An Investigation of the Effect of a Teaching Experiment on the Assessment Literacy of Pre-service Mathematics Teachers According to Teacher Competence Standards

Abstract

Literacy is a concept that contains the functional use of knowledge and skills in a specific field. In this sense, teachers who are assessment literate are expected to know assessment methods, choose and develop the appropriate tools, evaluate results and give the feedbacks. In Turkey, teacher training programs include assessment courses. It is intended in this study to examine the assessment literacy of pre-service mathematics teachers who took this course before and after a teaching experiment conducted within the scope of assessment in mathematics education according to the Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Student (AFT, NCME & NEA, 1990) and to reveal the changes that occurred. The participants are eight pre-service teachers in the last year of the mathematics teaching undergraduate program in a state university in Turkey.  The research was carried out with a qualitative approach and descriptive analysis was used. The research data were collected in two stages using Classroom Assessment Literacy Inventory in Mathematics Education consisting of open-ended questions. According to the results obtained, it is revealed that the pre-service teachers consider assessment professionally important, but they do not feel sufficient in this field. In addition, it was observed that pre-service teachers did not have sufficient knowledge about alternative assessment approaches. The results of the research show that the participants have misconceptions about the main concepts such as validity and reliability.