Consistent teaching – Assessing K-6 Science and Technology

1. Consistent teaching – Assessing K-6 Science and Technology K-6 Science and Technology © 2006 Curriculum K-12 Directorate, NSW Department of Education and Training

2. What student learning matters most in SciTech? • In SciTech we want students to become increasingly independent in their ability to think and work scientifically and technologically. • Learning in Science and Technology emphasises first-hand experiences in the processes of investigating and designing and making. Assessment should also. • Assessment of a student’s performance in SciTech focuses on the processes of investigating and designing and making, in the context of the relevant content strand. K-6 Science and Technology

3. What informs my assessment in SciTech? • The Foundation Statements (2005) and Science and Technology Outcomes (2000) describe the standard of learning expected of students at the end of each stage. • The Big Ideas expand the outcomes and suggest suitable content for the processes and content outcomes for each stage. • In the context of the school plan and situation, the professional judgement of the teachers in the school is used to determine a student’s progress during the stage, at points predetermined by the school. K-6 Science and Technology

4. Planning for consistent assessment: the school plan School planning involves: • Evaluating the existing school plan in relation to SciTech syllabus standards • Ensuring that the school plan effectively allocates all SciTech syllabus outcomes to stages and years • Ensuring that for each stage there is a plan that: • establishes a progression of SciTech learning throughout the stage so that; • all content outcomes are addressed at least once • the processes of designing and making and investigating are built upon in each unit of work • identifies the focus of assessment in each reporting period. (cont.) K-6 Science and Technology

5. Planning for consistent assessment: the year cohort • Amongst the teachers for each year group decide at the beginning of the year: • what needs to be taught and assessed for students to progress toward the end of stage standards (see Foundation Statements and Outcomes) • the focus of SciTech assessment and reporting for each semester/reporting period • assessment information to be collected for the purposes of moderation and consistent judgement. • Develop class programs and units of work that will allow you to collect the agreed assessment information, with a focus on investigating and designing and making tasks. • Identify suitable times during each semester to moderate student achievement across the year-cohort-groups. • Develop a plan to evaluate the effectiveness of the program. K-6 Science and Technology

6. What is quality assessment in SciTech? • Is based on the process of investigating scientifically and/or designing and making and at least one content outcome. • Focuses on depth of understanding of manageable number of key concepts. • Assesses knowledge and skills students have had structured and systematic opportunities to learn. • Provides students with clear expectations about requirements and explicit criteria that identify the features of successful work. • Allows meaningful feedback to be provided to each student. K-6 Science and Technology

7. What are sources of quality assessment evidence in SciTech? Evidence of student learning in SciTech may be found in: • Observing the actions of students as they implement the process in class (designing and making or investigating). • Reviewing written, drawn or verbal presentations and other forms of documentation from students about their thinking/understandings e.g. what they did in their process, why they did it, what they learnt. • The products of their processes e.g. models, reports. K-6 Science and Technology

8. Managing quality assessment in SciTech • It is not practical to effectively assess and provide feedback on every aspect of process and content achievement of students during each SciTech task or unit. • Within a particular SciTech task, it is more effective to explicitly focus assessment on: • a significant component/s of the application of the process e.g. generating and developing design ideas or conducting scientific investigations • the accuracy and depth of understandings about a clearly defined area of a content outcome e.g. characteristics of living things. • Process knowledge and skills will be revisited regularly. Effective assessment will enable teachers to judge student’s progress toward the independent application of the processes by the end of Stage 3. K-6 Science and Technology

9. What are the significant components of the SciTech processes ? The following components of each process are suggested as a changing focus of assessment in SciTech tasks across a stage. Investigating Scientifically • Planning, • Conducting • Interpreting evaluating and communicating. Designing and Making • Exploring and defining the task • Generating and developing ideas • Producing solutions. K-6 Science and Technology