Summary
Participants will actively engage in formative assessments and reflect on how formative assessment strategies can be used in their specific content area and with their students.
Essential Question
What is formative assessment, and what does it look like in the science classroom?
Learning Goals
Explore a variety of strategies that support formative assessment for the science classroom.
Identify the purposes and uses of formative assessment probes in science.
Materials List
Presentation slides (attached)
CER (Claim, Evidence, Reasoning) handout (attached; one per participant)
Note Catcher (attached; one per participant)
Ice-Cold Lemonade Probe (attached; one per participant)
Justified List (attached; one per participant)
I Notice I Wonder (attached; one per participant)
Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience: Don’t Box Me In (attached; one per participant)
Example Student Data (attached)
Don’t Box Me In: Student Work Samples (attached; 4-5 student work samples per group)
Sticky notes
Chart paper
Beakers (three per group)
Water
Rubbing alcohol
Corn syrup
Pencils (three per group)
Paper towels
Engage
Display slide 4. Briefly introduce yourself and welcome participants to the science-content-specific day of the Formative Assessment Institute.
Display slide 5 and share the essential question for the session: What is formative assessment, and what does it look like in the science classroom?
Display slide 6 and share the session objectives with participants:
Explore a variety of strategies that support formative assessment for the science classroom.
Identify the purposes and uses of formative assessment probes in science.
Display slide 7 and remind participants of the list of purposes for formative assessment that they generated on day 1 of the institute. This list will be driving their work throughout the session today.
Display Slide 8 and share the agenda for the session.
Display slide 9 and review the information on the slide to set the context for the day’s work with formative assessment probes. Point out to participants that all of the formative assessments that we have seen up to this point could be probes, but the way we are featuring them today is assessment AS learning.
Explore 1: Justified List
Display slide 10 and share the Justified List formative assessment strategy. Explain that this strategy is similar to the Justified True/False formative assessment used on day 3.
Display slide 11. Ask participants to note for themselves which of the statements best apply to scientific theories and explain what a theory in science means to them based on the statements they selected.
Ask participants to form small groups. Groups should take a few moments to discuss their description of a scientific theory and develop a group consensus.
Display slide 12 to show correct answers. Ask a few groups to share out their group consensus description of a theory. Proceed to slide 13 to provide gravity and relativity as an example of law versus theory. Refer to the slide notes for an explanation of the difference to share with participants.
Explore 2: Triangle of Power
Display slide 17, and ask participants to offer explanations for the phenomenon they are observing.
After a few participants have shared their ideas, briefly describe what information their answers gave you about their prior knowledge.
Go to slide 18 and have participants complete the activity using beakers containing three types of liquids (water, rubbing alcohol, and corn syrup), pencils, and paper towels. Assure participants that it’s fine if they can’t remember any technical information about waves. Their task is simply to develop the most reasonable explanation they can.
Have each group share out their explanations and models, and then proceed to slide 19. Validate any correct information participants shared and explain how the phenomenon demonstrates the relationship between frequency, wavelength, and the speed of light waves by using the Triangle of Power. A detailed explanation is provided in the slide notes.
Explain 1: Justified List
Go to slide 14 and share the lesson Scientific Reason, Not Scientific Treason, which uses the Justified List strategy. Give participants a few minutes to review how the formative assessment strategy was used in the lesson, and then ask for volunteers to share out.
Display slide 15 and briefly identify the three dimensions of the science standards, applicable to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and Oklahoma Academic Standards for Science (OAS-S). Dimensions 1 and 2 will be addressed in detail in upcoming activities, and dimension 3 will be used throughout.
Ask participants what they know about Using Phenomena to Drive Science Instruction, and then continue to slide 16 and introduce the definition of a phenomenon. Use participants’ shared prior knowledge to set the context that phenomena serve as anchors for science instruction generally, and formative assessment specifically. Several example phenomena will be used in subsequent activities.
Explain 2: Triangle of Power
Display slide 20 and share What is a Wave? Unit: Lesson 2 (Not the Bermuda Triangle). This lesson uses the Triangle of Power strategy and has students come back to the phenomena shared at the start of the unit. Provide participants with time to look over the lesson, and then ask them to reflect on the questions and share their answers. Students’ initial explanations (before and after the investigation) and drawn models are the primary formative assessment activities.
Display slide 21 and highlight how the activity served to formatively assess student understanding of the Disciplinary Core Ideas. Continue to slide 22. As part of three-dimensional science instruction, it is important to incorporate all three dimensions of the standards into student learning experiences. Remind participants that cross-cutting concepts (CCCs) are broad scientific lenses used to help students make sense of what they are learning. Ask participants to identify which CCCs the formative assessment activity touched upon and why.
Display slide 23 and bring participants’ attention to their Note Catcher handout. Allow them time to reflect on the assessment strategies that they have engaged with up to this point and for each one answer the following questions:
How was it used?
How can I use it?
Once participants have filled out their Note Catchers, allow time for a break before resuming the session with Explore activity 3.
