Assessment Ideas

When students interact with simulations, they are engaged in a very different type of learning that when they are reading. The goal of the PSI Sim™ designers was to promote the development of deeper, more personal ways of thinking about science. To help address the differences between rote memorization and interactive, inquiry-based methods for assessment purposes, we believe it is necessary to go beyond typical questioning strategies used in most text books. That is, different types of learning require different types of assessment. Of course, assessment must relate directly to program goals and course objectives.

You may find it convenient to use the PSI Sims™ themselves as part of assessment. For example, the teacher might set up a scenario in the PSI Sim™ and print it out along with a "What-if" or "What will happen now" question. Be warned that non-traditional questioning strategies need to be introduced carefully so that students "learn" that you expect them to think differently about their responses. It is wise to try out new assessment strategies with self-assessments before using them for grading purposes.

Let's consider some basic examples of alternate assessment strategies. In a rote learning assessment, a student might be asked to state a definition of "electrolyte". Another method of assessment might be to "give an example of an electrolyte and an example of a non-electrolyte." Perhaps the students might "draw a diagram of an electrolyte being used in a practical way." Another example might be, "what problems might arise in an experimental situation if a non-electrolyte were replaced with the electrolyte by accident." PSI Sims™ sometimes include real-time graphing components. In these cases, students might be asked to make connections between reading a meter and reading a graph. When should one be used rather than the other? PSI Sims™ often allow the student to manipulate more than one variable. Questions can be asked to see how the student would anticipate the result of modifying the two variables in certain ways, noting the relationship between the variables. The advantage of the PSI Sim™ in this case is that it offers a concrete, interactive example of the model.

Below we present concrete examples of a few types of assessment that you may find useful when using PSI Sims™.

Case Assessment

A famous comedian, Steven Wright, once said jokingly,"I've never seen electricity, that's why I don't pay for it." Pretend that you
are working for an electric company and a customer appears at your counter and refuses to pay his electric bill because he has never seen electricity. Write a one-paragraph response to the customer that convinces him that he should pay his electric bill.

Comprehensive Achievement Test

Which of the following is an example of a chemical reaction?
A. the melting of a piece of ice
B. the grinding of a salt crystal to a powder
C. an acid removing electrons from a piece of metal
D. the evaporation of water from a puddle

Discrepant Event Assessment

The picture of the simulation has a major flaw. What is it about the setup of the materials that tells you that what appears is not possible?

 

You -Grade - It Assessment - Based on the question in the first panel below, have the students grade the student responses in the next three panels.

Project-Based Assessment

A common misconception involving potato batteries is that the more potatoes that you have, the greater the voltage that can be produced. This is not the case, it's not the number of potatoes, instead another factor accounts for the apparent greater voltage produced by the two potatoes versus the one potato? What factors do you think results in the greater voltage with the two-potato system? Design an experiment that could test your hypothesis.