Assessment-on-the-fly: promoting and collecting evidence of learning through dialogue

Science and technology are practical subjects and so many would argue that all students should have the opportunity to experience an engaging and motivating science and technology education that involves hands-on inquiry. Similarly, mathematics creates scenarios where mathematical thinking can help students solve problems and engage in an inquiry approach. Inquiry activities generate rich opportunities for STEM learning and for assessment. This chapter focuses on how classroom talk can generate evidence of learning and how teachers can utilise this to enable assessment to guide inquiry learning. It looks at several vignettes from different countries of on-the-fly interactions in inquiry settings and unpacks how teachers organised, facilitated and assessed learning in inquiry classrooms. Finally, the chapter considers opportunities, dilemmas and constraints that occurred as teachers attempted to integrate on-the-fly assessment into their existing assessment classroom practices.