Running head: EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

The Effectiveness of Formative Assessment in an Urban Science Classroom

Corey Kapolka
Michigan State University

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

Introduction
I will be studying the effectiveness of two forms of formative assessment on
student achievement and growth in learning important biological concepts. Formative
assessment can be conducted in many ways, and I am interested in determining which
of two common methods is most successful in helping students grasp ideas in science
and recognize that they have made progress in understanding those ideas. The two
methods I will be examining are Grapple and Recitation styles of questioning.
Recitation (or recall) questions require students to remember and repeat
important information. Scientists must have a great deal of knowledge available to them
in order to resolve questions and develop hypotheses, so being able to recall that
knowledge is critical. Recitation questions are a commonly-used method of quickly
assessing whether a student is capable of memorizing and repeating important
information (Black & Wiliam, 1998), such as the components of a chemical reaction or
the functions of important biological molecules.
Grapple questions require students to apply their knowledge to solve new
problems or develop new questions from information they have recently gained.
Answers for Grapple questions may be difficult to determine due to the need to consider
several pieces of evidence, the possibility of several correct answers, or there may not
be a correct answer. As the name implies, a Grapple question can be a challenge and
require more effort and time to complete than a Recitation question, such as reconciling
the seeming contradiction of energy release through phosphate bond breakage in ATP

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

molecules and the requirement of energy input to break chemical bonds (Dreyfus,
Sawtelle, Turpen, Gouvea, & Redish, 2014).
I am interested in this question because the school in which this study is to be
completed encourages its teachers to adopt a Grapple strategy for introductions to new
material and for formative assessments. I have observed resistance from students to
the challenge that these kinds of question present relative to the Recitation questions to
which they are accustomed. Without hard evidence that the Grapple strategy is more
effective at helping students learn, I worry that the approach may be discouraging some
students from making efforts to learn the content of my classes. Some students refuse
to answer Grapple questions if they consider the questions to be too difficult, or they do
not immediately know the answer. Recitation questions tend to be more regularly
completed by my students without objections or concern that they do not know enough
to answer them.
Previous studies examining formative assessment have used separate classes
taught by the same teacher or different teachers using different methods of assessment.
Several of these studies (Box, Skoog, & Dabbs, 2015; Hickey, Taasoobshirazi, & Cross,
2012; Sato et al., 2006) reported qualitative evidence for the value of formative
assessment in providing students with useful feedback on their learning progress. This
evidence largely came in the form of teacher accounts of their observations of their
students. Furtak (2012) described a method of codifying open-ended student responses
(which are an expected outcome of Grapple questions) that was helpful to teacher
researchers in inferring student growth during an experimental learning progression.

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

One study (Yin et al., 2008) which attempted to quantify differences in student
achievement and motivation between implementing formative assessments and not
implementing formative assessments failed to show meaningful statistically significant
differences due to complications in the application of the prescribed treatments. The
difficulties inherent in isolating the effects of experimental treatments from conflicting
variables across classes of students make a quantitative study of formative assessment
less likely to produce useful conclusions than a qualitative study.
My goal in this study is to establish whether having students Grapple with difficult
questions as a form of formative assessment is more or less successful than traditional
Recitation assessments in promoting student achievement and confidence in mastery of
Biology course material. Previous studies have demonstrated several limitations to the
structure of a study of this kind if useful data is to be collected. This has led me to focus
the scope of the study to a question that could be tested easily and repeatedly. The
results of the study could be useful to teachers across disciplines who are interested in
exploring different forms of assessment or are encouraged to implement Grapple
questions into their lesson plans.

