The digital assessment solution is designed to support the new Junior Cycle curriculum.
Assessment for Learning together with well-designed feedback has been proven to create a strong
learning experience and improve results.
JCQuest Science is an ideal companion for all Junior Cycle Science texts, helping to support teaching to
the revised curriculum.
Research shows that diagnostic assessment, providing feedback to students and utilising approaches that
motivate and incentivise students create a strong learning experience. Carefully designed, formative
feedback for all questions nudge the student towards the right answer, reinforcing basic knowledge while
also helping the student develop conceptual understanding. Focus is put on skill development through the
use of investigative questioning.
Supporting this with technology enables the teacher to focus their time, allowing them to identify at
risk students or problematic topics earlier in the learning cycle. Teachers can also provide additional
learning opportunities for the strongest students so that they can move even further forward. Data
analytics provides insights and trend analysis on student progression and allows analysis of the most
effective questioning and feedback techniques. Teacher Classroom Management and Dashboards track and
evaluate student progress, assignment and homework completion.
William and Black (1998) found that large scale performance gains could be achieved by integrating
formative assessment practices. Later, Hattie (2009) found that formative assessment is one of the best
methods to encourage student achievement. They defined formative assessment as the activities taken by
teachers and/or students, which provide information to be used as feedback to modify the teaching and
learning activities in which they are engaged. JCQuest uses tailored feedback to encourage student
engagement and ‘nudge’ them towards better understanding of Science, which in turn will lead to further
performance gains.
While the research clearly shows the benefits of formative assessment it also outlines that it can be
difficult to develop, implement and evaluate such strategies. Our application of technology removes some
of the barriers identified in the research associated with sustainable integration by teachers,
including the teachers’ time to develop formative strategies, their knowledge of formative approaches
and the time taken to collect and evaluate students’ results. This helps free up teachers’ time to focus
on creating more powerful and meaningful learning experiences.