Title: Formative Assessment: A Method to Close the Feedback Loop
1Formative Assessment A Method to Close the
Feedback Loop
- Eugenia Etkina,
- Graduate School of Education
- Rutgers University
- March 2005
- Ball State University
2Members of Rutgers ASA Project
- Alan Van Heuvelen,
- Sahana Murthy,
- David Brookes, Aaron Warren,
- David Rosengrant, Maria Ruibal Vilassenor,
- Suzanne Brahmia, Julia Timofeeva
- NSF ASA Program
- http//paer.rutgers.edu/scientificabilities/
- http//paer.rutgers.edu/PT3
3Outline
- Assessment
- Formative vs summative
- Three steps of formative assessment
- Self-assessment
- Scientific abilities and assessment rubrics
- Examples of assessment tasks
- Practice in using the rubrics
4Why do we need assessment?
- One of the purposes of assessment within
education is that of informing and improving
students ongoing learning - Summative and formative
5Formative Assessment
- Formative assessment the process used by
teachers and students to recognize and respond to
student learning in order to enhance that
learning during learning. - Gains reported due to formative assessment are
the largest reported for an educational
intervention (Black and Wiliam, 1998).
6Essential components of formative assessment
- Teacher giving feedback to the students
- The teacher and students taking action to improve
learning during learning - Self - assessment
7Three essential steps
8Self-assessment
- Students must be be able to understand and use
the criteria with which they are assessed, in
order to bridge the gap between what they know
and can do and the desired goal
9What do we want to assess?
- Conceptual understanding
- Problem solving
- Scientific abilities
10What are some scientific abilities?
- Ability to represent a process in multiple ways
- Ability to design an experimental investigation
(an observational experiment a testing
experiment an investigation to solve a problem) - Ability to collect and analyze experimental data
- Ability to construct and modify explanations
- Ability to evaluate all of the above
11Formative assessment tasksand rubrics
- Multiple representation tasks (D. Rosengrant, A.
Van Heuvelen, E. Etkina) - Experimental design tasks (S. Murthy, E. Etkina)
- Unexpected data tasks (D. Brookes, E. Etkina)
- Video problems tasks (D. Brookes, E. Etkina)
- Evaluation tasks (A. Warren, A. Van Heuvelen)
- http//paer.rutgers.edu/scientificabilities
- http//paer.rutgers.edu/pt3
12Development of rubrics
- Identifying important sub-abilities
- Writing descriptors (scale 0-3)
- Finding clear wording
- Scoring student work
- Discussing the items with a disagreement
- Revising wording
13Using rubrics
- Calorimetry experimental problem
- Read descriptors (scale 0-3)
- Read the write-up
- Score student work
- Discuss the items with a disagreement
- Revise scoring
14Where do we use them?
- Lectures - electronic student response system
with peer interactions and instructor feedback - Recitations - interactions with peers and TA
- Labs - interactions with peers, self assessment
with rubrics,interactions with a TA - Homework - interactions with a TA, posted
solutions - Exams (summative - research purposes)
15Ability to represent phenomena in multiple ways
- Free-body diagrams where do you need to go?
- An elevator is slowing down An elevator is
slowing down on - on its way up its way down
Earth, cable
16Rubric for self assessement
Free-body diagrams How to get there?
17Formative assessment task in lecture
Where are you now?
Draw a free-body diagram for the ball in the air..
18Do students actually use FBDs?
19Problem solving strategy
- Where do you need to go
- 1. Picture and Translate
- Sketch the problem situation include all known
information. - Choose a system object and make a list of
objects that interact with the system. - Indicate the direction of acceleration, if you
know it. - 2. Simplify
- Determine if you can ignore any interactions of
the environment with the system object. - 3. Represent Physically
- Draw a free-body diagram for the system.
- 4. Represent mathematically
- Apply Newtons second law in component form to
the situation you represent in the free-body
diagram. - Add kinematics equations if necessary.
- 5. Solve and evaluate
20Ability to evaluate somebodys problem solving
- Where are you now?
- The problem A 1000-kg elevator is moving down at
6.0 m/s. It slows to a stop in 3.0 m as it
approaches the ground floor. Determine the force
that the cable supporting the elevator exerts on
the elevator as it stops. Assume that g 10
N/kg. - Proposed solution The acceleration of the
elevator is - a vo2/2d (6.0 m/s)2/2(3.0 m) 6.0
m/s2. - The force of the cable on the elevator while
stopping is - T ma (1000 kg)(6.0 m/s2) 6000 N.
- How to get there?
- Identify all missing elements in this solution
- Identify any errors in this solution.
- Provide a corrected solution if there are errors.
1. Picture and translate. 2. Simplify. 3.
Represent physically. 4. Represent
mathematically. 5. Solve and evaluate.
21Ability to devise relationships and test them
- Observe the fall of two objects dropped
simultaneously. Describe your observations in
words, with a motion diagram and mathematically. - What if?
- Predict what will happen to the distance between
two objects one of which was dropped slightly
before the other - a) The distance will stay the same b) the
distance will decrease c) the distance will
increase d) not enough information to answer. - Explain your prediction explain using words,
motion diagrams, and mathematics. List
assumptions. - Observe the experiment and revise your
explanation if necessary.
22Example of student reasoning
Prediction 1 The balls fall in exactly the same
way, thus the distance between them should remain
the same.
- 1.
- 1. 2.
-
- 2. 3.
- 3. 4.
- 4. 5.
Prediction 2 The motion diagrams represent the
positions of the balls at every frame. If the
balls fall with the same acceleration, the
distance between them should increase.
23Rubric for self-assessment
24Rubric for self-assessment
25Ability to deal with unexpected data
- Use existing physics knowledge (this is not to
elicit and confront pre-conceptions) to make a
prediction about an outcome of a particular
experiment - Explain why you made the prediction.
- Watch the experiment, record the outcome, compare
to the prediction. - Revise the explanation or the assumptions if
necessary.
26Ability to design an experiment to solve a
problem
- Video problems.
- Design experiments with scaffolding.
- Design experiments with no scaffolding
(practicals)
27Video Problems
- Observe the two experiments below. Use each to
determine the . - Describe how you will use the video to determine
the necessary quantities. - List all physics explanations/relationships you
will use to determine - List all of the assumptions that you made.
Describe the mathematical procedure that you will
use to find the using the measured physical
quantities. - Decide whether you have a reasonable agreement
between the results of the two experiments.
Evaluate the assumptions and uncertainties.
28Design an Investigation to Solve a Problem
- Design two independent experiments to determine
the width of a strand of your hair. One method
must involve ideas of diffraction. - Equipment Laser pointer, meter stick, holder
for hair, screen, Vernier calipers. - ? Devise and write an outline of the procedure.
- ? Draw a labeled diagram of your experiment.
- ? Write the mathematical procedure you will use.
- ? Write how you will measure the physical
quantities you need. - ? List the assumptions are you making in your
design. What are possible experimental
uncertainties? How could you minimize them? - ? Perform the experiment. Record your
measurements. - ? Calculate the thickness based on your procedure
and measurements. Evaluate the effect of the
uncertainties. - ? When finished both experiments, compare the two
values for the thickness. What are possible
reasons for the difference?
29Design an Investigation to Solve a Problem
- Design two independent experiments to determine
the width of a strand of your hair. One method
must involve ideas of diffraction. - Equipment Laser pointer, meter stick, holder
for hair, screen, Vernier calipers.
30The END