Assessment Ideas

Some Assessment Terms

Assessment: collecting, synthesizing and interpreting information to help in decision-making

Evaluation: making a judgement (regarding someone's performance)

Testing: a type of assessment

Formative assessment: carried out during instruction in order to assess student progress and learning. Both teachers and students receive information on how the student is progressing.

Summative assessment: final phase of and assessment program. Summative assessment can still be used to give feedback and improve learning. Don't think of summative feedback as bring closure.

Product/artifact: external representation of a student understanding

Rubric: an established set of criteria for scoring students performance, products, tests, portfolios

Embedded Assessment

Assessment should be integrated within everyday science activities so that it is an ongoing process rather than a culminating activity given at a specific time.

Helps teachers to understanding what children are learning and helps to guide instruction.

Instruction becomes a mode of inquiry. Teachers engage in observing children while children engage in observing scientific phenomena.

What science process and skills are children using?

What concepts or ideas are children learning from these science experiences?

What have I learned about what students know and are able to do? How does this fit with my instructional plans?