*2.1.2 Assessing student learning*

The study of the assessment dimension of teachers' practices is based here on a characterization of assessment activity according to four invariants [9]:


Research focuses on two functions of assessment: certifying, i.e., whether or not the student has acquired the targeted learning at the end of the associated teaching, and formative, i.e., assessment that serves student learning and aims to advance ongoing learning.

The broader conception of formative assessment emphasizes the possibility of informally gathering information about students' activity, for example during discussions with them [10]. Informal formative assessment practices thus aim to provide information, generated in the course of everyday activities, on student learning [11]. The term interactive episodes, taken from Kiwan Zacka [12], characterizes moments of verbal interaction between students and teacher in the classroom, during which the teacher captures information about students' activity, conceptions, and difficulties. They are an object of analysis in Chanudet's PhD.

Moreover, regulation is a key concept in formative assessment. The term "formative assessment practices" used in this research refers to all teaching practices designed to support and encourage the regulation of student learning. The work of

<sup>2</sup> Our translation from French.

Allal [13] highlights various contextual elements that can be associated with such regulation: the structure of the learning situation, involving in particular the tasks proposed, their articulation and work methods; the teacher's interventions and interactions with students; and interactions between students. The first two levels are examined in particular in the PhD.
