Sintomatología clínica presentada

Perceptions of the groups involved may largely determine the use of quality formative assessment in instruction. In particular, classroom implementation of formative assessment remains an ongoing challenge despite many well-recognised facts in its favour (Black & Wiliam, 1998b). Yorke (2003:

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486) avers that the perceptions and interpretations of educators and students about formative assessment are among the major challenges for the implementation. As the educator is a key mediator, improvements in formative assessment implementation depend largely on his/her perceptions on the principles and practices of formative assessment (Careless, 2007a: 172). In the same way, students are also the key actors in the implementation of formative assessment mainly in terms of assuming increased responsibility for the regulation of their own learning and self-reflection (Cowie, 2005: 139). Perceptions are central to the effective implementation of quality formative assessment. The following paragraphs then discuss on the perceptions of educators and students towards the use of quality formative assessment.

2.1.5.1 Educators’ perceptions of formative assessment

Educators’ perceptions and knowledge of assessment may have an impact on the type of assessment they use, how they integrate it in the instructional process, and, whether their practices provide opportunities to learning improvement. Black and William (1998b: 20) recognise the use of formative assessment as insignificant due to the educators lack of understanding of it. Other than the lack of understanding, changing the current common practice might be problematic for many educators. Prospects for the integration of formative assessment are even more discouraging from various international contexts where direct instruction and summative assessment have dominated characteristically (Careless, 2007a: 173). In particular, large class size and heavy workload of teachers often present barriers to the use of formative assessment. As Careless explains, large class sizes and heavy workloads might lead to believe that formative assessment, while having a solid and convincing theoretical base, may be impractical, too time-consuming and incompatible with the demands of schooling.

In the context of higher education, though formative assessment is recognised as influential to learning improvement, its theorisation is not sufficient and it is not really understood (Yorke, 2003: 478). Knight and Yorke (2003: 33) demonstrate the increasing student-staff ratio and well-practiced summative assessment as limiting factors to the use of formative assessment in the teaching of university courses. Moreover, within universities, educators take summative forms of assessment for granted and ignore developments in formative assessment (Pryor & Crossroad, 2005: 2). According to Careless (2007a: 174) “formative assessment is unlikely to be a priority for undergraduate teaching” at research-intensive universities. The educators’ perceptions on formative assessment determine the

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extent of its integration and use in teaching. Nonetheless, as the research by Pryor and Crossroad (2005: 2) on four higher learning institutes including universities reveals, “educators were likely to perceive assessment as focused primarily on aiding teaching and learning.”

2.1.5.2 Students’ perceptions of formative assessment

Students are also stakeholders in the instructional process. The way students perceive learning and assessment determines the quality of learning. Specifically, students’ understanding of formative assessment has implication on their activities relative to their understanding on the learning tasks. Similarly, perceptions and experiences on formative assessment influence whether students use in future learning and the extent to which they develop skills to become self-assessors and self-regulated lifelong learners (Boud & Falchikov, 2006: 402).

Perceptions represent a phenomenon concerning the reality of one’s mental schema (Thompson, 1992: 127). Perceptions clarify the complex and difficult categories of individual experiences such as the students’ perceptions on assessment. The students’ perceptions on educational processes are important because they influence learning. Entwistle (1991: 203) argues that when compared to the actual educational experiences, the students’ perceptions on the educational environment at higher education influences their learning more. Furthermore, students’ perceptions towards assessment are significant because assessment exerts a greater influence on the quality of their learning.

Brown and Hirschfeld (2008: 3) argue that students perceive assessment in at least three different ways. They perceive assessment in terms of improving achievement, a means for making students accountable, and making lessons relevant and enjoyable. Amongst these perceptions, the first one in the list pertained to making a positive contribution to learning achievement. Perera and Morgan (2006: 2) studied the perceptions of students towards formative assessment in Writtle College and found that over 95 percent of the students perceived formative assessment positively. For instance, the students reported that formative assessment simplified their understanding on the expectations of the learning task, and what they did either correctly or incorrectly on the learning task. Moreover, they declared that formative assessment helped them to develop confidence, academic skills and a way of improving performance.

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Students often show a need to negotiate assessment demands that may lead to subsequent actions. According to Maclellan (2001: 307), “if students perceive a need to understand the material” to negotiate the assessment task, they tend to engage in deep learning successfully. However, if they perceive the assessment demands only simple fact recalling, they may fail to concentrate on higher cognitive skills. The study of Gijbels and Dochy (2006: 405) also reveals that students generally shift between surface and deep approaches to “learning to suit the assessment demands of their courses.”

Pertinent to individual differences, students’ perceptions towards assessment vary, so that the quality of learning varies for individual students, not only through the perceptions of the assessment demands but also through the students’ actions regarding their perceptions. Entwistle and Tait (1990: 187), report that students who describe themselves as “surface” learners preferred teaching and assessment procedures that support this learning approach. Opposite to this, students who describe themselves as “deep” learners preferred the courses that are intellectually challenging and assessment procedures that allow them to demonstrate their understanding.

More specifically, differences in assessment preferences seem to correlate with differences in the students’ approaches to learning. In their study of students’ assessment preferences and approaches to learn, Gijbels & Dochy (2006: 406) found a significant correlation between a deep approach to learning and a preference for higher-order thinking tasks, integrated formative assessment, and non- conventional assessment, respectively. With respect to feedback, Hattie, and Timperley (2007: 101) show that students tend to “percieve feedback as the responsibility of someone else, usually teachers, whose job is to provide information by deciding for the students how well they are going, what the goals are, and what to do next.”

2.2 EVIDENCE FROM EMPIRICAL STUDIES