Efficacy and efficiency in formative assessment: an informed reflection on the value of partial marking

Abstract

This article presents an informed reflection on the evolution of teacher-to-learner feedback provided on written assignments in first-year university mathematics subjects. The feedback provided addresses not only mathematical accuracy and skills, but also the development of graduate attributes, such as discipline-appropriate written communication. Effective and efficient practices that have been collectively refined and enhanced, for more than a decade, are described and examined. This model for formative assessment in mathematics subjects is critiqued in the light of the scholarly literature on feedback and assessment.

Keywords:

• feedback
• teacher to learner
• formative assessment
• observed learning outcomes
• tertiary mathematics education
• graduate attributes

Acknowledgements

I wish to acknowledge the supervision of Professor Tom Angelo for my Graduate Certificate in Higher Education projects and his encouragement to engage with the scholarly literature. The assessment practices described herein belong to the whole Department of Mathematics and Statistics; while I gratefully acknowledge what I have learned from the cooperative and motivated teachers among whom I work, the reflections in this paper are mine.