Group Activities as Formative Assessment in Math Class

Overview of Formative Assessments

The modern educational system is characterized by an increasing demand for accountability and high-stakes testing. This demand is demonstrated in the push for summative assessments that provide a summary of students' learning progress. The drive for increased accountability and high-stakes testing has contributed to the use of different kinds of assessments administered at the state, district, school, and national levels. These various assessments are not only geared toward realizing increased accountability but also serve as a means of comparing and ranking students and schools. One example of the types of assessments used in this process is formative assessment for subjects such as mathematics. Formative assessments are defined as systematic procedures of collecting evidence regarding students' learning in order to inform teaching practices and help students progress toward the achievement of a learning goal. There are various kinds of activities used in formative assessments, including group activities.

As previously mentioned, formative assessments can be described as systematic processes of collecting evidence regarding students' learning (Nunn, 2011). The information derived from formative assessments is used to inform teaching practices and act as a guideline for ensuring students' progress toward the achievement of a specific learning objective. Formative assessments are especially crucial in situations where student learning is the primary objective of education, since the teaching process and these kinds of assessments are inseparable and cannot take place without the other.

Formative assessments are regarded as feasible and effective procedures for enhancing learning at every grade level. As a result, this type of assessment has received considerable attention from school administrators and teachers in recent years. The increased attention on formative assessments is also fueled by the fact that these assessments are criterion- or subject-referenced as well as pupil-referenced (Hall & Burke, 2004, p. 78). This implies that the variables of formative assessments include the effort the pupil puts into the work, the context and content of learning, and the student's progress over time toward achieving a learning goal. In this case, the conceptual ability of the student and relevant criteria influence judgment regarding the work and the response given to the student.

Formative assessments act as important tools in enhancing the learning process and students' performance since they serve as diagnostic tools for every student and as important elements in teaching. Through these assessments, students identify small ideas as they are generated in a particular activity, whereas teachers identify broader ideas toward enhancing student progress and performance in learning. Moreover, formative assessments play a crucial part in the summative process because they are administered by the teacher. Students are encouraged to engage in formative assessments because doing so helps them recognize their personal strengths and weaknesses in order to make significant and valuable progress. This progress is made possible by the fact that formative assessments are developed with regard to where students are in their learning — that is, their specific skills and content knowledge.

The effective implementation of formative assessments requires teachers to re-conceptualize their roles, students' roles, and the interactions between teachers and students. Various strategies are used to implement formative assessments effectively, including determining, sharing, and understanding learning goals and criteria for success; developing effective classroom discussions and activities; and providing feedback that promotes progress in learning. Additional strategies include enabling students to take ownership of the learning process and creating an environment where students act as learning resources for one another. In essence, teachers tend to be more productive in implementing formative assessments when they focus on a single area or topic of change at a given time (McGatha, Bush & Rakes, 2009, p. 33).

Assessment of Mathematics

In the United States, the current public education system is largely based on standardized testing as a crucial component for evaluating students' learning and academic progress. Students' learning and knowledge are currently assessed on an annual basis through open-response or multiple-choice testing methodologies, which are also used as the basis for evaluating teacher effectiveness. While classroom teachers have the liberty to choose the kinds of assessments they use, mathematics teachers tend to rely on multiple-choice tests more than other forms of assessment. Multiple-choice tests have largely been used as part of standardized testing methods for assessing students' knowledge of mathematics, sometimes in combination with other tests and sometimes exclusively.

The exclusive use of standardized assessments in the mathematics classroom can generate several problems, since multiple-choice assessments do not offer teachers a comprehensive, well-rounded measure of a student's full range of skills and abilities (Walsh, 2013). Conventional means of assessing mathematics have been based on the premise that the subject involves determining a quick answer through predetermined and internalized methods. These conventional assessment methods, such as multiple-choice tests, do not reflect the actual complexity of the subject. This suggests that standardized assessments — especially multiple-choice tests — do not fully meet teachers' needs and contribute to the demand for alternative forms of assessment that can provide important information for instructional decision-making.

Teaching mathematics presupposes that students do not arrive at classrooms or conclusions as blank slates. Students need to engage with topics as actively thinking individuals with a broad range of skills and prior conceptions ("Formative Assessment," 2012). Assessing mathematics is therefore more effective when it evaluates and builds upon prior learning so that teaching can be adapted to students' needs. Prior learning can be tapped through activities that provide students with various opportunities to express their thought processes and understanding. The process does not necessarily require more testing, but rather the generation of explanations — whether written or during classroom discussions.

Formative Assessment in Mathematics

The concept of formative assessment originated with Michael Scriven, who used the term to refer to evaluation procedures that play an important role in the ongoing improvement of the curriculum (Wiliam, 2014). When introducing the concept, Scriven stated that the evaluation of assessment may enable administrators to decide whether a curriculum reflected adequate progress over existing alternatives to justify its adoption within a school system. In this context, he suggested that formative and summative assessment need to be incorporated into these evaluative roles.

