ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT TOOLS BASED ON A FEEDBACK PROCESS: PERCEPTIONS OF PRE-SERVICE SCIENCE TEACHERS

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the perceptions of pre-service science teachers on alternative assessment tools they developed using a feedback process. The pre-service teachers received written and verbal feedback during the process; however, they decided themselves to do revisions or not. Consequently, the second purpose of the study was to investigate why the pre-service teachers did not make revisions entirely based on the feedback which was given by researchers. This was a case study with 41 pre-service science teachers participating in “Education Technologies and Material Design” class. Data was collected using perception form including open ended questions as well as interviews conducted with the participants. The written explanations provided by the pre-service teachers to the open-ended questions and interview data were analysed using descriptive analysis. The participants’ perceptions of the alternative assessment tools created using a feedback process were categorized themes including suitability to the objectives, daily life association, visual aspects, and higher-order thinking. The study results revealed that the participants perceived themselves as deficient especially in terms of higher-order thinking and daily life association categories. Additionally, the rate of participants benefiting from the feedback process was limited. Study results suggested that practice-based classes in undergraduate teacher training programs may be conducted using rubrics and feedback process. Feedback given to teachers about their performances would be beneficial.