Formative Assessment in Agile-Oriented Learning of Future IT Professionals

Abstract

The article addresses the problem of formative assessment in the context of Agile-oriented learning for future IT professionals. The relevance of the study is determined by the need for assessment approaches that correspond to the logic of short learning iterations, team interaction, step-by-step refinement of results, and continuous improvement of a shared product. It is shown that in contemporary higher education, formative assessment is regarded not only as a way of recording results but also as a systemic approach to supporting learning, ensuring timely feedback, adjustment of learning activities, development of self-assessment and peer assessment, and enhancement of students' responsibility for their individual contribution and the team result. Based on the analysis of scholarly sources, the content of formative assessment has been clarified, the role of feedback, peer assessment, and group assessment in higher education has been characterized, and the expediency of their integration into the logic of Agile-oriented learning has been substantiated. The article proposes a model of formative assessment in Agile-oriented learning, whose structure includes the target, content-processual, operational, and criterion-resultative blocks. The target block is associated with learning support, adjustment of teamwork, improvement of result quality, and the formation of future IT professionals' readiness for professional activity. The content-processual block reflects the organization of learning based on a project approach, work with the backlog, task prioritization, implementation of work within sprints, and the combination of team-based and individual assessment components. The operational block includes short end-of-sprint surveys, teacher observation, backlog revision, the use of a unified digital environment, individual assessment, peer assessment within the team, project assessment by other teams, as well as the possible involvement of an external stakeholder. The criterion-resultative block provides for the assessment of the project outcome, team interaction, and the student's individual contribution. The practical value of the study lies in the possibility of using the proposed model to organize formative assessment within individual courses, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary projects in the training of future IT professionals.