I N S C I E N C E

S S E S S M E N T
O O M A
CLASSR

asses sm e nt
strat egie s
 assessment
strategies
These are strategies used in either
formative or summative assessments.
A strategy to be employed by the teacher
depends upon the nature of the subject
matter and purpose of the assessment.
 · Observation
· Interviews
· Group/Peer Assessment
· Self-assessment
Suggested · Performance Assessment or
assessment Student Demonstration
strategies in · Science Journal Entries
science · Rubrics/Checklist
· Visual Displays
include:
· Laboratory Report
· Pencil and Paper Tasks
· Research Report or
Presentation
observations
Observation is a strategy where
teachers assess student performance
through the keen use of senses and
effective note taking. This strategy may
also serve as an integral part for other
strategies such as checklists, student
demonstration, and peer assessment.
 However, this
Observation is
assessment strategy is
used to assess:
mostly important and
utilized in assessing
Knowledge performance
Skills demonstrating skills
and values.
Attitude
 How to use observation
as assessment strategy?
· Make brief notes e.g. on index
cards, sticky notes
· Use checklist if applicable
· Keep taken notes in a notebook or
in a digital book

These allow teachers to keep records of student

performance for reference in evaluation.
 Interview
Interviewing involves the interaction in which an
interviewer collects information from students with
a sequence of questions and listens for answers. This
kind of interaction can be a rich source of
information to inform the teacher about how the
student understands concepts and uses procedures
they learned from the course, and provides valuable
information and directions for the teacher in
modifying the course for improvements.
two main types of interviews

structured interviews
are composed of a series of well-chosen questions which are designed
to elicit a portrait of a student's understanding of a concept or set of
related concepts. To explore the topic more deeply, probe questions
are commonly used to follow up those pre-planned 'main' questions.
This approach ensures that the interviewer and interviewee have
thoroughly finished exploring one topic before moving on to another.
 VARIATIONS OF STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

1) Instances Interviews
- a student is presented with a specific set of examples and
counterexamples of the concept of interest and is asked to identify
which cases are examples of the concept, and then to explain that
decision.

2) Prediction Interviews
- students are required to anticipate an outcome of a situation and
explain or justify that prediction.
 VARIATIONS OF STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS

3) Sorting Interviews
- the student is presented with a group of objects and asked to sort
them according to specific instructions.

4) Problem Solving Interviews

- a student is asked to attempt to solve a problem while thinking
aloud, explaining as much as possible about what she is doing, why
she is doing it, and what her symbols and actions mean.
two main types of interviews

Unstructured interviews
are used when the interviewer wants to let the interviewee have
complete control over the content of the interview. The interviewer
usually prepares one or two questions to start off the interview. Only
probe questions would then be used for the rest of the interview for
further elaboration on a topic.
Advantages of Interview Disadvantages of Interview

In-depth Information Time consuming

Rapport and Trust Bias from interviewers

Examines level of understanding Bias of interpretation

by learners
Subjectivity of interviewees
Guides improvement
How to design a good Interview Assessment?

1) Try to make the student feel relaxed and comfortable during the
interview because interviews can generate the most fruitful sharing when a
trustful rapport is established.
2) Practicing can help to ensure that the interview can be finished in a
reasonable amount of time (normally less than an hour).
3) Carefully select the sample of students for an interview so that the group
can represent all students who may have different levels of interest and
ability.
4) Ensure all the necessary types of equipment for the interview are well-
prepared, such as interview protocol, audio, and video recorders, etc.
How to design a good Interview Assessment?

5) Try to make the interview group as small as possible, or conduct it

individually; this can best facilitate the in-depth sharing of ideas.
6) Allow enough time for the student to fully express her ideas; always wait
for a few seconds before proceeding to the next question.
7) Review the interview transcripts several times with different
investigators; this will allow multiple perspectives in interpreting the
responses given by the interviewees.
 Peer
Assessment
A tool designed to facilitate the
constructive feedback that students give
to and receive from their peers that can
enhance their comprehension of the
subject material and provide valuable
insights into their own efforts.
 · Teacher asks a question
or provides a prompt.
An example of
peer assessment: · Students are given time
to THINK about their
responses.
Think, · Students PAIR up and
discuss their responses.
pair, · Student pairs SHARE
their ideas with a larger
and share group.
 Another example of
peer assessment is...

Think - pair - square and share

This technique is used to get students

to use higher level thinking and
justify their reasoning.
Think
Students are set a question and
asked to think in silence for 2
minutes about their answer.

pair
This answer is then shared with
the person next to them, the pair
of students are asked to think of
the "best" answer to take
forward, and why it is the best.
square Students are then asked to share their answers
as a group of 3 or 4, depending on class size.
This answer has to be communicated, with the
reasons for the choice to the whole class. This is
where the higher-level thinking comes in as
students have to justify the decisions they have
made.

share Students feedback their group choices to the

class as a whole, with the reasons for the choices
that they have made. If the problem posed does
not have a "right" answer, the two student pairs
can combine their results and generate a more
comprehensive answer.
 self
Assessment
Self-assessment is vital to all learning
and, therefore, integral to the
assessment process. Each student should
be encouraged to assess his or her own
work.
· Students apply known criteria and
expectations to their work and reflect on
results to determine their progress
toward the mastery of a prescribed
learning outcome.
· Participation is setting self-assessment
criteria and expectations helps students
to see themselves as scientists and
problem-solvers.
· It is important that teachers model the
self-assessment process before
expecting students to assess themselves.

