Contextual assessment in science education: Background, issues, and policy

Abstract

Contemporary assessment practices in science education have undergone significant changes in recent decades. The basis for these changes and the resulting new assessment practices are the subject of this two-part paper. Part 1 considers the basis of assessment that, more than 25 years ago, was driven by the assumptions of decomposability and decontextualization of knowledge, resulting in a low-inference testing system, often described as "traditional." This assessment model was replaced not on account of direct criticism, but rather on account of a larger revolution-the change from behavioral to cognitive psychology, developments in the philosophy of science, and the rise of constructivism. Most notably, the study of the active cognitive processes of the individual resulted in a major emphasis on context in learning and assessment. These changes gave rise to the development of various contextual assessment methodologies in science education, for example, concept mapping assessment, performance assessment, and portfolio assessment. In Part 2, the literature relating to the assessment methods identified in Part 1 is reviewed, revealing that there is not much research that supports their validity and reliability. However, encouraging new work on selected-response tests is forming the basis for reconsideration of past criticisms of this technique. Despite the major developments in contextual assessment methodologies in science education, two important questions remain unanswered, namely, whether grades can be considered as genuine numeric quantities and whether the individual student is the appropriate unit of assessment in public accountability. Given these issues and the requirement for science assessment to satisfy the goals of the individual, the classroom, and the society, tentative recommendations are put forward addressing these parallel needs in the assessment of science learning.

Multimodal evaluering af deltagerstyret problem- og undersøgelsesbaseret aktiviteter i børnehave og indskoling<br />Multimodal assessment of inquiry based science education in kindergarten and primary school

“…maskinskrivning og i forbindelse med køreprøver (ibid.). Fra 1980'erne og frem blev metoden dog i højere grad knyttet sammen med mere teoretiske emner, der blev behandlet i skolerne, fx matematik og naturfag, hvor det i lige så høj grad handlede om faktuel viden og demonstration af problemløsningsstrategier, som demonstration af praktiske faerdigheder (Klassen, 2006;Palm, 2008).…”

“…Ydermere fremhaeves elevernes hands-on arbejde i relation til SPA som centralt i forbindelse den aendring, der er foregået med hensyn til evaluering af science education gennem de sidste mange år-tier (Klassen, 2006). Det praktiske arbejde er, jf.…”

Performance Assessment in Elementary Engineering: Evaluating Student (RTP)

“…Performance assessments are a form of contextual assessment where students engage in tasks within a context that affords the use of practices of interest to the assessor [2,3]. There are many advantages to performance assessment, including face validity, the emphasis on skills and the ability to deal with complexity, and relevance [2,3].…”

“…There are many advantages to performance assessment, including face validity, the emphasis on skills and the ability to deal with complexity, and relevance [2,3].…”

“…An important challenge for the development of performance assessment is achieving reliability in determining the skill level of students (test-retest reliability) [2,4]. This is a frequent problem with performance assessments, because they are time-consuming to administer, which precludes administering a sampling of similar tasks; however, they also present opportunities for learning for both students and teachers, and as such may be worth an additional investment of time [3].…”