What novice mathematics teachers perceived in assessing students’ learning of functions

This study explores the perceptions of 96 novice mathematics teachers on assessing students’ learning of functions via a collaborative task of constructing a specific test in China. By analyzing the 23 teacher-constructed tests, the study reveals that these teachers demonstrated strong subject knowledge in designing mathematics tests and tended to construct more high-level questions with an object-level functional thinking focus, multiple steps, and high cognitive loads, aligned to or above the curriculum standards and presented in a purely mathematics context using mixed representations. The results provide evidence to explain the possible gaps between teachers’ intended curriculum and attained curriculum, and also reflect the values of novice mathematics teachers in assessing students’ learning of functions. Copyright © 2024 left to authors.