2.2.3. Formative assessment principles
To apply formative assessment effectively in the classroom, teachers have to know about formative assessment principles so that they can optimize the opportunities for gathering evidence. In so doing, it helps improve students’ learning process. Black and William (1998a) “set out four main headings for formative assessment practice: sharing learning goals, questioning, self/ peer assessment and feedback”. o Sharing learning goals: teachers give students an opportunity to get involved in what they are learning through discussing and deciding the criteria for success, which they can then use to recognize proof of improvement. Hence, information about learning objectives as well as success criteria needs to be presented in clear, explicit language which students can understand. Fontana & Fernandez (1994) concluded that “students who understand the learning objectives and assessment criteria and have opportunities to reflect on their work show greater improvement than those who do not”. o Questioning: is an important element in formative assessment. “The quality of the questions has a great effect on the quality of the assessment. Therefore, questions should be planned and prepared so that they can elicit an appropriate response from the students”. (Harlen, 2007) o Self/ peer assessment: is another key aspect of the teaching and learning process. Assessment can contribute powerfully to the educational development of students if students