Phenomenography of Teachers’ and Students’ Understanding, Beliefs and Experiences of Physics Learning Assessment

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenographic study was to explore the understandings, beliefs, and experiences of Physics Learning Assessment (PLA) of senior high school Physics teachers and students in General Physics 1, a subject in the curriculum for the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) strand. Specifically, this study answered the following research questions: (1) What are the SHS teachers' and students' ways of understanding Physics Learning Assessment in the fol!o~ving dimensions of understanding: knowledge, purpose, and process? (2) \f\/hat are the SHS teachers' and students' beliefs about the effectiveness and efficiency of Physics Learning Assessment? (3) What do the SHS teachers' and students' find significant in their lived experiences of PLA as inferred from their most significant stories, emotions evoked by and insights gained from these experiences? (4) What are the teachers' and students' categories of description of PLA? And (5) What are the relationships among the teachers' and students' conceptions of PLA?

The study employed the exploratory-descriptive research design; hence, the sources of data included semi-structured interviews of the teacher-informants and focus group discussions (FGDs) with the student-participants. Classroom observation during a given PLA session and analysis of shared PLA tools for each FGD group of the four teachers were additional sources of data.