assessing ngss in the classroom ngss@nsta forum friday, march 13, 2015
TRANSCRIPT
Assessing NGSS in the Classroom
NGSS@NSTA Forum
Friday, March 13, 2015
The terrain we will cover…
Part 1 of Presentation:• 3-Dimensional Learning and NGSS Performance
Expectations• Task Analysis Activity & Discussion
Part 2 of Presentation:• Design Approach Overview• Unpacking Science Practices • Main Take Aways
Content and Practice Work Together to Build Understanding: 3-Dimensional Learning
NGSS calls for students to become proficient in science and engineering:
• Practices and content work together to form usable knowledge.
• Requires integration of 3 dimensions – not separate treatment of “content” and “inquiry”
• Need to pay attention to how we build understanding over time and across the disciplines
Core Ideas
Practices
Crosscutting Concepts
Scientific ideas are important, but not enough!
• Science is both a body of knowledge and the process that develops and refines that body of knowledge: Understanding both is essential for progress in science and in learning science
• The learning of science is similar for all learners, whether children or scientists: in order to learn science, you need to do the work of science
• Understanding content is inextricably linked to engaging in practices: science proficiency means being able to use what you know
How NGSS is Different
Standards expressed as performance expectations:
• Combine practices, core ideas, and crosscutting concepts into a single statement of what is to be assessed
• Requires students to demonstrate knowledge-in-use
• Performance Expectations are not instructional strategies or objectives for a lesson
• Intended to describe the end-goals of instruction
Assessment should aim for the Performance Expectations
Assessment Challenge
• How can we assess “three-dimensional learning”?
• How is it different from how we assess science learning now?
• How can we design tasks that elicit core ideas, practices, and crosscutting concepts?
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Multi-Component Tasks
• To adequately cover the three dimensions, assessment tasks will need to contain multiple components (e.g., a set of interrelated questions).
• Specific components may focus on individual practices, core ideas, or crosscutting concepts, but, together, the components need to support inferences about students’ three-dimensional science learning as described in a given performance expectation.
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Looking Closely at Tasks
MS-LS-4-4:• Construct an explanation based on evidence that
describes how genetic variations of traits in a population increase some individuals’ probability of surviving and reproducing in a specific environment.
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Instructions for Pairs
• Review the sample assessment tasks provided, all of which aim to assess MS-LS-4-4.
• “Rank then rate”– Rank order them in terms of how well you think they assess
the three dimensions integrated in the performance expectation.
– Discuss your rankings: What distinguishes tasks in terms of how well they assess three-dimensional science learning goal reflected in the performance expectations
– Rate each task on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (great) on the strength of the task in this Google Form:
http://tinyurl.com/n8raye310
From Performance Expectations to Assessments
NGSS@NSTA Forum
Friday, March 13, 2015
Typical Assessment Design
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• Implicit design decisions
• Inconsistent elicitation of core ideas, practices and cross-cutting concepts
• Unexplained variation in contexts, difficulty, evidence elicited from students, and approaches for scoring across tasks
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DesignApproach
Intentional and Explicit
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DesignApproach
• Describe the practice and its components
• Identify the requisite knowledge and skills
• Specify features of a high level of performance
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DesignApproach
• Elaborate Major Ideas• Define Boundary Conditions• Describe Prior Knowledge• Identify Student Challenges• Brainstorm Phenomena
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DesignApproach
• Describe essential features
• Identify substantive intersections with science practices and disciplinary core ideas
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DesignApproach
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DesignApproach
Why Unpack Science Practices?
The unpacking process enables you to:• Understand what it really means to “do” the practice• Identify the essential components of the practice • Pinpoint the knowledge and skills students need to use in order to
show that they can perform the practice• Describe levels of performance for the practice that can be used
to develop rubrics
This process is of high value because it:• Promotes consistency in your use of practices within items/tasks• Ensures sustaining the essential aspects of the practice across
science disciplinary areas19
Our Process for Unpacking Practices
1. Describe the practice and its components• What does it mean to “do” the practice?• What are the essential components of this practice?• What possible intersection might there be with other
practices?2. Identify the requisite knowledge and
skills• What knowledge and skills do students need to use in
order to show that they can perform the practice?
3. Specify features of a high level of performance • What evidence would you expect to see for each
component?
• What are the different levels of performance for each component?
Resources we use: NRC Framework, NGSS Appendix F, NSTA publications on science practices, research literature (e.g., NRC reports)
Constructing ExplanationsDescribe the practice and its componentsScientific Explanation:A written or oral response to a question about how or why a phenomena occurs that is supported by evidence.
