THREE APPROACHES TO ASSESSMENT p. 100

1. NSE (National Science Education)Standards Approach -

Understanding

Do children comprehend the science ideas you are teaching?

P 101 Figure 6.1 - Assessing Understanding

Prompt: is a question or group of questions that includes a statement about a task to be done along with directions on how to do it. i.e., Why does the plant have insect holes in the leaves?
Performance: Tell the child what performance you expect him or her to carry out, i.e. oral report, demonstration, discovery activity.
Product: Tell the child what product you expect him or her to prepare, i.e. photograph, model, PowerPoint.
Rubric: is used to describe the standard that should be used when assessing a child's performance.

Examples: p. 102 - Sound, Density

Inquiry

The NSE Standards encourage teachers to have children design and carry out their own experiments (which is referred to as Inquiry) and then assess how well the children have done.

The following steps in the process and the final product should be evaluated:

1. Identifying a worthwhile and researchable question
2. Planning the investigation
3. Executing the research plan
4. Drafting the research report

Examples: p. 103 - Light and Plants

2. Traditional Assessment Techniques

Assessment Ideas for the Elementary Science Classroom

1. End-of-chapter homework: It forces the students to look at and read the text material.
2. Quizzes: It serves to keep students "on their toes," but it does not tell the teacher about indepth understanding.
3. Tests: Test results give children a way to asses their own progress and a way to compare themselves to others.
4. Library Reports: Library reports can lead children to think about topics and questions that were not considered during class.
5. Activity Write-ups: Helps the teacher to know if students are learning, fitting new learning into previous knowledge, and constructing new meanings. Be aware that a poor report may tell you more about the student's language arts abilities than science abilities.
6. Standardized Tests: A standardized achievement test in science compares how much the children in your class know compared to children nationwide, as reflected in norms. You will need to take some class time before the test to teach basic standardized test-taking strategies.

3. Authentic Assessment Techniques: measuring what students have actually learned

1. Portfolios: an organized collection of a person's work that shows the very best that he or she can do. Include written observations and science reports; drawing, charts, and graphs; reactions pieces, media products, science journals.
2. Anecdotal Records: A teacher's brief notes about a child's behavior.
3. Affective Development Checklists: The students' comments, smiles, frowns, in class behavior, and out-of-class behavior reveals a great deal about how much the students are developing a favorable attitude toward science and your teaching.
4. Science Conference with Children: One-on-one to give students an opportunity to talk to you about science and their attitudes about it.
5. Science Journals: A journal or notebook devoted only to science can be a great asset for children as well as a useful toll for assessing how well the students are doing in science.
6. Children's Self-Assessment: There are many ways to stimulate students' self-assessment. One is to give them a topic to write about their feelings on in their science journals. The students' responses will represent their efforts to assess what they have done in science.
7. Concept Mapping: is a diagram that represents knowledge by identifying basic concepts and topics and showing hose these items are related.

Science Concept Mapping examples