The characteristics of formative assessment in science education

Formative assessment, in this article, is defined as "the process used by t eachers and students to recognize and respond to student learning in order to enhance that learning, during the learning." The findings of a two-year research project in New Zealand indicate that formative assessment has the following characteristics: responsiveness, sources of evidence, a tacit pro cess, using professional knowledge and experiences, an integral part of tea ching and learning, formative assessment is done by both teachers and stude nts, the purposes for formative assessment, the contextualized nature of th e process, dilemmas, and student disclosure. (C) 2001 Jolin Wiley & Sons, I nc.