Assessment as learning through digital portrayal

Exploring how educational technologies help students make sense of the teacher-researcher role

Abstract

Pre-service teachers are expected to acquire the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary to enter school effectively at the end of the teacher education program. Given the complexity of the teaching profession and the challenges associated with the induction phase, students should be supported in developing awareness of their exit professional profile. This paper aims to understand the experience of 206 last-year students engaged in an Assessment as Portrayal activity tasked with creating a multimedia representation of themselves as teacher-researchers. A qualitative analysis of the analytical sheets was conducted to understand the characteristics of the teacher-researcher they have acquired as professional posture, the overall benefits they have gained and the influence of educational technologies during the task development. The results highlight how, through Assessment as Learning, students activated self-assessment and metacognitive processes, leading them to develop an awareness of areas of the teaching profession often not considered relevant before, such as reflective and research skills. In this perspective, the approach of Assessment as Portrayal implemented through educational technologies, contributed to elaborating and conveying a unified self-representation as a teacher-researcher. Given the significant cognitive engagement required of students, further studies could explore using artificial intelligence to support students in activating metaphorical thinking.