Formative Assessment Practices for Pre-Service Teacher Practicum Feedback: Emerging Research and Opportunities: (Advances in Higher Education and Professional Development)

The development and implementation of effective teacher education programs requires evaluating current processes and optimizing them for future improvements. This ensures that a higher quality of education is delivered to the next generation of students. Formative Assessment Practices for Pre-Service Teacher Practicum Feedback: Emerging Research and Opportunities is an innovative source of academic information on the establishment of formative feedback processes in teacher education programs. Including perspectives on relevant topics such as video feedback, accreditation, and student literacy, this book is ideal for students, researchers, academics, and professionals actively involved in the education field.

About the Author :
Tony Richardson has been involved in education for nearly 30 years in various roles from classroom teacher to school administration. He currently works at the University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia, as a sessional tutor in the Faculty of Education. Prior to this he worked for the University of the Sunshine Coast’s International Projects Division as a Teacher Advisor and Lead Academic on international projects focusing on educational leadership in Indonesian, with a particular emphasis on the region of Papua. Tony’s areas of interest relate to teacher and teaching quality, educational leadership, feedback and feed forward discourse, and preservice teacher education. Tony has previously co-authored a number of papers with Chris Dann focusing on preservice teachers and the use of technology to diminish the ‘gaps-in-knowledge’ associated with preservice teacher practicums. Tony is currently completing his Doctor of Philosophy through the University of the Sunshine Coast. His thesis focuses on ‘A quality teacher’. His research into a quality teacher studied early career teachers’ conceptions of a quality teacher through the use of a phenomenographic research methodology. Tony’s research into a quality teacher contributes to a focus on teacher quality, teacher professional standards, and the significance of ensuring the implementation of teacher professional standards at the teaching coalface. Beverly Dann is a science education researcher and the program leader for the Bachelor of Primary Education at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. Before entering higher education, she worked for 26 years in primary schools in both the United States and Australia as a teacher, and in leadership roles. Her research interests include science curriculum implementation, science content knowledge, science pedagogy and the use of technology to enhance teaching and learning. Dr Dann recently completed her PhD entitled: The Implementation of the New Australian Curriculum: Science, a Study of the Experiences of a Range of Queensland Schools and Teachers. Chris Dann has 34 years’ experience in all areas of education, moving into Initial Teacher Education in 2005. His Masters of Research into the internationalisation of teacher education was followed by a doctorate in the use of mobile technologies in the formative assessment of preservice teachers while on practicum. His experience across educational sectors and between the education industry and the technology industry give him a unique view of the forces behind commercial influences, institutional influences and school-based essentials. In his recognition of the application of technology to support educators’ program enhancements at a time when student assessment processes are becoming key components for graduating preservice teachers, Chris’ personal goal is to improve the feedback and feed forward process using technology for learners. Electronic assessment tools are pivotal in the future of educational excellence. Such tools require practical productive processes that need to be grounded in theory yet highly implementable for practitioners. Chris’ recent book on the emerging research opportunities for preservice teachers’ practicum demonstrates his particular interest in electronic assessment. All phases of assessment from pre-formative stages through to certification and summative judgements can now be enhanced by the evidence collection accessible through technologies. Teachers and leadership teams are being presented with new possibilities to enhance their programs of instruction. It is important that the student remains at the centre of all assessment processes. As we progress with the use of electronic assessment tools Chris considers it vitally important that the learner understands the outcomes of such processes and how they link with the qualitative assessment practices also in place. Shirley O’Neill is Professor of Language and Literacies in the School of Linguistics, Adult and Specialist Education, and the Coordinator of the Applied Linguistics Discipline at the University of Southern Queensland. As an educator in pre-service teacher education she has a special interest in reading and writing, classroom dialogue, building students’ literacy and numeracy capacity and knowledge building. Her research and teaching includes learning and assessment, school improvement, GAMMA pedagogy, ESL/EFL learners, and service learning. She has extensive experience in research and evaluation, assessment and teaching/teacher professional development and has worked in schools in Australia and the UK, and in school review, curriculum and policy development, and student assessment state-wide. Dr O’Neill is founder and co-president of the International Society for Leadership in Pedagogies and Learning , and founder and Editor-in-Chief of the peer reviewed cross-disciplinary International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning . The aim of the journal is to publish high quality research that focuses on the essence of pedagogy and related issues and trends. The society seeks to bring researchers and teachers together to improve pedagogy across sectors and disciplines within an ecological and sustainable development framework.