Assessing Students’ Processes of Experimentation

• In Event: Poster Session 5
  In Poster Session: Division H Section 3: Assessment in the Schools Poster Session 2

Abstract

Experimentation is a core method for generating knowledge in science and has been incorporated into science classes for decades. Yet, associated teaching goals have shifted over the years: While former science classes required students to follow narrowly guided instructions to discover predefined science content, students today are encouraged to engage in a process that enables them to generate knowledge self-directedly. However, monitoring and assessing students‘ progress in mastering the processes of experimentation still lack suitable instruments. In this study, a method for process-oriented reporting is validated against process-based scores from video-taped hands-on experiments. For this, 339 sixth-graders before the start of formal science education were investigated. Experiments tend to be too difficult but show potential in differentiating between performance stages.

Author

• Markus Emden, University Duisburg - Essen