Assessment Advice Science Links VELS Edition

Assessment Advice – Science Links VELS Edition

1. PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENT

2. PLANNING FOR LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT

3. ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES

3.1 Range of questioning styles

3.2 Negotiated tasks

3.3 Practical work

3.4 Scientific reports

3.5 Presentations, demonstrations or models

3.6 Graphic organisers

3.7 Self-assessment

3.8 Reflection

3.9 Portfolios

3.10 Peer assessment

3.11 Group assessment

4. RUBRICS

5. WORK PROGRAM

1. PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENT

“Assessment is a part of the learning process. It occurs collaboratively between the student/s, teacher, parents, system and the community and should motivate both learners and teachers. Assessment gathers evidence for teachers to make informed judgments, interpret and identify areas of strength and areas for future improvement in learning. Good assessment practice provides for the diagnosing and evaluating of individual, class and whole school learning needs. It assists teachers identify what students know, understand and can do, while driving curriculum improvement and evaluation. Evidence is gathered for future pathways of students and provides a basis for feedback to students and families. Purposeful assessment takes into account the process and the product while enabling the teacher to monitor and record student progress and learning.

The purpose of assessment is to gather reliable information about the progress of students against specific task criteria and standards. Assessment is built in to teaching and learning in order to monitor the progress of individuals and maintain accurate, transferable records that inform the planning for further learning. Assessment also provides evidence of student achievement against common standards.”

“Best practice in assessment requires the integration of these three stages:

 Assessment for learning

To provide information on student knowledge, skills and behaviours to inform the next stage of learning.

 Assessment as learning

To provide feedback and opportunities for student reflection and/or self-assessment to support future learning.

 Assessment of learning

To provide information about what students have learnt in relation to the standards.”

(Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) Assessment Resource, 2005, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/support/assessment_resource.html)

2. PLANNING FOR LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT

In an integrated approach – which is the essence of VELS – the focus is on knowledge, skills and behaviours in the three strands of Physical, Personal and Social Learning; Discipline-based Learning; and Interdisciplinary Learning. Designing and conducting experiments and investigations can test scientific knowledge and skills, as well as a range of interdisciplinary and personal and social standards related to Thinking Processes; ICT; Personal Learning; Interpersonal Development; and Design, Creativity and Technology. Learning, creativity, initiative and risk-taking should be vital aspects of assessment tasks to support VELS and should provide students with an opportunity to display the knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes they have developed.

Development of understanding can be thought of as a road along which the learner travels. As students travel along the road of science education, the experiences they engage with should lead them towards a broader and deeper understanding of the concepts of science. Assessment should provide both students and teachers with opportunities to take stock of how far along the road students have travelled.

Assessment tasks should allow students to demonstrate their knowledge and their ability to apply that knowledge in a context. They require a mix of:

summative assessment – how much has been done or understood
formative assessment – what should the next stage of learning be
authentic assessment – application of essential knowledge and skill in real-world contexts.

3. ASSESSMENT TECHNIQUES

“In planning activities and managing assessment, teachers should ensure that assessment is based on a variety of tasks and is inclusive of the learning needs of all students. Multiple sources of information should be used to make judgments about specific skills and depth of understanding. Assessment tasks need to be developed with the goals and objectives of the unit in mind and must reflect the learning objectives outlined.” (http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/support/assessment_resource.html)

A range of different teaching and learning strategies are integrated throughout Heinemann Science Links VELS Edition. Students are encouraged to use a wide range of tools for thinking, collating and presenting results and information and assessment tasks have been created to encompass the various teaching and learning styles.