Components of the Practice:A scientific explanation has 3 essential parts –• Claim: a testable statement or conclusion that
typically answers the question• Evidence: scientific data that supports the claim;
consisting of appropriate and sufficient evidence• Reasoning: a justification that shows why the data
count as evidence to support the claim and includes appropriate scientific ideas/principles 21
Constructing Explanations (cont’d)
• Results of data analysis and output from models can be used as evidence for explanations
• Investigations may inform the construction of explanations
• Scientific arguments critique or defend the strength/validity of explanations
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Intersection with other practices
Liquid Density Color Volume Boiling Point1 1.0 g/cm3 Clear 6.1 cm3 100 C○
2 0.89 g/cm3 Clear 6.1 cm3 211 C○
3 0.92 g/cm3 Clear 10.2 cm3 298 C○
4 0.89 g/cm3 Clear 10.2 cm3 211 C○
3-D Assessment Task ExampleMaria found four different bottles filled with unknown pure liquids. She measured the properties of each liquid. The measurements are displayed in the data table below. Maria wonders if any of the liquids are the same substance.
Use the data in the table to:1) Write a claim stating whether any of the liquids are
the same substance. 2) Provide at least two pieces of evidence to support
your claim. 3) Provide reason(s) that justify why the evidence
supports your claim.
Target Dimensions
Science Practice: Scientific Explanation
Core Idea PS1.A: Each pure substance has characteristic physical and chemical properties that can be used to identify it.
Crosscutting Concept: Patterns (identify patterns in data)
Intersection with other Practice:• Analyzing and
Interpreting Data
Level of Scaffolding:• Explicit prompt for
student to develop claim, evidence, and reasoning
High level of Performance:• Claim states that
Liquid 2 and 4 are the same substance.
• Evidence includes at least 2 pieces of evidence (density, boiling point, or color of Liquid 2 and 4 are the same).
• Reasoning: same substance must have the same set of characteristic properties.
Developing and Using Models
Describe the practice and its components
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Intersection with other practices:
• Models can be used as evidence for explanations and arguments
• Scientific arguments critique or defend the quality or appropriateness of models
• Models can be developed based on results of data analysis
• Investigations may inform the development of models or involve the use of models
A deliberate representation of a phenomenon or system of phenomena that makes its central features explicit and visible. Models can be used to represent, explain, and make predictions about phenomena. They include diagrams, physical replicas, mathematical representations, analogies, and simulations.
Developing and Using Models (cont’d)
Components of the Practice:
• Model Elements: Specify or Identify the appropriate and necessary elements of the model
• Relationships: Represent or Describe the relationships or interactions among the elements in the model
• Correspondence: Represent or Describe the correspondence between model elements and a real world phenomenon or available data
• Limitations: Specify or Identify the limitations of the model
• Explanation/prediction: Use the model to explain or predict phenomena or specific aspects of phenomena
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3-D Assessment Task Example
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The picture below shows a place on the ocean floor where two plates are moving apart. At this plate boundary (shown at the dotted line), rock material is rising to the surface.
1. Complete the model by drawing on the picture to show what is happening in the mantle that causes the plates to move apart.
2. Based on the model you completed, explain what is happening in the mantle to cause the two place to move apart.
3. On the model, put an X on the places where the oldest rock can be found in the crust.
4. Describe how the oldest rock got to that location.
Target DimensionsScience Practice: Develop and Use Models
Core Idea ESS2.A: Earth’s materials and Systems
Crosscutting Concept: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity.
Connection with Other Practice:• Explanation
Level of Scaffolding:• Prompts to complete a
model• Prompts to use the
model to explain
Essential Components Addressed:
• Specify elements - Part 1 and 3
• Describe relationships -
Part 2
• Correspondence - Part 2
• Use model to explain/predict – Part 4
Bringing a 3-Dimensional Perspective to Classroom Assessment
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Start Small
It will not be feasible to assess all of the performance expectations for a given grade level with any one assessment.
Developing Assessments of Next Generation Science Standards (NRC 2013)
Main Take Aways
① NGSS “performance expectations” can be a powerful guide in developing your classroom assessments
② Task analysis can help identify criteria for 3-dimensional tasks
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③ Assessment tasks (and rubrics) should integrate all 3 dimensions – you’ve been introduced to an approach!
④ Unpacking practices ensures that the essential components of practices will be consistent across assessment tasks
Contact Information
Thank you!
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Angela Haydel DeBarger [email protected] Harris [email protected] Penuel [email protected]
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Numbers 1020407, 1316903, 1316908, 1316874, 1238253, 1147590, and 0822314. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.