2022 Chicago National Conference

July 21-23, 2022

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FILTERS APPLIED:6 - 8, Presentation, Promoting Effective Assessments in the Science and STEM Classroom

 

Rooms and times subject to change.
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Approaches to Assessment and Grading that Support Student Sensemaking

Friday, July 22 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

McCormick Place - Skyline W375a


STRAND: Promoting Effective Assessments in the Science and STEM Classroom

Show Details

As educators shift their teaching practice to align with the Framework for K-12 Science and the NGSS, they face various challenges and barriers. One pressing challenge is how to align their new approach to teaching and learning with existing assessment and grading systems. In this session, we will present provide examples of 3D assessments and associated scoring guidance. Participants will review student work for these sample assessments and identify evidence of understanding. They will collaborate with others in the session and determine how they would give grades based on set criteria. The second part of the session will highlight different approaches to grading based on local grading expectations (e.g., standards-based grading, daily grade requirements, or 100 point-based systems). Participants will leave the session with approaches to assessment and grading that support student sensemaking and honor the diverse resources students bring to the classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will leave the session with approaches to assessment and grading that support student sensemaking and honor the diverse resources students bring to the classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Sarah Delaney (OpenSciEd: San Carlos, CA)

CONSTRUCT: a Crowd-sourced Online Tool for Developing Middle-school Physical Science Assessments using Disciplinary Core Ideas

Friday, July 22 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

McCormick Place - W184d


STRAND: Promoting Effective Assessments in the Science and STEM Classroom

Show Details

Do the test questions you use adequately reflect your students’ true understanding of science? We’ll share guidelines for writing effective questions that don’t leave any of your students out and will help you determine whether your students are making sense of phenomena they are investigating - do their ideas match science ideas of the NGSS? Using a research-based “citizen science” approach, teachers can volunteer their favorite items and help improve our existing MOSART questions. Crucial item characteristics will be measured and reported, such as difficulty, effectiveness, gender, and racial/ethnic bias. Write new questions or revise ones you already have to address how well students make sense of elements outlined in the NGSS DCIs. The following is a question that is too difficult for middle school students: Matter is made of tiny bits called atoms. What is between the helium atoms in a balloon? a)Tiny particles that bind atoms together. b)A chemical substance that attaches helium atoms together. c)Nothing; the helium atoms touch each other on all sides. d)Nothing, just empty space. e)Air. How would you revise this item? We’ll have “practice” opportunities to look at assessment questions that are difficult or biased and discuss possible revisions with other educators.

TAKEAWAYS:
Write assessment questions to address item characteristics of difficulty, effectiveness, gender, and racial/ethnic bias

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Crockett (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Cambridge, MA), Philip Sadler (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Cambridge, MA)

Formative Fundamentals - Designing meaningful assessment opportunities in an inclusive science curriculum

Friday, July 22 • 10:40 AM - 11:40 AM

McCormick Place - W181c


STRAND: Promoting Effective Assessments in the Science and STEM Classroom

Show Details

In this session, we will look at current research on the purpose and method of formative assessment. We will then pair the research with student work samples to examine different methods of providing meaningful and actionable feedback to encourage student growth. We will also reflect on our assessment practices through the lens of creating equitable classrooms to ensure that all of our students learn at their potential. This session’s formative assessment focus will also extend to designing science storylines with an emphasis on universal design for learning. We will highlight tools that all students can use in order to have access to content. We will examine opportunities for incorporating social-emotional learning in meaningful ways as we strive to encourage all students to think like scientists. We will culminate the session with a discussion on intentionally cultivating student agency. Join this interactive session to elevate how you are using formative assessment to drive student learning.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will leave with practical classroom strategies for elevating the importance of formative assessment and meaningful feedback to foster student inclusive science classrooms.

SPEAKERS:
Mike Jones (Illinois State University: Normal, IL)

Using Varied Assessments for Teaching Evolution

Friday, July 22 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

McCormick Place - W178b


STRAND: Promoting Effective Assessments in the Science and STEM Classroom

Show Details

The Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) provides teachers with free and downloadable resources for an entire unit of instruction, including a variety of assessments.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. The units created by the Teacher Institute for Evolutionary Science (TIES) contain a variety of assessments, including online games, video questions, data analysis, puzzles, and formal assessments. The formal assessments include student response sheets and rubrics; 2. the TIES units can be easily downloaded for free and are focused on NGSS and state standards for evolution; and 3. the TIES units can be presented to a whole class or in small groups, or can be assigned to individual students. They can be teacher-guided or student-guided.

SPEAKERS:
Alison Seymour (Science Teacher: Winchester, 0)

How can we support and assess student growth in the practice of arguing from evidence?