Possible assessment tasks include:

a range of questioning styles

self-assessment

negotiated tasks

reflection

practical work

portfolios

scientific reports

peer assessment

presentations, demonstrations, models

group assessment

graphic organisers

3. 1 Range of questioning styles

Explanations and examples for each of the following are included in the VELS and Science Links document:

multiple-choice questions
short-answer questions
closed questions
open questions
hypothetical or scenario-based questions
Socratic thinking

reflective thinking
thinking/content questions
interpersonal or collaborative questions
personal learning questions
question matrix

3.2 Negotiated tasks

Students can be more focussed and engaged if they are able to negotiate the aims and outcomes of tasks and to select the style of report or presentation. Throughout Heinemann Science Links VELS Edition students are encouraged to design their own experiments, activities and/or investigations and present their work using a format of their choice.

Possible negotiated tasks include:

Missions or Investigations at the start of each chapter
Science in actions
Science@works
research projects and investigations
worksheets.

Templates provided on the student CD to assist with presentations include:

a range of practical report formats
a range of graphic organisers
Mission logs
KWLH charts
goal setting charts
Risk Assessment reports
issues reports.

3.3 Practical work

This is an essential part of the learning experience in a science classroom. As mentioned above, students are encouraged to design their own experiments. Part of this planning and designing is ensuring that experiments are fair tests, that safety guidelines are followed, risks are assessed, waste is minimised and the principles of green chemistry are adhered to where possible.

Tools and templates provided to assist with designing experiments include:

elements of good design
steps for designing experiments
fair test templates
experimental design checklist
experimental design templates
Risk Assessment report template.

The time that the students are engaged in practical work could be used to gather information of a different nature. Observe the students and make anecdotal records of:

the care with which they read the instructions provided
whether they ask questions to clarify their understanding of any techniques to be used or any relevant concepts
checks made on apparatus to ensure that it is working correctly
any recognition of weaknesses in the methodology of the investigation
waste management
risk assessment.

3.4 Scientific reports

Reports of practical work are a useful assessment tool providing information about the way the students completed the activity and students’ knowledge of the science concepts relevant to the activity.

Formal practical reports are not the only way that students can report on practical work. The Skills link chapter provides a wide range of alternative ways to present reports, based on the various learning styles. Templates are provided in a range of formats such as:

spreadsheets
PowerPoint presentations
Inspiration diagrams and charts

web pages
Word documents.

The ICT toolkit included on the student CD provides extensive assistance with creating multimedia presentations and reports.

3.5 Presentations, demonstrations or models

Students are often asked to create a product as a means of sharing what they have learned – oral presentations, multimedia presentations, models, posters, collections, role-plays, songs, poems, stories, debates, etc. Such products are now recognised as valid assessment tools in science. They can focus on a student’s ability to:

identify a concept
select relevant sections of content knowledge
access and select relevant information from resources
structure and organise information
answer questions from an audience.

When assessing a product it is important to keep clearly in your mind the aspects of the science that are being assessed. Do not let high-quality presentation blind you to the inadequacy of the scientific information being presented.

The Activity support section on the student CD provides templates for a range of multimedia reports related to specific activities within the textbook.

The ICT toolkit included on the student CD provides extensive assistance with creating multimedia presentations and reports. Templates mentioned for negotiated tasks and scientific reports can also be used for presentations, demonstrations or models.

3.6 Graphic organisers

“Graphic organisers are tools that may be used to plan activities and investigations or to assist with reviewing and reflecting on progress, understanding and skills. Students are able to visually organise their information, ideas and research using these tools. Graphic organisers are also highly effective in extending students’ thinking by encouraging in-depth thought on topics and issues.”

(Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) Teaching and Learning Resource, 2004, Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, http://vels.vcaa.vic.edu.au/support/teaching.html.)

The use of graphic organisers is encouraged throughout Heinemann Science Links VELS Edition, with electronic templates provided for many on the student CD. How and when to use graphic organisers is also covered in the Skills link chapter.

Graphic organisers include:

flow charts
concept maps
mind maps
issues maps
POE charts
PMI charts

question matrixes
alpha tables
Y-charts
T-charts
cause and effect wheels
SWOT analysis charts

3.7 Self-assessment

Self-assessment involves students as active partners in monitoring and evaluating their learning and setting goals for their own future learning. It needs to be an integral and regular part of the learning process. Students need practice in the methods of self-evaluation and must be aware of the assessment criteria and objectives of the unit being taught.

