Diane EbertMay

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Assessment II data collection with a purpose and
analysis of results

• Diane Ebert-May
• Department of Plant Biology
• www.first2.org

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Goals for Today

• Participate in another learning cycle of
  instruction.
• Practice two additional assessment techniques and
  analysis of the data.
• Use assessment data to evaluate instructional
  design and strategies.

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Learning Cycle Models for Instruction

• Karplus et al BSCS
• Exploration Engage
• Concept Introduction Explore
• Concept Application Explain
• Elaborate

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Engage

• Form groups according to IAH, ISS, ISB/P
• 1 min think about a difficult topic you teach
  well.
• 3 min describe to your peers
• your topic
• how you teach it
• how you assess it
• Collectively, make a defining features matrix on
  postits
• Vertical - teaching strategy characteristics
• - assessment strategy
  characteristics
• Horizontal - a column for each person to place
  () or (-)

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Defining Features Matrix

• Requires students to categorize concepts
  according to the presence () or absence (-) of
  important defining features.
• Provides data on analytic reading and thinking
  skills.

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DFM - Procedure

• Focus on 2-3 concepts that are similar enough to
  confuse your student
• Determine features of concepts most critical for
  the students to recognize
• List features each concept clearly does or does
  not possess
• Matrix - features on left side concepts on top
• Check - if each cell can be () or (-)
• Give copies, or use postits with students
• Explain purpose of matrix and directions for
  filling in.

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Data Analysis

• Scan/compare/tally
• Ask
• Are students paying more attention to certain
  features than others?
• Are students failing to notice defining
  differences of specific kinds that would be
  obvious to an expert?

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Explore

• Adaptations of this classroom assessment
• Students develop their own defining features
  matrix on an important topic
• Design matrices to use more than binary response
  (e.g., always present, often present, rarely
  present, never present
• Students write statements explaining
  configuration of data

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Scoring Rubric for Quizzes and Homework
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Advantages of Scoring Rubrics

• Improve the reliability of scoring written
  assignments and oral presentations
• Convey goals and performance expectations of
  students in an unambiguous way
• Convey grading standards or point values and
  relate them to performance goals
• Engage students in critical evaluation of their
  own performance
• Save time but spend it well

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Limitations of Scoring Rubrics

• Problem of criteria
• Problem of practice and regular use
• Scoring Rubric website
• http//www.wcer.wisc.edu/nise/cl1/flag/
• Sample Rubrics for Organismal Biology
• http//www.msu.edu/course/lbs/144/f01

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In effect...

• Assessment IS a form of learning.

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Assessment Linked to Instruction

• What kind of data do you want from the
  assessment? (non-trivial)
• How is data collection embedded in context of
  learning over time?
• Self-report data or directly measured?
• How will the data influence your instructional
  design?

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Still Exploring

• Detailed example of multiple forms of assessment
• Over time
• Provides feedback loop to instructional design

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Goal for Assessment

• Students will demonstrate their understanding of
  photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

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Common Misconceptions Photosynthesis
Respiration

• Photosynthesis as Energy Photosynthesis
  provides energy for uptake of nutrients through
  roots which builds biomass. No biomass built
  through photosynthesis alone.
• Plant Altruism CO2 is converted to O2 in plant
  leaves so that all organisms can breathe.
• All Green Plants have chloroplasts instead of
  mitochondria so they can not respire.
• Thin Air CO2 and O2 are gases therefore, do not
  have mass and therefore, can not add or take away
  mass from an organism.

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Multiple choice question (pre-post)

• Plants gain a tremendous amount of weight (dry
  biomass) as they grow from seed to adult. Which
  of the following substances contributes most to
  that weight gain?
• a. compounds dissolved in soil water that are
  take up by plant roots
• b. water
• c. molecules in the air that enter through holes
  in the plant leaves
• d. organic material in the soil taken up directly
  by plant roots
• e. solar radiation

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Carbon Cycle Problem (mid)

• Two fundamental concepts in ecology are energy
  flows and matter cycles. In an Antarctic
  ecosystem with the food web given above, how
  could a carbon atom in the blubber of the Minke
  whale become part of a crabeater seal? Note
  crabeater seals do not eat Minke whales. In your
  response include a drawing with arrows showing
  the movement of the C atom.

• In addition to your drawing, provide a written
  description of the steps the carbon atom must
  take through each component of the ecosystem
  Describe which biological processes are involved
  in the carbon cycle.

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Grandma Johnson Problem

• Hypothetical scenario Grandma Johnson had very
  sentimental feelings toward Johnson Canyon, Utah,
  where she and her late husband had honeymooned
  long ago. Her feelings toward this spot were
  such that upon her death she requested to be
  buried under a creosote bush overlooking the
  canyon. Trace the path of a carbon atom from
  Grandma Johnsons remains to where it could
  become part of a coyote. NOTE the coyote will
  not dig up Grandma Johnson and consume any of her
  remains.

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Radish Problem

• Experimental Setup
• Weighed out 3 batches of radish seeds each
  weighing 1.5 g.
• Experimental treatments
• 1. Seeds not moistened (dry) placed in LIGHT
• 2. Seeds placed on moistened paper towels in
  LIGHT
• 3. Seeds placed on moistened paper towels in
  DARK

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Problem (cont)

• After 1 week, all plant material was dried in an
  oven overnight (no water left) and plant biomass
  was measured in grams.
• Predict the biomass of the plant material in the
  various treatments (use think-pair-share).
• Light, No Water
• Light, Water
• Dark, Water

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Results Weight of Radish Seeds
1.46 g 1.63 g 1.20 g
Write an explanation about the results. (Remember
all treatments started as 1.5g).
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Writing Open-ended Questions

• Write a description of the situation.
• Write the directions for writing.
• Develop a simple rubric
• Conceptual understanding
• Content knowledge
• Critical-thinking processes
• Communication skills

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Elaborate

• Visual model for assesment from
• Novak and Gowin (1984)
• Learning How to Learn

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Misconceptions gt Assessment gt Instruction

• What data do you want from the assessment?
• What do you do when you identify student
  misconceptions?
• How will the data influence your instruction and
  the learning environment you create?

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Gene-DNA-Chromosome

• Students could explain transcription
  translation but not the relation...
• Gene-DNA-Chromosome.
• Concept mapping forces students to Think
  different and confront their (mis)
  understanding.

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Concept Maps
are
display
Visual Diagrams Or Models
Concepts
connected with
has
has
Hierarchy
Structure
Linking Words
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Assessment Gradient
Multiple Choice Concept Maps Essay
Interview
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Make a draft of a concept map
Take those difficult concepts from earlier this
afternoon, use some post-it notes and make a
concept map.
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Steps to making a concept map

• List the concepts brain, genome, dog, plant
• Arrange them - rank-order in terms of the top,
  most general, to at the bottom, most specific.
• Add linking lines that connect the subordinate
  concepts under the broader ones.
• Add linking words that indicate the relationship
  between two linked concepts e.g., connect to, are
  found in, build proteins inside.

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Make a draft of a concept map
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C-TOOLS

• Concept Connector?MSU http//ctools.msu.edu/concep
  t/review
• username guest
• password concept

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Evaluate

• Individually, please write a minute paper on the
  following two questions (3 minutes -)
• What was the most important thing you learned
  during the workshop today?
• What important question remains unanswered?