Elementary schools use different methods of assessment to monitor the progress of their students. Teachers in these schools rely on various forms of evaluation procedures to decide whether their students have effectively learned the activities taught in class or not. In many instances, educators rely on the use of evaluation procedures to find out whether their students have grasped, internalized, and understood the topics they have taught in class adequately. In general, the main aim of using methods of assessments is to evaluate the quality and level of learning and teaching that has occurred within any given classroom. However, it is obvious that some assessment tools do not work for all classrooms. Many district schools have proved that different assessment protocols fail to meet the objectives for which they are used. One form of evaluating levels of learning that has been criticized for its lack of success is the formative assessment. As such it is important to investigate the areas in which this method of evaluating the level of learning has failed.
Formative assessment is the form of evaluation that provides information to teachers and students on the levels of education that has occurred within the classroom. Formative assessment is mainly used to improve teaching and to learn from any given class. The types of formative evaluations used in class are usually informal and ongoing. However, studies have shown that formative assessment is usually not successful for use in areas such as studying sciences. It is clear that the use of formative assessment has proven unproductive for use in studying science as a subject. This is because science is an academic discipline that involves several inquiries using different methods such as investigations and experiments.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Therefore, the quality of learning can only be assessed after a student takes several practical activities that require them to make different inquiries and use inference and interpretation skills. Using formative assessment does not help educators to make effective deductions concerning the level and quality of learning because it does not provide effective methods that the teachers can use to evaluate the level of learning among individual learners.
One area where assessing levels and qualities of learning among learners occur is during the practical sessions in sciences. In many schools, students are usually put into groups and required to work with their colleagues to help undertake some types of experiment. In these practical tests, it is possible to find out that some student participate more than others. Moreover, some students also find it difficult to take part in such activities but end up getting the answers from their partners. In this case, an ongoing formative assessment will not be effective in helping the teacher and the students to evaluate the levels and quality of learning among all students.
The best solution to the issue of the ineffectiveness of formative assessment can be solved by ensuring educators take a practical approach to the use of the method. For example, they should ask themselves where they and the students want to achieve, where they are at the time of the assessment, and evaluate the methods they can use to realize their achievements. Following these procedures makes it possible for both teachers and students to develop effective teaching and learning goals that are practical and achievable; they will be able to develop an understanding of the experimental activities and understand the real life effects that mastering such learning will bring into their lives. Asking what they want to achieve in science experiments makes it possible for the teachers and the learners to understand the reason why they study the subject. They also understand the practical importance of taking the experiments.
On the other hand, asking where they are at the moment enables the teacher and the students to evaluate the level of success they have achieved. It also provides them with an opportunity to know the areas that still need fine tuning to enable them to reach their destination. Evaluating their success also makes it possible for them to examine where they went wrong and come up with effective solutions to such issues. Moreover, the teachers and students are capable of knowing the areas of study that were not learned effectively in the previous lessons. Similarly, evaluating the methods that they can use to realize their learning objectives provide the teacher and the students with a chance to come up with effective methods and procedures that they can follow in the course of their study.
The recommended steps can be implemented by requiring that the teachers work together with the students to evaluate the topics they have learned. The teacher should allow the students to report the topic they understood and the once they did not understand. The educator should then work together with the students to the device the best methods that they can use to bridge the learning gaps. This can involve redoing the difficult areas of study. These changes will mainly affect both students and teachers by ensuring that the students fully understand the activities they have learned.
The students will also be able to put their learned contents into practice. The teachers will benefit by being able to evaluate the level of learning among their students and ensure that teaching and learning are taking place effectively. The importance for these procedures relies on the fact that they will help in improving the level and quality of education. The teacher will also be able to use evidence-based methods in assessing learning as opposed to relying on evaluation methods that do not provide sufficient feedback.
