Meaningful learning and summative assessment in geograpgy education: An analysis in secondary education in the Netherlands

Abstract

Enhancing meaningful learning is an important aim in geography education. Also, assessment should reflect this aim. Both formative and summative assessments contribute to meaningful learning when more complex knowledge and cognitive processes are assessed. The internal school-based geography examinations of the final exam in pre-vocational secondary education in the Netherlands are an important test case to reveal the extent to which geography teachers construct examinations containing complex knowledge and cognitive processes. In this study, internal school-based examinations were analyzed based on a taxonomy table derived from a revision of Bloom's taxonomy and discussed with teachers and experts. The results of the content analysis showed that more than half of the test items in the internal school-based examinations are based on remembering knowledge, especially factual and conceptual geographical knowledge.