What do teachers really want to know about assessment?

This presentation will focus on a project which sought to bring teachers more directly into the assessment literacy debate and provide them with training materials which meet their stated needs. With the exception of a single case study following three Chinese University teachers (Xu, 2015), no teachers have been asked directly about their attitudes to assessment or their specific training needs.

Following an earlier study which relied on survey data from teachers (Berry and O’Sullivan, 2015), the first part of this project was based on interviews and observations. The interviews drew on Davies’ (2008) categories of testing knowledge, defined as skills, knowledge and principles. In the interviews, teachers were asked to estimate their understanding of components of the assessment process and then to indicate how much they would like to learn about an individual component. Observations were conducted which focused on teachers’ assessment practices. Post-observation interviews were then conducted with the teachers. The observations and interviews were conducted at the international study centre of a British university and the focus group discussions were held at teaching centres attached to a major international organisation overseas. A workshop was also conducted at a major international conference with teachers from many parts of the world. These all served to confirm the earlier findings. The outcome of the project was the creation of a set of on-line training materials for teachers.

This presentation will describe the project its findings and conclude with a discussion of the training materials developed. Audience feedback will be welcome.