Assessment, technology & science education: what are we assessing?

There is a body of research, providing both rhetoric and discussion about the use of ICT (audience response systems, CDROMs, simulations, dataloggers, emails, Internet, modelling, virtual worlds and whiteboards) in science education for learning and assessment purposes. The research has alluded to benefits in terms of learner control, pro-active learning, increased student motivation, and increased student engagement. In this seminar the findings from several small scale studies will be presented in order to illustrate both the potential and the challenges of technology based assessment in science education. For if technology based assessment encourages inattentional blindness or selective amnesia, then using technology to assess student learning is unlikely to generate a better insight into their understanding or provide an accurate record of their capability.