Assessment practice in Maldivian schools is undergoing change. The newly developed draft of Maldivian National Curriculum with associated documents aligns assessment, instruction, and curriculum to provide optimum learning conditions for students. The Maldivian Ministry of Education (MOE), in collaboration with UNICEF, has introduced quality indicators for the Child Friendly Baraabaru School (CFBS) based on the Maldivian National Curriculum. These indicators stress the importance of maintaining a balance between assessment for learning (formative assessment) and assessment of learning (summative assessment). The dissemination and implementation of best practices in formative assessment are currently underway in Maldivian schools. This study portrays a “snapshot in time” of assessment practices of three teachers and utilizes the findings to provide an insight into the MOE’s initiative of assessment innovations in Maldivian classrooms and schools. The study found that the three teachers have to practice formative assessment within high quality interactions based on thoughtful questions, attend to responses, and with observation and documentation to reflect a valid picture of the whole child. Nevertheless, the study also showed how the three teachers separated assessment from teaching and learning as well as how the teachers documented and reported this assessment data. There is a strong element of competition for academic achievement, as reported in grades and numerical scores. The competition is amongst students, teachers and parents. This competition appears to get in the way of assessment being used to support teaching and learning. Nonetheless, when the research data was explored through a formative assessment lens, there was also evidence of formative assessment being used in the normal day-to-day happenings in the three classrooms. The teachers in this study were not always confident in their use of formative assessment, and did not necessarily recognize when they were using formative assessment strategies. They all wanted all of their students to be successful learners, and they wanted to be good teachers. The study shows some of the complexities that teachers face when implementing new approaches to assessment.

Konstanz, Univ., Diplomarb., 2003.

Saarbrücken, Univ., Diplomarb., 1997.

Bachelor-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2004.

A avaliação formativa, apesar de ter sido inicialmente pensada por Scriven há mais de 30 anos, e ser discutida por diversos autores nas últimas décadas, ainda é pouco utilizada, tanto nos cursos presenciais como a distância. Somente nos últimos anos, com a adoção de ciclos de aprendizagem, a preocupação maior com o processo de ensino-aprendizagem e com o crescimento dos cursos a distância, essa abordagem de avaliação começou a ganhar mais importância. Na Educação a Distância, a avaliação formativa tem se mostrado uma excelente alternativa, por propiciar aos professores um acompanhamento mais próximo e mais individualizado de seus alunos e por permitir que professores e alunos regulem o processo de ensino-aprendizagem. Independente do processo avaliativo, o desenvolvimento de conteúdos digitais educacionais na forma de objetos de aprendizagem tem sido uma solução crescente na EAD. Para tanto, modelos de portabilidade e interoperabilidade, como o SCORM, proporcionaram uma grande evolução em termos de reusabilidade, portabilidade e interoperabilidade e, aliados à utilização de licenças que permitam a livre utilização, distribuição e modificação, possibilitam ao ambiente acadêmico facilmente intercambiar objetos de aprendizagem, independente de plataforma de hardware e software. Dessa forma, o desenvolvimento de objetos de aprendizagem, largamente utilizados na EAD, deveria levar em consideração o processo de avaliação formativa. Com base nessas constatações, a presente pesquisa buscou identificar quais critérios deveriam ser levados em consideração para o encapsulamento e a utilização de Objetos de Aprendizagem Abertos SCORM em Ambientes Virtuais de Aprendizagem, a fim de apoiar o processo de avaliação formativa. / Formative evaluation is still little employed in both face-to-face and distance learning courses, although it has been first studied by Scriven over thirty years ago and has been discussed by various authors in the last few decades. Only recently has this evaluation approach started to gain importance, with the adoption of learning cycles, a mounting concern over the teaching-learning process, and an increase in distance learning courses. In distance learning, formative evaluation has proved to be an excellent alternative, since it provides teachers a closer and more individualized observation of their students and for allowing both the former and the latter to adjust the teaching-learning process. Regardless of the evaluation process, the development of educational digital contents in the form of learning objects has increasingly presented itself as a solution in distance learning. For this purpose, portability and interoperability models such as SCORM have provided a great advancement in terms of reusability, portability and interoperability, which, combined with licenses that enable free use, distribution and modification, allow the Academia to easily interchange learning objects irrespective of hardware and software platforms. Therefore, the development of learning objects, largely used in distance learning, should take into account the formative evaluation process. Based on such findings, the present research aims to identify which criteria should be considered in the information hiding of SCORM Open Learning Objects in Virtual Learning Environments, in order to support the formative evaluation process.

