Science teachers' interactions with resources for formative assessment purposes

Area of Science:

• Science Education
• Formative Assessment

Background:

• Formative assessment (FA) is crucial for enhancing science education.
• Understanding teacher interactions with resources is key to effective FA implementation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how teachers use analogue and digital resources for FA in science.
• To understand teachers' justifications for resource selection and interaction.

Main Methods:

• Case study approach involving two Norwegian primary school teachers (grades 5 and 7).
• Data collection included lesson plans, observations, interviews (teacher and student), student tasks, and work.
• Analysis of eight analogue and digital resources used for five FA strategies.

Main Results:

• Teachers commonly employed FA strategies like 'engineering effective classroom discussions' and 'activating students'.
• Resource selection was driven by perceived effectiveness, practicality, and relevance.
• Specific teacher interactions with resources were observed and documented.

Conclusions:

• Teachers' strategic use of varied resources supports formative assessment in science.
• Resource characteristics and teacher rationale significantly influence FA practices.
• Findings offer insights into optimizing resource integration for improved science teaching and learning.