REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.5 Teaching and learning of mathematics: The role of assessments
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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.
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ongoing learning process, Wiliam et al. (2004) remarked that teachers must introduce FA into their classroom practices.
Smith and Gorard (2005), in agreement with Wiliam et al. (2004), add that assessment can only be formative if it feeds back into the teaching–learning process, and that in order for students to improve, effective feedback should enable them to know exactly what they have to do to close the gap between actual and desired performance. Boud (2000) suggested that renewed focus be placed on the role of FA, in order to focus learners’ attention on the process and to permit them to learn how to make the processes their own. The key principle emphasised here is that FA has to be intimately connected with the process of teaching and learning (Black & Wiliam, 2009). In support of this, Raveaud (2004) posits that assessment does not stand outside teaching and learning, but stands in dynamic interaction with it. This gives credence to the fact that, if assessment is to guide learning, then it must reflect the criteria (learning goals) which are set out in a learning sequence.
2.6 Teachers’ knowledge and practices of formative assessment
Over the years, teacher educators have developed programmatic initiatives which help in the goals of educating prospective teachers (Zeichner, 2005). Teacher educators play significant role in the preparation of pre-service teachers in becoming assessment literate and able to practice after training. Hence, an exploration of teacher educators’ understanding, and practices of FA will provide insight into the kind of assessment practices their students are exposed to. Teachers need a better understanding of FA in order to be able to implement it effectively in the classroom to enhance learning. Cassim (2010) notes that the beliefs and understanding that teachers hold about teaching, learning and assessment inform their classroom practices.
2.6.1 Teachers’ Knowledge of formative assessment
Yao (2015) observed that teachers feel assessment represents a transitional stage in the teaching and learning process, and marks the end of one learning session and the beginning of another.
However, Kumator (2017) opined that assessment that supports students’ learning does not need to occur as the end product of instruction, but instead needs to occur prior to learning, during learning and after learning. This view is in support of Cowie and Bell’s (1999) idea of interactive assessment. Vandeyar and Killen (2007) explored educators’ conceptions and practices of
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classroom assessment in post-apartheid South Africa, and concluded that educators need to be trained in the pedagogy of assessment since they cannot use assessment strategies which they do not understand or lack the skills to implement. Similarly, Hariparsad (2004) stated that teachers have a surface understanding of assessment practices, and this affects their beliefs about classroom assessment. If teachers need to be trained on how to make assessment interactive, then it means that the people responsible for training student-teachers (pre-service teachers) should have expertise in that. It is for this reason that this study aims to explore teacher educators’ knowledge and practice of FA.
Amoako, Asamoah and Bortey (2019) investigated senior high school Mathematics teachers’
knowledge of FA and their knowledge was found to be low. Arrafii and Sumarni (2018) also examined teachers’ understanding of FA in the context of English Language. The study adopted a self-designed questionnaire named the Teacher FA Literacy Questionnaire (TFALTQ) for data generation. Using a case of 243 teachers, the authors found that teachers had a poor understanding of FA. Similarly, Arumugham et al. (2017) studied Malaysian 10 secondary school teachers’
understanding of FA and found that they did not have in-depth understanding of FA.
According to Arumugham, Abdullah and Mahmud (2017), analysis of teachers’ understanding of FA discovered three conceptions: 1) FA as testing and measuring method, 2) FA as a monthly grading, and 3) FA as an enrichment activity. Kanjee and Mthembu (2015) investigated Foundation Phase teachers’ assessment literacy and understanding and use of formative and summative assessments in the classroom. Participants in their study were all females, and the results showed that the teachers demonstrated very poor understanding of FA. This implies that teachers are unable to use FA to support their students’ learning. In another study Harris (2016) used interviews and lesson observations to examine how elementary mathematics teachers understand FA in relation to their classroom instruction. The result indicate that the teachers had some level of understanding of FA.
2.6.2 Teachers’ practices of formative assessment
In 2014, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)(2014) endorsed the integration of FA strategies in daily instruction. Thacker (2016) studied middle school teachers’
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implementation of FA practices in semi -rural Northwest Georgia district in the United State of America by employing a transcendental phenomenological design and reported the following findings. Firstly, the study revealed that teachers’ implementation of FA practices is evolving with experiences and social – cultural interactions. Thacker also found that teachers desire to know their students academically, socially, and emotionally through FA practices. Thirdly, the study established that teachers need to develop a common language and shared expectations for formative assessment practices. Cisterna and Gotwals (2018) in their study, aimed at what teachers can do when enacting FA, found that teachers were able to enact some components of formative assessment in a piecemeal fashion but tended to struggle with integrating FA practices to enact seamless science instruction. In addition, Furtak (2012) also established that teachers struggled to use students current ideas to support ongoing learning.
Knowledge and practices of assessment is an issue with teachers. The aforementioned studies mainly focused on either teachers’ understanding of FA or teachers practices of FA. It is important to note that understanding is critical, but in the case of assessment it is not enough since assessment is part of teaching and learning. Therefore, understanding and practice should be explored together.
Knowing teachers’ knowledge of assessment is not enough – there is also a need to know how their knowledge translates into practice.
In this study the researcher opted to explore teacher educators’ knowledge and practices of FA, because in most cases it is the practices learned from their instructors that teachers tend to emulate in the classroom. There is a high possibility that teachers’ practices are informed by their instructors’ practices. Therefore, understanding teacher educators’ knowledge and practices of FA would provide insight into the way in which teachers at school level understand and practice assessment. This would inform policy developers about areas of development that are needed, not only for teachers but for teacher educators as well.