Formative assessment with interactive whiteboards: A one-year longitudinal study of primary students’ mathematical performance

The popularity of interactive whiteboards (IWBs) has grown and, in many countries, are nearly ubiquitous. Nevertheless, a lack of training, among other factors, has led to teachers misusing, or even abandoning this technology. While IWBs should improve learning outcomes, few studies have evaluated the impact of long-term IWB-based instruction. The purpose of this study is to track changes in the mathematical performance through formative assessment (FA) for primary school students participating in an IWB Formative Assessment (FA) system, characterized by elements including feedback, social learning through discussions, agentive learning through personalized options, and game-based learning featuring among-group competition and within-group collaboration. A convenience sample of 178 s-grade students from the same grade (four classes) participated in the study, which lasted one school year. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was utilized to analyze data from the IWB system, revealing the following: (1) a significant correlation between students’ involvement in formative IWB activities and mathematics achievement (t = 6.52; p = 0.00); (2) no effect of gender on initial mathematics performance; (3) a significant role of student motivational goals on initial mathematics performance, with higher mastery-avoidance associated with better initial assessments (t = 2.02, p = 0.04) and higher performance-avoidance associated with lower initial assessments (t = −2.60, p = 0.03); (4) interaction between gender and linear change, with girls outperforming boys (t = −2.57, p = 0.01) in FA performance over time (although boys made advances on summative assessments); and (5) a negative interaction of mastery-avoidance with linear change, where higher levels of mastery-avoidance were associated with a greater decline in FA performance over time (t = −2.57, p = 0.01). In short, the research findings suggest that if teachers use IWB-based FA over a relatively long time, they must pay special attention to boys and those who hold high mastery-avoidance goals. •Formative assessment using IWBs utilized networking, interaction, and community.•Formative assessment using IWB predicted subsequent math achievement test results.•Mastery and performance avoidance orientation impact formative and summative results.•Observed gender differences in achievement and learning trajectories favored girls.•Long-term IWB-based assessments must consider gender and goal orientation factors.