Dynamic Science Assessment: A New Approach for Investigating Conceptual Change

Magnusson, Shirley J.; Templin, Mark; Boyle, Robert A.

doi:10.1207/s15327809jls0601_5

Cited by 44 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the meantime, the ninth-grade students scored lowest on the items related to concepts in electricity, a finding which corresponds to the many studies that reveal that electricity concepts are difficult for children to learn, especially the concepts of circuit, current, and electrical energy (Shipstone, 1988;Garnett & Treagust, 1992;Furio & Guisasola, 1998). We discovered two common misconceptions regarding electricity in our study, which have also been revealed by many researchers (Magnusson, Boyle & Templin, 1997;Osborne, 1983;Russell, 1980;Shipstone, 1984): Students thought that the bulb in a series nearest the positive electrode would light first (Appendix, item 18), and that two bulbs together use more electricity than a single bulb (Appendix, item 17).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

The Development of Authentic Assessments to Investigate Ninth Graders’ Scientific Literacy: In the Case of Scientific Cognition Concerning the Concepts of Chemistry and Physics

Chang

Chiu

2005

Int J Sci Math Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. Scientific literacy and authenticity have gained a lot of attention in the past few decades worldwide. The goal of the study was to develop various authentic assessments to investigate students' scientific literacy for corresponding to the new curriculum reform of Taiwan in 1997. In the process, whether ninth graders were able to apply school knowledge in real-life problems was also investigated. Over the course of our two-year study, we developed authentic assessments to investigate a stratified random sampling of 1,503 ninth graders' levels of scientific literacy, including scientific cognition, process skills, application of science, habits of mind, nature of science, and attitude towards science. The purpose of this article is to discuss three different formats of authentic assessments: multiple-choice, open-ended, and hands-on test items, which we developed to investigate scientific cognition. To validate the three formats of authentic assessments, students' performance on these three assessments were compared with the science section of Taiwan's Academic Attainment Testing (STAAT), and the values of Pearson correlation coefficient were all at the significant level, ranging from 0.205 to 0.660 (p < 0.01). We found that our three authentic assessments were better in evaluating students' authentic abilities in science than standardized tests (such as STAAT). Further authentic assessments, particularly the hands-on activity, benefited low-achieving students. Concerning the common themes tested in the authentic assessments, students performed better in a multiple-choice test than an open-ended test on electricity and heat and temperature. In addition, two themes of chemical reactions and reactions of acid and base with indicators were performed best in a hands-on test than in the other two tests. In this article, we provide evidence that authentic assessments could be developed in different formats to investigate students' scientific cognition as part of the national test. Of these formats, the multiple-choice, open-ended, and hands-on test items are all shown to be sensitive in their evaluation of students' cognition in science.KEY WORDS: scientific literacy, scientific cognition and authentic assessmentIn this new century, many countries not only focus on research in science and technology, but also dedicate time and resources to the improvement of science education. In fact, education reform has become a continuous movement in many countries (Bell, Abd-El-Khalick, Lederman, McComas

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 86%

The Development of Authentic Assessments to Investigate Ninth Graders’ Scientific Literacy: In the Case of Scientific Cognition Concerning the Concepts of Chemistry and Physics

Chang

Chiu

2005

Int J Sci Math Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Results showed that most predictions came close to fitting the empirical data, except C-character 12. C-characters 12-1 (two bulbs share current equally) and 12-2 (two bulbs share current unequally) are important alternative conceptions (Chiu & Lin, 2005;Magnusson et al, 1997), but their percentages in cross-grade survey were too low (5% to 15.8%). Because this result was not identical to other results, Lin and Chiu (2009a) suggested that the cross-grade survey items should be revised.…”

Section: Cladistics Approach In Conceptual Evolution and Its Predictimentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These models were also reflected in other countries (Butts, 1985;Gott, 1984;Shen, Gibbons, Wiegers, & McMahon, 2007;Shepardson & Moje, 1994;Shipstone, 1985). Based on previous studies, Magnusson, Boyle, and Templin (1997) divided the clashing current model into a cross current model, similar to the alternating current from two battery poles. The current attenuation model was divided into an attenuation model reflecting the uneven brightness of two light bulbs and a shared model reflecting the equal brightness of two light bulbs.…”

