New Perspectives in Science Education

This paper reports on two case studies, one in France and one in Ireland carried out as part of FaSMEd, an EU project funded under the FP7 scheme on the use of technology in formative assessment (FA) classroom practices in mathematics and science. The paper focuses on the role and impact of technology in supporting FA practices in science teaching and learning.

The process in this research consisted of a cycle of design, implementation and analysis with teachers, where activities were planned in professional development sessions, carried out by teachers in classrooms and reviewed in meetings both with other teachers and individually. Work with teachers and students centred on exploring and modifying FA practices.  Data for the research were collected using the following methods: semi-structured interviews with all teachers (before and after the implementation of a lesson); semi-structured interviews with students with an emphasis on a Q-Sort activity; analysis of video data and field notes from classroom observations; and questionnaires distributed to all students participating in the study regarding their views of science teaching, learning and assessment. The research work within the project leads to the elaboration of a three-dimensional model taking into account the FA strategies, the properties of technologies and the role of actors. This model has been used for lesson analysis and completes the variety of viewpoints coming from qualitative interviews analysed using MAXQDA software. Q-Sort data analysed using PQMethod software, video data using a whole-to-part inductive approach and the questionnaire data analysed using SPSS.

Early data analysis is demonstrating how science teaching in Ireland needs to move away from teacher led textbook activities and include more technology and hands on activities in class so that students can become more self-regulating within their learning. This analysis also showed in France the added value in terms of FA of collaborative work between teachers teaching mathematics and teachers teaching science, and more particularly when their teaching concerned boundary objects such as for example the concept of graphs. Further analysis of all data will scrutinise this while exploring the specific activities that move students forward in their learning.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration/ ERC under grant agreement no: 612337.