Research Context
The school in which the proposed study will be performed is an urban charter
high school with slightly less than 600 students. 99% of students at the school are
African-American, and 1% are multi-racial. This is a high-need school with 83% of
students qualifying for free or reduced-cost lunch, and reading and math skills are below

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

the state average. The school campus consists of five buildings located near Wayne
State University in downtown Detroit. Each grade (9-12) is designated its own building
where all core classes, lockers, and cafeteria for each grade are located.
64 Biology students will be included in this study during the Winter semester of
2016. 32 of these students are male, and 32 are female. All of the students are in their
sophomore year of high school, and their ages range from 14 to 16 years old. Biology
students have been selected because the subject is my primary course of instruction
and the focus of my curriculum development. The students to be studied have a wide
range of abilities, from excellent readers and critical thinkers to students with lagging
reading and math skills relative to their peers. Eight of my students have Individual
Education Plans (IEPs), and require accommodations during instruction and
assessments. A major concern I have for my students is a lack of motivation. Many
students to be included in the study resist completing classwork, and assessments are
treated with scorn. It is my hope that through this study I may be able to identify
effective methods of assessment that reduce students' resistance to completing them.
The study will be conducted over two weeks of instruction. The methods to be
tested will be applied to a single unit to minimize introducing additional variables to the
design. The timing of the study should allow for ample time for reflection following data
collection and implementation of the action plan that follows before the end of the
school year.
The Biology classroom where the study is to be completed has limited space and
resources for conventional scientific investigations or laboratories, and has adequate

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

technology resources. A Smartboard serves as the main display board at the front of the
room, and Chromebooks are readily available to all classes. The classroom space is
small, and class sizes range from 11 to 21. Students are seated in small groups at
tables closely arranged throughout the room to facilitate partner and group work. A
classroom set of textbooks is available and occasionally used. Most written materials
are provided as loose printed copies of reading material or activities to be completed in
class.
The chosen school has an expectation of 90% graduation and 90% college
admittance of all enrolled students. To that end, its prescribed cultural norms and
student characteristics are intended to promote preparation for college admission and
success. This year, I have been emphasizing the importance of developing consistent
study habits to encourage my students to be better prepared for examinations at the
high school at college levels. If students are to succeed at the college and university
level, we should aim not only to see them accepted into college but completing fouryear degrees. It is my goal to combine regular rapid formative assessment with an
expectation of consistent study to better prepare our students for the rigors of their
college coursework.

Literature Review
Formative assessment is a method of rapidly determining student mastery of
concepts during instruction that provides for the opportunity for teachers to modify
instruction during the course of an instructional unit. This reactionary strategy is

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

increasingly being recognized as a critical component of secondary science curricula,

and the development of embedded high-quality formative assessment has become an
important area of research (Shepard 2000; Ayala et al. 2008). Numerous case studies
of the implementation of various formative assessment strategies can be found in the
literature, and university research groups have begun probing the potential for formative
assessment as an integrated instructional tool in unit plans provided for schools. The
advent of application and inquiry-based learning as the focus of student activities in the
science classroom has also led to speculation regarding the most appropriate or
effective methods of proactively measuring student mastery of skills and understanding
rather than rote memorization.

Effectiveness of Formative Assessment

A collaboration in the early 2000s among research groups at Stanford and the
University of Hawai'i regarding the effects of attitudes and content knowledge of
beginning teachers on instruction resulted in the publication in subsequent years of
numerous valuable studies regarding formative assessment. For example, while
observing several middle school science teachers, Sato et al. (2006) found that each
instructor modified lessons in different ways to suit their own abilities and expertise.
Regardless of modification, each teacher implemented rapid and consistent feedback to
students as they informally assessed student learning. Formative assessment and
modification of instruction could be seen as an inherent component of many teachers
individualized curriculum, intentional or not.

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

However, when Yin et al. (2008) attempted to apply the use of powerful
multivariate statistical analysis tools into the comparison of assessment data from
student groups who received different forms of formative assessment, the results were
inconclusive. The authors observed that the teaching methods employed by participant
instructors were not entirely in line with the assigned treatments, because teachers
implemented formative assessment in many unintentional ways. To some teachers, this
was simply seen as good teaching.
The disparate methods used by different teachers in such studies, and the wide
variety of ways students could answer formative questions were therefore found to be
potentially problematic for data analysis methods. To address this, Furtak (2012) and
teacher colleagues developed a method of coding student responses according to
important concepts and states in a learning progression. Encouraging the use of openended questions and original thoughts from students while also standardizing their
responses into usable scores is an important goal for formative assessment research.
Without being able to easily compare data across studies, drawing comparisons among
the findings of these studies may not be feasible.
In a subsequent study of the effectiveness of formative assessments, Yin, Tomita,
& Shavelson (2014) collaborated with a single teacher who applied separate treatments
to different classes and employed a coding scheme for student answers that allowed for
variation in open-ended responses. The authors found that using embedded formative
assessments resulted in significantly higher student performance in the formative
assessment student group relative to the control, and significantly reduced

