a social science perspective. The study is conducted in the light of current pedagogical medial posts and the trend currently surrounding formative methods. The result is based on current national (Sweden and Finland) and international research studies and reviews as well as current theories of formative learning. The empirical data consist of a survey conducted for all primary school teachers in Åland. Results and ideas are presented on the basis of the two questions: What do the Åland teachers include in the concept of formative learning, and how do the Åland teachers practice formative learning and which correlations are possible to derive from the conditions in Åland? The collected survey data consist of qualitative material which then was quantified before the analysis. The analysis consists of a descriptive qualitative synthesis in the form of tables and cataloging of statements as well as the implementation of quantitative correlation analyzes using indexes. Although some general conclusions are difficult to formulate due to a large external drop-out, some trends and suggestions appear in the result. Regarding the concept of formative learning, most Åland teachers seem to make a link with the three methodological stages: the student's current situation, goals and what the next step is. Few teachers draw parallels to the fact that formative learning also consists of the teacher's perspective where the teacher should reshape his/hers own teaching. The fact that feedback has an important role in formative learning is also reflected in the results. Research-based developmental work in educational areas does not appear to be widespread in Åland. With regards to the correlation analysis carried out with background variables, such as the teachers' country of degree and work experience, and indexes, it is difficult to draw any conclusions. However, the strongest correlation can be found between feedback index and student-participation index as well as between feedback index and collegial-learning index. The result also suggests that teachers with Finnish degrees may be more frequent users of formative methods compared to teachers with Swedish degrees.

This thesis provides findings from a qualitative study that explores the assessment process undertaken by teachers in Swedish primary technology education. The thesis aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of how teachers assess in technology education. In this study assessment with the purpose of acquiring information in order to adjust the teaching to the pupils’ needs for future progress is explored in particular. Teachers’ work with assessment is explored in two teacher-focused sub-studies. Sub-study 1 focuses on the long-cycle formative assessment and on the formal documentation of pupils’ attainment, the so-called IDP with written assessment. Sub-study 2 explores the short cycle of formative assessment and highlights two teachers’ classroom assessments practice. The results presented are built upon authentic samples of assessment documents (IDPs), classroom observations and teacher interviews. The study shows that the teachers are alone in the planning, executing and follow-up of technology education. Support is both asked for and needed. / <p>QC 20121109</p>