Educational policies and curriculum documents largely emphasise the idea that assessment should be "diverse": that teachers should use versatile assessment practices such as tests, self- and peer-assessment and portfolios instead of mainly drawing on uniform practices, such as examinations. In this study, we examined the diversity of…

Cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) has been used in several development studies, but few have used it for the purposes of formative assessment. This article reports from a study where the activity system was used to conduct a historical and actual-empirical analysis of the assessment culture at a purposively selected school. The article…

Purpose: When using embedded, student-centered assessment tools for maker education, understanding the characteristics of a body of evidence can help teachers guide the assessment process. This study aims to examine assessment artifacts from a makerspace program and present a set of qualities that emerged, which researchers and maker educators can…

In this study, we investigated the value of a concept map marking guide as an alternative formative assessment tool for science teachers to adopt for the topic of energy. Eight high school science teachers marked students' concept maps using an itemized holistic marking guide. Their marking was compared with the researchers' marking and the scores…

Research has shown that how principles and tools related to Assessment for Learning (AfL) are taken up by teachers can significantly impact how assessment initiatives are realised. However, questions remain about how teachers develop new resources for use in local contexts, and what these processes entail. This article examines such processes in…

This paper discusses issues arising in the design of questions to use in an on-line computer-based formative assessment system, focussing on how best to identify the stages of a learning hierarchy for reporting to teachers. Data from several hundred students is used to illustrate how design decisions have been made for a test on interpreting line…

The form and function of a collaborative assessment known as a "Buddy Quiz" is presented. The assessment is conducted in three successive phases over a contiguous 45-60 min class period. A portion of each quiz is completed in collaboration with one or two peers and a portion is completed without collaboration. The quiz is primarily…

The guiding principles and procedures for pupil assessment in Portuguese compulsory education were established by the Implementing Order No. 1/2005, 5th January, with amendments introduced by the Implementing Orders No. 18/2006, 14th March and No. 5/2007, 10th January, and apply to the learning objectives and competencies defined for the various…

This paper presents the designs underlying an IPI approach to ninth grade science implemented in the Jamesville-DeWitt schools in New York State. Briefly described are the generalizable instructional model, evaluation systems for assessing individual performance and the effectiveness of the instructional program and the support systems which make…