The impact of formative assessment techniques on the instruction of the high school biology units of photosynthesis and cellular respiration

The effect of formative assessment on student learning during student-centered, inquiry-based instruction was studied in a high school biology class. The objective of this study was to test whether increasing the level of formative assessment, including feedback to students and reflection on laboratory activities, would make an impact on the learning of concepts related to cellular metabolism, such as cellular respiration and photosynthesis. Two units of instruction were evaluated, one utilizing active learning strategies along with formative assessment techniques, and the other taught in a more teacher-centered manner. The revised methodology showed a statistically significant increase in student learning gains as compared to the unimproved technique. The increased amount of hands-on activities for students, observation of students in an informal context, student and teacher interaction, immediate feedback to students, public discussion and reflection on lab activities and results, and modification of instruction by the teacher is implicated in the trend found in these data. The results suggest that the combined effect of active, inquiry-based instruction and a variety of formative assessments can have a significant positive effect on student learning of topics related to cellular metabolism, such as photosynthesis and cellular respiration.