Regular classroom assessment as a means of enhancing Teacher Trainees’ understanding of concepts in electricity and magnetism

This study was an action research which employed regular classroom tests to help students learn and understand some concepts in electricity and magnetism. The participants of the study were 35 Level 200 B.Ed. (Basic Education, JSS Option) pre-service science teachers of the University of Education, Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana. The first phase of the study consisted of a pre-intervention test to gauge the level of the pre-service teachers. The second phase was the implementation of the intervention. The pre-service science teachers were taught for twelve weeks and made to take an essay-type test fortnightly on the concepts they have learnt within the week and the previous weeks. The study used qualitative and quantitative data gathering instruments, pre-service teachers’ fortnightly tests and end-of-semester examination. The test items used were teacher-constructed based on the cognitive level of the students and the instructional objectives stipulated in the course outline. Most of the responses the pre-service science teachers provided in the fortnightly tests reflected understanding of the concepts learnt. The tests motivated the pre-service teachers to learn which resulted in an improvement in their understanding of concepts in the concepts being taught. The outcome of the study shows that pre-service science teachers should be tested regularly in the classroom in order to maximize their learning output.Keywords: pre-service science teachers, regular classroom tests, concept of electricity and magnetis