A Case Study on Using Formative Assessment as a Strategy to Develop Students’ Competency and Skills in Science: Analyzing the Unit “Nutrition of Plants and Pathway of Water” in the Sixth Grade

Abstract

We designed a science lesson based on the frameworks of formative assessment in order to develop pupils’ competency and skills. The frameworks were based on the proposal of FAST (2008). The frameworks are 1) Learning Progressions, 2) Learning Goals and Criteria for Success, 3) Descriptive Feedback, 4) Self- and Peer- Assessment, 5) Collaboration. The lesson unit we designed was “Nutrition of plants and pathway of water”. The results indicated that: (1) Teachers supported pupils’ learning via feedback based on learning progressions and learning goals. (2) Pupils reached the learning goals through self- and peer-assessment. (3) Pupils constructed their knowledge about the plants. The proposal of FAST (2008) was thus confirmed to be useful for designing effective science lessons.