Notes from Feb 2013 HK meetings

New RQs foregrounding e-assessment:

RQ1. What role does ICT play in the assessment practices of EL teachers in Singapore secondary schools?
RQ2. How do they balance formative and summative e-assessment in the classroom?
RQ3. What are the factors that enable and inhibit their use of formative e-assessment?

To be considered:

• Refocus on digital writing instead (because e-assessment difficult to rationalise for research).
• Rationalise digital writing research from literacy practices perspective, 21st c edtech development in last 5 years
• Literacies and assessment as social practices, not skills
• Challenges to construct of writing.
• Instead of including formative/summative in RQ, refer to them simply as practices.
• Grounded Theory -- Lincoln and Guba (1984)?
• Theory of Planned Behaviour TPB -- Azjen (social psychologist)
• Innovation Theory as an orientating theory (?) to start with
• Paul Gruba on e-assessment and blended learning

Notes from Jan 2013 Residential

My RQs at this date:

RQ1. What are the assessment practices of EL teachers in Singapore secondary schools actively engaged in integrating ICT in teaching and learning?

RQ2. How do they balance formative and summative assessment in the classroom?

RQ3. What are the factors that enable and inhabit their use of formative assessment?

RQ4. What role does ICT play in their (formative) assessment practices?

New focus on e-assessment (mostly writing) requires definition:

• MOE?
• Research literature?
• What about e-portfolios?

Consider infrastructure and resources as factors.

Consider literature on curriculum reform, particularly those studies which are concerned with situational or environmental analysis (essentially, those studies that look at factors which enable and inhibit). Also innovation theory in ELT (see Markee's book).

Notes from July 2012 Residential

July 2012 Residential

Meeting 1

Explore the ethnographic approach in language assessment (e.g. Hill & McNamara, 2012)
Consider what sort of participant schools would suit
Read up on 

• Case studies (see Yin)

• Situated Literacies ed. Barton

• Assessment literacy

• Teachers' understanding of formative assessment

• Teacher cognition (Borg, 2003)

• Definitions of formative assessment

Meeting 2

Fulcher's focus on PRINCIPLES is important and would apply to informal assessment
Should decide what to foreground and background in study
Could use formative vs summative CBA as a lens through which to examine factors which inhibit or enable formative assessment (e.g. learner autonomy, exam-driven culture, assessment literacy)
Follow up on:

• Classroom-based Language Assessment 

• Kathryn Hill's research

• 2013 Language Testing special issue on Assessment Literacy

Meeting 3

Tentative RQs:
RQ1. What are the assessment practices of EL teachers in Singapore?
RQ2. How do they balance formative and summative assessment in the classroom?
RQ3. What are the factors that enable and inhibit their use of formative assessment?
Should not bring factors I'm interested into the RQs (e.g. washback), but choose one as a focus RQ, e.g. assessment literacy, because it can make a considerable contribution to PD?

Framework for CBA: TIERNEY 2006Changing practices: influences in classroom assessment
Model missing resources and materials (ready made)
Note mediating sources - variables

Follow up:

• Black and Wiliam on formative assessment

• Van lier

• Focus on formative - precise end point (narrow to writing? Digital writing?) in order to include all influences

• Use model to analyse data?

• Ethnographic methods for classroom research