REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.4 Formative assessment policy in the context of Ghana
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Cowie and Bell (1999) observed that instructors might plan or prepare to carry out an interactive informal FA, but they cannot plan or determine exactly what they and their students will be doing and the time such an activity will occur. As presented in Figure 2.2, these authors explained that the interactive FA process involves teachers noticing, recognising and responding to students’
thinking, and this process is teacher–student-driven rather than curriculum-driven. For example, as an instructor you must notice whether students appear disengaged or enthusiastic about the topic, recognise their difficulty and respond by looking at the best way of getting each student to the place they need to be.
Similarly, Ruiz‐Primo and Furtak (2007) describe informal FA as “ESRU” cycles: the teacher elicits a question; the student responds; the teacher recognises the student’s response; and then uses the information collected to support students’ learning. According Ruiz‐Primo and Furtak (2007), an incorrect response by a student or an unexpected question can inform the teacher about students’ misunderstanding of classroom activity and can trigger an assessment event. What can be noticed from Cowie and Bell’s (1999) definition and that of Ruiz-Primo and Furtak (2007) is that informal FA happens concurrently during instruction. This suggest that while an instructor is teaching, he or she will be assessing at the same time, because noticing and recognising students’
difficulties or problems happens in the process of teaching, and within that process one needs to respond to the issues. In addition, Yorke (2003) defined informal FA as a form of assessment which takes place in the course of an event and is not specifically stipulated in the curriculum design. Informal FA is therefore not curriculum-specific, and materialises as a result of classroom interaction between the teacher and students. Therefore, it worth noting that informal FA does not happen in a vacuum; rather, it is an ongoing process and takes place during instruction because of interaction between teachers and students.
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Berry (2008) argues that assessment should not only be considered as an end-of activity, which checks if learning expectations have been met. There has been a call on educators to adopt an assessment technique with the prime aim of improving learning, and FA has been identified as that technique. The National Council of Curriculum and Assessment (NaCCA, 2018) of Ghana stated that FA “provides feedback and information during a teaching and learning process, while teaching is taking place, and while learning is occurring” (p. 34). The NaCCA explained that FA measures students’ progress as well as the teachers’ own progress in the content delivery in a manner that ensures that learning is taking place.
According to the NaCCA the purpose of FA in Ghana’s schools is to improve learning and to shape and direct the teaching-learning process; this is consistent with the literature (Black & Wiliam, 1998a; Cauley & McMillan, 2010). FA tools and techniques come in many forms, depending on the topic. The NaCCA (2018, p. 34) listed and recommended to teachers in Ghana FA tools and techniques like:
• Observations during in-class activities.
• Homework exercises as a review of class discussions and signal for future teaching and learning activities.
• Reflection journals that are reviewed periodically during the semester or term.
• Question and answer sessions, both formal (planned) and informal (spontaneous).
• Progress review meetings between the teacher and student at various points in the semester or term.
• In-class activities where students informally present their results.
It is expected that teachers make use of these FA strategies during classroom instruction. This means that teachers are supposed to have a clear understanding of FA, in order to ensure effective implementation in the classroom. It is against this backdrop that this study seeks to explore teacher educators’ understanding and practices of FA in mathematics modules.
Furthermore, the NaCCA (2018) mooted that in the Ghanaian classroom FA should be understood as assessment for learning (AfL), an assessment practice that describes approaches within the formative purpose of assessment. Assessment for learning is designed to give teachers information to modify and differentiate teaching and learning activities (Earl & Katz, 2006). In assessment for
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learning, teachers use assessment as an investigative tool to find out what their students know and can do, and to determine gaps in the students’ learning. According to Perumanathan (2014), assessment for learning encompasses strategies that teachers engage in during teaching and learning. Swaffield (2011) argued that assessment for learning supports and develops students’
learning and enables students to become autonomous and self-regulated learners. In support of Swaffield’s position, Clark (2012) remarked that:
Assessment for learning is beneficial when it provides students support to monitor their progress towards reaching a desirable goal through closing the gap between their current learning status and desired outcome.
Within the context of education in Ghana, assessment for learning (AfL): 1) comprises two phases – diagnostic assessment and FA; 2) can be based on a variety of information sources (e.g.
portfolios, teachers’ observation, conversation, etc.); 3) involves giving verbal or written feedback that is primarily descriptive, emphasises strength and identifies challenges; 4) demands of teachers that they check on students’ understanding and adjust their instruction to keep them on track; 5) involves giving no grades or scores and record-keeping that is primarily anecdotal and descriptive;
and 6) occurs throughout the learning process (NaCCA, 2018).
Assessment for learning includes the function of assessment known as FA, but is wider in scope since it also includes diagnostic and evaluation assessment. Chappus (2003), as cited in Balan (2012, p. 32), argued that:
… it is tempting to equate assessment for learning with the term FA, but they are not the same. Assessment for learning is about far more than testing more frequently or providing teachers with evidence so they can revise instruction, although these are part of it, in addition we now understand that assessment for learning must involve students.
According to the New South Wales education department (2007), as cited in Mercy (2012), assessment for learning is an essential and integral part of the teaching and learning process that
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reflects the belief that all students can improve. This indicates that the primary focus of assessment for learning is promoting students’ learning, and this arises during instruction. In contrast to assessment for learning is assessment of learning (Aof), and the purpose of this kind of assessment is usually summative and mostly done at the end of a task, unit, or course. Assessment of learning is an evaluative activity meant to measure some endpoint status, such as competency of an individual (Boulet, 2008). The assessment is a single process which makes a judgement in accordance with specific criteria and standards; this is summative assessment, and is always the first part of any assessment process (Taras, 2009).
According to Wilson (2018) an assessment activity is summative when it provides a summary of what a student knows, understands or can do, and not for providing feedback which is used to modify the teaching and learning activities in which the students is engaged. Assessment of learning can be inferred as an assessment process designed to determine whether students have acquired specific knowledge or skills, based on a specific benchmark or criteria at the end of an instruction process, and on that basis judgement is made. Harlen (2007) moots that the cardinal purpose of assessment of learning is to summarise what has been learned. Summative assessment is generally used in measuring students’ accountability.
According to Etsey and Gyamfi (2017) assessment as learning (AaL) is the process of developing and supporting students’ metacognition (knowledge of one’s own thought processes). With assessment as learning, students look at their own learning and reflect on their own abilities. Etsay (2016) argued that assessment as learning helps students to take responsibility for their own learning and to monitor future directions. Berry (2014) opined that assessment as learning and assessment for learning both emphasise the role of assessment in support of learning. Berry explained that assessment as learning focuses on the role of the students and encourages active engagement by students, while assessment for learning emphasises the role of the teacher in promoting learning. Etsey and Gyamfi (2017, p. 14) argued that “through the process of assessment as learning, students are able to learn about themselves as learners and become aware of how they learn. They reflect on their work on a regular basis and decide what their next learning will be”.
All of these forms of assessment are needed in the process of teaching and learning, and all are emphasised and captured in the assessment policy of Ghana. However, the practices of teacher
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educators have been more inclined towards assessment of learning that is summative. Drawing from evidence in the literature about the importance of forms of assessment other than assessment of learning, it is imperative to understand how these other forms of assessment are understood and practised by teacher educators.