Investigating the usability of iPad mobile tablet in formative assessment of a mathematics course

Abstract

Formative assessment allows students to judge their learning progress against a given standard or assessment criteria during the course of study. There are challenges related to the generation and delivery of feedback for formative purposes, for instance the students' engagement in their learning, the pedagogy adopted and the usability of the technology tools used in this regard. This paper presents a study of iPad mobile tablet technology-supported peer-to-peer assessment (P2PASS), which is a modern form of formative assessment. The experimental work was undertaken at Kigali Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) in Rwanda. The implementation of P2PASS in this study shows the students' engagement in learning mathematics, and allowed the investigation on the possibilities of improving their mastery of the subject. This paper further discusses the students' attitudes towards the P2PASS process as well as the technological tools used. The usability problems of the iPad applications are discussed, together with the implications of using mobile tablet technology in providing the feedback on the mathematical work.