National STEM Learning Network Research Conference 201620 & 21 May 2016, National STEM Learning Centre, University of York

Case Study: Manette Carroll (Bielefeld School, Germany) ’How formative assessment strategies improve the teaching and learning of science in Key Stage2 science’

Summary

Assessment for learning (AfL) is essential to both teaching and learning, however it is only useful if it is used effectively to develop and enhance children’s learning. It is not only the process of collecting data but how we analyze and interpret this evidence to make inference about what pupils can do.

Having moved away from APP strategies in science, due to none of which appeared to be effective, this was supported by the outcome of the Nuffield Foundation Review led by Harlen (2012). I have, along with the SLT, worked to find a more effective way of assessing science. An area which I felt could be developed was how we use self-assessment which is seen to be the cornerstone of effective AfL. In conjunction with self-assessment I wanted to look at ways to motivate the children by incorporating the use of IPads as an assessment tool. Over a period of time I have continued to develop assessment strategies to support their learning. Having embedded self-assessment into their learning we progressed to using questioning as an assessment strategy.

The outcomes of adapting assessment strategies are the children have taken greater ownership in their learning. They have a greater awareness for their next steps in their learning and what they need to do to achieve this. Confidence in their own ability has grown and they are discussing their understanding and learning more as a result of their knowledge of styles of questioning.

Impact as the school has trailed a number of strategies in science we have become the science hub for the authority. As the science subject leader I share examples of good practice with others schools resulted in the authority have consistency in their approach to assessing science which is essential due to the mobility between schools which our children experience.

Research Aims

I was hoping that the children would become more focused on what they have learnt and what they still want to learn, I wanted them to reflect more on what they had achieved with a visual image to stimulate their memory at a later date, whilst having a simple yet effective way of recording their learning.

As I teach all year groups science I decided to focus on a Year 5 class who I also teach computing. This enabled me to teach the computing skills outside the science lesson, I also have a good relationship with the class having previously been their class teacher and also taught their science for three years. The relationship with the class has enabled us to have open discussions about how things were progressing and areas for development, this is an area that Keogh and Naylor (2004) state is imperative if the children are to have ownership of their AfL.

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National STEM Learning Network Research Conference 201620 & 21 May 2016, National STEM Learning Centre, University of York

Harlen and Qualter (2009) suggested that if children were encouraged to think about their work more, not how good they are at their work; this would remove the judgmental approach to their learning. By allowing the children to look back at their photographs at the end of the lesson it allowed them to think about more specific aspects of their lesson that were important to them but not necessarily their peers. By encouraging them to select an image that portrayed an area of learning they were still unsure of, this placed them at centre of their learning establishing their own next steps. This is supported by Black and Harrison (2004) that students need to express their own opinions to their thinking whilst reflecting on their learning. With the child identifying their next steps in their learning it allows me to reflect on my teaching and to integrate their next steps into my planning. It also assisted me to identify if it was a whole class issue or individual learners who have similar next steps,

In the NFER Review (Hodgson 2010a) it states that if children are at the centre of their own AfL, they need to feel confident and safe in their classroom and that teaching is adapted to the pupil’s interests and responses. By looking at what they have said, they have learnt and what their next steps are, this allowed me to put them at the centre of their learning. I aimed to give them more ownership and reflection to their learning which in turn lead to a deeper learning and higher level of questioning. It also allowed me to address their misconceptions more specifically as their annotation showed me what they thought of specific aspects, whereas traffic lights only gave me their overall feeling to their learning in that lesson. Whilst placing the children at the centre of their learning it has led to an improvement in self-efficacy and self-esteem therefore leading to a greater willingness to participate and making them enquire more about what they have learnt and why.

Setting the scene

As a school we promote a ‘learning culture’ not a ‘performance culture’ which Clarke (2005) states is essential if AfL is to be effective. AfL has been a priority in the school RAP for a number of years and we are already using a range suggested by a number of key authors such as Black and Harrison (2004), Harlen (2005), Blanchard (2008) and Hodgson (2010). All of whom stated that the key areas to AfL are:

Questioning Feedback through marking Peer and Self-assessment Formative use of summative assessment Motivation and self esteem Sharing learning intentions and success criteria.

E.g.

At the start of every science unit: pupil ‘mind map’ what they already know

At the end of the unit they use a red pen to annotate what they have learnt

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National STEM Learning Network Research Conference 201620 & 21 May 2016, National STEM Learning Centre, University of York

Carrying out the research

For a number of years, I have used a traffic light system during the lesson and traffic light stickers at the end of the lesson to allow the children to show their understanding. Both these strategies are supported by Black and Harrison (2004), Clarke (2005) and Gardener (2012). Even though this enabled the children to inform me about their understanding I felt that it didn’t focus them on specific areas or give them the opportunity to inform me of areas they were unsure of.

To allow the children to develop their self-assessment I decided to introduce the use of IPads and an App called ‘Pic Collage’ which allows them to import photographs into a collage and annotate the photographs they choose with what they have learnt or what they were unsure of. Each child had access to their own iPod for the whole of their science lessons for eight weeks. They were allowed to photograph any part of the lesson. Initially some of them had taken 50+ photographs during a two-hour session. Some teachers may find this is very intrusive as initially every child photographed everything I did, fortunately this settled down by week two. They photographed information from the interactive white board, examples from books, stages of investigations, equipment and results. At the end of the lesson they were encouraged to select no more than six photographs which they imported into a collage, then using the success criteria they would annotate what they had learnt and also one or two photographs showing what they had not fully understood. This is similar to the three stars and wish approach adapted by Black and Harrison (2003).

