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ABSTRACT. Since the Ministry of National Education started the structural changes in the primary and secondary education curricula, there has been a growing interest towards constructivist learning philosophy, constructivist theory and active learning in educational and scientific environments in Turkey. Alternative assessment practices have an important place in the new curricula, which went into effect in 2005-2006 academic year. Many authors suggest that objectives for active learning method could only be attained if they were used together with alternative assessment practices. There are many writers who suggest that objectives for active learning method could only be reached if they were used together with alternative assessment activities. The principal aim of this study is to analyze the relations between constructivism and learning and assessment and also to discuss theoretically portfolio assessment and peer-self-co-assessment approaches that have emerged, and additionally to determine the positive and negative results stated in related studies, so that practitioners could draw some deductions.
Keywords: Constructivist theory, active learning, alternative assessment.
SUMMARY
The theory of constructivism, which has gained importance since the second half of the 20th century, provides a wide theoretical framework from design of learning settings to construction of assessment processes (Açikgöz, 2003). Therefore today, while there is a shift from traditional to student-centred learning settings, there are also innovations in assessment procedures, where the change is from summative assessment to formative assessment (Collins, 1991). The main purpose of this study is to describe the relationships among constructivist theory, active learning and assessment and to introduce the alternative assessment methods (co, self, peer and portfolio assessment) that have emerged and to display the positive and negative results found in related studies.
The theoretical framework that emerged with constructivism has caused learning settings to be student-centered and have triggered the assessment processes to include questioning of learning process. According to constructivists, knowledge is formed when an individual interacts with his/her environment (Açikgöz, 2003). This idea sheds light on instructional practices necessary to obtain knowledge. Instructional practices should stress high level thinking and deep understanding, focus on real life problems, give importance to students' metacognitive knowledge and focus on improving reflective skills by making use of different assessment practices (Jonassen, 1994; Ernest, 1995; Honebein, 1996). This relationship between metacognitive knowledge and...