In general education, assessment focuses on learning, competence and working. In primary and lower secondary education, it also focuses on behaviour. The assessment of learning and competence must be carried out in accordance with the national core curriculum for the level of education in question. In general education, learners can utilise AI applications in ways agreed in advance when planning and carrying out exercises/work subject to assessment. In formative assessment, the teacher ensures that the feedback provided by AI applications complies with the national core curriculum. Summative assessment decisions are always made by a teacher.
The national core curricula for ECEC and pre-primary education define the objectives for teaching. Because of this, the role of the assessment of learning and competence is different in ECEC and pre-primary education compared to subsequent levels of education. In ECEC and pre-primary education, the purpose of assessment is to support the well-being, development and learning of each child. The teacher collects assessment data through observation and documentation. The collected data are also used for the planning and development of teaching. Documentation is also a tool for making children's learning visible to the children themselves and their guardians. The making of the conclusions related to assessment cannot be outsourced to technical systems. However, AI applications and learning analytics can assist teachers in illustrating children's learning and developing teaching.
The national core curricula for primary and lower secondary education and general upper secondary education divide assessment into a formative assessment and summative assessment. Formative assessment is part of the planning and implementation of teaching and study guidance. It supports and guides learning, and is supportive and descriptive in nature. Formative assessment describes the learner's progress in relation to the objectives set out in the curriculum. The feedback provided by formative assessment helps learners understand their own learning, identify their strengths, develop their self-assessment skills, correct their mistakes and develop their working methods so that the objectives set for learning can be achieved. Thus, formative assessment of learning can be carried out by the learner themself, another learner (peer assessment), a teacher or even an AI application.
Formative assessment also provides teachers with information on the implementation of teaching and the progress and competence of learners. The information obtained through assessment helps teachers to focus their teaching according to learners' needs. Emerging technologies, such as learning analytics, can help teachers develop their own teaching by providing information on the progress of learners' learning in relation to objectives.
Using AI provided by the education provider for self-assessment or the provision of feedback requires considering and monitoring how the application used guides learners’ work and how the AI-provided feedback affects learners. The solutions used in the application can affect e.g. the learning strategies, self-efficacy and self-image of learners in different ways. (Source for footnote Ethical guidelines on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and data in teaching and learning for educators 2022.)
Summative assessment is based on demonstrations of competence by the learner, meaning how and to what extent the learner has achieved the set objectives. In summative assessment, the works created to demonstrate competence must be produced by the learners themselves, but learners may still utilise AI in ways agreed upon in advance and in line with objectives to plan a thesis or presentation, process information or document their work process, for example. Summative assessment is often carried out at the end of a study module or study unit, making it less frequent than formative assessment.
According to the national core curricula for primary and lower secondary education and general upper secondary education, summative assessment is always carried out by the teacher who taught the learner or, if the learner was taught by multiple teachers, by the teachers together. The teacher must document the assessment of the demonstrations that affect the summative assessment of the learner. In the case of final assessments, assessments that affect study progress and, in primary and lower secondary education, assessments concerning grade retention, it is possible to request a repeat assessment or an administrative review of the assessment. The assessment decision must be justified.
According to the core curricula, the learner must know when and how they are assessed. This applies to all assessments, including formative assessment carried out with AI assistance and summative assessment based on an examination carried out at the end of a study unit. According to the core curricula, assessment should be versatile, and appropriate methods should be used for it. Learners should be offered different possibilities, opportunities and methods of demonstrating their learning (formative assessment) and competence (summative assessment).
The planning and implementation of teaching and assessment must be carried out taking into account the objectives and key content of the national core curricula and to the realisation of the objectives of transversal competence. Teachers must consider whether to assess the achievement of the objectives set by the core curriculum (summative assessment) or the learner’s work (formative assessment). Is the thing being assessed a work produced by the learner in an AI-created learning environment or with AI as a subject, for example? At the same time, it should be noted that AI is not suitable for assessing all the objectives set for teaching and does not take sufficient account of the diversity of learners or pedagogic methods. Most AI applications do not assess cooperation skills, social skills or creativity.
Learners at the same level of education or in the same group may differ in their ability to both learn to use digital services and apply them in real-life situations. The digital competence of learners, including AI competence, is a subject of learning that must be considered in the planning and implementation of teaching and in assessment. Various applications may also offer opportunities to differentiate teaching and learning and to provide learners with more opportunities to demonstrate their learning in various ways. All learners should have the right to equal assessment regardless of cognitive, cultural or physical differences, for example. A key part of the learning process is the permission to experiment, make mistakes and weigh your own learning and competence in peace.
In basic education in the arts, the purpose of assessment is to guide learners’ learning, support their study progress and develop their capability for self-assessment. Feedback is used to guide the learner towards studying in line with their own objectives and understanding the learning process. The learner’s work is assessed in a wide range of ways. The assessment is encouraging, fair and ethically sustainable. Various AI applications and learning analytics systems can be used to provide feedback on the learning of knowledge and skills in different fields of art.
The purpose of instruction preparing for primary and lower secondary education is to provide pupils with the necessary skills in the language of instruction and other skills for pre-primary or primary and lower secondary education. At the same time, it promotes the balanced development of pupils and their integration into Finnish society. The verbal assessment carried out during studies supports and steers learning, develops the preconditions for self-assessment and is guiding, encouraging and varied in nature. Through assessment, pupils participating in instruction preparing for primary and lower secondary education are also given an idea of the requirements of primary and lower secondary education.
AI applications can be utilised as tools for learning the language of instruction, for example, but they can also offer various ways of differentiating and illustrating teaching and learning. Language and image-based applications can also facilitate interaction in multilingual groups as part of other working methods. The use of AI in assessment in preparatory instruction must comply with the national core curriculum.