Post on 08-Aug-2015
Assessment
Objectives
List the purposes of assessment in science education.
Give numerous examples of ways to conduct formative and summative assessment.
Describe the process of developing an assessment (Learning by Design, LBD).
Create and evaluate rubrics for science education projects.
Key Components of the Assessment Process
Focus
Purpose
Process
Users
Key Components of the Assessment Process
Focus – On what aspects of the teaching-learning process should we collect, describe, and quantify information?
Purpose – How will the information we collect be used?
Key Components of the Assessment Process
Method – What methods will we use to collect the data?
Users – For whom are we collecting the data? Who will be provided with this information?
Focus (NSES, p. 88)
To describe and quantify:
Student achievement and attitude
Teacher preparation and quality
Program characteristics
Resource allocation
Policy instruments
Methods (NSES, p. 88)
Paper and pencil testing
Performance testing
Interviews
Portfolios
Performances
Observing programs, students, and teachers in classroom
Transcript analysis
Expert reviews of educational materials
Purpose (Use) (NSES, p. 88)
Plan teaching
Guide learning
Calculate grades
Make comparisons
Establish credential and licensure
Determine access to special programs
Develop education theory
Inform and monitor policy
Allocate resources
Evaluate quality of curricula, programs and teaching practices
Users (NSES, p. 88)
Teachers
Students
Educational administrators
Parents
Public
Policymakers
Institutions of higher education
Business and industry
Government
ASSESSMENT STANDARD A:(NSES, p. 89)
Assessments must be consistent with the decisions they are designed to inform.
Assessments are deliberately designed.
Assessments have explicitly stated purposes.
The relationship between the decisions and the data is clear.
Assessment procedures are internally consistent.
Assessments must be consistent with the decisions they are designed to inform.
This means that the purpose must match the process. For example, if you want to measure how well students understand the methods of scientific inquiry, they must be given an opportunity to engage in scientific inquiry as part of that assessment.
Assessments are deliberately designed.
This means that the assessment must clearly provide the kind and quality of data you need. For example, ―Classroom observation‖ might be ok to see if students understand the directions of an activity, they it would hardly provide any accurate data of student understanding of concepts or achievement.
Assessments are internally consistent.
This means that if something is measured several times in the same assessment, the degree of success should be similar. For example, if I ask a student multiple choice questions about a topic and he does well, but does very poorly over open-ended questions on the same content, the test is not accurately measuring his understanding of the concept.
ASSESSMENT STANDARD B:(NSES, p. 90)
Achievement and opportunity to learn science must be assessed.
Achievement data collected focus on the science content that is most important for students to learn.
Opportunity-to-learn data collected focus on the most powerful indicators.
Equal attention must be given to the assessment of opportunity to learn and to the assessment of student achievement.
…opportunity to learn science must be assessed.
This means that we cannot state the these students do poorly and these students do well unless we are also evaluating such factors as teacher quality, classroom climate, availability of resources, whether special needs are being addressed, etc.
Equity is an essential factor in interpreting any social science data.
Achievement data collected focus on the science content that is most important for students to learn.
When we design assessments, we must focus on:
The ability to inquire.
Knowing and understanding scientific facts, concepts, principles, laws, and theories.
The ability to reason scientifically.
The ability to use science to make personal decisions and to take positions on societal issues.
The ability to communicate effectively about science.
Achievement data collected focus on the science content that is most important for students to learn.
Do not test what is easy to test. Test what is important to know.
Assessment
At its best, it is an opportunity to learn:
what students know in order to congratulate them.
what students do not know in order to help them learn it.
what direction your teaching should take.
Assessment
At its best is
Feedback
Assessment
According to the National Science Education Standards:
Assessment and learning are two sides of the same coin.
Assessment methods define what teachers should teach and students should learn.
Students should not just demonstrate learning during assessment; they should learn from assessments.
Assessment
According to the National Science Education Standards:
All aspects of science achievement—ability to
inquire, scientific understanding of the natural
world, understanding of the nature and utility of science—are measured using multiple methods such as performances and portfolios, as well as conventional paper-and-pencil tests.
Assessment
At its worst, assessment is:
An opportunity compare and rank students.
An opportunity to punish students for not learning.
When do you develop the assessment?
According to ―Understanding by Design,‖ assessment is the SECOND step in curriculum design.
Wiggins, G. and McTighe, J. (nd) Understanding by Design: A brief introduction. Center for Technology & School Change at Teachers College, Columbia University. Retrieved 6/7/07.
Wikipedia (2010). Understanding by Design. Retrieved on February 18, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Understanding_by_Design
When do you develop the assessment?
FIRST: Select your objectives.
SECOND: Decide what proof you will accept that the student has mastered the targeted knowledge and skills. Your assessment must provide that proof.
This is a very important concept. If your assessment cannot provide that proof, it is inadequate.
Characteristics of Assessment
Formative or Summative
Authentic – i.e. ―real world‖ – or artificial
Should be tested as much as possible in the way it will actually be used, BUT
Should also be tested as much as possible in the way it was taught
Developing Assessment
ASK:
What are the essential skills and knowledge I am trying to teach?
How can I find out whether students are learning them?
How can I help students learn better?
Key to the process
Refer back to your objectives. Does your assessment test THESE items and to the DEPTH you targeted?
Provide abundant feedback
Assessments should teach, not just test prior teaching.
Assessments should help students internalize what competency ―looks like.‖
Feedback provides this.
Which of the following BEST describes the role of assessment?
