HR: 0830h
AN: ED31B-1173    [PDF]
TI: Reasons for Seasons Assessment Outcomes For Diverse Students
AU: * Faubert, R M
EM: rfaubert@gwu.edu
AU: Pyke, C
EM: cpyke@gwu.edu
AU: Lynch, S
EM: slynch@gwu.edu
AU: Ochsendorf, R
EM: rjo@gwu.edu
AB: Abstract National systemic reform initiatives point to the need for a more focused science curriculum and better curriculum materials for teachers to use (aligned with science standards, instructional methods, and assessment/accountability measures). Assessment developers face the difficult task of identifying and revealing what students actually know that is relevant to curricular goals. The SCALE-uP Project at the George Washington University has attempted to create such assessments using an adapted rigorous set of criteria based on an assessment item analysis procedure developed by the American Association for the Advancement of Science Project 2061. The procedure evaluates an assessment task's potential to reveal whether students have attained "a well-defined component of knowledge or acquired a particular skill" (Stern and Ahlgren, 2002). To determine students' scientific understanding of what causes the Earth's seasons, the SCALE-uP Project focuses on a single Benchmark from Benchmarks for Science Literacy (AAAS, 1993) that include both empirical observations and theoretical statements related to the target concept (Earth's seasons). In the conceptual model guiding our assessment development, we believe the target concept, articulated through the Benchmark (4B,6-8, \#4), represents a single coherent knowledge structure and mental model stored in memory that students can recall or access when needed to explain relevant phenomena or solve tasks. Therefore, students that possess the concept of the Earth's seasons would be expected to respond to phenomena related to seasons with consistent and coherent responses to probes and representations related to the Benchmark idea. The instrument development procedure compares assessment outcomes (cognitive model/framework) of about 30 general 7th grade students with little previous classroom exposure to learning about the seasons, to high achieving 8th graders who have studied the seasons, and to introductory astronomy college students, who presumably understand the reasons for Earth's seasons. In this paper, we report on the results of the initial administrations of the instrument for these three groups.
DE: 7599 General or miscellaneous
SC: Education and Human Resources [ED]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting