Background: Formative assessment has been reported to improve learners' learning in affluent contexts. However, very few studies have reported the impact of formative assessment on teachers' knowledge and understanding in no-fee public schools located in a low socioeconomic context. Aim: This article investigates the impact of the Assessment for…

Assessment in higher education is a complex path to navigate, with unexpected twists and turns. Although many studies project the positive outcomes of assessment for learning, the outcomes do not always match the intention. Even when formative assessment is well-planned, the implementation may take such a toll, leaving a lecturer physically…

Work-integrated learning (WIL) is a formal program for student teachers to practice teaching in an authentic learning environment. Assessment of this program can bring conflicts between student teachers and assessors. This empirical study undertaken in South Africa discusses student teachers' participation in the assessment of their WIL. The study…

This article, located in the discipline of academic literacy studies, draws upon the fields of critical realism, design research, and evaluation studies. It reports on the validation of a flexible evaluation design for assessing the impact of academic literacy interventions. The design was validated in two ways. Firstly, through a process of…

Assessment is essential for teaching and learning mathematical concepts. Teachers' and learners' understanding of how assessment is to be conducted in mathematics classrooms will guide what is to be taught and learnt and how teaching and learning will be conducted. The researchers' assertion is that circle geometry lessons require thinking-based…

Integrating literacy in science and mathematics learning and teaching has been an ongoing endeavour. There are frameworks developed to guide teachers' practices, but little is reported on assessing literacy simultaneously with scientific or mathematical content knowledge. We reviewed the literature on assessing literacy in science and mathematics…

Background: Formative assessment is an essential element for improving teaching and learning in the classroom. During the COVID-19 pandemic and national lockdown, educators were confronted with the need to adapt to online assessment. South African educators also experienced challenges that made online formative assessment difficult. Aim: This…

Linking assessment and curriculum in science education, particularly within the topic of matter and its changes, is often taken for granted. Some of the fundamental elements of the assessment, such as the choice of wording and visual representations, as well as its relation to the curricular sequence, remain understudied. In addition, very few…

Assessment policy reform has led to the adoption of a "participatory" framework of assessment in South African higher education. Using a Foucauldian theoretical lens, this article explores the relation between participatory assessment practices in higher education and social control. Empirical evidence is drawn from assessment practices…

Primary school educators in South Africa often experience difficulties in applying recommended adaptive assessment methods in large multilingual classes, with these challenges being exacerbated when teaching and assessing English as First Additional Language (EFAL). In this article, we report on a study that explored Grade 6 educators' knowledge…

There is a growing body of research that suggests that improving the quality of online formative assessment strategies increases students' motivation to participate in online assessment. However, the way in which course leaders at open distance learning universities communicate the expectations of learning to students through online formative…

Background: Recent initiatives by the Department of Basic Education to support teachers to enhance their use of formative assessment are positive steps for improving teaching and learning. However, the nature and type of support required by teachers is unclear given the dearth of information on teachers' current pedagogical practices, and the…

The Bachelor of Education (BEd) undergraduate degree at a university in the Gauteng province, South Africa, aims to prepare pre-service teachers by using their experiences to expose them to the South African schooling context. This is done using a scaffolded process that includes formative assessment, summative assessment and Work-Integrated…

Assessment is critical in postsecondary education, as it is at all levels. Assessments are classified into four types: diagnostic, summative, evaluative, and formative. Recent trends in assessment have migrated away from summative to formative evaluations. Formative evaluations help students develop expertise and concentrate their schedules, ease…

Extended Curriculum Programmes have a responsibility to validate the resources and experiences students bring to their learning environment. However, designing assessment practices that encourage diverse students to draw on their resources in order to both access and challenge disciplinary discourses can be complex. This article is framed in terms…