This thesis provides evidence for patterned and pervasive ritual symbolism through use of animals and animal imagery in early Mesoamerican villages. I look at the faunal remains excavated from Early and Middle Formative (1350-850 B.C) domestic and ceremonial contexts at the Mixteca Alta site of Tayata, Oaxaca. I focus on the presence of exotic and locally available fauna including: domesticated dog, fish, turtle, small bird and nine-banded armadillo. By investigating the variable use of these animals in purposeful domestication, seasonal celebrations, autosacrifice, as musical instruments and in conjunction with building dedications, I highlight their importance to understanding broader patterns in the site as a whole. Specifically, I compare the presence of these animals at Tayata to other contemporary artifact assemblages, regional iconography, linguistic data, ethnographic descriptions and ethnohistoric accounts of Oaxaca and Mesoamerica. This investigation of ritual deposits within village-level societies provides a means to understand larger socio-political dynamics in this region. Based on the evidence provided, the use of animals in ritual activity at Tayata fits into larger spatial and temporal patterns of local and exotic faunal assemblages seen throughout Formative Mesoamerica. The importance of ritual activity is seen in the association of these animals within residential, ceremonial and elite deposits across multiple sites, indicating an increase in socio-political complexity as well as the presence of a Pan-Mesoamerican belief system during the Early and Middle Formative Periods. This study integrates faunal data within larger patterns of cultural activity including architectural style and zoomorphic figurines. Finally, this approach provides a more thorough understanding of the importance of looking at the context of all artifact types, even those which exist in small quantities, to form a broader perspective on a site or region.

For teachers, being able to provide feedback that learners can act upon is paramount for making learning how to write possible. A questionnaire was sent out to students in Swedish Upper Secondary School. The intent was to identify how students perceive feedback, as well as how they react and interpret the feedback they receive on written texts. The results are then used in a discussion that aims to draw attention to the potential implications that feedback may have on students’ motivation to write. In this study, Nicol and Macfarlane-Dick’s seven principles for feedback serve as a measurement for what constitutes good feedback. The results suggest that when a certain form of feedback is not commonly used by teachers or is used differently by different teachers, then the feedback becomes difficult to interpret for students. The respondents consider themselves regular recipients of feedback but struggle with interpreting feedback when there are variations in teachers’ practices in applying feedback.

A avaliação formativa, apesar de ter sido inicialmente pensada por Scriven há mais de 30 anos, e ser discutida por diversos autores nas últimas décadas, ainda é pouco utilizada, tanto nos cursos presenciais como a distância. Somente nos últimos anos, com a adoção de ciclos de aprendizagem, a preocupação maior com o processo de ensino-aprendizagem e com o crescimento dos cursos a distância, essa abordagem de avaliação começou a ganhar mais importância. Na Educação a Distância, a avaliação formativa tem se mostrado uma excelente alternativa, por propiciar aos professores um acompanhamento mais próximo e mais individualizado de seus alunos e por permitir que professores e alunos regulem o processo de ensino-aprendizagem. Independente do processo avaliativo, o desenvolvimento de conteúdos digitais educacionais na forma de objetos de aprendizagem tem sido uma solução crescente na EAD. Para tanto, modelos de portabilidade e interoperabilidade, como o SCORM, proporcionaram uma grande evolução em termos de reusabilidade, portabilidade e interoperabilidade e, aliados à utilização de licenças que permitam a livre utilização, distribuição e modificação, possibilitam ao ambiente acadêmico facilmente intercambiar objetos de aprendizagem, independente de plataforma de hardware e software. Dessa forma, o desenvolvimento de objetos de aprendizagem, largamente utilizados na EAD, deveria levar em consideração o processo de avaliação formativa. Com base nessas constatações, a presente pesquisa buscou identificar quais critérios deveriam ser levados em consideração para o encapsulamento e a utilização de Objetos de Aprendizagem Abertos SCORM em Ambientes Virtuais de Aprendizagem, a fim de apoiar o processo de avaliação formativa. / Formative evaluation is still little employed in both face-to-face and distance learning courses, although it has been first studied by Scriven over thirty years ago and has been discussed by various authors in the last few decades. Only recently has this evaluation approach started to gain importance, with the adoption of learning cycles, a mounting concern over the teaching-learning process, and an increase in distance learning courses. In distance learning, formative evaluation has proved to be an excellent alternative, since it provides teachers a closer and more individualized observation of their students and for allowing both the former and the latter to adjust the teaching-learning process. Regardless of the evaluation process, the development of educational digital contents in the form of learning objects has increasingly presented itself as a solution in distance learning. For this purpose, portability and interoperability models such as SCORM have provided a great advancement in terms of reusability, portability and interoperability, which, combined with licenses that enable free use, distribution and modification, allow the Academia to easily interchange learning objects irrespective of hardware and software platforms. Therefore, the development of learning objects, largely used in distance learning, should take into account the formative evaluation process. Based on such findings, the present research aims to identify which criteria should be considered in the information hiding of SCORM Open Learning Objects in Virtual Learning Environments, in order to support the formative evaluation process.

