A avaliação para a aprendizagem: uma contribuição sobre princípios da sua mediação

Abstract

This article presents and discusses results of a longitudinal research of intervention carried out in 2007 and aimed at improving assessment practices used by high school teachers through prototypes. Applying an educational design research approach and through laboratory experiments the study addressed the question of how these practices can be improved. For this purpose, two teachers and their 62 students in two secondary schools were purposefully selected. One teacher and 24 students from Mocuba secondary school (Zambezia) and another and 38 students from Joaquim Chissano secondary school in Gaza were selected. The schools were purposefully selected and data collected via interviews, questionnaires, classroom observations and written notes, which were qualitatively analyzed using content analysis approach (Bardin, 1977) and quantitatively using SPSS package. The improvement of practices involved a design, a classroom tryout, and a systematic evaluation of a series of exemplary Physics assessment materials (prototypes) in a context of demonstration experiments. Study findings indicated that (i) teachers liked the presentation and structure of the materials following the Predict-Observe-Explain (POE) strategy and regarded their personal commitment as crucial for achieving the desired experimental results; (ii) students also liked most the POE strategy because it allowed them to develop their own explanations of the observed events and highlighted the role of teachers during the tryout as crucial for the success of the experiments. The main conclusion of this study is that laboratory assessment practices undertaken by Physics teachers in Mozambican secondary schools are still of poor quality and need to be improved through developing and applying exemplary assessment materials with the potential to improve performance assessment practices. The contribution of the article for the state-of-art knowledge is defined in terms of assessment of learning – as opposed to the commonly used assessment for learning. Thus, the emphasis is on all functions of assessment namely diagnostic, formative, and summative. The contribution is also attributed to the development of critical thinking and reporting by students: teachers are to make sure that students develop a critical attitude towards their actions and interpret the activity’s data only in the light of the experimental work pursued and of their own knowledge and experience.