Students Self-Assess as They Speak About How Formative Assessment Helped Them Become Higher-Order Thinkers

• In Event: Roundtable Session 16
  In Roundtable Session: Exploring Teacher Perceptions, Classroom Assessment Practice, and Implications for Achievement

Abstract

We used formative assessment including explicit instruction to develop the higher order and critical thinking of grade 5 and 6 students in social studies and science. We used mixed methods designs over four years to compare the effects of this intervention with that of comparison groups. The Cornell Critical Thinking Test and tests of higher order thinking in content areas showed there was a large effect on the thinking of the intervention group. Pre and post-instructional student focus groups helped us gain understanding of the students’ thinking about their learning. Young students can understand and assess their learning: these students were cognizant that their thinking and learning had changed and could articulate how and why they thought they changed.

Authors

• Beverly Ann Fitzpatrick, Memorial University

• Henry W. Schulz, Memorial University