Physics Teachers’ Perception and Practice of Formative Assessment: The Case of a Secondary School in Addis Ababa City

Abstract

This study explored how physics teachers in a Secondary School perceive and practice formative assessment and the challenges. A case study research approach with qualitative analysis technique was employed and the data was collected through the administration of classroom observation and interview. In addition, the questionnaire was used to triangulate the results obtained from the observation and interview. The case was taken from Addis Ababa, secondary schools which have a large teacher population and enough facilities. All the available fifteen physics teachers were taken as sample respondents for the questionnaire and five teachers were observed while teaching in the classroom and the same teachers were interviewed. The findings show that physics teachers fail to assess their students effectively and do not give them enough feedback. Although most of the physics teachers reported that they mostly implement formative assessments in their classrooms, the observation data does not support their claim. Despite this, the teachers mention several factors that hinder them from fully implementing formative assessment practice, such as the overloaded curriculum, big class sizes, and lack of training on assessment. Some of them also blame the students for their lack of interest in being assessed and participating. The main result of this study also shows that physics teachers, regardless of their background, have a fragile grasp of what formative assessment is. This implies that it is essential to address teachers’ issues related to their perception which differs from their practice of formative assessment. Further, more research is needed on the physics teacher education curriculum to examine how assessment course is trained and how much formative assessment is incorporated in it to implement formative assessment as they perceive.