Much research in education around the world is currently focusing on assessment and evaluation. It has become clear, as more and more research findings accumulate, that a broader range of attributes need to be assessed and evaluated than has been considered in the past. A wide variety of ways of doing this are suggested. Assessment and evaluation are best addressed from the viewpoint of selecting what appears most valid in allowing students to show what they have learned.
In Student Evaluation: A Teacher Handbook (Saskatchewan Education, 1991) the difference between the various forms of evaluation is explained. Student evaluation focuses on the collection and interpretation of data which would indicate student progress. This, in combination with teacher self- evaluation and program evaluation, provides a full evaluation.
Information in Saskatchewan Education, Training, and Employment documents should be used to help develop an overall evaluation plan.
Evaluation can be viewed as a cyclical process including four phases: preparation, assessment, evaluation, and reflection. The evaluation process involves the teacher as a decision maker throughout all four phases.
Formative, diagnostic, and summative evaluation processes each involve all four phases. The relationship of the phases is illustrated in Figure 6.
Specific assessment techniques are selected in order to collect information about how well students are achieving objectives. Which assessment techniques are chosen depends on what the teacher wants the students to demonstrate, the capabilities of the students, and on what the students have been doing in class. The environment and culture of the students is also an important consideration.
Various assessment techniques are listed here for reference. Each teacher must exercise professional judgement in determining which techniques suit the particular purposes of the assessment. No two situations are identical so no two evaluation strategies should be identical. For further information on assessment strategies and on instruments to collect and record information about student learning, refer to the Student Evaluation: A Teacher Handbook (Saskatchewan Education, 1991).
Following is a list of specific student assessment techniques from the Handbook, page 13 .
Methods of organization
At the start of any class, you, the teacher, have a group of new students. The students are new, even if they know each other or know you, because they will be dealing with different material, from a different point of view, within an evolving system of interactions. The factors of scientific literacy and the learning objectives for the curriculum become the criteria by which to assess the students' learning and progress. These may be easily attainable by the majority of students, but some will need extra support to reach their potential. Adaptations to materials or approaches will be required.
Graded teaching resources and standardized tests are built on what is accepted as normal or average for a student of that age group and often for a specific segment of society. A standardized test assesses how a child matches culturally-biased standards over a narrow range of skills. The results must be considered in that context. This measure may be unattainable by some students. Alternatively, some students may not reach full potential because they are not challenged but are allowed to remain at the "acceptable average". The Adaptive Dimension recognizes that the needs of all students must be considered for effective teaching and learning to occur.
In assessing the factors of scientific literacy, methods can be established for addressing knowledge (Dimensions A, B, D), values (Dimensions G and F), and abilities (Dimensions C and E) in ways that suit the nature of the factor. See Figure 7.
The factors of scientific literacy in Dimensions A through E can be assessed through manipulation of factual knowledge. However, it is quite possible to assess only factual knowledge and this is a fault of much current student assessment. When examined, this assessment is often little more than simple recall or limited application of facts. When assessment does go further and appears to include abilities, often too much emphasis is still devoted to straight recall. Students deserve to be assessed on the range of abilities they have been using and developing during instruction. The overall assessment plan should reflect the students' different learning styles, their different ways of displaying their learning, and the nature of the abilities being assessed. Self-referenced assessment may be one aspect to investigate.
Assessment can be oral, written, practical, or some combination of these. Practical exercises are the best way to assess scientific and technical knowledge and skills (Dimension E). For example, reading a thermometer diagram is not the same as knowing how best to use and place the thermometer in order to measure temperature.
The best way to assess whether students can perform an activity is to observe them while they are actually performing the activity.
Ask them probing questions. The use of anecdotal records, observation checklists, and rating scales can assist in data collection as these observations are taking place.
The types of tasks and questions which students are expected to address influence their responses. When the tasks and questions are limited, so are the responses. Tasks and questions which elicit only one word or simple sentence answers usually test basic recall of factual knowledge. It is very important to consider that once students have, for example, formulated a model in a particular context during a science activity, if that exact same context is given in the assessment, the response is recall, and not a test of any conceptual or process ability. Valid assessment of the ability requires slightly different conditions so the ability is tested through a new set of events.
Good questioning is extremely important for effective teaching and testing. Avoid using only questions that have a single acceptable response. Structure questions so that some type of reasoning is required. How..., why..., and explain... are stems you can use to create divergent questions. Present problem solving activities. Develop critical and creative thinking. These ways promote and challenge higher level thinking. Ask yourself whether your questions to the students, and the students questions to each other and to you, require reporting knowledge, using knowledge, or creating knowledge. Try to ensure a good mix of question types.
Ask your students to interpret a graph or photograph, or to answer a question orally. Assessment does not have to consist totally of written work. Varied formats adapt to students' differing learning styles and allow students to show what they have learned.
Summative assessment items following the completion of a unit can cover more scope and depth than formative assessment items. Apart from the scope and depth of the activities selected, the format of summative assignments can be just as varied, including practical tasks (to reflect practical knowledge and abilities), interpretation of graphs and photographs, and investigative problems and assignments.
Multiple choice, true or false, or fill-in-the-blank tests usually assess only basic factual recall. Such tests should be used as little as possible and fewer "marks" should be awarded them in comparison with those items that require more complex abilities. Multiple choice questions which test higher levels abilities than recall can be constructed, but the process of construction is long and difficult.
Essay questions are useful tests of understanding and ability to synthesize and evaluate. They can indicate an understanding of all Dimensions of Scientific Literacy, and can be used in both formative and summative assessment. Students who have difficulty writing may be given the option of alternative forms of communication to express their understanding of the concepts. Illustrations or art projects, an oral report, a concept map, a project, journal writing, or some other challenging activity may serve as innovative alternatives to the written essay. Care must be taken to provide writing opportunities and guidance to improve their writingto students having difficulty with writing. Always keep in mind the importance of assessing understanding of the objectives, whichever format is used.
Projects are useful items for summative assessment. Students can explore a topic in depth, and use of a range of process abilities. If the project is a group effort, difficulties might arise in assessing the individual participation of each student if the project is a group effort. The contributions and participation of individuals within a group can often be determined by structuring the tasks, assigning roles, and observing the ways in which the group members interact with one another. Using student self-assessment is another avenue to determining individual contributions and participation. The number and type of assignments completed in a learning centre can be recorded as a summative assessment. Assessment stations are particularly useful for allowing students to demonstrate competence.
Assessing values is an emerging area of assessment and evaluation. At one time, values were not considered a part of the school's written curriculum. Parents and society certainly required that students develop acceptable behaviours and attitudes, but these were promoted through the "hidden curriculum" - the teachers' and school's influences.
Now, specific attitudes and values are to be openly promoted in students, so the teacher's influence must be directed to these objectives. Accordingly, they must be assessed. For further information on values review Chapter VI in Understanding the Common Essential Learnings: A Handbook for Teachers (Saskatchewan Education, 1988). Both in questioning and in the matter of values, there is a need for knowledge about the influence of culture on communications. Teachers must recognize, be sensitive to, and respect cultural differences. Values are a direct result of culture and as such, the connection between the two may need to be made explicit.
There are valid reasons to assess students' value and attitude outcomes at school and to attempt to promote these with effective teaching methods and individual student reflection. Since the values listed in Dimensions F and G of the factors of scientific literacy may be developed over time, teachers should be emphasizing many of the same values through the grades, but developing them to higher levels. This cumulative development helps to take students to a point where the level achieved may become a feature of their characters, and may continue to develop further in adult life.
Figure 7: Including Dimensions of Scientific Literacy in Planning for Assessment