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

misconceptions. Using a single-teacher design helped to reduce the 'teacher effect' of

the implementation of different teaching styles by instructors that was observed in Yin et
al.'s (2008) previous study.
Other classroom studies have corroborated these findings. While collaborating
with a middle school science teacher, Trauth-Nare and Buck (2011) found that formative
assessment and reflective practices improved student learning and writing as well as
the participant teachers instruction. Encouraging reflection by the teacher with regular
student assessments resulted in changes to their lessons that likely would not have
been implemented otherwise. Hickey et al. (2012) used a model science curriculum to
examine the effectiveness of open-ended formative assessment questions in improving
subsequent summative test scores. The formative questions were implemented during
open classroom discussions, which increased in length and quality over the course of
the study as students improved in their discourse. Performance on summative
assessments likewise improved, and the authors suggest that using challenging
formative discussion questions serves student development better than traditional
commercial test preparation methods in preparing for exams or formal assessments.

Feedback
As teachers implement formative assessments, it is imperative that they consider
how their knowledge and beliefs of their students' abilities are used to modify
assessments and lessons. As Yin et al. (2008) observed, teachers may not always
implement the strategies they know that they should - or are directed to - use. In order

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10

to know what strategies would be appropriate, student knowledge should be elicited and
interpreted appropriately. When teachers do not regularly attempt to elicit student
knowledge in such a way that students have opportunities to explain their thinking, class
activities and assessments can be created that reflect false assumptions or
misunderstandings of student abilities (Ateh, 2015). Questioning that requires students
to recite information rather than explain their reasoning can result in a misrepresentation
of what students actually know. In order for formative assessments to be effective and
inform lesson modifications and assessment targets, teachers must therefore be vigilant
in producing good elicitation questions and regularly gather data about how students
are able to explain their own reasoning.

Reflection
When reviewing student performance on assessments, ensuring that comments
to students amount to quality formative feedback should also be a consideration by
teachers making use of a formative assessment strategy. Unfortunately, using evidence
gathered from student assessments while modifying instruction has been found to be
the most difficult component of the formative assessment strategy for teachers to
implement (Heritage, Kim, Vendlinski, & Herman 2009; Olh, Lawrence, & Riggan
2010). Wylie and Lyon (2015) found the responsiveness and feedback of a large cohort
of science and math teachers to be less effective than perceived by the teachers,
reflecting a need for support of teachers through professional development and by
instructional specialists. Reflection by instructors is an essential component of a

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11

formative feedback strategy that can be easily neglected without outside prompting or
ingrained practice.

Summary
Formative assessment and reflective lesson modification strategies are valuable
and challenging additions to secondary science and math curricula. Teachers who wish
to implement these strategies need to be willing to devote time both during classes and
after for reflection and evaluation of their methods in order to produce effective
modifications for their students. Teachers have been found to be willing to implement
formative assessment strategies, but sometimes require students to only recite
information and fail to correctly elicit student reasoning. Without understanding how
students are thinking through important concepts, teachers may be unable to provide
meaningful feedback to correct misunderstandings. Reflection on assessment methods
is a critical component of this strategy that is often neglected by teachers without
adequate support. Evidence has steadily accumulated from numerous studies that
when teachers implementing formative modifications are supported by administrators
and instructional experts, their students have been found to perform significantly better
on assessments for content knowledge and comprehension.

