Formative assessment practices and the goals and objectives of social studies_ an exploratory study in the Nsawam municipality

Abstract

The study sought to investigate the status quo regarding the formative assessment practices and the goals and objectives of Social Studies in selected schools of the Nsawam municipality. The study was structured basically within the framework of qualitative approach and employed the exploratory research design. Three instruments namely interview guide, observation protocol and document analysis guide were used to gather primary information from the respondents. The population of the study included Junior and Senior High School teachers from the Nsawam Municipality. Ten teachers were selected through non-probability sampling methods (purposive and convenience sampling techniques) for the study. Data was analysed through thematic procedure based on the themes arrived at during the data collection. The major findings include the fact that although social studies teachers involve formative assessment in instructions their formative assessment practices are generally not in line with the current thinking of assessment. The study revealed that Social Studies teachers assess their learners for external examination purposes and not to achieve the goals and objectives of the subject. The study observed that some social studies teachers do not have adequate knowledge in alternative formative assessment tool thus teachers use only traditional assessment tools in assessing learning. This implies that the acquisition of skills, attitudes and values needed for the development of effective citizens which lies the heart of social studies may be impossible to assess. It was also found that, not all teachers assigned to teach social studies are professional trained to teach social studies hence they lack the basic professional knowledge about the subject. It is therefore recommended that social studies teachers adopt better assessment practices such as using items that elicit the higher order thinking skills of students, and incorporating the alternative forms of assessment to achieve the goals and objectives of the subject.