Valutazione in pratica: Il rapporto tra tirocinio e conoscenze e abilità valutative dei tirocinanti = Evaluation in practice: The relation between practicum and trainees’ evaluative knowledge and skills

The practicum is the training activity that characterizes the qualifying degree courses as it supports, with the laboratories, the ‘practical knowledge’ construction that is necessary for future professionalism to grow. Specifically, practicum should encourage the reflection on the activities, in terms of planning, implementation and evaluation of teaching interventions. The work reports a study conducted at the Universities of Bergamo and Reggio Calabria on the practicum of the Primary Education Sciences degree course. The study aimed to explore how the practicum achieved by students affects the basic concepts of assessment knowledge; it involved a sample of 130 students and attended the evaluation courses. The investigation allows to confirm that students with more hours of practicum carried out tend to: a develop assessment knowledge more related to real circumstances, less abstract and generic; b. be more adept at grasping aspects of formative assessment, not just summative. The proposal therefore offers evidence confirming the importance of the practicum in initial teacher training, also with regard to assessment skills.