Survey of algebra and geometry teachers' assessment practices and an investigation of publisher-provided testing materials.

摘要

Algebra and geometry teachers' views and practices in evaluating of their students were surveyed. The random sample of 138 Ohio teachers responded to a form asking for documentation of practices and opinions about assessment and they submitted sample test items.;Teachers relied mostly on tests, quizzes, and homework to determine grades, to evaluate instruction, and as a base for talking with parents. They have not appreciable changed their evaluation practices since they began teaching because of satisfaction with results. Teachers did not rely upon publisher-provided testing materials in-tact, but used them as a source for problems to include on teacher-made tests. The most used form was the black-line master and the least used the computer test banks.;Sample items returned with the survey indicated most teachers were testing at a knowledge/skills level when they thought they were testing a deep and thorough understanding. Assessment of the publisher-provided materials classified most questions at the knowledge/skills level of cognitive demand.;Interviews with eight randomly selected respondents revealed that they thought working a longer problem implied a deeper understanding of concepts. Few teachers used group projects, journals, individual projects, or portfolios in assessment of students.;The variable of time dominated teachers' responses. Teachers indicated that they spend an average of 5.14 out-of-class hours on assessment activities per class. The more classes a teacher taught, the more tests were given in a given class. Teachers averaged 1.5 periods devoted to tests and quizzes per 10 instructional periods. They wish to improve evaluation of higher-order thinking of students but are constrained from exploration of techniques by time factors and lack of familiarity with alternative processes.