Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE MSS5006

 
TITLE Assessment for Student Learning in the Sciences: Formative and Summative Assessment

 
UM LEVEL 05 - Postgraduate Modular Diploma or Degree Course

 
MQF LEVEL 7

 
ECTS CREDITS 5

 
DEPARTMENT Mathematics and Science Education

 
DESCRIPTION The study-unit reviews the main purposes of assessment and a culture where formative and summative assessment practices enhance student learning. It considers the key role of formative assessment in Science and Geography, and its key strategies (learning intentions, criteria for success; activities, tasks that elicit evidence of learning; questioning techniques; feedback that enhances learning; self-reflection, keeping track and peer learning, etc.) through a number of practical cases.

The study-unit will discuss various aspects of summative assessment: item and test construction and design, analytical tools, information about student learning; assessment of group work, practical and inquiry skills; development of portfolios; and issues related to school-based assessment.

The study-unit will consider: the social impact of assessment and testing on learners, teaching and learning; issues of fairness, equity and social justice; and the impact of assessment activity on curricula and educational policy. Student-teachers will reflect on the impacts of assessment practices and examinations considering local and international research studies. Student-teachers will be introduced to the idea of ‘assessment cultures’ and reflect on the social and educational contexts in which choices and decisions about assessment practices have been made within the Maltese and international context.

Study-Unit Aims:

The aims of this study-unit are to enable student-teachers:

- to understand the main purposes and uses of assessment practices, and to distinguish between formative and summative purposes;
- to use the skills and strategies of formative assessment;
- to familiarise themselves with ways of providing feedback that enhances students' learning;
- to familiarise themselves with issues of validity, reliability, fairness and trustworthiness;
- to design appropriate items and tests, mark schemes, specification grids, etc.;
- to understand and appropriately use item and error analysis as means of obtaining feedback on test items and student attainment;
- to discuss the impact of social and educational context on the development of assessment cultures;
- to critically reflect on the complex issues surrounding assessment practices and their impact on students, teaching, learning and the curriculum.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student-teacher will be able to:

- describe the different purposes of assessment;
- distinguish between formative and summative assessment use;
- use the key strategies of formative assessment;
- determine appropriate assessment tasks in relation to learning outcomes;
- discuss various methods of providing students with qualitative feedback;
- discuss issues of validity and reliability of assessment practices;
- prepare appropriate test items and tests related to specific learning outcomes;
- analyse items and test results and extract appropriate information;
- evaluate critically the impact of assessment practices on learners, teaching and curriculum;
- reflect on the key issues of equity, fairness and social justice in relation to assessment practices;
- reflect on local examination practices and discuss their impact on educational policy;
- discuss the impact of international achievement studies on local and international educational policy on assessment;
- discuss the impact of social and educational contexts on the development of assessment cultures.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:

- write learning outcomes;
- design assessment tasks to match intended learning outcomes;
- design assessment tasks that facilitate and provide information about student learning;
- use information from the assessment tasks to give students qualitative feedback about their learning;
- construct appropriate test items and tests;
- write mark schemes, specification grids, rubrics and criteria to provide students with feedback about their learning in different classroom activities (including practical and inquiry skills);
- carry out appropriate statistical analysis to evaluate the assessment items and tasks and elicit appropriate information for learners;
- use assessment information to plan teaching;
- record information about student learning and develop tools to communicate this information;
- design assessment tasks that involve students in self and peer assessment.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:

Main Texts:

- Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall., Wiliam, D. (2003). Assessment for Learning: Putting it into Practice. McGraw-Hill: Open University Press.
- Wiliam, D. (2011). Embedded Formative Assessment. Bloomington: Solution Tree.
- Chetcuti, D. and Grima, G. (2001). Portfolio Assessment. Malta: Ministry of Education.
- Lamprianou, I. and Athanasou, J.A. (2009) A Teacher's Guide to Educational Assessment (Revised Edition). Sense Publishers.
- Black, P. and Harrison, C. (2004) Science Inside the Black Box - Assessment for Learning in the Science Classroom. London: GL Assessment.
- Pirotta, D. and Musumeci, M. (2015). The ‘Currency’ of Coursework in National Examinations: SEC Physics as a Case Study (New Perspectives in Science Education, 4th Edition, Florence, 2015).
- http://conference.pixel-online.net/NPSE/files/npse/ed0004/FP/1304-SSE805-FP-NPSE4.pdf

Supplementary Readings:

- Chappuis, J., Stiggins, R., Chappuis, S., Arter, J. (2012). Classroom Assessment for Student Learning. Boston: Pearson.
- Clarke, S. (2005). Formative Assessment in the Secondary Classroom. Abingdon: Hodder Education.
- Furtak, E.M. (2009). Formative Assessment for Secondary Science Teachers. Thousand Oaks: Corwin.
- William, D. (2009). Assessment for Learning: Why, What and How? (Inaugural Professorial Lecture) Paperback – 1 Jun 2009.
- Chetcuti, D. (2001). Meeting the challenge of equity: the introduction of differentiated examination papers in Malta (pp. 95 – 120). In Sultana, R. G. (Editor). Challenge and Change in the Euro-Mediterranean Region. New York: Peter Lang.
- Chetcuti, D., and Cutajar, C. (2014). Peer assessment in a post-secondary (16-18) physics classroom. International Journal for Science Education, 36(18), 3101- 3124.
- Murphy, R., and Ventura, F. (1998). The impact of measures to promote equity in the Secondary Education Certificate Examinations in Malta: An Evaluation. Mediterranean Journal of Educational Studies 3(1), 47-73.

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Assignment See note below Yes 30%
Assignment See note below Yes 70%
Note: Assessment due will vary according to the study-unit availability.

 
LECTURER/S Deborah A. Chetcuti (Co-ord.)
Josette Farrugia
Doreen Mizzi
Martin M. Musumeci

 

 
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It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

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