Rethinking Assessments in Science: A Teacher’s Journey to Expand Accepted Knowledge and Ways of Knowing

• In Event: Science Teacher Learning and Pedagogical Practices

Abstract

Various scholars have called for science education to 1) better reflect the epistemic heterogeneity required for public engagement in science (Feinstein & Baram‐Tsabari, 2024) and 2) expand the content and form of knowledge that is valued to honor the sensemaking of students from nondominant communities (Bang et al., 2012). We contend that these important goals cannot be fully realized without addressing the epistemological messages in summative assessments. In this study we explore a high school chemistry teacher’s evolving logic about the kinds of thinking that ought to be valued, and should therefore be the focus of his assessments. In addition, we describe tensions and challenges he grappled with as he worked to translate his epistemic goals for students into practice.

Authors

• Lindsay Wells, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Ryan L. Stowe, University of Wisconsin - Madison