Saudi student teachers’ perceptions of formative assessment

This study explores Saudi student teachers’ perceptions of formative assessment (FA). Recently, there has been a shift in Saudi Arabia towards a constructivist approach within education, which emphasises problem solving, analysis and research rather than memorisation and repetition. Despite these changes, FA, which is best utilised in a constructivist environment, has been overlooked. There are few studies on FA in the Arabian region, and there are no studies about student teachers’ perceptions of FA.
Because FA is a new approach in Saudi Arabia, the researcher drew upon traditions of action research, in that FA was introduced by the researcher and discussed with the participants throughout the study. A purposive sample of eleven Saudi student teachers and their tutors participated in this study. Data was collected using a variety of instruments over a period of time. The process of data collection was in three stages: before, during and after school placement. Initial one-to-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with the student teachers before school placement. Thirty-three observations took place during school placement. After school placement, questionnaires and one-to-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with the student teachers, and interviews were also conducted with their tutors.
Although the Saudi student teachers had been influenced by summative assessment, the main findings showed that they were enthusiastic about the idea of FA and they recommended implementing it in Saudi schools. The findings also indicated that the student teachers could learn about FA, and the researcher’s approach of connecting theory to practice through reflection seemed to be helpful in developing their knowledge about FA. The student teachers perceived that mixed abilities classrooms and time limitations — both time within lessons and the period of school placements — affected their practice of FA. The findings also suggested that in order to avoid what they seemed to identify as problematic FA techniques, the student teachers tended to focus on certain FA strategies.