Evaluation Criteria for aStudent-Centered

Scientific Inquiry/Engineering Design Project/Unit

Consider the Scientific Inquiry/Engineering Design activity/unit before you. Each of the five curriculum elements contain evaluation criteria that is based on “best practices” from current research literature on effective student teaching and learning in science.

Score a criterion statement with a “3” if the science activity/unit is exceptional and represents the best practice for learning science through inquiry/engineering design.

Score a criterion statement with a “2” if the science activity/unit contains, at a functional level, the best practice for learning science through inquiry/engineering design.

Score a criterion statement with a “1” if the science activity/unitprovides an opportunity for the best practice to occur but it is not explicitly included in the activity/unit.

Score the criterion statement with a “0” if there is not an opportunity to include the best practice in the activity/unit.

The curriculum element totals will enable you to evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of various student-centered scientific inquiry and engineering design activities. It is unlikely that a single activity/unit can score 2’s and 3’s in all of the evaluation criteria. However, your goal should be to try to balance the strengths and weaknesses of the scientific inquiry/engineering design activities/units to maximize the number of best practices included in each of the five curriculum elements.

Research base:

America's Lab Report: Investigations in High School Science Susan R. Singer, Margaret L. Hilton, and Heidi A. Schweingruber, Editors, Committee on High School Science Laboratories: Role and Vision, National Research Council, Washington D.C., ISBN: 0-309-65286-3, (2005).

How Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom, Committee on How People Learn, A Targeted Report for Teachers, Center for Studies on Behavior and Development, National Research Council, Washington D.C., ISBN: 0-309-54796-2, (2005).

Learning and Understanding: Improving Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science in U.S. High Schools, Committee on Programs for Advanced Study of Mathematics and Science in American High Schools, National Research Council, Washington D.C., ISBN: 0-309-51220-4, (2002).

Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8, Committee on Science Learning, Kindergarten Through Eighth Grade, Richard A. Duschl, Heidi A. Schweingruber, and Andrew W. Shouse, Editors, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., ISBN-10: 0-309-10205-7 (2007).

Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards: A Guide for Teaching and Learning, Steve Olson and Susan Loucks-Horsley, Editors; Committee on the Development of an Addendum to the National Science Education Standards on Scientific Inquiry, National Research Council, ISBN: 0-309-51895-4, (2000).

Evaluation Criteria for Scientific Inquiry/Engineering Design Curriculum Unit

SCORE / Knowledge and Concepts
0 1 2 3 /
  1. Appropriate grade level conceptual knowledge instruction is organized around a big idea in science.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Clear expectations are stated, in student language, about the science knowledge objectives for students.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Oregon science grade-level standards are explicitly embedded in the unit.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. New conceptual knowledge is introduced with developmental links to prior learning.

/12 / Curriculum element total
Scientific Inquiry and Engineering Design Skills
0 1 2 3 /
  1. Students generate testable and appropriate SI/ED that uses the targeted science content.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Students identify variables and develop aninquiry design(s) and data collection protocol(s).

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Students present and critically evaluate their empirical data and results (precision and accuracy) using appropriate methods.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Students make and defend knowledge claims from a critical analysis of their SI/ED results and prior knowledge.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Students employ appropriate technology when conducting their investigation and presenting their findings.

/15 / Curriculum element total
Student Experiences
0 1 2 3 /
  1. Students experience new science concepts in the context of real world applications and/or issues.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Accommodates student diversity in strategies, approaches, abilities, cultural perspectives and learning styles.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Facilitates the use of meta-cognitive strategies to identify, monitor, and regulate learning.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Students are prompted to pursue extensions and additional and/or deeper investigations.

/12 / Curriculum element total
LearningCommunity
0 1 2 3 /
  1. Engages students in activities or discussions that draw out what they know or how they know.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Students work in small collaborative peer groups to plan and execute the scientific inquiry/engineering design.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Students are encouraged to develop and share inquiry/design ideas and resources with the full class.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Students communicate and defend the results of their inquiry/design to their instructor and peers.

/12 / Curriculum element total
Assessment of Student Achievement
0 1 2 3 /
  1. Assessments probe for students’ prior understanding of targeted concepts and skills.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Assessments probe for student misconceptions that will provide opportunities to self-assess their learning.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Assessments provide multiple chances and formative options to revise thinking

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Assessments provide an inventory and/or post-assessment of knowledge.

0 1 2 3 /
  1. Student work sample demonstrate the achievement of knowledge and skills learning objectives though SI/ED experiences

/15 / Curriculum element total

Source: Dr. William Becker, Director, Center for Science Education, Portland State University