Primary Maths A1

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Swinburne University of Technology *

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70001

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Mathematics

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Feb 20, 2024

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docx

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Uploaded by CommodoreMusic11868

EDU30009: Mathematics in the Primary Classroom ASSIGNMENT 1: REPORT Chelsea Smith 103694503

1 1. Executive Summary The purpose of assessing mathematics in the primary school context is to provide feedback on students’ understanding of the content being taught (New South Wales Education Standards Authority, n.d.). This report discusses three assessment types that take place in mathematics in the primary school context. The three types of assessment discussed are formative assessment, summative assessment, and self-assessment. A description as well as the benefits and limitations of the assessments are discussed with examples. Contents List 1 – Executive Summary & Contents List 2 – Introduction 3 – Findings 3.1 – Formative Assessment 3.2. – Summative Assessment 3.3. – Self Assessment 4 – Conclusion and Recommendations 2. Introduction Mathematics is a Learning Area within the Australian Curriculum and is followed throughout the entirety of the Primary School years (ACARA, 2023). The mathematics learning area is important for students to build the numeracy skills to use mathematics confidently in the real world (Department of Education & Training, 2019). Assessment is used constantly within mathematics to gain well-rounded information on student learning and understanding. This information is important for teachers to continually monitor students, to then inform teaching and learning practices. Monitoring students understanding of mathematics topics is vital to ensure students can successfully use maths in the real world and later in life. There are many ways of assessing including Formative Assessment, where the assessment is designed for learning; Summative Assessment, where assessing is done

2 of the learning and self-assessment, where students assess their own learning (New South Wales Education Standards Authority, (n.d.). The use of different assessment strategies is crucial for students’ learning styles and to determine students' true understanding of the topics (Brooker et al., 2020). 3. Findings 3.1 Formative Assessment Portfolios as a means of formative assessment are often used in the primary mathematics classroom to gather information on a student's understanding during a unit of work. "A purposeful collection of student work that tells the story of the student's efforts, progress, or achievement in given areas" is how Arter and Spandel (1992) defined portfolios (Wood, 2006). This type of assessment allows teachers to understand students' cognitive ability and strengths and weaknesses in a specific area of learning. Gaining portfolio data allows teachers to generate a successful program that reflects their student's current understanding to enhance learning ability (Leighton & Gierl, 2007). For example, in a year four class focussing on Number and Algebra, the portfolio may reveal that a student may be very confident in odd and even numbers: Content Descriptor (CD) ‘ACMNA071’, but also may be struggling in identifying other number sequences and identifying those patterns in CD ‘ACMNA074’ (ACARA, 2023). This is important for the teacher to be aware of to ensure the student receives additional support in CD, ‘ACMNA074’, or perhaps for the teacher to identify a pattern across multiple portfolios, revealing a need for revisiting teaching strategies in that learning area. A portfolio is a much less formalised type of formative assessment than more formal testing, such as recurring performance tasks completed over a unit of work to determine ongoing learning abilities. Portfolios provide a snapshot during progressive work to determine how teaching may need to be adapted and allow for a less formal assessment. The mathematics portfolio focuses on a student's learning process and includes multiple pieces of evidence of a student's work. A portfolio as a formative assessment can include anything from homework, class exercise books to quizzes taken over the unit of work (Sole,

3 2012). Portfolios also use observations as a tool to assess during and prior to a unit of work (George, 2010). The portfolio is a place for students, peers and their teachers to revisit and evaluate to determine which areas a student may need extra assistance in and to guide students' learning. The significant benefit of the portfolio is that it provides a well-rounded understanding of the learning that has occurred (George, 2010). 3.2 Summative Assessment A summative assessment is often completed following a unit of work or year to evaluate what and how much a student has learnt. A teacher-devised, written test as a diagnostic assessment is a more formal type of assessment. A written test as a summative assessment strategy is purposeful for teachers to evaluate teaching and learning by determining a criterion devised grade (Twinkl). Written tests are simple for teachers to prepare and give a quick insight into students' level of understanding to separate those higher achieving students from those that need additional support (Morsanyi, 2022). For example, an end of year summative test will determine where students may be placed for classing in the following year. Summative assessments are beneficial in giving students extra motivation to study and therefore gaining a stronger understanding of those focus areas (Emile, 2023). Primary mathematics teachers must follow standardised criteria to ensure consistent results and validity when comparing students in the same cohort, cohorts across years or teaching success or issues. Unfortunately, even though such formal summative testing and written tests allow insight into students' cognitive ability in a specific mathematics area, this testing also has implications. Although summative testing is known to improve students' motivation to perform well, it also has the tendency to lead to 'test anxiety'. Test anxiety was found in a meta-analysis to have lowered students' ability to process information and self-regulate, leading to decreased performance levels (Robson et al., 2023). A test that only assesses right or wrong can be highly discouraging for students and does not provide an evident appreciation of students' understanding of a topic (George, 2010). Written tests often need to account for originality and the thinking process rather than the ability to get an answer

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