Assessing

Learning in
Science

WHY DO WE NEED TO ASSESS OUR

LEARNERS?

WHAT ASSESSMENT TOOLS

ARE YOU USING IN YOUR
SCIENCE CLASS?

ASSESMENT TOOLS IN SCIENCE (DO NO. 8, S. 2015)

REMEMBERING
Retrieve relevant knowledge from
long-term memory,
e.g. recognizing, listing, naming,
finding, defining, memorizing,
repeating, reproducing

Remembering
Choose
Recite
Define
Match
List
Recall
Underline
Name
Quote
Recall

Remembering
Typical Item Stems:
How many items.?
What is the ?
Can you name ..?
Which is true or false?
Can you recall --?

UNDERSTANDING
Explaining ideas or concepts; construct
meaning from instructional messages;
e.g. Interpreting, summarizing,
plotting , classifying,
explaining

UNDERSTANDING
Locate
Compare
Recognize
Report

Observe
Paraphrase
Review
Explain

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UNDERSTANDING
Typical Item Stems:
Write in your own words..?
How would you explain .?
Who do you think ?
What ideas or facts show .?

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APPLYING
Using information in another familiar
situation;
e.g. Implementing, carrying out, using,
executing

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APPLYING
Adapt Draw
Sequence
Apply
Show
Change
Teach Use Demonstrate
Manipulate
Practice

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APPLYING
Typical Item Stems:
Do you know of another instance
where..?
What questions would you ask of?
From the information given, develop
a set of instructions about..?

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ANALYZING
Breaking information into parts
to explore understandings and
relationships
e.g. Comparing, organizing,
deconstructing, finding,
interrogating

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ANALYZING
Typical Item Stems:
Which events could not have happened?
If. ..happened, what might the ending
have been?
Why did...changes occur?
Explain what must have happened
when...
Distinguish between...
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EVALUATING
Justifying a course of action or
decision
e.g. checking, hypothesizing,
critiquing, experimenting,
judging

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EVALUATING
Argue
Defend
Assess
Determine
Value
Evaluate
Conclude
Prioritize

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EVALUATING
Typical Item Stems:
Judge the value of... What do you think
about...?
What influence will....have on our lives?
What are the pros and cons of....?
How would you have handled...?
What are the alternatives?

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CREATING
Generating new ideas, products or
ways of viewing things
e.g. Designing, constructing,
planning, producing,
inventing

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CREATING
Assemble
Construct
Generate
Predict
Write

Compose
Formulate
Dramatize
Prepare
Illustrate

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CREATING
Typical Item Stems:
Can you design a...to...?
If you had access to all resources,
how would you deal with...?
How many ways can you...?
Can you create new and unusual
uses for...?

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Assessment Items

Activity 2
GAME KA NA BA?
(Identifying what
domain/content does each
item fall)

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Rain and running water can wash away

soil. From which area is soil most
likely to be washed away?
a. A sloping area with bushes

b. A flat area with grasses

c. A flat area that is barren
d. A sloping area that is barren

A beaker of water
which has
reached
boiling point
is allowed to
cool. The
temperature
of the water
is recorded
at five
minute
intervals,
Aboutand
howa many minutes did it take for the water
to cool the first 20 degrees?
temperature
-time
graph
A.
3
C. 37
is drawn.
B.
8
D. 50

Each of the three magnets shown has been

dipped into the substance below it.
Which of the substances could be
coffee?

a. A only
b. B only

c. C only
d. A and B only

Paint applied to an iron surface prevents the

iron from rusting. Which ONE of the
following provides the best reason?
a. It prevents nitrogen from coming
in contact with the iron
b. It reacts chemically with the iron.
c. It prevents carbon dioxide from
coming in contact with the iron.
d. It makes the surface of the iron
smoother.
e. It prevents oxygen and moisture
from coming in contact with the
iron.

9.58
12.74
19.86
8.23
49.59

Life Sciences
Ethan hammered a nail
into a trunk of a
young tree.
Explain the nail is still
at the same height
from the ground
twenty years later
even though the tree
had grown to a height
of 22 meters?
From TIMSS 1999

Nail

Diana and Mario were discussing what it might

be like on other planets. Their science
teacher gave them data about Earth and an
imaginary planet Proto. The table shows
these data. Earth
Proto
Distance from a star like
the Sun (km)

148, 640, 000

902, 546, 000

Atmospheric pressure at
surface of planet (Pa)

101.325

100

21% oxygen, 0.03%

carbon dioxide,
78% nitrogen
YES
YES

5% oxygen
5% carbon dioxide,
90% nitrogen
NO
NO

Atmospheric conditions
Gas components

Ozone layer
Cloud cover

Write down one important reason why it would be difficult

for humans to live on Proto if it existed. Explain your
answer.