The reason I choose to use IPads were as a motivational tool, as the children really enjoyed using IPads in other areas of their learning. Harlen (2005) states that motivation is a complex concept, when children are motivated this leads to an increase in self-esteem and child will invest more effort into their learning if they believe they can achieve the outcomes.

As the technical world we live in is constantly evolving there has been an increase in the number of studies relating to the use of technology. Chappuis and Stiggins (2002) initially looked at using computing to motivate and encourage children in their learning, this approach has been developed by Zacharis (2010) who states that ‘Computer Assisted

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Our assessment journey

• Prior to 2013 we were using different methods of APP in science, all of which were very time consuming and didn’t really provide us with the data we needed to support the teaching and learning.

• In 2013 we began to focus on self and peer assessment using technology. Using voice records and IPads to record learning.

• 2014-2015 we focused on questioning and styles of questions to support learning.

• 2015-2016 we introduced mini plenaries throughout the lessons.

National STEM Learning Network Research Conference 201620 & 21 May 2016, National STEM Learning Centre, University of York

Assessment’ (CAA) can be used to determine responses to specific questions to enable formative and summative assessment by giving instant marks. Even though the use of ‘Pic Collage’ did not give the children a mark it gave them an image of their learning. CAA allows for less tension for the child when assessing their learning, it can be quick and easy which is important with the growing demands on the curriculum, but most of all it adds a sense of fun to their learning. I believe that if a child is enjoying their learning it will make their learning more focused and therefore more effective, this is supported by Ward (2011) who states that creativity and enjoyment of learning should not be stifled

Findings

Initially there appeared to be little impact into the children’s learning, however as the use of self-assessment and questioning become embedded across the school, the children have taken greater ownership in their learning. After a few weeks, the children asked that instead of just informing the teacher of what they understood could they also inform me of what they did not understand. The children are more confident in taking ownership for their learning and are more willing to share this with others.

The impact on teacher practice is that all teachers have been given the opportunity to develop their styles of questions and are able to match them to their specific outcomes.

As the practice has continued for approximately 3 years it has become an integral part of the teaching and learning within the school.

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We began using IPad as a self-assessment tool with a Yr. 5 class.

The reasoning behind this was I taught them both Science and Computing therefore the computing skills required for their assessment were taught outside the science lesson.

The children photographed aspects of their learning and recorded in using PIC Collage.

National STEM Learning Network Research Conference 201620 & 21 May 2016, National STEM Learning Centre, University of York

Implications and learning

As a leader who is very confident in the use of computing I need to be more aware of my less confident colleagues, this I why I adapted an approach suggested by Webb (2005) that we need to encourage and support colleagues with their use of computing. This was the main reason I suggested they download the App onto their own smart phones and use it as a social form of multimedia.

I am also aware that it may have been more respectful to my colleagues to introduce the strategy to them before introducing it to the children. Before trialing the strategy, I did discuss it with members of the Senior Leadership Team, but wanted to trial it for myself to ensure there were no issues.As the strategies have become embedded within our school they have been shared with all the schools in the authority, as a result we have a consistent approach to assessing science.

The main area that I fell needed to be addressed was that the research and practices needs to be embedded into the practice across a school as a whole. As the initial research took place approximately 3 years ago it didn’t initially have a great impact, however by embedding it into the school it now plays an essential part in the teaching and learning within the school.

What’s next?

As part of the ongoing research the school has and is still conducting into assessing science the subject leader has been asked to present at the annual head teacher seminar on assessment to share what has worked well and how it could be implemented across the authority.

Tips for other teachers

Allow time to embed new strategies into the teaching and learning.

References

Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall B. and William D. (2003) Assessment for learning. Putting it into practice. Maidenhead: Open University

Black, P. and Harrison, C. (2004) Science inside the black box: assessment for learning in the science classroom. London: nfer-Nelson

Blanchard, J. (2008) Learning awareness: constructing formative assessment in the classroom, in the school and across the schools. Curriculum Journal 19 (3) 137-150

Chappuis, P. and Stiggins, R., (2002) Classroom Assessment for Learning. Association for supervision and curriculum development pg 40-43

Clarke, S. (2005) Formative assessment in action: weaving the elements together. London. Learning Matters Ltd.

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National STEM Learning Network Research Conference 201620 & 21 May 2016, National STEM Learning Centre, University of York

Harlen, W. (2005) Teachers’ summative practices and assessment for learning- tension and synergies. Curriculum Journal 16(2), 207-223

Harlen, W. (2012) Developing policy, principles and practice in primary school science assessment. London: Nuffield Foundation

Harlen, W. and Qualter, A. (2009) The teaching of science in primary schools. London: David Fulton

Hodgson, C. (2010a) Assessment for learning in Primary Science: Practices and benefits. Slough: National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER)

Hodgson, C. and Pyle, K. (2010b) A literature review of assessment for learning in science. Slough: National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER)

Gardner, J., (2012) Assessment and learning 2nd ed. London: Sage Publications.

Keogh, B. and Naylor, S. (2004) Children’s ideas and children’s feelings. Primary Science Review 82 18-20.

Ward, H., Roden, J., Hewlett, C. and Foreman, J. (2011) Teaching Science in the Primary Classroom. A Practical Guide. London: Sage Publications Ltd.

Webb, M. (2005) Affordances of ICT in science learning: implications for an integrated pedagogy. International Journal of Science Education. 27 (6) 705-735

Zacharis, N. (2010) Innovative Assessment For Learning Enhancement: Issues and Practices Contemporary Issues in Education Research 3 (1) 61-70

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