The main thematic strands characterizing the research path are the following:
Teacher Change: how to promote changes in the beliefs and practices of pre-service and in-service teachers
The research activity explores factors that may hinder or foster changes in the beliefs and teaching practices of teachers at all school levels, as well as the development of their professionalism. The research projects focus particularly on the use of video analysis as a set of techniques and methodologies aimed at enhancing teachers’ reflective and assessment competences, and on Research‑Training (RT) as an approach capable of conducting research with teachers and for the quality and equity of teaching.
Some of the research questions driving this strand include:
- whether and how the use of video analysis can change the instructional and assessment beliefs of pre-service and in-service teachers;
- how the impact of RT in schools can be measured and which indicators should be considered;
- which factors facilitate or hinder the success of RT pathways and what effects they may produce in school contexts characterized by educational poverty and socio-cultural disadvantage.
The projects described adopt predominantly a quantitative methodological approach to address these questions, developing studies (correlational, longitudinal, secondary analyses…) aimed at identifying relationships among the variables under investigation, as well as pre- or quasi-experimental designs to explore the effectiveness of the techniques and methodologies used. These designs are sometimes embedded within mixed-methods approaches.
Practices of formative assessment to support students’ learning
One line of research focuses on formative assessment (FA) and examines the conditions under which it is used in the classroom to support students’ learning across different subject areas. Given the presence of international experimental studies demonstrating the potential of FA practices in improving students’ learning outcomes, and the relative scarcity of such studies in Italy, research in this strand is mostly experimental in nature, aiming to explore the conditions that make FA practices effective within Italian school contexts.
Some of the research questions guiding these projects include:
- how the effectiveness of FA strategies in improving student outcomes varies depending on school level (grade) and subject area in both international and Italian contexts;
- which FA conditions make it effective in enhancing students’ learning in international and Italian settings.
The research projects mainly adopt a quantitative methodological approach and involve the development of experimental designs (pre-experiments, quasi-experiments, two- or multi-group designs) aimed at exploring the effectiveness of FA strategies on students’ learning outcomes. Particular attention is devoted to the formulation of the operational research hypothesis and to the definition of independent and dependent variables.