Methods and Analysis

The two forms of formative assessment to be studied (Recitation and Grapple)
will each be applied to two different groups of students during an Evolution unit of an

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12

introductory Biology class. Each group includes two separate classes of students with
varying sizes and abilities. Students with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) that
require modified assessments will be excluded from this study. Summative
assessments provided to students with IEPs can vary from those given to other
students depending on their individual Plan. 26 students will be included in the
Recitation treatment group, and 30 students will be included in the Grapple treatment
group. All components of the unit will be the same for all students included in the study
except for the forms of formative assessment applied to the two experimental groups
(see Appendix C).
At the beginning of the unit, a content pre-test (see Appendix B) will be
completed by all students participating in the study to establish baseline data. Included
with the pre-test will be a series of questions assessing students confidence with the
material and with Biology in general. During the unit, two different sets of daily warm-up
activities, exit tickets, and other formative assessments will be applied to the treatment
groups according to their respective formative assessment strategies.
The Recitation treatment group will be given questions during warm-up periods
and checks for understanding that require students to recite specific information that
they were expected to have learned in prior lessons or as part of homework
assignments. The Grapple treatment group will be provided with questions that require
application of knowledge gained from previous activities, or be tasked with reconciling
multiple pieces of information to synthesize new ideas. As the name implies, a Grapple
question may prove to be a challenge and require more than recall and repetition of

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13

facts to answer. Students may provide a variety of answers, depending on their

knowledge and interpretation of that knowledge in the context of a particular question.
To help with reflection on student responses, the opening activities of classes
(when formative questioning will regularly occur) will be video recorded during the study
period. This will consist of the first 5-10 minutes of each class, which will allow for rapid
review of student responses and behaviors during a preparation period or following the
school day. Student responses will be used to inform what grapple questions will be
used the following day to encourage growth in mastery of concepts that need the most
attention. Recitation questions will remain unchanged.
At the end of the unit, students in both treatment groups will complete a
summative assessment (see Appendix B) identical to the pre-test from the beginning of
the unit. Comparisons of the mean changes in scores (pre-test to post-test) between the
two groups will be completed using a t-test or Mann-Whitney U-test, as appropriate. A ttest could be used for data of normal distribution, but often assessment scores exhibit a
bimodal distribution. In that case, the rank-based Mann-Whitney U-test would be used.
In either case, an -value of 0.05 will be used to determine whether differences in
performance on individual questions among groups are statistically significant. The
results of these tests will provide evidence for whether one treatment was more
effective than the other in improving student mastery of important concepts in
evolutionary biology.
Students will also complete an opinion survey (see Appendix A) concerning their
confidence with the material covered and Biology as a subject. The results of this

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survey will be compared with the results of the survey from prior to treatment (see
Appendix D). Descriptive statistics from these surveys will be compared to determine
general changes during treatments and differences that emerged between treatment
groups. Student attitudes towards my class are valued alongside growth in mastery of
the course content.

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15

References
Ateh, C. M. (2015). Science teachers' elicitation practices: Insights for formative
assessment. Educational Assessment, 20(2), 112-131.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10627197.2015.1028619

Ayala, C. C., Shavelson, R. J., Ruiz-Primo, M. A., Brandon, P. R., Yin, Y., Furtak, E. M.,
Young, D. B., & Tomita, M. K. (2008). From formal embedded assessments to
reflective lessons: The development of formative assessment studies. Applied
Measurement in Education, 21(4), 315-334.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08957340802347787

Black, P. & Wiliam, D. (1998). Assessment and classroom learning. Assessment in

Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 5(1), 7-74.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0969595980050102

Box, C., Skoog, G., & Dabbs, J. M. (2015). A case study of teacher personal practice
assessment theories and complexities of implementing formative assessment.
American Educational Research Journal, 52(5), 956-983.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/0002831215587754

Dreyfus, B. W., Sawtelle, V., Turpen, C., Gouvea, J., & Redish, E. F. (2014). Students
reasoning about high-energy bonds and ATP: A vision of interdisciplinary

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

16

education. Physical Review Physics Education Research, 10(1),

http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevSTPER.10.010115

Furtak, E. M. (2012). Linking a learning progression for natural selection to teachers'

enactment of formative assessment. Journal of Research in Science Teaching,
49(9), 1181-1210. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/tea.21054

