Chapter 8

Assessing Active Science Learning

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How to Read This Chapter

• Assessment is presented from three contexts: the classroom context, assessment at the national level and assessment at the international level. If you are looking for specific assessment strategies, then you’ll want to focus on the first part of the chapter. If you are interested in national and international assessments then the sections on these reports will be of interest. You will want to come back to this chapter from time-to-time to find examples of assessment strategies that you can integrate into your teaching plans.

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Assessment at Classroom

Level

A Model Multiple Methods

Inquiry 8.1Designing an Assessment

Plan

Inquiry 8.2: Designing

Performance Tasks

Invitations to Inquiry

• What are some trends in the development of assessment strategies?

• What are the components of a comprehensive assessment strategy for student learning and instruction?

• How can inquiry-based learning be assessed?• What methods of assessment are effective in understanding

student learning?• How can assessment items be classified?• What are the trends in the national assessment of science

progress?• What are the trends in the international assessment of science

achievement?

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Chapter 8 MapAssessing

Active Science

Learning

Assessment at Classroom

Level

Assessment at the

National Level

Assessment at the

International Level

A Model Multiple Methods

Inquiry 8.1Designing

an Assessment Plan

Inquiry 8.2: Designing

Performance Tasks

Inquiry 8.3: Surveying Students'

Knowledge and

Attitudes

The Gazette

Case Study: False Crisis

Research Matters

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Case Study: Mrs. Cronin’s Whirlybird Project

• Read the case of Mrs. Cronin’s whirlybird project. Do you think the project, as described, is a valid way to assess student learning? Why do you think so?

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Teacher’s testing their whirlybirds

QuickTime™ and aPhoto - JPEG decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Inquiry 8.1: Designing an Assessment Plan

• In this activity, you will design an assessment plan for a mini-unit, a chapter in a text, or course of study. The plan makes use of the tools presented in Chapter 8.

• You will be developing:– Preassessment activities– Performance assessments– Assessments for intended

learning outcomes– A student portfolio

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Informal Methods of Assessment

• Informal methods involve direct interaction of the teacher with students, during class or nonclass time. Which of these methods would use, and why?– Observing Students

– Asking Questions

– Student Questions

– Conferencing

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Interpersonalskill

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4

ActiveListening

Staying onTask

AskingQuestionsContributingIdeas

Interpersonal Skill Observation Form

Semiformal Methods of Assessment

• How would you implement monitoring classroom practice as a semiformal method of assessment?

• How would you integrate homework into an assessment plan?

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Formal Methods of Assessment

• Pre-assessment--used to find out student’s prior knowledge. Three methods are presented, including:

– The T-Chart– Pictorials & Drawings– Concept Maps

• How would these pre-assessment strategies help you in planning lessons and designing units of study?

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What we have headabout ozone?

What questions wedo we have aboutozone?

It makes us burn up.It’s smog and itsharmful to us.Makes the earth heatup.Air pollution cancause ozoneIt’s caused bychemicals in the air.It can be dangerousto people withbreathing problems.There is good andbad ozone.

What causes ozone?How can we tell ifthere is ozone in theair?Is it different in thecenter of a citycompared to thesuburbs?What effect does ithave on humans?Do cars cause it?What will happen ifthe ozone in the air isall gone?

The T-Chart: A Pre-Assessment Strategy.Here students in a small group worktogether to make a T-chart by answering thetwo questions at the the top of each column.

Formal Methods of Assessment

• Several formal methods are presented, including:– Traditional Paper-and-

Pencil Tests

– Traditional Short Answer

– Student Writing

– Open-Ended Questions

– Content-Specific Tasks

– Science Journals

– Written Reports or Multimedia Presentations

1. Some changes in the earth's surface areabrupt (such as earthquakes and volcaniceruptions) while other changes happenvery slowly (such as uplift and wearingdown of mountains).

2. The earth's surface is shaped in part bythe motion of water and wind over verylong times, which act to level mountainranges

These are two Earth Science outcomes from theBenchmarks for Scientific Literacy for middle andhigh school students. Create a formal assessment foreach outcome selecting a different formal method foreach from the list to the left. Consult the Art ofTeaching Science for details on each method, pp.307-308

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Inquiry 8.2: Designing Performance Assessment Tasks and Rubrics

• In this inquiry you are going to design a performance task that would assess student understanding of a big idea or concept. You will be given selected big ideas/concepts from the Standards and the Benchmarks. Using these statements, you will be asked to create a performance task that will assess learners on the idea.

