Chapter 15 – Epilogue: On Ways of Assessing Science Understanding

Publisher Summary This chapter presents a view of assessment in science education that departs significantly from the traditional “selecting and sorting” model that has become standard fare in the schools. The value of application tasks and problem sets has been recognized by generations of teachers, especially in knowledge domains such as physics, chemistry, and genetics. Novel problems that require a rationale or justification are clearly among the most valuable of these methods. Unfortunately, in the hands of less-experienced science teachers, problems and applications often become an exercise in memorizing a solution path or a simple algorithm. By way of comparison, an assessment strategy that depends on the longitudinal construction of concept maps along with structured, clinical interviews seems to offer a readily accessible way of tapping into both understanding and conceptual change. Another approach that offers similar advantages is the iterative construction of classroom artifacts.