An action research: Experiences and practices of designing 21st-century assessment activities of elementary teacher candidates

Abstract

The aim of this action research is to improve the experiences and practices of elementary teacher candidates in designing 21st-century assessment activities. This study was conducted with two groups in Instructional Design Course in two different education terms. The first term has 52, while the second term has 42 elementary teacher candidates (ETCs). A rubric to design assessment activities was created with ETCs in the first term and they applied them to revise. Then the ETCs in the second term experienced by applying revised rubric during performance homework and fulfilled the self-assessment form including both rating scale and open-ended questions were used to tell their experiences. The responses to the rating scale were analyzed through descriptive analysis, while open-ended responses of ETCs were analyzed through content analysis. The findings indicate that ETCs have experience based on creating problem-solving, critical thinking, and productive product-based questions, using collaborative structure, using digital tools, creating feedback badges based on skill-based scoring. Also, ETCs reported they have improved professional and personal skills by designing 21st-century assessment activities. This study contributes to preparing ETCs for 21st-century learning.