Abstract
This paper is based on a design-based research project investigating how to use digital resources to help activate formative assessment processes in the classroom. Performed as part of FaSMEd, a European Union project, our own project adopts a comprehensive theoretical framework, including the different functionalities of technology, formative assessment strategies, the agents involved, and teacher practices in classroom discussion management. Through this framework we analyze the design and implementation of specific digital worksheets that can be sent from teacher to students and vice versa, as well as displayed on the students’ tablets, on the teachers’ computer and/or on interactive whiteboards, by means of connected classroom technology. These digital resources are meant to help students share their results, opinions and reflections with their classmates and teachers during or at the end of mathematical activities. In this paper we focus on how to exploit digital worksheets supported by connected classroom technologies in order to help activate formative assessment (FA) strategies, especially during class-wide activities. Our analysis reveals that formative assessment strategies emerge in the shape of typical patterns of their interaction when digital worksheets are implemented in the lessons. Hence we have outlined several criteria for the design and implementation of digital worksheets in support of FA processes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aldon, G., Cusi, A., Morselli, F., Panero, M., & Sabena, C. (2017). Formative assessment and technology: reflections developed through the collaboration between teachers and researchers. In G. Aldon, F. Hitt, L. Bazzini & U. Gellert (eds) Mathematics and technology: A CIEAEM source book. Advances Mathematics Education (pp. 551–578). Dordrecht: Springer.
Ares, N. (2008). Cultural practices in networked classroom learning environments. Computer-supported collaborative learning, 3, 301–326.
Arzarello, F., & Bartolini Bussi, M. G. (1998). Italian trends in research in mathematics education: a national case study in the international perspective. In J. Kilpatrick & A. Sierpinska (Eds.), Mathematics education as a research domain: A search for identity (pp. 197–212). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Black, P., & Wiliam, D. (2009). Developing the theory of formative assessment. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 5–31.
Clark-Wilson, A. (2010). Emergent pedagogies and the changing role of the teacher in the TI-Nspire Navigator-networked mathematics classroom. ZDM, 42, 747–761.
Cobb, P., Confrey, J., diSessa, A., Lehrer, R., & Schauble, L. (2003). Design experiments in education research. Educational Researcher, 32(1), 9–13.
Collins, A., Brown, J. S., & Newman, S. E. (1989). Cognitive apprenticeship: Teaching the crafts of reading, writing and mathematics! In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), Knowing, learning, and instruction: Essays in Honor of Robert Glaser (pp. 453–494). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
DBRC—The Design Based Research Collective (2003). Design-based research: An emerging paradigm for educational inquiry. Educational Researcher, 32(1), 5–8.
Gueudet, G., Pepin, B., & Trouche, L. (2013). Re-sourcing teachers’ work and interactions: A collective perspective on resources, their use and transformation. ZDM, 45, 929–943.
Hegedus, S., & Moreno-Armella, L. (2009). Intersecting representation and communication infrastructures. ZDM, 41, 399–412.
Irving, K. I. (2006). The impact of educational technology on student achievement: Assessment of and for learning. Science Educator, 15(1), 13–20.
Mason, J. (1998). Enabling teachers to be real teachers: Necessary levels of awareness and structure of attention. Journal of Mathematics Teacher Education, 1, 243–267.
Remillard, J. T., & Heck, D. J. (2014). Conceptualizing the curriculum enactment process in mathematics education. ZDM, 46(5), 705–718.
Roschelle, J., & Pea, R. (2002). A walk on the WILD side. How wireless handhelds may change computer-supported collaborative learning. International Journal of Cognition and Technology, 1(1), 145–168.
Ruthven, K. (2013). From design-based research to re-sourcing ‘in the wild’: Reflections on studies of the co-evolution of mathematics teaching resources and practices. ZDM, 45, 1071–1079.
Schoenfeld, A. H. (1992). Learning to think mathematically: Problem solving, metacognition, and sense-making in mathematics. In D. Grouws (Ed.), Handbook for research on mathematics teaching and learning (pp. 334–370). New York: Macmillan.
Stein, M. K., Engle, R. A., Smith, M. S., & Hughes, E. K. (2008). Orchestrating productive mathematical discussions: Five practices for helping teachers move beyond show and tell. Mathematical Thinking and Learning, 10(4), 313–340.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Wiliam, D., & Thompson, M. (2007). Integrating assessment with instruction: What will it take to make it work? In C. A. Dwyer (Ed.), The future of assessment: Shaping teaching and learning (pp. 53–82). Mahwah: Erlbaum.
Acknowledgements
The research was funded by the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme fp7/2007–2013 under Grant Agreement No (612337).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cusi, A., Morselli, F. & Sabena, C. Promoting formative assessment in a connected classroom environment: design and implementation of digital resources. ZDM Mathematics Education 49, 755–767 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-017-0878-0
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11858-017-0878-0