Possible tools, self-assessment checklists and inventories to aid self-assessment are listed below. (How and when to use these tools is also covered in the Skills link chapter, with templates for many on the student CD.) They include:

KWLH charts
Mission logs
eTesters
Interactives

Portfolios
Worksheets
Goal setting chart

3.8 Reflection

Students should be encouraged to regularly reflect on their journey towards their goals. They should be encouraged to give and receive feedback and reflect on their own practices and overall learning. Students are only ready to set new goals for themselves once they have reflected on their own current learning.

Each chapter in Heinemann Science Links VELS Edition concludes with a reflection activity and opportunity for students to complete their KWLH charts.

3.9 Portfolios

Students should be encouraged to develop an understanding of how they develop and learn and how this changes over time. One way of tracking their own progress is for students to build up learning journals or a portfolio of their assessment items, e.g. reports, electronic files, posters, summary notes, annotated illustrations, models, design briefs, action plans, photos, multimedia presentations and reflections. These can be kept in folders as paper copies or electronic copies could be collated as personal web pages by students. Use of student portfolios is a feature of Science Links 3 and Science Links 4, with an electronic template for a personal webpage included on the student CD.

The portfolio should be a record of skills and evidence of performance incorporating self, peer and teacher assessment. Teachers will need to work with students to ensure that appropriate choices of materials are made that provide evidence of a student's performance in terms of their learning goals.

3.10 Peer assessment

Peer assessment is assessment of students by other students. Evaluating and giving feedback on the performance of others helps students with their own self-evaluation. Evaluations need to be justified and students need to develop the skills to justify their opinions. They must also be taught to be constructive and encouraging.

Peer and self assessment are often undertaken together as evaluating the work of others students helps students to reflect on their own work and learning more effectively. Tools and templates used for self-evaluation can also be used for peer evaluation.

3.11 Group assessment

Students working in groups need to negotiate and develop their own goals and criteria for participation in discussion and in teamwork. They also need to develop criteria for assessing the contribution of each member to the group’s goals. An outline of the role and responsibilities in groups is included in the Skills link chapter.

Tools and templates included on the student CD for group assessment include:

table of possible group roles and responsibilities
evaluating the performance of group members
evaluating the performance of the group as a whole
identifying problems and suggesting solutions.

4. RUBRICS

A rubric is a scoring guide that organises and interprets data gathered from observations of student performance. It is different from traditional methods of assessment in that it assesses students in the actual process of learning and provides graded steps for them to achieve. Rubrics include a clear description of what criteria need to be met at each level, what evidence is anticipated, and the score assigned to each.

Rubrics should be shared with students before they commence a task so that they have a clear idea of the standard required for each level of assessment. Actually including students in the development of the rubric can increase their motivation and engagement in the task. Rubrics can help students reflect on their current performance and plan future performance.

Rubrics for assessment of the Missions in Science Links 1-3 and the Investigations in Science Links 4 are included on the relevant Science Links website. These include:

a table indicating the Learning Science focus statements developed
a rubric for assessing the chapter outcomes addressed, including suggested evidence of learning
a rubric for assessing the Science standards addressed including suggested evidence of learning
a summary of how the Mission or Investigation can be used to assess Level 5 or Level 6 Learning standards across a broad range of domains and dimensions.

5. WORK PROGRAM

Work programs for each year level are included on the relevant Science Links website. They highlight the features of the textbook, student CD and online website, matching them with the relevant learning standards. The structure is a guide only – it is anticipated that schools would adapt this to suit the individual needs of the students and incorporate their respective system and school-based initiatives.

Elements of the work program include:

suggested week-by-week time allocation for each chapter
Science standards addressed in each chapter
an extensive outline of assessment opportunities throughout the chapter.