Professional development of geography teachers with regard to summative assessment practices

Abstract

What is known from the literature is that teachers’ assessment practices tend to focus more on rote learning than on meaningful learning. This educational design research investigated the extent to which geography teachers’ assessment practices reflect insights from the literature and how teacher professional growth could be evoked. A content analysis of school-based internal examinations in pre-vocational geography education in the Netherlands showed that 62 per cent of all test items assessed a type of remembering. In a questionnaire (N=74), teachers responded that their practices were strongly influenced by national examinations. The teachers who responded to the questionnaire rarely constructed test items themselves. These outcomes, together with a review of the literature, were used to design an intervention that aimed to find a solution to the problem that teachers rarely construct test items themselves and that a majority of test items in the internal examinations focus on the recall of knowledge. Furthermore, evaluation of the designed intervention should provide insight into how teachers can be scaffolded in their professional development regarding assessment practices. An important aim of the intervention, therefore, was to identify how and why a designed teacher professional development programme (TPDP) could evoke a change in teachers’ knowledge, skills, beliefs and practices regarding summative assessment. The first prototype of the intervention was evaluated by experts to gather information about its soundness. The intervention was then re-designed, tested and evaluated by a group of six teachers. Based on these outcomes, the intervention was re-designed again and conducted with a different group of eight geography teachers. Evaluation of the programme by the eight teachers showed that the teachers had changed their practices. Content analyses of their internal school-based examinations revealed that the teachers included significantly fewer items that focused on the recall of knowledge. Qualitative data from questionnaires and interviews indicated that the participating teachers’ knowledge, skills and beliefs had changed as well. Teachers showed their professional growth along multiple and varied pathways. However, the outcomes of this research support the idea that common characteristics in teacher professional growth are a focus on reflection on educational goals, a focus on constructive alignment and collaborative practices. It is highly recommended that future teacher professional development programmes regarding assessment practices consider these characteristics. Furthermore, it is important to acknowledge that teachers must be scaffolded over time and have the opportunity to become role models for their colleagues within their school departments. Finally, to change geography teachers’ assessment practices, structural changes regarding the relationship between the geography curriculum, the exam programme and summative assessment practices also seem to be necessary. Therefore, revision of the exam programme and the purposes of the internal school-based examinations (SEs) and exit examinations (CE) is strongly recommended to align the goals of geography education with instruction and assessment. Ultimately, these goals should direct the content of the curriculum and the exams, not vice versa.