Professional Development and Training on Assessment for Learning and Pre-service Teachers’ Outcomes in Fundamental Concepts of Algebra: A Mixed Method Study
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Date
2023-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Due to the extensive culture of summative assessment in teacher education, improving pre-service teachers' achievements and their self-regulated learning skills remains a challenge. The aim of this research was to examine the effect of a job-embedded, context-specific, and content-based comprehensive professional development program for mathematics teacher educators on assessment for learning and training for pre-service primary mathematics teachers on self-assessment and peer assessment on the pre-service primary mathematics teachers’ achievement gains, self-regulated learning skills, conceptions of assessment for learning practices, as well as on the implementations of assessment for learning strategies in the teaching and learning of the Fundamental Concepts of Algebra course. In this research, 13 mathematics teacher educators in a teacher education college and 129 pre-service primary mathematics teachers in three different teacher education colleges selected randomly from the ten colleges in Amhara regional state (52 in the intervention group, 38 in comparison group one, and 39 in comparison group two) participated as a sources of data. Three mathematics teacher educators who were assigned to deliver the Fundamental Concepts of Algebra course and their 52 pre-service teachers who took the course participated in the professional development and training, respectively. Thematic analysis of interview data of the conceptions of mathematics teacher educators about assessment for learning revealed that they have an incomplete understanding of assessment for learning. A one-way ANOVA also showed that pre-service primary mathematics teachers in the intervention group outscored pre-service primary mathematics teachers in both comparison groups on their achievement gains in algebra. In addition, a one-way ANOVA showed that pre-service primary mathematics teachers in the intervention group outscored pre-service primary mathematics teachers in both comparison groups on their conceptions of assessment for learning experiences. Furthermore, a paired sample t-test result showed that pre-service primary mathematics teachers’ self-regulated learning skills after the intervention were significantly higher than their self-regulated learning skills before the intervention. Besides, the comprehensive professional development and training improved the implementation of assessment for learning in the teaching and learning of the algebra course. The implications of professional development on assessment for learning are discussed, as are recommendations for further study.
Keywords: Professional Development, Assessment for learning, Algebra, Teacher Education
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Keywords
Professional Development, Assessment for learning, Algebra, Teacher Education