Abstract
This study used a quasi-experimental design to explore the effectiveness of formative assessment strategies on junior high school students achievement in an e-Learning environment. Two e-Learning packages were developed according to the learning content of Digestion and Evolution in the Nature and Life Technology Curriculum, which is currently implemented in junior high schools in Taiwan. A Web-based assessment and test analysis system, called the WATA system, was built into the e-Learning packages allowing learners to take formative tests. Three hundred and eighty-eight students, from ten classes of five junior high schools in the central area of Taiwan, were invited to participate in the study. These students classes were randomly assigned into two groups to learn either Digestion or Evolution topics via the e-Learning packages. Furthermore, the students in each group were randomly assigned into three subgroups to receive different formative assessment strategies. These three subgroups included FAM-WATA group, N-WATA group, and PPT group. The FAM-WATA group received a web-based formative assessment with six special FAM-WATA strategies. The N-WATA group received a web-based formative assessment with general strategies; The PPT group received a paper-and-pencil type formative assessment. Results from a survey indicated the participants agreed that the six FAM-WATA strategies including: Pass & Delete, Provide with No Answer, Query Scores, Ask Questions, Check Personal Answer History of Each Item, and Qualifier Rewarded with Flash Animation were useful for their WBI learning. There was no significant difference on the opinion mean scores between female and male students. Furthermore, it was found that significant differences existed in achievement mean scores among the three subgroups of both the Digestion topic learning group and the Evolution learning group. In addition, the FAM-WATA group performed better than the N-WATA group, and the N-WATA group performed better than the PPT group. No significant differences existed on the achievement mean scores between female and male students.
Keywords: | FAM-WATA (Formative Assessment Module of the WATA system); WATA (Web-based Assessment and Test Analysis System); Web-based formative assessment; WBI (Web-Based Instruction); nature and life technology curriculum of junior high school High school |
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