Abstract:

The electronic teacher register was originally developed to meet the practical need to monitor and document assessment interventions, school notes and teacher attendance. However, its daily use transcends being a simple aid to the teacher's work: its structure and functionality influence the practices and values ​​underlying the evaluation process. The register can be understood as a technological artefact which, as a cognitive artefact, regulates and organises the evaluation processes implemented daily by teachers.

Unlike the paper grade book, which was not directly accessible to parents and students, modern electronic grade books play a crucial role in communicating with families and students, shaping the conversation around assessment of learning.

According to some researchers, the design of this software is based on a rigorous numerical representation (numerization) of the assessment and learning outcomes. Features like instant grade point average calculations can fuel comparisons and competitive attitudes among students and foster reliance on teacher gratification. These characteristics also limit the development of formative assessment practices in schools, reinforcing a normative approach to learning assessment.

Furthermore, these software systems often lack the functionality to collect descriptive feedback, document learning processes, and integrate self- and peer-assessment as significant components of formative and summative assessment.

In this context, we investigated the perspectives of Italian primary school teachers regarding their experiences with the electronic register, focusing on the main challenges they face using the software and the features they believe should be implemented to support the learning assessment process.

This contribution presents the first results of our investigation, which analysed approximately more than 300 scripts using the Qualitative Content Analysis method and the QCAmap software.

Keywords:

Learning assessment, school socio-materiality, electronic school register, assessment for learning, feedback.