Formative assessment and its importance : A qualitative study about the formative assessment and its importance within history education in a Swedish upper secondary school

The purpose of this study is to investigate formative assessment and its importance within history education in a Swedish upper secondary school. This was done through the two questions that were formulated from the teacher’s point of view as well as the student’s. The study was conducted through a qualitative method where data was gathered through interviews with history teachers and surveys for the history students at the upper secondary school the study was conducted in. The result of the study showed that through the teacher’s perspective formative assessment is applied to some extent to their history education, where a key aspect of assessment is communication. However, there are some tendencies to lean into summative assessments. Through the student’s perspective their perception is that assessments itself is something to help them guide them either to develop their own abilities within the subject or to help them gain a specific grade. In conclusion, formative assessment and feedback depends upon the teacher’s way of applying it into their education. However, some aspects of formative feedback and assessment are applied by teachers in the school today. For the students, formative assessment and feedback are terms new to the students, where some see it as something that helps them gain a specific grade on the next test and some see it as an aid to help them develop within their history education.