Since the introduction of this concept, several researchers in education have attempted to define formative assessment. Differences in definition are fueled by the fact that the term is subject to varying interpretations and is generally understood to mean assessment carried out exclusively during the teaching process. One definition describes formative assessment as a term used for the ongoing, interactive evaluation of students' progress and knowledge in order to identify learning needs and make appropriate adjustments to the teaching or instructional process. A second definition characterizes it as a technique used by teachers to assess student comprehension of topics and skills they have taught, which also helps in detecting student misconceptions and errors during the learning process. Despite these differences in definition, formative assessment is widely associated with certain key characteristics: it helps teachers identify gaps in student learning and teaching practice, and it helps students identify their specific strengths and weaknesses in comprehending the topic or subject being taught.

Formative assessment in mathematics is increasingly considered an alternative to conventional assessment methods, given the apparent ineffectiveness of traditional approaches. According to Walsh (2013), formative assessment in mathematics involves evaluating student learning in a way that provides immediate feedback and gives students ideas for enhancing their performance. Nonetheless, student feedback must be valuable and constructive in a manner that encourages thinking and in turn enhances the learning experience. This implies that feedback should be specific, precise, clear, and timely so that students can make necessary corrections and improve their learning.

The significance of using formative assessments in mathematics lies in their ability to offer teachers new insights into students' problem-solving skills and to influence instructional practices toward improved learning. Formative mathematics assessments provide students the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and abilities more fully than conventional assessment methods allow. This kind of assessment can be used in a mathematics classroom to evaluate students' immediate grasp and understanding of an entire lesson or a portion of it.

In mathematics, formative assessment is a practical and effective tool for enhancing learning at every grade level. School administrators often refer to formative mathematics assessment as assessment for learning — a cyclic teaching process in which teachers constantly collect information about students' knowledge and plans. This information is then used to develop and execute instructional activities in a suitable manner. Formative assessment in mathematics also incorporates various activities designed to enhance students' learning experiences, which may be directed at individual students, student groups, or the entire class depending on the needs of the teaching situation.

In recent years, several studies have examined assessment in mathematics, particularly formative assessment with respect to its implementation and effectiveness. Formative assessment in mathematics goes beyond numbers, shapes, and symbols to encompass what students know and think about the instructional process (Benjamin, 2013, p. 78). This assessment helps in understanding students' knowledge and reasoning in mathematics by providing opportunities for both verbal and written feedback. The need for student feedback is important in mathematics since class discussion alone is not adequate to reveal the various dynamics related to a student's learning, comprehension, and understanding. Formative assessment in mathematics generates three types of feedback through which learning is effected: student to teacher, teacher to student, and student to student.

The provision of feedback is one of the most important elements of formative assessment in mathematics because it promotes communicative interaction within the classroom environment. Through communicative interaction, students grasp lessons more clearly, understand what is expected of them, receive feedback about their performance and how to improve it, and obtain guidance on making necessary improvements. Other important dimensions of communicative interaction brought about by formative assessment include the full incorporation of students in the decision-making process and awareness of available help (Clark, 2008, p. 6). Formative mathematics assessment thus provides a new framework for implementing student-centered learning, positioning students at the core of learning and assessment interactions as the most significant stakeholders in the process.

Group Activities in Formative Assessments in Mathematics Classroom

Given the significance of formative assessments in enhancing students' learning and knowledge in mathematics, there are various strategies and activities that can be implemented to carry out evaluation in the mathematics classroom. Some of the most commonly used strategies for formative mathematics assessment include presenting open questions and tasks to students, conducting student observations, listening to students, and evaluating student work. Group activities can serve as formative assessments in mathematics classrooms because they incorporate various resources designed to develop mathematical comprehension and activity.

Formative assessment classroom techniques such as group activities in mathematics are valuable because they promote the development of communicative interaction in class. As noted above, communicative interaction among the various stakeholders in the learning process is vital for identifying learning needs and shaping instructional techniques for enhanced learning. The complexity of mathematics lessons makes it especially important to ensure that communicative interaction takes place within the classroom. Through these interactions, teachers effectively determine students' learning needs and identify strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in instructional practices. As in other subjects, the information collected in mathematics classroom is in turn used to develop effective learning strategies and practices.

The daily work of mathematics teachers entails asking questions, listening carefully to students, observing students during group work, evaluating student writing and representations, and initiating classroom discourse to promote the sharing of ideas (Keeley & Tobey, 2011, p. 3). The use of group activity techniques in formative assessment in mathematics is geared toward several learning objectives: enabling students to think deeply about their ideas and concepts in mathematics; understanding how students' thinking contributes to the learning process in ways that can serve as a starting point for developing instruction; and helping teachers track the progress of individual students and the class as a whole toward developing mathematical understanding and comprehension.

Conclusion

Formative assessment has emerged as an important means of evaluating students' learning since it entails gathering evidence to inform teaching and learning practices. This type of assessment can be used in various settings across different domains to enhance students' performance and improve teaching practices. In mathematics classrooms, formative assessment can be directed toward the achievement of specific learning outcomes and objectives. This process involves using various group activities that are developed in response to specific goals the teacher seeks to achieve within a particular period of time. The various group activities are developed and implemented on the basis of the relevant topics related to mathematics. Notably, the integration of group activities into formative mathematics assessment requires following several principles or processes that help in achieving the desired learning outcomes.

References

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