Philippine K-12 Secondary Science Teachers' Assessment Conceptions in Promoting Student Learning

Abstract

This study explored the assessment conceptions of the secondary science teachers focusing on the promotion of student learning. Mixed method design obtained the assessment conceptions of the teachers. This study was conducted in 30, privately and government-owned schools in two western locations in the province of Cebu, Philippines. A survey questionnaire was administered to 125 secondary science teachers (determined through complete enumeration) with a return rate of 82.4% where descriptive statistics for data analysis was used. A focused group discussion (FGD) was conducted to eight selected secondary science teachers and thematic analysis was done to corroborate the survey results. The study showed that secondary science teachers “strongly” possess assessment conception pertaining to improvement of student learning, diagnosis of student abilities and improvement of teaching while they “mostly” agree on the conception regarding the accountability of students. The participants believed that assessment maybe used in determining and forwarding students' learning and improve teachers' instruction more than its summative purposes. The FGD further found out peculiar assessment conceptions that can be accounted to the assessment policy guidelines of the new K to 12 curriculum. It is recommended that further study can be done in determining the teacher assessment conceptions using all of the four constructs in the subsequent discussion. Likewise, an investigation as to how these conceptions are manifested in the actual classroom practices can provide a clearer information concerning the professional assessment competence of the teacher.