Mehmet Filiz

Assessment for Learning Using Digital Knowledge Maps

As the importance of formative assessment, assessment tools that evaluate the structure of one’s knowledge, and computer-based assessment are becoming increasingly recognized, it is worthwhile to consider if and how digital knowledge maps can be utilized as assessment to support learning. In this chapter, we present evidence that digital knowledge maps do indeed meet the criteria deemed necessary for effective formative assessment—they validly assess higher-order knowledge, identify specific conceptual strengths and weaknesses of students, provide feedback that can be used to effectively improve learning, and can be user friendly for both students and teachers. We conclude the chapter with a discussion of several recently developed formative assessment systems meeting these criteria that rely extensively on the use of digital knowledge maps.

Exploring high-achieving sixth grade students’ erroneous answers and misconceptions on the angle concept

ABSTRACT The aim of this research was to investigate high achievers’ erroneous answers and misconceptions on the angle concept. The participants consisted of 233 grade 6 students drawn from eight classes in two well-established elementary schools of Trabzon, Turkey. All the participants were considered to be current achievers in mathematics, graded 4 or 5 out of 5, and selected via a purposive sampling method. Data were collected through six questions reflecting the learning competencies set out in the grade 6 curriculum in Turkey and the findings of previous studies that aimed to identify students’ misconceptions of the angle concept. This questionnaire was then applied over a 40-minute period in each class. The findings were analysed by two researchers whose inter-rater agreement was computed as 0.97, or almost perfect. Thereafter, coding discrepancies were resolved, and consensus was established. We found that although the participants in this study were high achievers, they still held several misconceptions on the angle concept such as recognizing a straight angle or a right angle in different orientations. We also show how some of these misconceptions could have arisen due to the definitions or representations used in the textbook, and offer suggestions concerning their content in the future.