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Everyone should read this course "Secondary Science Methods". It teaches different things about science. This lecture is about: Assessing Learning Objectives, Objectives, Critical Role, Science Reform, Diagnostic, Formative Assessment, Reliability, Assessment Methods, Performance Tasks, Concept Maps, Resources of Assessment Tasks, Developing Assessments, Assigning Final Grades
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Teachers plan to ensure students so well on assessments
Students are motivated to learn content to do well on assessments
Tradition assessment = paper and pencil tests
Hein and Price (1994) identified reasons for assessment reforma.^
Tests reveal what students don’t know; can’t assess all outcomes b.
Science education is now less about content, more about literacy c.^
Accountability of schools d.
We know more about how students learn: inquiry learning is better
Alternative formats: portfolios, journaling, concept mapping, etc…
Authentic: real world situations; doing what real scientists do
Performance: hands-on or creative tasks, rather than regurgitation
Choosing appropriate assessment is challenging task
A laboratory practical exam is a performance task
Using materials, equipment, models to demonstrate learning
Teacher assesses by observing the process
Logistics and management challenge the use of this assessmenta.^
Use of stations throughout the room can help b.
Assessing during regular lab activities
Checklists allow timely use of performance assessments (p. 280)
Computer simulations can allow for storing files of student work
Many and varied ways of arriving at a solution
Usually, solution is presented in writing
Often use real-world issues
Students may use multiple resources to find a solution
Examples:a.^
Describe a method for removing nitrate contamination in well water b.
Experiments to determine what gave someone food poisoning
Analyze problem, plan and conduct experiment, organize results,and communicate findings (Doran, 1998)
Provide students with materials and directions, safety precautions
Some teachers require approval of a plan before students start
WOWBugs example p. 282 (behavior of wasps)
Individual accountability (Reynolds, 1996)
a. Group report, but individual reports allowed if student disagrees b. Group does investigation, but all students submit own report c.^
Individuals don’t discuss results; prepare separate reports
Large scale investigations
a. Can last over weeks or even a semester b. Assessment and instruction are intermixed c.^
Students get an idea of what real scientists do d. Students report various segments of the project over the time period e. McPherson College Undergraduate Research program
Graphical method to show learning or to infer misconceptions
Must provide instruction and practice before using as assessment
Partially structured interview
a. Written set of questions to probe specific knowledge b. Probing questions can help clarify the student response c.^
Can be particularly helpful with writing-challenged students d. In your own words, what is the theory of…? e. What evidence supports to conclusion that…? f.^
What did scientists learn from the study of…?
Challenges
a. Not practical to get lengthy interviews of all students in large classes b. Interview a few students at a time, dispersing questions c.^
Interview before, after school, at lunch, during study hall, etc… d. Tape student-student interviews
Assess attitudes, growth, and improve writing at the same time
Can include free writing on a subject or specific questions
Often overlook spelling/grammar to get at science
Challenges: don’t have time to read them all
a. Read randomly selected journals each week b. Not summative assessments
Nonthreatening, simple, useful for reading/writing challenged
May include written descriptions, summaries
Provide evidence of conceptual change
Organization, synthesis, and summarization of student learning
Formative, and Summative assessments included
May ask for reflection by student on past assessments
May include student written captions describing how assessmentwas used to demonstrate learning
Involves student in the assessment process
Looks at totality of the experience, rather than isolated data
Student often allowed to choose a limited number of items
Judgement
a. Holistic: on portfolio as a whole b. Analytic: rating of individual items
Student usually given the task and the rubric at the same time
Tasks can be general and scores specific or vice versa (p. 290)
Some teacher start with a generic rubric and adapt to a task (p. 291)
Value of Rubrics
a. Communicate what students know and can do b. Provide understandable performance targets to students c.^
How will I be graded? How am I doing?
Textbooks often include suggestions of contemporary assessments
Internet
a. Performance Assessment Links in Science http://pals.sri.com/ b. Links http://www.col-ed.org/smcnws/assesstask.html
Journals and tradebooks
a. National Science Teachers Association b. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development c.^
The Science Teacher d. Science Scope e. Educational Leadership
Impact lives of students by evaluating success and failure
Compare students with each other
Determine scholarship or even acceptance to further education
Criterion-referenced: judged relative to established criteriaa.^
Allow as many A, B, C, D, F grades as students earn b.
Assumes all students can earn an A c.^
Does not ensure a normal distribution of grades
Norm-referenced: judged relative to other members of the classa.^
Assumes class should match a normal distribution b.
Particularly difficult to defend with small class sizes c.^
Applied assessment rarely produce this on their own d.
Curving grades = adjusting grades to meet normal distribution e.
Homogeneous classes (advanced placement) don’t work