Heritage, M., Kim, J., Vendlinski, T., & Herman, J. (2009). From evidence to action: A
seamless process in formative assessment? Educational Measurement: Issues
and Practice, 28 (3), 2431. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-3992.2009.00151.x

Hickey, D. T., Taasoobshirazi, G., & Cross, D. (2012). Assessment as learning:

Enhancing discourse, understanding, and achievement in innovative science
curricula. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 49(10),1240-1270.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/tea.21056

Olh, L. N., Lawrence, N. R., & Riggan, M. (2010). Learning to learn from benchmark
assessment data: How teachers analyze results. Peabody Journal of Education,
85, 226245. http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ883192

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17

Sato, M., Baker, V., Fong, E., Gilbertson, J., Liebig, T., & Schwartzfarb, N. (2006).
Changing mindsets about classroom assessment. Science Educator, 15(1), 2128. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ773198.pdf

Shepard, L.A. (2000). The Role of Classroom Assessment in Teaching and Learning.
CSE Technical Report 517. Los Angeles: National Center for Research,
Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing (CRESST), University of California.
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED443880.pdf

Trauth-Nare, A. & Buck, G. (2011). Using reflective practice to incorporate formative

assessment in a middle school science classroom: A participatory action
research study. Educational Action Research, 19(3), 379-398.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2011.600639

Waldrop, M. M. (2015). Why we are teaching science wrong, and how to make it right.
Nature, 523, 272-274. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/523272a

Wylie, E. C., Lyon, C. J. (2015). The fidelity of formative assessment implementation:

Issues of breadth and quality. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy &
Practice, 22(1), 140-160. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2014.990416

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

18

Yin, Y., Shavelson, R. J., Ayala, C. C., Ruiz-Primo, M. A., Brandon, P. R., Furtak, E. M.,
Tomita, M. K., & Young, D. B. (2008). On the impact of formative assessment on
student motivation, achievement, and conceptual change. Applied Measurement
in Education, 21, 335-359. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08957340802347845

Yin, Y., Tomita, M. K., & Shavelson, R. J. (2014). Using formal embedded formative
assessments aligned with a short-term learning progression to promote
conceptual change and achievement in science. International Journal of Science
Education, 36(4), 531-552. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2013.787556

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Appendix A

Biology Class Opinion Survey

Please answer the following questions truthfully and as accurately as possible. These
surveys are anonymous to provide you with the opportunity to share your opinions and
help your instructors better plan your experiences in this class.
Strongly
Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

I am comfortable learning
new information in science
classes.
I can achieve the grade that
I want in this class.
I enjoy learning science.
I find science classes to be
easier than other classes.
The warmup activities in this
class are challenging.
I know when I am
successfully learning the
content in this class.
I do well on assessments in
this class.
The questions we answer in
science are interesting to
me.
I have learned most of the
material we have covered in
this class.
I can use what Im learning
in this class outside of
school.
Appendix B
Evolution Unit Test

Name ___________________________ Hour _____

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1. What type of evidence do paleontologists rely on the most to classify species from
fossil evidence?
a. habitat
b. anatomy
c. behavior
d. DNA
2. Researchers have found that after hatching, larger baby turtles are more likely to
survive than smaller baby turtles. They hypothesized that it was due to the larger baby
turtles moving faster than smaller turtles and thus evading predators. The survival
advantage for the larger baby turtles is a result of
a. natural selection
b. gene splicing
c. mutualism
d. replication
3. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria are resistant, as the
name implies, to the powerful antibiotic methicillin, as well as many other antibiotics.
What had to happen first that led to the spread of these bacteria?
a. Some bacteria survived exposure to methicillin.
b. Bacteria produced methicillin-resistant offspring.
c. Other bacteria were killed off.
d. A mutation resulted in resistance to methicillin.
4. When two populations of the same species become physically isolated in different
environments for a long period of time, what will most likely result from the separation?
a. Both populations remain the same.
b. Only the larger population changes.
c. The populations change in different ways.
d. Both populations change in the same way.
5. Which of the following information concerning evolution is true?
a. Humans cannot cause evolution to occur.
b. Some mutations do not result in evolution.
c. All mutations are harmful to an organism and species.
d. Changes to an organisms body during its lifetime are passed to offspring.

