This case study presents an overview of the student perspective on assessment, an area in which there is still little research. The aim of this qualitative study is to investigate the awareness, understanding and experience of assessment from a student perspective by addressing the following research questions: why, what, when, how and by whom are the students’ learning processes assessed? A secondary aim is to investigate if and how teachers work with formative assessment in order to discern possible similarities and differences concerning the perception of assessment between students and teachers of English in upper secondary school. The method employed is qualitative; structured interviews have been carried out with six students and three teachers in two upper secondary schools. The interviewees represent both theoretical and vocational programmes in years 1, 2 and 3. The results show that the students believe that their learning processes are assessed in order to enable their teachers to award the students with a grade, but also in order for the students to develop in their learning processes. The assessment is perceived as a natural feature of the education. However the assessment is not perceived as fully integrated in teaching and learning; teacher-initiated, test-like activities are thought to be of greater importance for the final assessment, according to the students. The teachers, on the other hand, assess all activities equally. Written and oral feedback on the students’ productions and performances is given in relation to assessment matrices; the students appreciate and prefer this type of feedback to a grade which is contrary to what the teachers believe. The assessment is ultimately made by the teachers; students’ self-assessment is a fairly regular feature, while peer-assessment is yet to be implemented in order for the assessment practice to be considered as entirely formative. Lack of time is an oft-repeated reason why the implementation of the different features of formative assessment is being made gradually. This case study contributes to the field of educational research in that it provides an overview of the student perspective on assessment, which needs to be further investigated.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:lnu-39936 |
| Date | January 2015 |
| Creators | Janerdal, Charlotte |
| Publisher | Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för språk (SPR) |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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