• An example of a performance task is shown here.

Performance Task:The Paper Tower Project

In this assessment, the teacher is interestedin finding out how well teams can worktogether to solve a problem and explainwhat they have built and the rationale fortheir design. Each team is given a sheet ofpaper measuring 8.5 x 11 inches, scissors,and 50 cm of masking tape. The studentsare told that the task is to build the tallestfreestanding tower using one sheet of paper.They will be given 30 minutes to completethe task. The masking tape can only be usedto connect pieces of paper; it cannot be usedto fasten the tower to a desk or otherstructure. When the towers are built, eachteam must present its tower to the class andexplain the rationale for the structure design.The other groups of students are given arubric (see Table 8.4 in the Art of TeachingScience), which they will use to assess thepresenting team. The teacher also completesa rubric.

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Paper Tower Assessment Project

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Assessment Criteria RatingOutstanding Worked together well;

clear explanation ofplan and scientificconcepts; tower built atleast 11” tall

4

Competent Meets criteria for 4, butslightly lacking in oneor more areas.

3

Satisfactory Worked together well;tower was built butexplanation waslacking.

2

Unsatisfactory Attempt was made, butpoor cooperation, ortower didn’t stand;weak explanation.

1

No Attempt Tower not constructed 0

Table 8.4. Paper Tower Scoring RubricTeacher-interns collaborating onthe construction of a paper tower.

Portfolios

• Study the sample portfolio provided in the Art of Teaching Science (pp. 312-313), and use it as a model to develop a portfolio based on your mini-unit, or a chapter from a middle or high school science textbook.

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Zoology PortfolioOverview

For the zoology unit you will be required todevelop a portfolio. This portfolio is a collectionof your work that shows what you have learnedduring this unit on animal biology. The portfolioallows you to demonstrate your maturity as anindependent learner who is willing and able topursue some personal learning interests. It willalso provide a format in which you will organizesome lab and activity work, which we do duringclass time. Your portfolio should be organizedin either a small three-ring binder, or a three-clasp folder with divided sections.

This is the introductory material excerpted from acomplete Zoology portfolio (See Table 8.6 in the Artof Teaching Science. The portfolio is the majororganizing tool used by the teacher not only to assessthe students, but to describe the syllabus of a unit onzoology in a biology course. The portfolio is acreative approach to assessment, and puts greaterresponsibility on the part of the students to organizetheir work, be involved in small group and individualwork, and make decisions about the activities theychoose.

Assessment at the National Level

• The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is a federally mandated organization that administers assessments to measure educational progress in science, and other content areas.

• Review the material on NAEP in the Art of Teaching Science (pp. 311-320).

• How can the NAEP contribute to the improvement of education in U.S. school districts?

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Long-Term Trends in Science

• Find out how the following have changed over time based on NAEP results (science):

• Achievement• Age• Race/Ethnicity• Gender• Parental Education Level and

achievement• Type of School• Science Curriculum• Attitudes

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Inquiry 8.3: Surveying Students’ Knowledge and Attitudes in Science

• In this activity, you will use a survey instrument to find out about student knowledge and attitudes toward science. You’ll use some NAEP items to put together a two part assessment instrument.

• Work with other peers to assess a wide variety of students at different grade levels and at different schools.

• Use the results and compare them to the NAEP results.

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Assessment at the International Level

• The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) has conducted comparative studies since the 1960s. Known as the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), students in more than 40 nations at the fourth, eighth and final year of high school have been tested.

• Results of some recent testing are show in Tables 8.8 and 8.9. Although not all of the countries that were featured in Chapter 4 participated in the study, find those that did participate, and how their results compared. Rank order them. Where is the U.S. on your ranked list?

• Do you think comparisons across cultures are valid? Visit the TIMSS site by clicking on the globe and see what you can find at their site.

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Think Pieces

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Think Pieces

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• What are the elements of a model of assessment that you would implement with middle or high school students?

• What is a performance assessment and how does it differ than traditional paper and pencil tests?

• What do you think is the fairest way to assess students in a heterogeneous chemistry class? What is the basis for your thinking?

• Are the results national assessments of science achievement valid in making comparisons from one state to another or region of the country? What do you think?

• How can international assessments of science be helpful to educators?