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There is an increasing focus on formative assessment as education systems all over the world try to incorporate 21st-century skills in their curriculums. Formative assessment has been considered one of the best approaches to teaching and assessing 21st-century competencies, which are crucial in addressing the current economic challenges. This review of thirty-eight empirical studies was done to find out how the key strategies of formative assessment have been conceptualized and their effect on students' motivation, engagement, and achievement. The analysis revealed that some strategies like the use of discussion have not been studied empirically. Other strategies such as learning intentions, success criteria, and selfassessment have only been used to a lesser extent. The analysis showed a positive influence of formative assessment strategies on students' motivation, engagement, and achievement. The results of this analysis provide a roadmap in the advancement of the theory of formative assessment and direction for future inquiry.

The ever-changing demands of modern life have seen education policymakers worldwide come up with ways of incorporating 21st-century competencies in education systems. Many countries in the world have incorporated these competencies in their education systems though some are still faced with challenges. With a special focus on Kenya, this paper addressed the challenges that African countries have faced in the process of implementing and assessing 21st-century competencies in basic education. A comparison of the Kenyan and Finnish basic education assessment frameworks was done to find out what Kenyan education policymakers can learn from the Finnish curriculum. The findings of the study showed that the Kenyan assessment framework is too sketchy and cannot give clear guidance to teachers. There was also a lack of an assessment culture that could enable teachers to effectively carry out formative assessment practices. The study recommends the need for curriculum developers to provide a clear and elaborate assessment framework for teachers, train teachers on formative assessment use, and provide teachers with an effective support system. This study is not only beneficial to Kenyan education policymakers but other African countries especially those implementing the competency-based curriculum.

The purpose of this study is to examine the dimensionality of personal epistemological beliefs in the mathematics education field (MED) and the primary teacher education field (PME) in the Indonesian context. We also examine the relation of this belief with students' personal backgrounds, parent education, gender, attitude, and academic performance. Two hundred seventy-six students from mathematics teacher education and primary teacher education participated in this study (15 % male and 85% female, mean age = 20.65). A quantitative approach was used in the present study. The finding of this study suggested the dimensionality of personal epistemological beliefs. Mathematics education (MED) students hold stronger beliefs about the certainty of knowledge than primary teacher education (PME) students, the principle in mathematics is unchanging, and most of the truth in mathematics is already found. The influence of these beliefs on academic performance is stronger in MED. In both field studies, personal epistemological beliefs correlate with attitudes toward academic performance. Male and female students are equal in personal epistemological beliefs in MED and PME. Mothers’ education also influences students' beliefs about the source of knowledge in MED. El propósito de este estudio era examinar si las creencias epistemológicas personales son más sensibles al estudio del dominio o no. También examinamos la relación de esta creencia con otros factores relevantes como la educación de los padres, el género, la actitud y el rendimiento académico. Participaron en este estudio 276 estudiantes de educación matemática y de magisterio de primaria (15 % hombres y 85 % mujeres, edad media = 20,65). En el presente estudio se utilizó un enfoque cuantitativo. El hallazgo de este estudio sugirió que la certeza del conocimiento y la posibilidad de alcanzar la verdad son dominios más específicos. Los estudiantes de educación matemática tienen creencias más sólidas sobre la certeza del conocimiento que los estudiantes de formación docente primaria, el principio de las matemáticas no cambia y la mayor parte de la verdad en las matemáticas ya se encuentra. Por el contrario, las creencias sobre la justificación del conocimiento y la fuente del conocimiento son dominios más generales. Encontramos que los estudiantes de educación matemática y la formación de maestros de primaria son iguales en las creencias sobre la justificación del conocimiento y la fuente del conocimiento. La influencia de estas creencias en el rendimiento académico es significativa. En ambos estudios de campo, las creencias epistemológicas personales se correlacionan con las actitudes hacia el rendimiento académico. Tanto los estudiantes masculinos como femeninos en el departamento de educación matemática y el departamento de formación de maestros de primaria son iguales en creencias epistemológicas personales. Este estudio contribuye a mejorar el rendimiento académico de los estudiantes de educación superior.