Do Teacher Questions Function as Assessment for Learning?

This study wants to challenge the robust idea of previous findings revealing that employing a particular question type would necessarily functions as Assessment for Learning (AfL). Besides, this study extends previous research focusing on typology and examines the syntactical forms of questioning in its practice. To gather data, six Indonesian English teachers were observed and audio- recorded, thus, transcribed and analysed following the principle of Conversation Analysis (CA). Except referential type functioning as a teaching technique and a discourse marker choice to discursively extend the classroom talk, the result of analysis corroborates previous studies in that they provide diagnostic information from which a better further action was taken place as highlighted in the AfL. Yet, this might occur as questioning types are syntactically constructed following classroom discourse moves. Thus, the examination of questionings functioning as Assessment for Learning (AfL), aside from types, the syntactical form and classroom discourse moves are important to cope with.

Improving Experienced Mathematics Teachers’ Classroom Talk: A Visual Learning Analytics Approach to Professional Development

The professional development of experienced teachers has received considerably less attention than that of novice teachers. This study focuses on four experienced secondary mathematics teachers in Shanghai, China, with two participating in a year-long professional development program (treatment teachers) and the other two received conventional knowledge-based professional development (comparison teachers). The program introduced productive classroom talk skills which can facilitate teachers’ formative assessment of student learning during class. To encourage teachers to reflect on their classroom discourse when reviewing recordings of their teaching, we used visual learning analytics with the treatment teachers and theorized the use of this technology with activity theory. After completing the program, the treatment teachers were better able to use productive talk moves to elicit student responses and to provide timely formative feedback accordingly. Specifically, the percentage of word contributions in lessons from students and the length of their responses increased noticeably. Qualitative findings suggest that the use of visual learning analytics mediated the treatment teachers and improved classroom discourse. Based on these findings and activity theory, we provide recommendations for future use of visual learning analytics to improve teachers’ classroom talk and designing professional development activities for experienced teachers.