University Training for Future Primary School Teachers on Automatic Formative Assessment

Abstract

From 2020/2021 the evaluation of students' learning in primary school is no longer expressed through a decimal-based score, but through a descriptive assessment, in a more formative perspective of evaluation. In addition, the widespread use of technological tools in school has changed the teaching/learning process and it has highlighted the need to adopt new teaching methodologies. In this context, it becomes fundamental to train teachers and future teachers on the use of digital resources and innovative teaching methodologies, such as automatic formative assessment. This article presents a training module on automatic formative assessment which involved 153 university students of the Master's Degree course in Primary Education and aims to answer the following research questions: Were students able to design questions with formative assessment and interactive feedback? What were the most adopted strategies? All the forms and the questionnaire completed by students during the training course were analyzed. Even if most of the students had some difficulties in designing the interactive feedback, they really appreciated the development of the training module and the proposed methodologies. They find formative assessment very effective in several aspects.