Teacher assessment action in mathematics classes: a study with teachers from the 2nd cycle of Mozambican general high school education

Resumo

Background: Assessment is one of the components and objects of research in Mathematics Education that, among various functions, ensures/promotes student learning. In this sense, the teachers’ assessment action, and the teaching ways of doing it in the classroom have implications for students' learning. Objectives: This paper intends to investigate what mathematics teachers do (say they do) when they assess students in their classes. Design: a descriptive qualitative study was carried out. Setting and Participants: Four mathematics teachers working in the 2nd Cycle of General High School Education of Mozambique were selected to participate in the research. Data collection and analysis: individual reflective interviews were conducted, and audio recorded. The accounts were transcribed and submitted to content analysis, in the light of which they were fragmented and grouped into categories of teachers’ assessment actions. Results: Four categories of actions (stimulate, access, interpret, regulate) and nine subcategories (question, give task, request; look, supervise; verify, perceive; give feedback, reorient) emerged from the data collected. The teachers carried out a formative-type assessment, fulfilling a cycle of actions (assessment action cycle) that starts with the stimulus or access and closes in the regulation, from where any of the initial actions were resumed. Conclusions: It can be said that education assessment is one of the motives for reflection and knowledge production in teaching practice.