Separating Inquiry Goal and Skill During Analysis of Student Performance on a Simulation-Based Science Assessment

• In Event: Poster Session 3
  In Poster Session: Scientific Practices and the Learning of Science

Abstract

There is significant interest in using computerized simulation-based tasks for assessment of students’ science inquiry. This study examines data from cognitive interviews in which K–12 students engage with a simulation-based task from two different perspectives: identification of inquiry goal pursued during data collection and evaluation of inquiry skill with which the inquiry goal is pursued. Four inquiry goals were identified and mean scores for inquiry were calculated for each inquiry goal. Consideration of students’ inquiry goal together with their inquiry skill was found to afford a nuanced assessment of students’ inquiry. A method by which this approach can inform development of a mathematical model that can be applied to logged clickstream data from a subsequent large-scale data collection is discussed.

Authors

• Janet Koster van Groos, Educational Testing Service

• Michelle LaMar, Educational Testing Service