Assessing Students’ Ability to Develop Integrated Explanations of Social Justice Science Issues

• In Event: Learning to Use Science to Build Just and Sustainable Futures

Abstract

We report on the development of a construct and instrument that assesses students’ ability to write explanations that integrate understanding of social justice and science ideas to explain Social Justice Science Issues. As a proof-of-concept, we developed a construct map and five aligned assessment items using the Knowledge Integration Framework. Analyses indicate that the items showed acceptable fit and a moderate spread of difficulty. Selected student cases provide insights into the ability to progress along the construct after receiving instruction and more details into item difficulty. Results indicate the promise of the construct and instrument for supporting teachers to assess their students’ ability to apply science concepts and social justice ideas to explain Social Justice Science Issues.

Authors

• Kelly R. Billings, University of California - Berkeley

• Weiying Li, University of California - Berkeley

• Allison Bradford, University of California - Berkeley

• Marcia Linn, University of California - Berkeley