Peer assessment actively engages peers in the formative assessment and evaluation of work produced by a peer. This thesis explores how social processes, such as classroom talk, influence the quality of children’s learning in more interactive contexts of PA. This focus is needed since children often find PA challenging as they may not have the interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively leading them to use talk ineffectively as a tool for learning. This research was interventionist and children in the year three and four classes I taught received Thinking Together lessons as a strategy to enhance the quality of their talk in contexts of peer assessment. Methods used to examine the impact of the talk intervention, and to gain greater insights into the role that the social context plays in peer assessment, included transcribed digital audio recordings, open ended observations, semi-structured interviews, mind maps and children’s work. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic coding analysis whilst data in transcripts were quantitatively analysed to calculate the frequency of words and phrases associated with exploratory talk before and after the intervention. Findings suggest that children’s characteristics influence the way they communicate in contexts of PA and some of the most challenging learners seemed to benefit most from the talk intervention in terms of its influence on their ability to collaborate, hypothesise and reason throughout the peer assessment tasks. The findings also draw attention to previously under-researched PA social processes such as discussion, negotiation and peer questioning that lead to outcomes for learners such as self assessment. The main conclusions drawn are that more interactive kinds of peer assessment might be viewed as a differentiated and discursive practice where teachers consider the various needs of learners, based on their individual characteristics, and provide appropriate support so they are able to collaborate and use language for mediating effective PA practice.

The diploma thesis has got a theoretical and research character. The theoretical part deals with the school assessment and evaluation methods. Considerable attention is paid to formative assessment, portfolio and work with the assessment. The results of the research are presented in the research section, the research was focused on work with a portfolio in the concept of two different teachers. Part of the research is devoted to presentations of the final portfolio, which will be held at the end of the 5th class. Furthermore, there are interviews with pupils about portfolicontain. KEYWORDS School evaluation Formative assessment Verbal evaluation Self-assessment Portfolio

American students no longer lead the world in quantitative skills. This decline in mathematical ability has potentially significant negative national and personal consequences. Math anxiety, low self-efficacy in relation to math, and a sense of hopelessness about math are all possible barriers to being successful in learning and using math, not only in school but ultimately in many aspects of adult life. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between hope, expectation, math anxiety (positive and negative affect related components), and students’ final course scores in College Algebra within the context of an instructional strategy intended to improve student achievement and reduce math anxiety. Data were collected from 214 College Algebra students in 12 different classrooms, taught by five instructors using this strategy. These data were analyzed using multilevel modeling. Within the context of the study, the scores students hoped to earn and pre-course negative affect related math anxiety subscores did not significantly influence their final course scores. However, the scores students expected to earn and positive affect related math anxiety subscores did impact final course scores. Scores students hoped to earn at the beginning of the course were significantly related to total math anxiety as well as positive and negative affect related math anxiety subscores at the end of the course. Classroom average attitudes, including averages of scores students hoped to earn, scores students expected to earn, and math anxiety scores were significantly related to post-course positive and negative affect related math anxiety subscores and total post-course math anxiety. The number of students indicating that they enjoyed math and would like to take more math classes in the future was higher at the end of the course than at the beginning. Fewer students disagreed with every negative affect related item on the instrument at the end of the course than did at the beginning, indicating improving affect. Instructional strategies similar to the one used in this study may provide a rich context for supporting student achievement and improving attitudes towards math in College Algebra. The results of this study may help inform the work of practitioners through improved understanding of the impact and interactions of hope, expectation, math anxiety, classroom attitudes, and achievement.

The study assessed the knowledge structure of Grade 11 physics students and their instructors using Pathfinder networks. Instructors’ structural knowledge was averaged to create a referent pathfinder network. Each student’s pathfinder network was compared with the referent pathfinder network in order to identify misconceptions. These misconceptions served as the basis for remedial instruction. The study was conducted in six sections of Grade 11. Three different types of remedial instruction based on three different chapters from the Grade 11 physics textbook were given to the students at three separate stages. In the first section, students were shown their own and referent pathfinder networks as an intervention during the first stage. The students were asked to reflect on the similarities and differences between them. The researcher gave written concept-oriented exercises based on the differences at the second stage, and multimedia concept-oriented instruction based on the differences was given to the students at the third stage. The order of instruction was counterbalanced in all the six sections. After each stage, students’ pathfinder networks were reassessed and the similarities between students’ and the referent pathfinder networks were calculated to measure the effect of a particular intervention. The study tried to determine which type of remedial instruction given to students best improved the knowledge structure of the students in the domain of physics. Results revealed that the similarity indices around the treatment concepts in the pathfinder networks of the students increased the most from pre- to post-intervention phase because of their reflections, followed by multimedia concept-oriented instruction and written concept-oriented exercises. Most likely, the major reason for this change was the interventions around the treatment concepts by the researcher at three different stages which stimulated and probably changed some of students’ misconceptions. To address the issue of validity, the similarity indices of control concepts in the students’ pathfinder networks were also checked for improvement. The result shows that there is no appreciable improvement in control concepts as there was no intervention around those concepts. Findings support the use of structural assessment of knowledge with pathfinder scaling technique to check the effectiveness of a classroom instruction.

This study looks deeper into the concept of formative assessment. Formative assessment is described by Black and Wiliam (Developing the Theory of Formative Assessment, 2009) as being a process using tools. The mindset of formative assessment can be difficult to grasp. Therefore, this study takes up the question if and how an understanding of the formative assessment mindset is reflected in the teaching practice of teachers in the English Language Acquisition classroom. Five lectures were observed of different teachers and groups of students, in an upper secondary school in Sweden. An additional questionnaire gave insight into the mindset of the participating teachers concerning the meaning of the term formative assessment as well as their teaching practice. The definitions the teachers gave varied in complexity and this was also reflected in their teaching. Only one teacher embedded the process of formative assessment with all the 5 key strategies of formative assessment in her lecture. By comparing classroom practice and the understanding of the teachers of what formative assessment entails, I found that the more inclusive of the 5 key strategies the understanding of the teachers was, the more their teaching practice was formed by it. Furthermore, to be able to use the 5 key strategies of formative assessment needs skill and practice, and therefore training of teachers is necessary.

