Using performance assessment in secondary school mathematics: an empirical study in a Singapore classroom
Using performance assessment in secondary school mathematics: an empirical study in a Singapore classroom
This article reports an exploratory study on using performance assessment in mathematics instruction in a high-performing secondary school in Singapore. An intact mathematics class participated in the study, and received chapter-based performance tasks as intervention during regular mathematics lessons for about one and a half school years. The performance tasks used included authentic and/or open-ended tasks. The students’ academic achievements and attitudes in mathematics were compared with a comparison class that did not receive the intervention. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, mainly through questionnaire surveys, performance task tests, conventional school exams, and interviews with students and teachers. The results suggest that the students receiving the intervention performed significantly better than their counterparts in solving conventional exam problems, and in general they also showed more positive changes in attitudes towards mathematics and mathematics learning. The students from the experimental class also expressed positive views about the benefits of using performance tasks in promoting their ability in higher order thinking, though no statistically significant difference was detected between the two classes of students in solving unconventional tasks before and after intervention. Overall, the results appear to support teachers’ using contextualised problems in real life situations and open-ended investigations in students’ learning of mathematics
performance assessment, alternative assessment, mathematics teaching and learning, authentic questions, open ended questions, singapore mathematics education
132-152
Fan, Lianghuo
28afe582-cd04-4ddc-9acb-a12494af79e0
Zhu, Yan
3b3d06d6-c420-4611-a5bc-e3701cb83d55
December 2008
Fan, Lianghuo
28afe582-cd04-4ddc-9acb-a12494af79e0
Zhu, Yan
3b3d06d6-c420-4611-a5bc-e3701cb83d55
Fan, Lianghuo and Zhu, Yan
(2008)
Using performance assessment in secondary school mathematics: an empirical study in a Singapore classroom.
Journal of Mathematics Education, 1 (1), .
Abstract
This article reports an exploratory study on using performance assessment in mathematics instruction in a high-performing secondary school in Singapore. An intact mathematics class participated in the study, and received chapter-based performance tasks as intervention during regular mathematics lessons for about one and a half school years. The performance tasks used included authentic and/or open-ended tasks. The students’ academic achievements and attitudes in mathematics were compared with a comparison class that did not receive the intervention. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected, mainly through questionnaire surveys, performance task tests, conventional school exams, and interviews with students and teachers. The results suggest that the students receiving the intervention performed significantly better than their counterparts in solving conventional exam problems, and in general they also showed more positive changes in attitudes towards mathematics and mathematics learning. The students from the experimental class also expressed positive views about the benefits of using performance tasks in promoting their ability in higher order thinking, though no statistically significant difference was detected between the two classes of students in solving unconventional tasks before and after intervention. Overall, the results appear to support teachers’ using contextualised problems in real life situations and open-ended investigations in students’ learning of mathematics
Text
_11_-_Using_Performance_Assessment_proofreading_done_.pdf
- Version of Record
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy
More information
Published date: December 2008
Keywords:
performance assessment, alternative assessment, mathematics teaching and learning, authentic questions, open ended questions, singapore mathematics education
Organisations:
Mathematics and Science Education
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 168857
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/168857
ISSN: 2195-4372
PURE UUID: f1a9dd3d-4223-460a-8749-6bbe081c4f9d
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 06 Dec 2010 10:33
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:18
Export record
Contributors
Author:
Yan Zhu
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics