Learning Science and Mathematics (LSM) Journal Vol.1, Issue 16, pp 1-20
Formative Assessment as a Tool for Enhancing STEM Learning among Chemistry Students
Parthiban Arumugam, Corrienna Abdul Talib, Faruku Aliyu & Marlina Ali
Received first draft 3 March 2021. Received reports from first (13 April) and second (4 June) reviewers; Received revised draft 25 November.
Accepted: 2 December 2021.
Published: 30 December 2021.
Abstract
Students’ learning involving formative assessment is regarded as very crucial in every bit of the teaching and learning process. Even with the crucial nature of formative assessment, it is very much often neglected by stakeholders in education. They mostly concentrated on the summative evaluation held at the end of the studies to evaluate the student’s mastery of the related subject matter. This is for the whole study period of time for obtaining certificates, completion of the study course, and for enrolment in the next level of learning. This paper utilized a qualitative study where the case study methodology was used involving a sample of thirty (30) form four chemistry students from government secondary schools. This study was carried out in two phases. The first phase was administering the instrument to the students. The second phase involved reviewing and analyzing students’ answers to each question to determine their understanding of the chemistry form four topics. The instrument consists of 15 objective questions and five subjective questions. The instrument was validated by chemistry experts. A pilot study was conducted using different cohorts of form four chemistry students before the actual study. The reliability of this instrument was 0.78. The answers obtained from the sample were collected by the researcher and analyzed using frequency count and percentages. The findings revealed overall achievement of students as good results. Although majority of students were able to answer most of the questions correctly, there were small number of them who were unable to answer the questions correctly. The paper concludes that by adopting proper steps in formative assessment, students’ understanding can be enhanced, and this eventually will contribute to enhancing student’s interest to learn chemistry.
Keywords: Formative assessment; STEM; Chemistry students
© 2021 SEAMEO RECSAM LSM Journal
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