Draw a diagram to show how

water from the sea can fall
as rain on land. Label the
parts.

How are open-ended

questions and other
authentic assessment
formats scored
objectively?
Use rubrics or
scoring
key

Rubrics are
matrices that
define
what is expected in
a learning
situation

Free-response
questions
Scientific reports
Oral or Power point
presentations
Reflections/Journals
Essays

Rubrics are
scoring criteria
for

Laboratory-based
performance tests
Investigatory projects
publications

Measuring Range or
Scoring Levels
Needs improvement --- Satisfactory---Good --- Exemplary
Fully correct --- Partially correct ---Inadequate --- Wrong answer
Beginning ---- Developing ---Accomplished --- Exemplary
Novice --- Apprentice ---- Proficient ----Distinguished
Numerical scale ( e.g. 2-1-0; 4-3-2-1-0)

Advantages of Using Rubrics

in Assessment

Assessment more objective and consistent

Clearly shows students how their work will

be evaluated and what is expected

Promotes student awareness of the criteria to

use in assessing peer performance

Allows the teacher to clarify his/her criteria in

specific terms

Provides useful feedback regarding

effectiveness of instruction

Guidelines in
Constructing a Rubric

Determine learning outcomes (or goals for

instruction)

Decide on the structure of the rubric. Is it holistic or

analytical? (What best fits for the task?)

Determine the levels of performance. (Are there

levels of performance specific to each criteria?)

Keep statements or phrases short and simple.

Share the rubric with your colleagues and students.

Example 1

So far, scientists have not found

life on other planets.
Give 2 possible reasons why
living things cannot survive in
other planets.

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Rubric: Correct Answer

There is no air/not enough air/not right

amount of oxygen

Temperature not right/too hot/too cold

No water

Other correct

Scoring

2 Both answers correct

1 Only 1 answer correct

0 Incorrect response, crossed

out/erased/off task, no answer

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Sample Responses

Sample A

Because there is no air in other planets

Because there is no oxygen

Because temperature is either too hot

or too cold
Because there are no plants in other
planets
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Example 2

A boy observed that his

eyeglasses became blurred
after he got off from an airconditioned bus. What
makes this happen?

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Scoring Key

2 Correct Response
The air contains water
vapor. When the water vapor in
warmer air outside
the bus comes in contact with the eyeglasses, it
condenses to become water droplets. As a result the
eyeglasses become cloudy and blurred.

1 Partially Correct Response

air outside the bus causes the
become blurred.

0 Incorrect Response
The
eyeglasses became blurred because of the cold air that
condenses on them.

The warmer
eyeglasses to

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Life Sciences
Ethan hammered a nail
into a trunk of a
young tree.
Explain the nail is still
at the same height
from the ground
twenty years later
even though the tree
had grown to a height
of 22 meters?
From TIMSS 1999

Nail

Level of
performance

Criteria

Sample
Answer

Correct
response
2 pt

Answer is based on trees

Trees grow from the top of
increasing in height as a result of the branches
growth at the tips of
stems/branches

Partially correct
1pt

Mentions only that the trunk

grows in width or diameter but
not in height

The trunk size will either

get fatter or grow in width
but will not grow upward.

Incorrect
response
0

Mentions only that the trunk

does not grow

The trunk had stopped

growing
The nail stopped the tree
from growing at that
certain point

No response
0

Blank

WRAP-UP

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Assessment is an integral part

of the learning process
Instructional
Object
ives
Instructional
Materials
&
Strategie
s

Student
Asses
sment

Key Understandings
Assessment is an integral part
of the teaching-learning process.
Assessment in the classroom is
aimed at helping students
perform well in relation to the
learning standards.

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Key Understandings
Formative assessment enables
the learners to demonstrate what
has been learned through a
range of activities in all parts of a
lesson.
Summative assessment enables
teachers to describe how well
the students have learned the
standards /competencies48 after

Key Understandings
There is no single assessment
method that results in a perfect
assessment . What method the
teacher would depend on what
she/he would like to assess in
terms of knowledge, understanding, or skill.
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Key Understandings
Thinking skills can be better
assessed using the nontraditional or authentic
assessment.

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