Section: Student Ideas Of Electricity and Related Cross-age Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Cross-Grade Study Validating the Evolutionary Pathway of Student Mental Models in Electric Circuits

Lin

2017

EURASIA J MATH SCI T

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Cross-grade studies are valuable for the development of sequential curriculum. However such studies are time and resource intensive and fail to provide a clear representation to integrate different levels of representational complexity. Lin (Lin, 2006;Lin, Chiu, & Hsu, 2006) proposed a cladistics approach in conceptual evolution to construct a hypothetical Conceptual Evolution Tree (CET; also called Evolutionary Pathway of Student Mental Models) in electric circuits which overcome the limitations of earlier cross-grade studies. The aims of this study are to validate this hypothesis and to integrate with the CET graph to better understand Taiwanese students' conceptual evolution in electric circuits. This study uses a web-based mental model diagnosis system to collect 1,441 cross-grade students' data. The results show that the empirical cross-grade survey data closely meet the hypothesis. The CET graph in electric circuits well explains the relationship between student conceptual evolution from Grade 1 to 9 and the curriculum influences by comparing to the empirical data. The validated CET graph in electric circuits could be a useful tool for science educators in designing sequential curriculum content.

show abstract

“…Authors within a sociocultural or situative perspective have pointed to the benefits of focusing on activity systems when studying processes of learning and development, as a complement to more traditional studies of individual learners (Greeno, 2006;Kelly & Green, 1998;Magnusson, Templin, & Boyle, 1997;Rogoff & Chavajay, 1995;Säljö, 1997). Specifically, such a perspective opens up alternative ways of dealing with contextual issues of learning by including social interaction, communication, and sociocultural artifacts as constitutive parts of cognition (Dewey, 1925(Dewey, /1958Vygotsky, 1978, p. 89).…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Describing and analyzing learning in action: An empirical study of the importance of misconceptions in learning science

Hamza

Wickman

2007

Science Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Although misconceptions in science have been established in interview studies, their role during the learning process is poorly examined. In this paper, we use results from a classroom study to analyze to what extent nonscientific ideas in electrochemistry that students report in interviews enter into their learning in a more authentic setting. We audio-recorded talk between eight pairs of Swedish upper secondary students during a practical on electrochemical cells. Learning was operationalized on a discursive level as a description of what students do and say when taking part in an activity. This enabled an analysis of how encounters with misconceptions influenced the development of students' reasoning, compared to other encounters during the learning experience. Misconceptions did not constrain the development of students' reasoning. Rather, their reasoning developed in response to the contingencies of the specific situation. When misconceptions were encountered, they appeared as alternatives and questions not actively defended. Sometimes, encounters with these misconceptions were generative of the students' reasoning. The results indicate that demonstrating misconceptions in interviews is not enough to assume that they interfere with learning in other contexts. Educational implications and future This study is part of the project "How Can Teachers Aid Students Towards Scientific Reasoning" funded by the Swedish Research Council.Correspondence to: Karim M. Hamza;

show abstract

Dynamic Science Assessment: A New Approach for Investigating Conceptual Change

Abstract: Journal of the Learning SciencesPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:

Cited by 44 publications

References 29 publications

The Development of Authentic Assessments to Investigate Ninth Graders’ Scientific Literacy: In the Case of Scientific Cognition Concerning the Concepts of Chemistry and Physics

The Development of Authentic Assessments to Investigate Ninth Graders’ Scientific Literacy: In the Case of Scientific Cognition Concerning the Concepts of Chemistry and Physics

A Cross-Grade Study Validating the Evolutionary Pathway of Student Mental Models in Electric Circuits

Describing and analyzing learning in action: An empirical study of the importance of misconceptions in learning science

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About