Exploring How Do Omani Science Teachers Practice Formative Assessment in Their Classrooms

Abstract

Research on teachers’ actual formative assessment practices is scarce in Educational literature. Consequently, This qualitative study utilizes a classroom observation approach to substantially explore how do Omani science teachers practice formative assessment with their students in their classrooms. Data were obtained from 425 science teachers in Cycle Two schools located in Oman. A classroom observation instrument during science instruction sessions was used to gather qualitative data. In conclusion of the findings, classroom observations explored that, although science teachers adequately employed some formative assessment practices included in constructs such as “Sharing learning targets’, “Addressing learning gaps”, and “Engineering good classroom discussions”, they failed to effectively employ some vital formative assessment practices included in constructs such as “Self & peer assessment” and ‘Constructive feedback”. The findings contribute to the literature by offering a classroom observation method to evaluate teachers’ formative assessment practices. Furthermore, the findings of this study bear some vital theoretical insights into the enacted formative assessment practices of teachers in the classroom settings.