Thesis Presentation

Introduction

How do secondary education science teachers define assessment in terms of purpose?

Is there a standard definition or belief regarding assessment?

What is assessment?

“the process of defining, selecting, designing, collecting, analyzing, interpreting and using information to increase students’ learning and development”

Erwin, T.D. (1991). Assessing student learning and development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Assessment

Assessment

According to Buhagiar (2007) “Assessment developed historically for the purposes of selection and certification…”

“However, assessment experts have for the past couple of decades recognized and argued in favor of assessment as an essential component to learning.”

Defining Assessment Which is it? Is assessment just the act of evaluating

students’ progress? Or is it the evaluation of student progress

and the evaluation of our methods used? Does it stop at reporting the evaluation or

is the information used to adjust methods? Or is it that Assessment = Test?

Methods

Internet survey distributed via e-mail. Participation was voluntary Surveys consisted of 8 likert-scale

questions and 2 short answer questions.

Sample Questions1. In my class there is usually a student who I can always trust to have the correct answer.

Strongly Agree

Agree DisagreeStrongly Disagree

6. Numerical grades should be assigned to behavior; including penalties for poor behavior and rewards for good behavior.

Strongly Agree

Agree DisagreeStrongly Disagree

8. I sometimes feel that a student deserves a higher grade than their average has calculated out to be.

Strongly Agree

Agree DisagreeStrongly Disagree

Short Answer Questions

9. Please define “assessment” and its purpose in a science classroom.

10. For any one of the first eight statements that you feel strongly about, please describe in detail why you do or do not agree with it. (please only address one of the eight)

Short Answer Questions

Responses were categorized as defining assessment as either strictly evaluative or learning focused.

Sample PopulationID Age Gender Subject Years Teaching Tenured

1 25-30 Female Biology Less than 3 No2 25-30 Female Science Less than 3 No3 25-30 Female Earth Science 3-6 Yes4 25-30 Female Biology Less than 3 No5 31-35 Male Middle School Science Less than 3 No6 25-30 Female science 3-6 No7 31-35 Female science 3-6 Yes8 36-45 Male Science 11-20 Yes9 21-24 Female life science Less than 3 No10 25-30 Female Biology Less than 3 No11 25-30 Male Earth Science Less than 3 No12 31-35 Male Chemistry 7-10 Yes13 46-up Female Science 21-up No14 25-30 Male Science/Biology 3-6 No15 21-24 Female Physical Education 3-6 Yes16 46-up Male Physics 21-up Yes17 25-30 Female Earth Science 3-6 Yes

Findings

No significant results were revealed from statistical analysis.

Correlations were searched for compared to tenure, age and gender.

Findings

Analysis revealed contradictions among the sample population.

Many subjects answered some questions as though they defined assessment as strictly evaluative but not others.

Findings

100% of the subjects responded that they disagreed with penalizing students for incorrect answers on their homework.

56% of the subjects responded that they disagreed with allowing students opportunities to retake exams or correct exams.

Findings

47% of the subject responded that they agreed that a lab should be graded for correct results only.

100% of the subjects responded that they disagreed with the statement that a students experiment is a failure if it does not successfully answer the question or solve the problem.

FindingsQuestion Strongly

Agree

Agree Disagree Strongly

Disagree

1 59% 35% 6% 0%

2 0% 0% 41% 59%

3 0% 44% 50% 6%

4 0% 47% 41% 12%

5 0% 0% 65% 35%

6 6% 35% 41% 18%

7 0% 12% 69% 19%

8 19% 69% 12% 0%

Sample Short Responses

Purpose is to determine if a student has mastered a skill or knowledge presented in class.

To determine if a student has been able to incorporate topic material into his/her thinking in some manner.

Assessment is a method used to check for understanding of a particular scientific concept, whether theoretical or mathematical. Assessment allows the instructor to determine, most importantly if he or she has successfully taught the concept. This can easily be gauged by how successful or unsuccessful students are on the particular assessment. It is important that the assessment is relative to the concept being taught.

Test

Limiting Factors

Sample Size Voluntary Participation Should have used follow interviews Rewording of survey questions for future

studies Results cannot easily be generalized Worth further study