How do we create an
effective Self-evaluation?
1. Be specific and provide examples.
Specificity helps contextualize claims. Vagueness robs you of the
opportunity to tout your hard work and strategic approach.

2. Back up your contributions with metrics.

Numbers are powerful because they make a clear connection
between performance and results. Quantifiable figures help our
brains put things in perspective, so to the extent you can wrap your
accomplishments into metrics, do so.
3. Frame weaknesses as opportunities.
While self-evaluations are an opportunity to highlight your stellar
accomplishments, they’re also a time to self-reflect and assess where
you can improve. Be honest about your shortcomings, but be sure to
frame these areas for improvement as opportunities for growth.

4. Keep track of your accomplishments

throughout the entire assessment period.
Avoid recency bias, the tendency to focus on the most timely or
recent events — or forgetting certain achievements altogether — by
keeping track of your accomplishments and the impact they’ve had
throughout the entire assessment period.
 Performance
Assessment
A performance-based test does not test
the information that a student possesses
but the way their understanding of a
subject has been deepened and their
ability to apply their learning in a
simulated performance.
· Assessing a student’s performance
requires a scoring rubric that includes a
scale for the performance of the task
helps organize and interpret evidence
and allow for a continuum of
performance levels associated with the
task being assessed.

Examples
 1) group projects
enabling a number of
students to work
together on a
complex problem that
requires planning,
research, internal
discussion, and group
presentation
 2) essays assessing
students'
understanding of a
subject through a
written description,
analysis, explanation,
or summary
 3) experiments
testing how well
students understand
scientific concepts
and can carry out
scientific processes
4) Portfolios allowing
students to provide a
broad portrait of
their performance
through files that
contain collections of
students' work,
assembled over time.
science journal
entries
A record of observations, experiences
and reflections. It contains a series of
dated, chronological entries. It can
include written text, drawings,
measurements, labelled diagrams,
photographs, tables and graphs.
Provides opportunities for students to reflect on
their learning and to demonstrate their
understanding using pictures, labeled drawings,
and words. They can be powerful tools of
formative assessment, allowing teachers to gauge
a student’s depth of understanding. The individual
has to think about what he/she did in order to
communicate in writing, thus gaining valuable
insight and feedback about the learning process.
Hence, writing a science journal is a great for
formative and self-assessment.
 Rubrics or
Checklist
Rubrics and checklists are tools that identify
the criteria upon which student processes,
performances, or products will be assessed.
They also describe the qualities of work at
various levels of proficiency for each
criterion. Rubrics and checklists may be
developed in collaboration with students.
 Holistic rubrics analytic rubrics
· Ask the evaluator to make a · Used to assess multiple outcomes

single judgment about the object simultaneously or for multidimensional

outcomes and each dimension needs to
or behavior being evaluated.
be rated separately, resulting in
multiple judgments about an object or
performance.

· This is a quick way to provide an · Provide more useable data than

overall evaluation of the holistic rubrics because the criteria

provide strengths and weaknesses and
presentation.
describe the performance at each level
in more detail.
Characteristics of checklists

· Be short enough to be practical.

· Be written with clear, detailed wording to
minimize the risk of misinterpretation.
· Be reviewed by other instructors
· Descriptions should be critical, observable, and
measurable.
purpose of checklists

• To provide tools for systematically recording observations;

• To provide students with tools that they can use for self-evaluation;
• To provide examples of criteria for students at the beginning of a
project or learning activity;
• To document the development of the skills, strategies, attitudes, and
behaviors that are necessary for effective learning; and
• To identify students’ learning needs by summarizing learning to date.
 four main elements of checklists
1) Student's name 3) Rating for each action/step
2) Rater's name 4) Date

