Digital Formative Assessment and Motivation in Initial Teacher Education: Findings from the REFRESH Project

Abstract

This study investigates the potential of digitally mediated formative assessment to influence the performance motivation of higher vocational school students preparing for the teaching profession in pre-school and after-school education. The research is carried out within the framework of doctoral studies at the Faculty of Education of the University of Ostrava and linked to the REFRESH - Centre for Research on Energy and Social Change project (CZ.10.03.01/00/22_003/0000048). The research population consisted of 136 students from four classes. Three groups were taught using digital formative tools (Microsoft Forms, Mentimeter, self-assessment forms, peer feedback), while the control group was taught in a traditional way. Achievement motivation was assessed using the School Performance Motivation Questionnaire (Hrabal & Pavelková, 2011), which takes into account the tendency to succeed (NFA) and the avoidance of failure (NAF). The results show an increase in NfA and a decrease in NAF for students involved in formative assessment. There was also a shift in the typology of performance motivation towards a performance-oriented type. These findings confirm the findings of previous studies on the benefits of formative assessment in developing student motivation (Black & Wiliam, 2009; Brophy, 2004) and underscore the importance of feedback and active student engagement in the professional preparation of teachers. The findings offer actionable insights for educators, researchers, and educational policy makers seeking to develop technology-supported feedback environments in teacher preparation.