Well designed and good assessment suggestions

The authors present, in detail, how they do their unit on scientists and what they want students to learn from their research. They want students to find a scientist that they can connect wi... See More

The authors present, in detail, how they do their unit on scientists and what they want students to learn from their research. They want students to find a scientist that they can connect with on a personal level and find out why that person would want to study science. This goal makes the lesson authentic and reasonable for the students and gives them ownership. The authors encourage the students to reflect on what they are learning through guided questions in their journals. I think the student ownership and the reflective pieces make this version of the typical "learn about a scientist" lesson more likely to make a difference and has the added value of providing the students with an excellent Nature of Science through their research into the different scientists and sharing that knowledge with the class. While allowing students to do their own artifacts of learning makes the assessment a little more challenging, the well-designed rubric helps even everyone out and keeps grading from being a chore! How could students not be excited about this lesson when they choose their own ways to learn?