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6. Which of the following traits of a bird species is most likely to be genetically inherited
by offspring?
a. Size that is undesirable to hunters
b. Movement speed slower than predators
c. Knowledge of a safe location for a nest
d. Coloration suited for a different habitat than the one occupied
7. Which of these categories includes the least number of organisms?
a. Family Felidae
b. Class Mammalia
c. Phylum Chordata
d. Genus Felis
8. Which of the following is not an example of biological evolution?
a. Breeding a new type of dog that has very short legs
b. An orangutan stretching its arms and making them longer
c. A population of moths changing in color over several generations
d. Average size of young tuna becoming smaller due to overharvesting of large
fish
9. What makes artificial selection different from natural selection?
a. Natural selection causes evolution.
b. Artificial selection requires human choice.
c. Artificial selection is the main cause of evolution in nature.
d. Natural selection cannot change a species.
10. Examples of homologous structures are the:
a. Scales of reptiles and exoskeleton of arthropods.
b. Pentadactyl limbs of birds, mammals, and reptiles.
c. Dorsal fins of dolphins and sharks.
d. Leaves of trees and webbed feet of ducks.
11. Many resources in nature, including food and water, are limited. How does this fact
relate to the process of natural selection?

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

22

12. Compare and contrast artificial selection and natural selection. Include at least one
similarity and one difference between the two.

13. Some species of disease-causing bacteria which could be killed by penicillin 50

years ago, today cannot be destroyed by this drug. Explain the mechanism that allows
this to happen.

14. In a population of spiders living in a given area, size is related to survival. Larger
spiders in this group are easily seen and therefore captured by predators, while smaller
spiders have difficulty finding food. Define the process at work in determining the size of
spiders in this population, and describe what size surviving spiders are most likely to be.

15. Define a species as it is commonly understood, and describe one problem with that
definition.

Appendix C
Sample Recitation Warm-Up Questions

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23

Describe natural selection.

What role does the environment play in evolution?
Give two examples of selective agents in an environment.
Compare and contrast Darwinian and Lamarckian evolution.
How are artificial and natural selection different?
What is genetic drift?
Describe the founder effect.
What is a homologous structure?
Why are genetically homogenous populations of organisms considered vulnerable?
Define a species.

Sample Grapple Warm-Up Questions

How did giraffes evolve such long necks?
How did Darwin use artificial selection as an introduction to natural selection?
Natural selection tends to eliminate harmful or unnecessary traits in a species over time. Why,
then, do we have vestigial traits?
Tigers evolved their stripes in order to survive in the jungle. What is wrong about this
sentence? How could you change it to make it correct?
Two populations of the same species of mongoose become physically separated by an
impassable expanse of water. They are exposed to the same selective pressures, yet evolve in
noticeably different ways. How could this be?
Antibiotic resistance has been increasing among bacterial populations in recent years, despite
advancements in medical science. In fact, antibiotic resistance increases faster when more

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

24

antibiotics are developed and used! How can we explain this pattern?

In the picture provided, each gull

population can mate and produce
fertile offspring with each other
population immediately adjacent
to it. The Lesser Black-backed
Gull and American Herring Gull,
however, cannot mate. How
many species are on this map?

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Appendix D
Opinion Survey Summary Table
Grapple Formative Assessment Group
Category Totals (prior to treatment)
Question

Strongly
Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

Strongly
Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

Strongly
Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Recitation Formative Assessment Group
Category Totals (prior to treatment)
Question

Strongly
Agree

Agree

Disagree

Strongly
Disagree

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Evolution Unit Test Score Comparison Summary Table

Question

Grapple Formative Assessment

Group
Mean
Mean Mean
p-value

Recitation Formative Assessment

Group
Mean
Mean Mean
p-value

Grapple and

EFFECTIVENESS OF FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

pre-test
score

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

posttest
score

score
change

pre-test
score

26
posttest
score

score
change

Recitation
Differences
(p-value)