ABSTRACT
Assessments allow teachers to judge the progress of their pupils and provide them with feedback on how to improve. This chapter explores the ways that Psychology teachers can assess their pupils through formative and summative means. It is widely accepted that formative assessment or assessment for learning (AfL) is most valuable in aiding pupil progression. This is because AfL allows teachers to give pupils feedback on how they can improve and therefore move their learning forward. Some AfL strategies are provided for teachers to adopt in the Psychology classroom. To be most effective, AfL strategies should consider learners as active, reflective and responsible individuals, within the context of their school and class, with teachers taking the role of facilitators in this learning process. In this way pupils can become self-regulated learners, actively engaging in the learning process. Pupils must understand the feedback that they receive so that they are able to respond appropriately and improve their work to make progress. This chapter gives strategies for efficient marking based on recent research, as well as advice on what good quality questions look like in practice. Furthermore, feedback can be a joint construction between pupils and teachers and developed through self- and peer-assessment, allowing pupils to become better self-regulated learners.