utilize checklist If you must observe a

student during a process to judge if the
process meets predetermined standards.
 visual display
Drawing and other visual representations offer a
formative assessment that allows the student to think
at a higher level critically while being creative at the
same time. When students or students groups prepare
visual displays, they are involved in processing
information and producing a knowledge frame work.
The completed poster concept map ,diagram, model
,etc., is the product with which teachers can determine
what their students are thinking .
Mind Mapping
can be as simple as
using drawings,
photos or pictures
from a magazine to
represent a specific
content.
Verbal and Visual
Word Association
helps the visual
learner make
personal
associations to
remember
vocabulary later.
Word Clouds
can help students
think about a concept
and write words and
phrases that capture
that concept... OR,
take a block of text
and let the word cloud
pull out the important
words - then, analyze
from there.
Physical Models
engage students in
constructing models
that help them explain
how a mechanism or
system works and
helps them
understand and make
predictions about
phenomena. Great for
investigation
 Laboratory
Report
Laboratory reports allow teachers to gauge
the ability of students to observe, record and
interpret experimental result. These tools can
aid teachers in determining how well students
understand the content. Students will learn to
pose problems in the form of a question, and to
formulate a hypothesis.
For a lab report, students
should write their procedures
either in numbered step-by-step
format or as a summary in past
tense, whichever is prescribed
by their teacher. The purpose
of listing the procedures is that
the results should be
repeatable, so someone reading
the report should be able to
repeat the experiment and
obtain the same results.
Student lab reports should contain
a data chart. The original rough
data may be required by the
teacher, but a summary chart or
graph may be acceptable for the
formal lab report. Finally, students
should be taught that their results
should answer the original
question, and that any discussion
regarding the results should be
written as their conclusions.
 Explain why you designed your experiment
as you did.
Explain why you think you obtained the
results you obtained.
Some questions
Restate some of your background
that may help information that helps to explain your
results.
students write Confess any mistakes made during your
their conclusions experiment.
What question(s) still remain?
are as follows: How could you test a question that still
remains?
Students should be reminded to include
their sources of information.
 Research
Report
Research projects allow student to
achieve the learning outcomes in
individual ways. Assessment should be
built into the project at every stage,
from planning, to researching, to
presenting the finished product.
The act of demonstrating and outlining a topic's
information for a group of people or an audience is
known as presentation. When students conduct
individual or group research projects, it is frequently
utilized to evaluate their learning. Presenting
information now includes images as well as voice
communication. Examples of items to help with the
presentation's visual component include paper, a
white board, and a PowerPoint presentation. Peer and
tutor evaluation can be employed as part of the
grading process; this would allow for open-
mindedness, especially if the subject or presenting
method creates varying perspectives.
A topic is typically assigned for the student to
study, discuss, and present as part of the
presentation assessment. Following the
presentation, there is typically a question-and-
answer session. This gauges how well students
can respond, process information under time
constraints, and control conversation. The
student may occasionally demonstrate their in-
depth subject knowledge and public speaking
abilities in this section of the presentation.
Research Presentation Assessment Guidelines

Presentation in brief. The presentation is a group project. Think of this as a

visual version of your paper. The presentation should include: a short
intro, your hypotheses, a brief description of the methods, tables and/or
graphs related to your findings, and an interpretation of your data.

The presentations should be no more than 10 minutes long. That’s not

much time. Plan on needing about 1 minute per slide. The trick to giving
good presentations is distilling your information down into a few bulleted
lists, diagrams, tables and graphs. You don’t want to be rushed while
presenting.
Research Presentation Assessment Guidelines

Title slide (1 slide). Title of the talk (probably the same as your paper), the
names of all group members, the class and university names, and the date
the talk is given.

Introduction (typically 3-4 slides). Explain why your work is interesting.

Place the study in context – how does it relate to / follow from the
scientific literature on this subject. If it relates to any applied issues (e.g.,
environmental problems), mention this here. Use some pretty visuals
(photographs, drawings, etc.) to get the audience excited about the issue
and questions you are addressing. Clearly state your hypotheses.
Research Presentation Assessment Guidelines

Materials and Methods (typically 2-3 slides). Clearly summarize the design.
Show a picture of your organisms and justify why they are appropriate for
addressing the questions mentioned above. Show a picture of your lab
setup and/or of a person doing some of the lab work. Show a diorama of
your experimental design (with sample sizes, number of replicates,
sampling frequency, etc.). Mention what parameters you measured but do
not go into detail on exact procedures used. Do state what statistical tests
you used to analyze your data.
Research Presentation Assessment Guidelines

Results (typically 2-4 slides). First show a photograph (or sketch) that shows an
interesting qualitative result (e.g., trays of plants in which one set is noticeably
bigger than the other, a drawing of a happy Daphnia) and state that result. Then
display the results in graphical form, reminding the audience of your hypothesis and
stating whether it was supported as you do so. Use simple, clean, clearly labelled
graphs with proper axis labels (no extraneous 3-D effects please). Do not use light
colors (yellow, light green, or pink) in your figures, they do not show up well when
projected. Indicate the results of the statistical tests on the slides by including p-
values (or asterisks/letters that indicate the significance level) on the same slides
with the graphs. If you have multiple results, state them in a logical order.
Research Presentation Assessment Guidelines

Implications and Conclusions (typically 2-3 slides). Correctly

interpret your results. Constructively address sources of error
and methodological difficulties. Place your results in context and
draw implications from them.

Acknowledgments (1 slide). Thank anyone who provided advice

or assistance. Verbally thank your audience for their attention
and tell them you would be happy to answer any questions.
 group 2
n g N a v e a
G e l i l a a y a n
P u n
L e y b a g
o t Q u i l a t
M a g u n p e r
S a m
M a s a g c a e z
S a n c h
y n u c a s
M a S u e l t o
a r b i o
M e g T a c o y