Computer-Assisted Assessment Practice of Pre-service Mathematics Teachers

Abstract

Assessment plays an integral role in teaching. As Heritage (2007) point out, assessment and teaching have been traditionally seen as reciprocal activities as a result of measurement concerns such as high-stakes accountability of testing. Many researchers mention that good practice yields from a recognition of both summative and formative purposes of assessment and use them accordingly (Dwyer, 1998). As Baki (2002) points out, for students computer has become a tool for learning and for teachers it has become a tool for teaching. Similarly, technology should become a tool for assessment if we aim for integration of technology into teaching. This brings the question of how to integrate technology into assessment which did not receive enough attention in the literature (Kissaneet al., 1994; 1996). This study aims to develop a teacher preparation programme that has the purpose of getting prospective mathematics teachers equipped with technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK) needed for effective technology integration. The programme developed in the light of TPCK is carried out with 41 prospective teachers who were enrolled in a teacher preparation program in a university in Marmara district in İstanbul. This article focuses on a particular component of TPCK framework, namely “assessment via technology”. The program consists of two workshops which lasted for three months in total: “TPCK workshop” and “pre-service teachers’ TPCK workshops”. During the workshops, multiple technological tools and software (such as GeoGebra, Graphic Calculus, Cabri Geometry and Probability Explorer) are used and pre-service teachers’ active participation is enabled. Assessment tools such dynamic worksheets of GeoGebra, Inspiration concept map software and e-portfolio were introduced and applied