The nominal group technique (NGT) is a structured process to gather information from a group. The technique was first described in 1975 and has since become a widely-used standard to facilitate working groups. The NGT is effective for generating large numbers of creative new ideas and for group priority setting. This paper describes the process of…

This article presents a guide to the development of formative assessments for school librarians participating in professional learning communities (PLC). It describes librarians' reading of assigned books, meeting with their PLCs, and incorporation of learned strategies in their daily instruction. Central library service readers' regular visits to…

A lesson plan is provided for a formative assessment probe entitled "Is It a Rock?" This probe is designed for teaching elementary school students about rocks through the use of a formative assessment classroom technique (FACT) known as the group Frayer Model. FACT activates students' thinking about a concept and can be used to…

Purpose: This paper discusses the development of a system using SMS (short messaging system) to facilitate learning and also as a new method in the evaluation of teaching and learning. Design/methodology/approach: The design of a system that uses SMS for the quiz is proposed as an alternative for formative assessment of teaching and learning for…

The purpose of this formative evaluation was to investigate the experiences of preservice teachers utilizing performance support system (PSS) technology to develop knowledge related to classroom technology integration. A PSS provides end users just-in-time support to perform various tasks. Because teachers have time constraints, a PSS can be used…

Many teachers require their students to take cumulative exams, but there are surprisingly few studies that examine the benefits of such exams. The purpose of this study was to determine whether introductory psychology students who take cumulative exams throughout the semester would have better long-term retention than students who take a…

A team of 4th-grade teachers in California's Sacramento City Unified School District collaboratively examines student writing products using a rubric that outlines elements in high-quality persuasive writing. The teachers analyze how they taught and assigned the written work in relationship to what the students produced. They focus on what a few…

To help students gauge their understanding of basic concepts and encourage good study habits, we administered short online quizzes that use generic questions in the crucial first few weeks of a course. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether the combination of these web quizzes with generic questions with only binary feedback (right or…

"Specific Mathematics Assessment that Reveal Thinking" (abbreviated as "smart tests") provide an on-line formative assessment of middle years students. They aim to put information from research on students' understanding directly into the hands of teachers, by providing quick automated diagnosis of learning for all students in…

The author describes the complex process one teacher goes through to create meaningful formative and summative assessments to define and support student learning.

This paper sets out to explore the perceptions of teachers towards assessment techniques at a secondary level private school of Karachi. This was conjectured on the basis of the circumstances of parallel boards in the education system of Pakistan and its effectiveness within the context with respect to the curriculum. This was gauged in line with…

This paper is about a framework as heuristic to design and develop a workshop for academic teaching staff to use tablets for teaching and learning in the classroom at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). Theories of Cultural-Historical Activity and Engeström's activity systems are also incorporated, as are a critique and a critical analysis of the…

The purpose of the study is to assess the prospects and implementing continuous assessment (CA) in in higher education. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire from instructors and students of Adigrat University as well as Mekelle and Aksum Universities for comparison purpose. Both quantitative and qualitative data were carried out.…

The purpose of this study was to investigate formative postgraduate assessment from an international perspective while acknowledging the two countries' differing cultures and environments. Using a case study approach, data were collected from research supervisors of postgraduate work at a university in the United States (USA) and a university in…

Background: The Whole Child approach and the coordinated school health (CSH) approach both address the physical and emotional needs of students. However, a unified approach acceptable to both the health and education communities is needed to assure that students are healthy and ready to learn. Methods: During spring 2013, the ASCD (formerly known…