Friday, July 22 • 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM

McCormick Place - Skyline W375a



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
NSTA 2022 - Supporting students in arguing from evidence.pdf

STRAND: Promoting Effective Assessments in the Science and STEM Classroom

Show Details

Arguing from evidence can be an integral part of the knowledge-building work students do as part of any three dimensional science learning, as students make sense of their findings and use them to develop and evaluate competing models and explanations. But how do we help students grow in sophistication in this practice over time? This presentation will provide an overview of the learning progression, tasks, and scaffolding used to help students refine and assess their arguments in the OpenSciEd middle school program, focus is on the support and growth embedded within a 7th grade chemistry unit. Participants will have opportunities to analyze curriculum supports, students’ written work, and video of discussions of students engaged in this practice using classroom artifacts from implementations of the OpenSciEd Bath Bomb unit.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn what the practice of arguing from evidence can look like in middle school classrooms, tools that can support scaffolding practice, and how teachers can use it to assess where students are at in their sense-making.

SPEAKERS:
Michael Novak (Northwestern University: Evanston, IL), Brian Reiser (Learning Sciences, SESP, Northwestern University)

Using Three-dimensional Assessment Prompts to Drive Student Sense-making

Friday, July 22 • 3:40 PM - 4:40 PM

McCormick Place - W175c



(Only registered attendees may view session materials. Please login with your NSTA account to view.)
3D Prompts_PPT_NSTA Chicago2022.pdf
Guide Writing Coherent 3-D Prompts

STRAND: Promoting Effective Assessments in the Science and STEM Classroom

Show Details

The Vision set forth by A Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards emphasize science as the integration of practices (SEPs), content (DCIs), and big ideas (CCCs). By using all three dimensions, students are able to make sense of phenomena while learning science concepts and processes. However, this way of thinking and learning takes practice and guidance. Teachers play a pivotal role in helping their students to engage with this kind of science learning. Therefore, they must find ways to explicitly integrate and embed all three dimensions in activities, lessons, and assessments. This participatory presentation will explore how teachers can explicitly embed SEPs, DCIs, and CCCs into prompts (questions and guiding statements) to promote more integrated opportunities for student sense-making. By generating prompts that include SEPs, DCIs, and CCCs, teachers can guide students to think in a more three-dimensional way and gain the skills to do so outside of the classroom. Attendees will identify strategies for posing integrated prompts, consider the benefits of multi-dimensional prompts for students, practice asking and improving prompts, and apply these strategies to use in their own classroom context.

TAKEAWAYS:
Creating prompts (questions and guiding statements) that explicitly promote the three dimensions can drive more integrated, equitable student learning

SPEAKERS:
Ana Houseal (University of Wyoming: Laramie, WY), Clare Gunshenan (University of Wyoming: Laramie, WY)

"Say That Again???..." Know Your Students' - and Your Own - Misconceptions in Science

Saturday, July 23 • 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

McCormick Place - W175c


STRAND: Promoting Effective Assessments in the Science and STEM Classroom

Show Details

“Kids say the darndest things” don’t they - or do they? Either way, it’s really what they believe, whether it’s correct or incorrect. Do you know what ideas your students bring to the classroom and use to shape their ideas about science? How do we accurately assess their ideas against the disciplinary core ideas of the NGSS? We wonder where those ideas come from and why they own them. Our students make sense of science from many places and venues and then use that as a foundation for their learning. However, it may not always be a solid foundation. We can help students develop their science knowledge using phenomena, observation, and robust assessment as well as a through a deeper understanding of the misconceptions they hold. Know the extent of what your students are thinking and why they think it using research-based assessments and the importance of including their ideas in those assessments. Explore students’ ideas and misconceptions (as well as your own!) in the Physical Sciences at various grade levels and know some of what they bring with them before they walk in the door!

TAKEAWAYS:
Educators will learn research-based misconceptions that students hold across grade bands in the physical sciences in order to incorporate those into assessment.

SPEAKERS:
Cynthia Crockett (Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian: Cambridge, MA)

What's a Cluster? Understanding the Illinois Science Assessment (ISA)

Saturday, July 23 • 2:20 PM - 3:20 PM

McCormick Place - W184a


STRAND: Promoting Effective Assessments in the Science and STEM Classroom

Show Details

The Illinois Science Assessment is written by Illinois science teachers for Illinois science students. Learn more about the format of this test and how you can model test clusters in your classroom.

TAKEAWAYS:
Illinois Science Teachers will gain insight into how to better prepare students for the ISA by learning how to create clusters for use in their classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Carol Baker (NGSS: Orland Park, IL), Harvey Henson (Southern Illinois University Carbondale: Carbondale, IL), ANGELA BOX (Southern Illinois University Carbondale: CARTERVILLE, IL)

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