The subject of my graduation is an analyse of the language of Šimon Lomnický z Budče in his publication Instrukcí aneb Krátké naučení hospodáře mladého... (1586). The thesis reports about the characteristic of phonetic, formative and lexical side of his language. The main attention is devoted to the word-stock and its analyse from different points of view including the phraseology. The purpose of the thesis is an evaluation of the language of Šimon Lomnický as a representative of the period language at the turn of 16th and 17th century.

A avaliação formativa, apesar de ter sido inicialmente pensada por Scriven há mais de 30 anos, e ser discutida por diversos autores nas últimas décadas, ainda é pouco utilizada, tanto nos cursos presenciais como a distância. Somente nos últimos anos, com a adoção de ciclos de aprendizagem, a preocupação maior com o processo de ensino-aprendizagem e com o crescimento dos cursos a distância, essa abordagem de avaliação começou a ganhar mais importância. Na Educação a Distância, a avaliação formativa tem se mostrado uma excelente alternativa, por propiciar aos professores um acompanhamento mais próximo e mais individualizado de seus alunos e por permitir que professores e alunos regulem o processo de ensino-aprendizagem. Independente do processo avaliativo, o desenvolvimento de conteúdos digitais educacionais na forma de objetos de aprendizagem tem sido uma solução crescente na EAD. Para tanto, modelos de portabilidade e interoperabilidade, como o SCORM, proporcionaram uma grande evolução em termos de reusabilidade, portabilidade e interoperabilidade e, aliados à utilização de licenças que permitam a livre utilização, distribuição e modificação, possibilitam ao ambiente acadêmico facilmente intercambiar objetos de aprendizagem, independente de plataforma de hardware e software. Dessa forma, o desenvolvimento de objetos de aprendizagem, largamente utilizados na EAD, deveria levar em consideração o processo de avaliação formativa. Com base nessas constatações, a presente pesquisa buscou identificar quais critérios deveriam ser levados em consideração para o encapsulamento e a utilização de Objetos de Aprendizagem Abertos SCORM em Ambientes Virtuais de Aprendizagem, a fim de apoiar o processo de avaliação formativa. / Formative evaluation is still little employed in both face-to-face and distance learning courses, although it has been first studied by Scriven over thirty years ago and has been discussed by various authors in the last few decades. Only recently has this evaluation approach started to gain importance, with the adoption of learning cycles, a mounting concern over the teaching-learning process, and an increase in distance learning courses. In distance learning, formative evaluation has proved to be an excellent alternative, since it provides teachers a closer and more individualized observation of their students and for allowing both the former and the latter to adjust the teaching-learning process. Regardless of the evaluation process, the development of educational digital contents in the form of learning objects has increasingly presented itself as a solution in distance learning. For this purpose, portability and interoperability models such as SCORM have provided a great advancement in terms of reusability, portability and interoperability, which, combined with licenses that enable free use, distribution and modification, allow the Academia to easily interchange learning objects irrespective of hardware and software platforms. Therefore, the development of learning objects, largely used in distance learning, should take into account the formative evaluation process. Based on such findings, the present research aims to identify which criteria should be considered in the information hiding of SCORM Open Learning Objects in Virtual Learning Environments, in order to support the formative evaluation process.