ERIC Number: EJ797062
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Jun
Pages: 20
Abstractor: Author
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1571-0068
EISSN: N/A
Assessment Practices: Empowering Mathematics and Science Teachers in Rural Secondary Schools to Enhance Student Learning
Panizzon, Debra; Pegg, John
International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, v6 n2 p417-436 Jun 2008
Aligned with recent changes to syllabuses in Australia is an assessment regime requiring teachers to identify what their students "know" and "can do" in terms of the quality of understanding demonstrated. This paper describes the experiences of 25 secondary science and mathematics teachers in rural schools in New South Wales as they explore the changing nature of assessment and its implications on their classroom practice. To help reconceptualise these changes, teachers were introduced to a cognitive structural model as a theoretical framework. Throughout the 2-year study, teachers attended a series of professional development sessions and received ongoing consultative support. Each session was taped and transcribed while interviews were conducted with each teacher at the end of both years. Analysis of these data using a grounded theory approach identified seven major components of teacher practice impacted by the study. The core component was questioning while the six contributing components were: (1) teachers' pedagogical practices; (2) attention to cognition; (3) teaching strategies; (4) assessment linked to pedagogy; (5) classroom advantages for students; and (6) classroom advantages for teachers. These findings represent a major shift in teachers' perceptions of assessment from a focus on the accumulation of students' marks to one of diagnosis as a means of directing teaching to enhance students' scientific and mathematical understandings.
Descriptors: Rural Schools, Student Evaluation, Program Effectiveness, Foreign Countries, Science Teachers, Mathematics Teachers, Teaching Methods, Mathematics Instruction, Science Instruction, Secondary School Students, Secondary School Teachers, Evaluation Methods, Faculty Development, Cognitive Processes, Classroom Techniques, Scientific Concepts, Mathematical Concepts
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A