A. Assessments reveal to the teacher what the student does and does not know.
B. Assessments tell the teacher how to design the curriculum.
C. Assessments provide data about the students’ current levels of knowledge and skills for the purpose of improving those levels.
D. Assessments provide a way to assess school quality.
Which of the following BEST describes the role of assessment?
Assessments show the teacher what the student does not know.
Although this is true, it does not BEST describe the role of assessment. It is actually more important for the student to have this information. Can you explain why?
Which of the following BEST describes the role of assessment?
Assessments tell the teacher how to design the curriculum.
Although this is true, it is not the BEST answer. Teachers should use this information to make needed improvements in the curriculum, but it is also essential that assessment provide the student information about his current knowledge and skills. Can you explain why?
Which of the following BEST describes the role of assessment?
Assessments provide data about the students’ current levels of knowledge and skills.
This is the best of the four statements. Students, teachers, and perhaps parents and administrators can and should use such data to improve learning. The most important of these, however, is always the student. Can you explain why?
Which of the following BEST describes the role of assessment?
Assessments provide a way to assess school quality.
Although this is true, it is not the BEST answer. Feedback to others in the educational community is important, but most important is feedback to students. Can you explain why?
ASSESSMENT STANDARD C
The technical quality of the data collected is well matched to the decisions and actions taken on the basis of their interpretation.
ASSESSMENT STANDARD C
Assessments are:
Valid
Reliable
Stable
Authentic
Multiple measures
Sufficient opportunity to demonstrate knowledge and skills
ASSESSMENT STANDARD D
Assessments must be:
Fair
Without bias or stereotype
Modified appropriately for special needs
set in a variety of contexts
engaging to students with different interests and experiences
ASSESSMENT STANDARD E
The inferences made from assessments must be reasonable and well-supported.
Assessment should develop students as independent learners. Students should:
Select a piece of their own work to provide evidence of understanding of a scientific concept, principle, or law—or their ability to conduct scientific inquiry.
Explain orally, in writing, or through illustration how a work sample provides evidence of understanding.
Assessment should develop students as independent learners. Students should:
Critique a sample of their own work using the teacher’s standards and criteria for quality.
Critique the work of other students in constructive ways.
Assessment should develop students as independent learners. Students should:
Involve students in the assessment process!
For example: Let students to develop the assessment instrument.
―Design your own‖ rubric.
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php
Hints for effective assessment
Assess often (formative assessment) so that you can modify instruction to fit student needs.
ALWAYS let students know in advance how they will be assessed.
Use assessment for its primary purpose, to provide feedback to you and to the students.
What can you do for formative assessment?
Exit questions: "your ticket out the door―
Write a paragraph
Journaling
Graphic organizers
Text-based questions
Notebook checks
Quizzes
Worksheets
Diagrams/drawings/cartons
Oral questioning
Nerf basketball review game
Pass-the-ball review
What did you learn?" closure questions
Vocabulary/concept skits
Daily warm-up review questions
What can you do for formative assessment?
Homework assignments
Review games
Group work updates
Timelines
Compare answers from students of different achievement levels
Compare answers from students of different learning styles
"Ask the Teacher" forms
Pictionary
Idea webs
Making and supporting predictions
Metacognitive reports
Minneapolis Public Schools (2010). Retrieved on February 17, 2010, from http://aaa.mpls.k12.mn.us/formative.html
What can you do for summative assessment?
Pencil-paper tests
Multiple choice
Essay
Matching
True/False
Etc.
Other ideas….
What can you do for summative assessment?
Debate
Models
Perform a television show
Perform a television commercial/infomercial
Improvisational role-play
Create advertisementsplay
Poetry (dialogue poem:
Students create books
Letters dialogue
Plan a museum exhibit/commemorative stamps/historical markers
Research paper
Minneapolis Public Schools (2010). Retrieved on February 17, 2010, from http://aaa.mpls.k12.mn.us/summative.html
What can you do for summative assessment?
Role-play journals/diaries
Stand-up comedy routine
Present and support a new way of doing something
Present and support your answer to a "what if" scenario
Compare/contrasts
Postcards from time/places with art and text
Create and support a metaphor
Minneapolis Public Schools (2010). Retrieved on February 17, 2010, from http://aaa.mpls.k12.mn.us.summative.html
How do you assess these other (alternative) forms of assessment?
Rubrics
How do you make a rubric?
Decide on the criteria that are important for this assignment. Examples:
Content
Inquiry
Use of resources
Higher level thinking
Communication/Presentation
How do you make a rubric?
Put them in order from the most important to the least important. Example:
Content (most important)
Inquiry
Use of resources
Higher level thinking
Communication/Presentation (least important)
How do you make a rubric?
Decide how many levels you will describe (usually 3-5).
Decide what scale you will use.
Example:
1 = needs improvement
2 = satisfactory
3 = exceeds expectations
4 = clearly outstanding
How do you make a rubric?
Describe each level for each criteria.
Example:
Content
1=many serious errors in content
2 =a few serious errors in content
3 = most content correct, a few minor errors
4 = no content errors; clear evidence of understanding
Examples of science rubrics. Which to you think is best?
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1696498&
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1506645&
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1647435&
Key Points
Assessment drives the learning process.
Your assessment methods should be decided even before the activities for the lesson have been chosen.
Formative and summative assessments are necessary to give students the important feedback all during the learning process.
All assessments must be fair, rigorous, valid, and reliable.
Assessment Resources
Authentic Assessment http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/whatisit.htm
Rubistar http://rubistar.4teachers.org/
How to Write Tests http://www.uleth.ca/edu/runte/tests/
Portfolio Assessment
http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/res/literacy/assess6.html