ASSESSMENT PLAN
Assessing students learning is a critical part of a teacher's duty. The teachers assessment should be reliable and valid. It is important that students are learning what the instructer is intending to teach them. The methods employed should determine the student's knowledge of a specific subject matter under investigation. The evaluating system should also provide the students with practical skills. These are abilities that any individual in society would use to be successful, from following simple directions to understanding and presenting highly complicated information in a clear concise way. The tests should strenghten the learners mental faculties and allow them to become critical thinkers. In order to accomplish this task the teacher must employ a wide range of assessment methods.
The portfolio is an excellent way to determine the progress and understanding of the student. "A portfolio is a container that holds evidence of an individual's skills, ideas, interests, and accomplishments" (Hart pg.23). The portfolio for the students in science class will have papers, journal articles, lab reports, diagrams, charts and graphs, and other science materials. The portfolio will enable the educator to communicate more effectively with parents about their son's or daughter's work. It should also encourage students to evaluate themselves and become partners with the teacher in the assessment process.
Presentations allow the teacher not only to assess the student, but also the entire class. Presenting information to other occurs constantly when functioning in the real world. On a daily basis, engineers present their designs to the board, lawyers present their cases to the jurors, and teachers present their ideas to the students. Students realize that giving a presentation means the entire class will be judging their work. I have designed my rubric, for the cell city activity, to allow the entire class to assign some points for each presentation. I believe that it is important for students to be evaluated by their peers. When students know the entire class will be observing their work they take more pride in accomplishing the assignment and bring more enthusiasm to the task.
Throughout the unit I will be giving several quizzes. Quizzes are a good way to monitor and motivate students. The type of questions presented on the quizzes will be mostly short answer and fill-in the blank. The fill-in the blank questions will require students to recall specfic facts and key concepts. The short answer type questions will require students to give a detailed explanation of the problem. Many will be open-ended with more than one correct solution. The quizzes assigned to the students will be an excellent source for them to review for a test.
The tests that will be developed for the students will be in an essay type format. However, the test will also include a section of short answer, fill-in the blank or multiple choice type questions. The essay is an outstanding way to test comprehension. It demands that students that students analyze what they have learned and explain their knowledge of the subject in their own words. Having students explain scientific concepts in detail shows what and how the student is thinking. I have listed examples and other types of questions below:
Essay Qestions
1) What are the similarities and diferences between a plant and an animal cell?
2) Explain the structure and function of th organelles in an animal or plant cell?
Short Answer Questions
1) Explain how the mitochondria in a cell could be similar to a power plant?
2) Describe an analogy of the nucleus of a cell comparing it to a city structure.
Fill-In The Blank
1) The __________ is an organelle that controls the cells activities.
2) The __________ is the site of protein synthesis within the cell.
Multiple Choice Questions
1) All the following are found in both plant and animal type cells except. (a) cell wall (b) cell membrane (c) mitochodria (d) endoplasmic reticulum
2) The structure that regulates what enters and leaves a cell is called. (a) the nucleus (b) the cell wall (c) the nuclear membrane (d) the cell membrane
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