Summative assessment through written tests in Physics in the 1st cycle of secondary education - the case of a public school in the municipality of Lubango (Angola)

Abstract

This article arises from the importance that written tests have in the students assessment system in Angola, and the increased responsibility given to the teachers in its elaboration, as a consequence of the curricular reform in the country started in 2001. The objectives of the study are (i) to analyze a set of written tests of Physics, of the 1st cycle of the secondary education of a public school in the city of Lubango, and (ii) propose recommendations that enhance its quality. To this end, an analytical instrument was developed based on a theoretical, normative and contextual framework, emerging from (a) the literature review on learning assessment, Science/Physics Teaching and Written tests in Physics, (b) normatives about the assessment system in Angola and, in order to contextualize the written tests, (c) the analysis of the learning objectives of the official Physics programs of the 1st cycle of secondary education (7th, 8th and 9th grades). This instrument was used in the analysis of the corpus collected (70 physics written tests referring to school years 2015, 2016 and 2017). The results suggest that the written tests analyzed are mainly focused on substantive knowledge, are not directed to the assessment of scientific literacy dimensions and are, in general, decontextualized from everyday life. Thus, the authors recommend the implementation of formative actions aimed at the development of teachers’ competences in the preparation of written tests in the light of national and international references.