Formative Assessment: Assessment Is for Self-regulated Learning

Recent studies in education highlights the impact of formative assessment on students’ learning. Formative assessment is “a process that takes place continuously during the course of teaching and learning to provide teachers and students with feedback to close the gap between current learning and desired goals” (Heritage, 2010, p. 10). Formative assessment when implemented in teaching begins when the learner and teacher understands the target of the learning. The present performance of the student is determined in relation to the goal. The students and the teacher then take action to move the learner closer towards the goal bringing about progress in their learning. This is done through constant feedback, continuous assessment and revision. The student in the process of feedback and constant revision satisfies their academic needs and starts regulating their abilities to further reach the goals of learning (Stigler, 2010). They start to become conscious about the quality of their work, use learning strategies to reach their goals, and they become in control of their own learning. In other words, self-regulation is developed in the process of strengthening students’ learning in formative assessment. The focus of this article is to highlight how formative assessment is explicitly manifested when students goes through formative assessment.

The Australian Educational Researcher, 2018

We have known for a long time that a relationship exists between how learning is assessed and the learning processes and strategies students employ when engaged in those assessments. Black and Wiliam pointed out in 1998 that self-regulated learning should be a primary goal of formative assessment (FA). Since then, a growing body of research on this relationship has been produced. The purpose of this paper is to present and discuss keystone publications that inform our current understandings of the relationship between FA and self-regulated learning. The result is a roadmap of the development of the field and directions for future research.

Studies in Higher Education, 2006

Journal of Formative Design in Learning

This study investigates the pivotal role of self-regulated learning in higher education and explores to what extent teachers’ conceptions of formative assessment influence the development of students’ self-regulated learning skills. Despite the recognised significance of self-regulated learning, many students in higher education lack effective self-regulation strategies. Therefore, the teachers’ role is paramount. We investigated teachers’ beliefs and practices concerning assessment and the influence on self-regulated learning development through qualitative interviews with 16 teachers from different programmes. Findings reveal that teachers, influenced by their conceptions, strive to provide feedback primarily at the task and process levels, not adequately addressing the self-regulation level. While teachers acknowledge the importance of fostering self-regulated learning when inquired, their classroom practices lack a focus on the self-regulation level, often assuming students acqu...

Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice

Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 2020

Formative assessment can be seen as an integral part of teaching and learning, as formative assessment affects students' learning and vice versa. Students' motivation can theoretically be placed at the centre of this reciprocal relationship, as formative assessment is assumed to affect students' need satisfaction of autonomy, competence and relatedness, and consequently their autonomous motivation. In the current study, two assumptions were tested empirically: formative assessment contributes to students' autonomous motivation and students' need satisfaction functions as a mediator in this relationship. The results provided support for those assumptions and indicated that more perceived use of formative assessment is associated with more feelings of autonomy and competence, and more autonomous motivation. The current study demonstrated the benefits of studying formative assessment as practice and provides encouragement for teachers to start applying formative assessment in their classroom. The theoretical model provides teachers with guidelines for an optimal implementation of formative assessment and provides researchers with a framework to study the phenomenon of 'formative assessment as practice' in more depth.

2016

The main purpose of this study was to explore what the true worth or value of formative assessment was in the context of self-regulated learning. It sought to find out how the quality of formative assessment practices is characterised by the lecturers and students at Solusi University, Zimbabwe. The evidence from this was to be compared with what the course outlines and related documents suggested regarding the quality of formative assessment practices at Solusi University. The study also intended to find out how the self-regulated learning approach could add value to formative assessment practices in this university. This became important on account of the major functions of assessment in general and continuous assessment in particular to act as a barometer of the quality of learning going on in an institution. The qualitative research approach was adopted using interviews and analysis of formative assessment documents such as the course outlines as well as quizzes and tests. It emerged from the findings that formative assessment practices at Solusi University are characterised by performance as the major issue. Performance is the overemphasis of marks and scores whilst ignoring the other major learning aspects of formative assessment. This is so because there is no assessment guide to inform on the criteria and standards to follow. The course objectives were based on the lower-order levels of learning which dwell more on rote learning for the sake of grading or performance. Even though assignments were preferred, more quizzes were being used so as to garner enough marks. This picture could be altered if the theories that underpin this study namely, Self-Regulated Learning, the BEAR Assessment System and Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning Objectives respectively were applied in the formative assessment practices in the university. This would allow for transparency and collaboration in the formative assessment process with students being active participants. In this case the self-regulated learning approach would have been used to enhance the quality of formative assessment practices.

Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 2016

The purpose of this study is to explore students' preferences for formative feedback and its relationship with their self-regulated learning skills. The study used a mixed methods approach in which quantitative data collection and analysis was followed by qualitative data collection and analysis. 'Preferences toward Formative Feedback' and 'Self-Regulated Learning Skills' instruments were utilized to gather the quantitative data and a semistructured interview was carried out to gather the qualitative data. The quantitative data were collected from 330 students, and a semi-structured interview was carried out with 10 students. Among the various findings, one is considered critical: although students from different self-regulation capabilities; either low, average or high, frequently preferred formative feedback that are listed in the students' preferences toward formative feedback instrument, those having high self-regulated learning skills depend infrequently on formative feedback than students who have lower self-regulated learning skills. An exploration of the relationships between students' preferences for formative feedback and self-regulated learning skills may give educators better understanding to overcome the challenge of providing appropriate formative feedback in accordance with students' selfregulated learning skills. Moreover, such an understanding and awareness enable educators to enhance students' self-regulated learning skills that is an essential quality in a lifelong learning era.

European Journal of Psychology of Education, 2018

Recently, the concept of evaluative judgement has gained attention as a pedagogical approach to classroom formative assessment practices. Evaluative judgement is the capacity to be able to judge the work of oneself and that of others, which implies developing knowledge about one’s own assessment capability. A focus on evaluative judgement helps us to better understand what is the influence of assessment practices in the regulation of learning. In this paper, we link evaluative judgement to two self-regulated learning models (Zimmerman and Winne) and present a model on the effects on co-regulation of learning. The models help us to understand how students can be self-regulated through developing their evaluative judgement. The co-regulation model visualises how the learner can become more strategic in this process through teacher and peer assessment in which assessment knowledge and regulation strategies are shared with the learner. The connections we make here are crucial to strengthening our understanding of the influence of assessment practices on students’ learning.

Kentucky Journal of Higher Education Policy and Practice, 2015

Students construct meaning through relevant learning activities (Biggs, 2003) which are largely determined by the type, amount, and timing of feedback (Carless, 2006). The aim of the present study was to develop a greater awareness and understanding of formative assessment and feedback practices and their relationship with learning. During 2011, five focus group discussions were undertaken with students and academic staff involved with a range of modules and degree pathways at a UK University. Three of the focus groups were with undergraduate students (one at each level of study), and one was with taught postgraduate students. Discussions focussed on integration of formative assessment and feedback into modules, as well as an exploration of the effectiveness of feedback on future learning. The findings revealed that in order to emphasise continuous learning-feeding back to feed forward (Rushton, 2005)-and to encourage self-regulated learning (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006), students need to have opportunities to make mistakes and to learn from them prior to summative assessment (through formative assessment and feedback). There was also firm evidence of different approaches to learning, emphasising in particular the transitional importance of the first year of study as the foundation upon which future achievement is built.