Developing assessment for learning in the Aberdeenshire HE CSG

Project summary

Learning and teaching is a focus for improvement in every school and department so involvement in AifL research was considered wholly appropriate for the Home Economics (HE) Curriculum Support Group (CSG).  Four HE departments took part in the project – from Alford, Kemnay, Mintlaw and Peterhead academies. Principal teachers saw this as an opportunity to work together with other teaching staff within their departments and across the four schools.  

It was decided that Assessment for Learning would be a logical place to start and that the focus would be on ‘tuning into learners’ minds’ in S1 and/or S2 classes.  The aim was to integrate formative assessment strategies into course development; to identify the impact on pupils in terms of self-motivation, their progress in analytical skills, and their understanding of the learning and teaching process.  A range of strategies were used to observe responses and obtain feedback from pupils.

Case study extract

From the research carried out, it is fair to conclude that most strategies used were popular with teachers and pupils. ‘Take an answer round the class and bring it back’, ‘leave more wait time' and ‘ask for five’ really encouraged pupils to think more carefully, pay more attention and gain confidence. ‘Think, pair and share' helped pupils work together and they enjoyed learning from each other. More able pupils were challenged and the more vulnerable learners were supported by their peers as well as the class teacher / ASLN support.

‘Jigsaw it' and ‘choose group members with care’ were used together for a homework exercise.  In carefully chosen groups of three, pupils were asked to complete different aspects of a piece of homework and meet to discuss their findings. They were clear about what was expected of them and their responsibilities, they contributed effectively to the group, and were motivated to do their best since they did not wish to let others down. Check on prior learning carried out as a class discussion using the interactive whiteboard was also effective and allowed for pace and challenge from an appropriate starting point in terms of prior learning.

Learning from mistakes through ‘beat the teacher’ was popular amongst the pupils, who became more comfortable taking risks when answering in class, especially when answers (correct and incorrect) could be teased out in a positive and supportive classroom environment.  

The least popular strategy was ‘put your hand up when you learn something new’.  The pupils just didn’t see the point of this, probably because we were also encouraging ‘no hands up' at other times. Interestingly, when it was used with S4 pupils, they didn’t like it either!  

As a result of our focus on formative assessment techniques, pupils are generally more focused on their learning, more motivated to participate fully in class work, more supportive of each other and more actively engaged in learning and teaching.  Through the introduction of peer assessment, pupils were more actively engaged in the assessment process itself.  

It is evident to all who participated in the project that there is much we can do to improve the learning and teaching process in our classrooms. Next session we intend to extend what we have learned across all year groups and try out techniques from the other learning sets, recognising that different techniques will appeal to different teachers and pupils.  We also plan to focus on assessment of learning.  

As well as our Home Economics CSG work, we will continue to contribute to the work of ‘whole school’, sharing good practice with other subject areas in our own schools.

Finally, it is also important to note the very real correlation between AifL and A Curriculum for Excellence. All of the teachers involved in our research agree that AifL encourages teachers to reflect on the effectiveness of the learning and teaching process in their classroom; and that embedding the techniques of AifL enables pupils to become more successful learners, more confident individuals, more responsible citizens and more effective contributors.

Contact details

If you would like further information on this case study, please contact the local authority assessment co-ordinator. You can find contact details for each authority area on our local authority co-ordinators' contacts page.