Teachers' Perceptions of Assessment and Feedback Practices in Finland's Foreign Language Classes During the Covid-19 Pandemic

In this paper, we examine how the Covid-19 pandemic affected the quality of teachers' assessment and feedback in Finland's foreign language classes during the remote teaching period in spring 2020. Multifaceted assessment and feedback practices are underscored in Finland's core curricula, forming a focal aspect of learning. Therefore, we studied teachers' perceptions of their assessment and feedback practices at different school levels during the remote teaching period and how they considered the remote teaching period in students' final assessment at the end of basic education. Data were collected through an online questionnaire and analysed using both quantitative and qualitative methods. Most of the 176 respondents felt that assessment and feedback practices were implemented successfully, and the final assessment was realistic and reliable. However, teachers' perceptions were mixed on several issues, and differences were found in the amount and form of feedback between respondents and school levels or what competence demonstration or assignments to count towards the final assessment. In addition, the remote teaching period usually had less influence on students' final grades than the last few months of basic education. The results suggest that more attention should be paid to enhancing feedback practices and connecting with students during remote teaching periods.Alternate abstract:V prispevku preucujemo, kako je pandemija covida-19 vplivala na kakovost uciteljevega ocenjevanja in podajanja povratnih informacij pri pouku tujega jezika na Finskem med poukom na daljavo spomladi 2020. V finskih ucnih nacrtih so poudarjene vecplastne prakse ocenjevanja in podajanja povratnih informacij;te predstavljajo osrednji vidik ucenja. Zato smo preucevali, kako ucitelji zaznavajo svoje prakse ocenjevanja in posredovanje povratnih informacij na razlicnih ravneh sole v obdobju poucevanja na daljavo ter kako upostevajo obdobje poucevanja na daljavo pri sklepnem ocenjevanju ucencev ob koncu osnovnega izobraževanja. Podatki so bili zbrani s spletnim vprasalnikom ter analizirani s kvantitativnimi in kvalitativnimi metodami. Vecina izmed 176 anketirancev je menila, da se prakse ocenjevanja in posredovanja povratnih informacij izvajajo uspesno ter da je koncna ocena realna in zanesljiva. A zaznavanja uciteljev glede vec vprasanj so bila razlicna, ugotovljene pa so bile tudi razlike v kolicini in obliki povratnih informacij med anketiranci in ravnmi sol ter v tem, katere izražene kompetence ali naloge se upostevajo pri koncni oceni. Poleg tega je imelo obdobje pouka na daljavo obicajno manjsi vpliv na koncno oceno ucencev kot zadnjih nekaj mesecev osnovnega izobraževanja. Izsledki kažejo, da bi bilo treba vec pozornosti nameniti izboljsanju prakse posredovanja povratnih informacij in povezovanju z ucenci v obdobjih poucevanja na daljavo.