In today's society it is necessary to have good literacy to even manage in life. When it comes to school, reading is important for success in all subjects and to acquire new knowledge. It is therefore of great importance that reading education works well in school and that student’s literacy development stimulates. The purpose of this study is to examine individualized reading education based on how three teachers in grade 2 describe their activity. The study also aims to examine the importance of formative assessment of students' reading skills before individualized reading education.   Through qualitative studies consisting interviews and observations with the teachers have three research questions been answered. The questions of the study are; how do the teachers say that they individualize reading education? How do teachers relate to individualized education? Which formative assessments are made by teachers before individualizing reading education and how do they reflect on them?   Based on, among other things, Vintereks individualization types and Sandler's theory of formative assessment, the results have shown that the teachers adapt their individual students' reading education based on their needs and circumstances. The result also shows that teachers are positive to individualize education for the students, but they believe it may be difficult when students have different needs appearing on different times as well as the time spent on the administration of the work instead of on the students. This means that circumstances in the classroom and the school's structural conditions put obstacles for teachers to individualize the education for the students completely. The teachers believe that it is important to do formative assessments of students to know where they are in their reading development and how to move forward to achieve their goals.

Classroom response systems have become popular in K–12 and higher education settings in recent years in order to gauge student learning. The physical education environment is unique in that it is difficult to manage the technology associated with these systems, and therefore, student assessment can be cumbersome. A free classroom response system is available that requires very little technology, is easy to use, and can provide feedback on student learning in an instant. This article will discuss Plickers as a real-time formative assessment tool that teachers can use to enhance assessment of student learning in physical education settings from K–12 to higher education.

Formal assessment in education focuses on summative assessment in the form of grade allocation. This has limitations on the learning process for students. Formative assessment should also be incorporated into learning as an integral part as it offers many benefits. Reflective learning in the form of self-assessment is central to the process of formative assessment. Students, however, tend not to engage in the process of self-assessment. This skill can be developed by educators in an educational setting, but educators tend not to create an environment in which students can self-assess. The study explored students’ perceptions of the self-assessment process once they had been exposed to it over a period of time in a facilitated environment. This encouraged them to engage in the process and develop the skill of self-assessment. The research method was exploratory in nature and was conducted by means of a design experiment in which students were encouraged to self-assess on three occasions during the 2012 academic year. Data was then collected from the students by means of a structured survey. The results of this study indicated that students tended not to self-assess if not encouraged to do so. However, once given the opportunity to do so in an environment which supported it, students were positive about the process of self-assessment. They believed that it would improve their overall academic performance and indicated that they would continue to apply self-assessment to their studies in future. This study concluded that students were positive about self-assessment and that they applied it accurately and in a meaningful manner to their studies in an environment which supported it. / Dissertation (MCom)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / lmchunu2014 / Taxation / unrestricted

This study aimed to investigate whether there was evidence of variation in the quality of School-Based Assessment (SBA), with specific reference to Grade 9 mathematics. Assessment has been a prime focal point for educational reform in recent years. In the South African context, there are common external assessments carried out below Grade 12. However, assessments are placed entirely in the hands of individual teachers. Moderation and monitoring as quality assurance mechanisms are also conducted internally at varying degrees, which raises the issues regarding the validity, reliability, and credibility of SBA tasks. Learner achievement in mathematics had recently been a debated issue in national and international assessments. Furthermore, South Africa's Grade 9 learners have been performing below the expected levels in mathematics as compared to the rest of the world. A qualitative research approach was used within a case study research design. Purposeful sampling was employed, and five schools with 15 participants were selected. The data were collected through questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, observations and field notes, and were triangulated by document analysis in order to make the findings and conclusions more reliable. This study revealed that there is a varying degree in the quality of mathematics SBA tasks, and a lack of knowledge about quality assurance mechanisms. In addition, the study revealed that the participating teachers lacked knowledge on how to develop high quality SBA tasks. This study followed Scheeren's input-process-output model (2004), which was further adapted to provide an opportunity to identify enhancing or impeding issues associated with the quality of SBA and learner achievement at Grade 9 level. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / MEd / Unrestricted

This study aimed to investigate the role of classroom formative assessment practice in geography. Although geography enjoys a good pass rate percentage in the Grade 12 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations, the concern remains about the average and the number of distinctions produced annually. A Framework for Learning-Oriented Assessment was used as a conceptual framework which guided this study. Research questions that guided this study aimed at investigating the possible role of classroom formative strategies or techniques on learner performance in geography, the extent to which School-Based Assessment (SBA) is used as a formative tool, the provision of feedback and the learners’ role in geography assessment. The qualitative data was collected through structured interviews, document analysis and observation involving six FET phase geography teachers from three different schools in Tshwane West District (D15). The findings of this study indicated that the participating Geography teachers in the FET phase were committed to using differential assessment practices in their classroom to improve their learners’ results. Though, their main focus was on summative assessment, and little attention was given to the formative assessment practice. It was against this background that this study recommended that Geography teachers should be formally trained/workshopped on assessment strategies. Secondly, there is a need to infuse SBA effectively as a formative assessment aspect of the curriculum in order to improve learner performance. Lastly, to further research the significance of assessment for learning in the South African context to strengthen the education system. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria 2020. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / MEd / Unrestricted