Systems for State Science Assessment (2006) / Chapter Skim
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3 Science Literacy: Implications for Assessment
3 Science Literacy: Implications for Assessment
Pages 38-53
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From page 38... ...
Given this goal, K12 science assessment should be designed to measure how well and to what degree students are gaining the knowledge, understanding, and skills that are necessary for science literacy. This chapter discusses three elements of science literacy that are widely represented in state science standards, some of the challenges they pose for assessment design, and ways that research on learning might help states in addressing those challenges.
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From page 39... ...
For example, the National Science Education Standards (National Research Council, 1996) includes eight dimensions of science content: Inquiry, Physical Science, Biological Science, Earth and Space Science, Unifying Concepts and Processes, Science and Technology, Science in Social and Personal Perspectives, and History and Nature of Science.
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From page 40... ...
One way to help them develop this structure is to organize science instruction in much the same way that expert scientists organize their knowledge -- around the organizing principles, or big ideas, of the discipline. Big ideas are central to a scientific discipline and have broad explanatory scope.
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From page 41... ...
Yet, many science assessments fail to help teachers and students assess the degree to which the student's knowledge is conditionalized and rarely ask students to demonstrate that they know when, where, and how to apply what they know. Science as a Way of Knowing Each of the sciences has its own unique way of knowing, but all scientists share certain basic beliefs and attitudes about what they do.
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From page 42... ...
Both the National Science Education Standards and the Benchmarks for Science Literacy recommend that students both understand and develop the skills related to inquiry, although the 1Inquiry is also used to refer to the activities of students in classrooms in which they develop knowledge and understanding of scientific ideas, as well as an understanding of how scientists study the world. The National Science Education Standards includes inquiry as both a content area and an instructional strategy.
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From page 43... ...
The majority of state science content standards include science inquiry as an important aspect of what students should learn. However, state standards (like their national counterparts)
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From page 44... ...
While there is little question that inquiry should be measured in state science assessments (if it is included in the state content standards) , each state will need to link decisions about which elements of inquiry will be measured, and how they will be measured, to their standards.
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From page 45... ...
For example, in New York teachers administer a standardized classroom inquiry assessment, score student work using rubrics that include samples of student work, and report scores as part of the state science assessment program.2 In other states -- Connecticut for example -- a separate test that is developed by the state is administered in the classroom after the students have engaged in inquiry activities (see Box 3-2)
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From page 46... ...
CAPT Science Performance Task: Soapy Water Grade 10 Scenario: Local water treatment plants often remove environmentally harmful impurities, such as soap, from wastewater before returning it to the environment. One way to remove soap from water is to have it react with other substances.
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From page 47... ...
Item 3 This item assess students' understanding of what makes an appropriate control in an experiment. In Group B's experiment, an appropriate control would have been a cup containing 50 mL of soapy water in which nothing was added.
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From page 48... ...
Ongoing classroom assessment conducted prior to and during instruction can help teachers develop instructional strategies that link new knowledge to existing knowledge. For example, asking students to describe their reasoning as they tackle tasks is a strategy that provides 3Learning progressions have been referred to by many different names, including progress variables, learning trajectories, progressions of developmental competence, and profile strands.
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From page 49... ...
The assessment of prior knowledge is most usefully accomplished in the classroom where students can receive timely feedback and further instruction that can help to reconstruct their alternate or naïve conceptions so that learning can proceed. Large-scale state and district tests can also help identify students' alternate conceptions, but because the results of these assessments come too late to assist students in reconstructing their flawed beliefs, they may be more useful for improving future instruction than for helping current students learn.
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From page 50... ...
Science assessments that reflect what is valued in the domain should include opportunities for students to demonstrate their science literacy by asking them, for example, to read and interpret scientific articles as they might appear in newspapers and the popular press, or to interpret graphs and charts and to use the information to support a claim. Science assessment that reflects the practice of science should focus not on the retention of discrete knowledge of facts or procedures but on assessing students' abilities to use scientific theories to explain phenomena, to make predictions in light of evidence, and to apply their science-related knowledge in approaching new and unfamiliar situations.
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SCIENCE LITERACY: IMPLICATIONS FOR ASSESSMENT 51 BOX 3-3 Memorization Versus Understanding Below are two assessment questions on DC circuits: one conceptual (top) and one conventional (bottom)
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From page 52... ...
For example, does it include items, tasks, or tests that require students to describe, explain, and predict natural phenomena based on scientific principles, laws, and theories; understand articles about science; distinguish questions that can be answered scientifically from those that cannot; evaluate the quality of information on the basis of its source; pose and evaluate arguments based on evidence; and apply conclusions appropriately? Question 3-2: Does the state's science assessment system reflect current scientific knowledge and understanding?
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From page 53... ...
Question 3-5: Does the state's science assessment system reflect contemporary understandings of how people learn science? Question 3-6: Is the state's science assessment system consistent with the nature of scientific inquiry and practice as it is outlined in the state standards?
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