Assessment of Hands-on Science/ Including the Use of Portfolios

1. Assessment of Hands-on Science/ Including the Use of Portfolios Created By: Cindy Choman and Melissa Williams ELED 305:02 February 15, 2007

2. What is Assessment? • The process of gathering and documenting information on achievements, skills, abilities and developing knowledge. • Ongoing

3. Ways to be assessed • Using quizzes or tests • Explanation

4. Science Ability • Students must engage in performance-based assessments: • Materials used should be: • Familiar • Context should be fresh • Answers cannot be answered by other ways. • Vocabulary should be familiar. • Example using measuring tape.

5. Pros and Cons of these Evaluations • Testing: • Another way to assess • Not the most effective way to measure understanding • Memorization • Test Design • Explanation/experiments: • Visually see and hear • Determines student ability • There’s more than just doing • No pencil and paper or choices

6. Ideal Assessment • Provide students with opportunities to represent their knowledge. • Students cannot always express knowledge through verbal or written form. • Variety of assessment methods.

7. Observational Checklist • Teachers can observe students: • Individually • Small groups • Class as a whole • Points are assigned to certain characterizes that need to be followed

8. Checklist Points Characteristics 0 Fails to reach a conclusion. 1 Draws a conclusion that is not supported by data. 2 Draws a conclusion that is supported by data, but fails to show any evidence for the conclusion. 3 Draws a conclusion that is supported by data and gives supporting evidence for the conclusion. (www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/science/eric/eric-6htm)

9. Laboratory Practical Exams • Used to asses attainment of science process skills • Manipulation of equipment • Question Rotation • Planned Questions

10. Rubric • What is Rubric? • A set of guidelines for assessment which states the characteristics and/or dimensions being assessed with clear performance criteria and a rating scale. • Evaluates a variety of matter. • Why should it be used? • Show ahead of time • Certain criteria • Can plug in variety of ideas

11. Rubric Scale • 0-5 Point Scale • 5 points-Full and complete understanding • 4 points- Full understanding • 3 points-Good understanding • 2 points-Basic understanding • 1 point- Some understanding • 0 points- No understanding • Levels of understanding • Specific evidence

13. Another Scale 4 Points- Correct, complete, detailed. 3 Points- Partially correct, complete, detailed. 2 Points- Partially correct, partially complete, lacks detail. 1 Point- Incorrect or incomplete, needs assistance.

14. Score: total points

15. Science Portfolios • Using portfolios as an assessment tool will allow students to successfully demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts using their own talents and abilities.

16. Why Portfolios? • Invite the revisiting of concepts through different learning abilities. • Encourage interdependency and responsibility of all students in a group setting. • Allow students to use fully their creative energies and potentials. • Provide support for experimentation and risk-taking. • Improve critical thinking and evaluation skills. • Provide for a successful scientific experience.

17. Implementing a Portfolio • Should be systematic • Within your “comfort zone” • Your individual teaching style will dictate the types of activities

18. Suggested Flow for a Portfolio Project • Portfolio • Benefits • Exhibits • Time Management • Scoring

19. Starting Up • Define goals and objectives • Determine how portfolio will show those goals • How will you manage the portfolio? • Determine the standards you will use • Explain the process to students • Start small • Will there be a performance component? • Use student feedback

20. Remember… • Start small • Find your effective level of management • Let the students be free to explore

21. The Assessment of a Portfolio • A portfolio is a challenging assessment tool which gives students the opportunity to showcase their best efforts in a collection of their work. • A portfolio of student’s work can help a teacher determine who may need more help and where classroom instruction should be expanded.

22. Selecting Pieces • Require certain pieces for all students • Selected pieces should be a collaboration between the teacher and the student. • At the end of a unit, set aside time for students to review their work. • Hold interviews with students where you ask them to share and talk about their own work.

23. Examples of Organization in a Portfolio

24. Organization Continued • These are examples which should be included for the display portfolio in a specific unit: • Creative Cover • Table of Contents • Contents • Written Comment • Unit Preview • Student’s Choice • Investigations • Pre-activity to Unit Project • Unit Project • Science Portfolio Evaluation Sheet

25. Portfolio Conferences • Portfolio assessment can help build a student’s confidence and skills. • It also helps to give students a sense of control over their own learning.

26. Teacher-Student Conferences • Teacher will meet with individual students for 5-10 minutes • Students will give their own evaluations • Teacher has leading statements prepared

27. Hands-On Elementary Science from Educational Programs That Work • An instructional program intended to provide elementary students with hands-on experiences emphasizing the processes of science as an approach to problem solving for grades 1-5.

28. Description of Program • Curriculum employs a set of higher order processes to each grade level consisting of four basic units. • This is not a text program. • Lessons based on hands-on activities.

29. Effectiveness • Students who received one year of Hands-on Elementary Science scored higher on a performance based assessment. • Both students and teachers who have used Hands-On Elementary Science made sizeable gains on surveys measuring attitude and motivation toward science.

30. The program works, but how do you assess students? • “As classroom teachers, we can praise hands-on experimental science, but until we can demonstrate that students are learning significantly more of the fundamental thinking skills of science, we cannot say they have truly achieved science literacy” (Tetenbaum, 1992, p.12)

31. Works Cited • http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/cntareas/science/eric/eric-6htm. • http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/1993/rubrics/teresa/rubrics.htm#6. • http://www.sfscience.com/rubrics/rubric_pdf/g4/4C4_Rubric_C106.pdf • http://www.ask.com/dafs?o=0&qsrc=1&dafs=qid%3D1%26det%3D%26verb%3Dis%26xp%3Dassessment%26dacp%3Da0.3%2Ch0.13&l=dir&wdafs=0&q=What+is+assessment%3F&nc=1&wcl=1 • http://www.ed.gov/PressReleases/05-1997/science9.html • http://www.ed.gov/pubs/EPTW/eptw7/eptw7e.html • http://www.teachervision.fen.com/teaching-methods/experimental- education/4528.html • http://content.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=4321 • http://www.accessexcellence.org/LC/TL/mahood_port.html • http://education.shu.edu/portfolios/AGarcia/portfolioassessment.html