Formative Assessment in Primary Science Classrooms in Singapore: Teachers’ Pedagogical Reasoning and Practices

Drawing on data from a baseline study (2015–2016) of pedagogical practices in Singapore, this article elucidates teachers’ pedagogical reasoning and their enactment of formative assessment practices in primary science classrooms. Based on classroom observations and teacher interviews, the article surfaces teachers’ pre-lesson and in class decision-making in relation to evidence of student learning in the classroom, which is pertinent given the curricular focus on Assessment for Learning (AfL) in line with the emphasis on inquiry-based learning. Data is drawn from classroom observations (video-recorded) of 49 lessons corresponding to five curricular units at the Primary 5 level in five primary schools islandwide. Descriptive data pertaining to formative assessment practices is based on coding analyses of lesson videos using a largely binary coding scheme, with subsequent compilation of the coded data in SPSS. Thematic analyses of post-lesson interviews (audio-recorded) yield insights into teachers’ immediate sense of the lesson and rationale for their decision-making. Data-driven, inductive analyses of semi-structured interviews (audio-recorded) surface teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and reasoning. The findings show that teachers largely provided detailed feedback focused on informing students’ learning during scientific investigations. The teacher’s exposition and whole class interactions show substantial evidence, with a dominance of teachers’ closed questions. Teachers gauged students’ ongoing learning via formative monitoring and elicitation of verbal responses, which formed bases for their teaching decisions. Student initiations and time constraints often caused teachers to alter their lesson plan. Teachers believed in helping students excel in high-stakes examinations. The findings warrant a stronger focus on learner-centred feedback, teachers’ questioning, and students’ metacognitive learning. Discipline-specific formative assessment needs more attention. Teachers’ tacit decision-making needs to be made more explicit. Overall, the article enhances our theoretical understanding of teachers’ pedagogical reasoning in relation to formative assessment, and surfaces the realities of employing AfL and realising the curricular emphasis on inquiry in primary science classrooms.