Abstract:

The shift towards competence-oriented education is already underway and is expected to continue in the future. The scenario on the future of assessment in primary and secondary education by 2030 [1] proposes a broader variety of skills covered in student assessment. It will require the development of new assessment strategies to grasp this variety of skills. The role of students in assessment will become more prominent with peer and self-assessment being increasingly integrated into formative assessment practices. Students can actively participate in the development of their skills mainly through inquiry activities.

The role of inquiry has been strongly emphasized in science teaching for many years. In order to perform inquiry, students require specific skills referred to as inquiry or scientific skills. Different inquiry skill frameworks can be found in various studies [2]. The most important skills included in these taxonomies are related to the ability to discuss/defend results and formulate arguments. These abilities are strongly related to critical thinking and reasoning skills.

One way to enhance the development of these skills is to implement specific formative assessment strategies. They can be designed to encourage students not only to search for answers but also to explain their ideas, formulate coherent arguments, and justify their decisions. These learning activities facilitate the development of scientific reasoning skills based on the ability to analyse information, identify connections and causalities, differences and similarities, select appropriate problem-solving strategies, and propose generalisations.

There is a variety of formative assessment strategies but the following formative assessment classroom techniques (FACTs) seem particularly efficient in developing the reasoning skills: Agree & Disagree statements, Prediction card, Before and After, Frayer model, It Says – I Say – And So… [3]. This paper describes how these FACTs can be applied to develop the reasoning skills. This paper provides specific examples of their use in mathematics, informatics, biology, chemistry, and physics at lower secondary schools, and the implementation of these FACTs in teaching is briefly explained. Some of the proposed FACTs were applied in practice and observed, and the students’ responses were collected and analysed. The results of the analysis and the experience gained can provide teachers with valuable information and ideas on using FACTs in teaching.

Acknowledgement:
This paper was supported by the national Grant KEGA No. 004 UPJŠ-4/2020 “Creation, Implementation, and Verification of the Effectiveness of Digital Library with the Formative Assessment Tools for the Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Informatics at the Elementary School”.

References:
[1] PPMi, Prospective report on the future of assessment in primary and secondary education, 2020. doi: 10.2766/527561.
[2] Z. Ješková, S. Lukáč, M. Hančová, Ľ. Šnajder, J. Guniš, B. Balogová, and M. Kireš, Efficacy of inquiry-based learning in mathematics, physics and informatics in relation to the development of students´ inquiry skills, Journal of Baltic Science Education, vol. 15, no. 5, pp. 559-574, 2016.
[3] P. D. Keeley, Science formative assessment, volume 1: 75 practical strategies for linking assessment, instruction, and learning (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2015.

Keywords:

Formative assessment, formative assessment classroom techniques, scientific reasoning skills, lower secondary school.