Explore 3: Sticky Bars
Display slide 24 and introduce participants to the Sticky Bars strategy. Set up the probe by noting that the giant sequoia tree pictured grows from a single seed from a pinecone.
Have participants consider the following question:
Question: Where did more of the matter come from?
Answer choices:
Sunlight
Water
Soil
Carbon dioxide
Oxygen
Minerals
Instruct participants to go to the chart on the board and place a sticky note above the choice that they believe to be the correct answer, creating a bar graph. Don’t share the answer yet, but mention that few participants choose the correct option the first time.
Go to slide 25 and play the Minds of Our Own video from timestamps 1:30-6:25. The correct answer to the probe (carbon dioxide) is explained in the video. After watching the video, ask participants what surprised them about this formative assessment experience. Make explicit for them that teaching science is about uncovering student pre-conceptions and using them to build new knowledge. Probes and phenomena can serve as valuable tools to make these pre-conceptions visible to us.
Explain 3: Sticky Bars
Display slide 26 and share the lesson What’s a GMO?, which uses the Triangle of Power strategy and has students come back to the phenomena shared at the start of the unit. Give participants time to look over the lesson, and then ask them to reflect upon the questions and share their answers.
Display slide 27 and highlight how the activity served to formatively assess student understanding of the Disciplinary Core Ideas. Continue to slide 28. Remind participants that science and engineering practices (SEPs) are the actions students take in order to engage with science content and learning experiences. Ask participants to identify how SEPs have been used in the formative assessment activities thus far.
Explore 4: B-D-A (Before-During-After)
Display slide 29 and introduce participants to the B-D-A (Before-During-After) strategy. Continue to slide 30. In groups, have participants consider the Ice-Cold Lemonade Probe and draw before, during, and after pictures a sheet of chart paper to help explain their reasoning. Have participants share their posters with the whole group.
Continue to slide 31. Show participants the There’s No Such Thing as Cold video from timestamps 0:38-1:58. Ask participants how the B-D-A strategy allows us to see their understanding of the scientific concept of thermal transfer. Explain that by asking learners to illustrate how the system is changing, we can better see whether they understand the mechanism behind the phenomenon. We can also determine whether they know the direction of thermal energy flow in the system.
Explain 4: B-D-A (Before-During-After)
Display slide 32 and highlight how the activity served to formatively assess student understanding of the Disciplinary Core Ideas. Though the standard does not explicitly address atomic motion, this formative assessment uncovers student thinking about and understanding of that mechanism, which underpins both the DCIs.
Ask participants where in a lesson they could use this particular probe. Display slide 33 and briefly address the placement of probes in a science lesson, explaining how a probe’s placement depends on its purpose.
Explore 5: Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER)
Go to slide 34. Introduce the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) strategy and ask participants whether they have used it. If anyone has, let them explain the strategy. Clarify, validate, or add to their explanation as necessary. Display slide 35. Direct participants to the NOAA Billion-Dollar Weather and Climate Disasters website. Allow participants time to explore the data set and develop a claim supported by evidence from the website for how severe weather events have changed over time.
Have a few participants share their claims and supporting evidence. Point out that they did not yet get to the scientific principles necessary to support their claims and evidence. Show slide 36 and ask them what their next steps would be at this point with students.
Explain 5: Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER)
Display slide 37 and share the lesson Feelin’ The Phenomena. Give participants time to look over the lesson, and then ask them how the CER strategy supports formative assessment as learning. If participants previously indicated that they have used CERs before, ask them to share a specific example of how they used it for formative assessment or how they could have used it for formative assessment. Before continuing on, highlight for participants that this activity was an example of how data can be used to illustrate a phenomenon, which is a rarely-used but valuable approach.
Display slide 38 and highlight how the activity served to formatively assess student understanding of the Disciplinary Core Ideas.
Explore 6: I Notice, I Wonder
Display slide 39. Introduce the context of the three-dimensional assessment task. Have participants complete an I Notice, I Wonder activity for the Niangua River Darter task.
Display slide 40 to provide some background for the Niangua River Darter assessment before moving on to analyzing student work samples. Display slide 41 and give participants some additional time to look over the student work samples (ideally 4-5 samples per group). Have participants add to their I Notice, I Wonder chart and, if possible, answer some of their previous “wonders” from when they looked at the blank task.
Go to slide 42. Ask participants the following questions:
What do you notice about the assessment task overall?
What do you notice about student answers?
How could this assessment be used for learning?
Highlight that the AT is designed in such a way that the task should be assessed holistically. Often, students’ answers are comprehensive only when viewed across an entire task, particularly when the components of a task are scaffolded.
Explain 6: I Notice, I Wonder
Display slide 43 and highlight how the activity served to formatively assess student understanding of the Disciplinary Core Ideas.
Go to slide 44. The questions posed on the slide are frequently asked by teachers. Pose them to participants to get their ideas.
Go to slide 45. Have participants return to their Note Catcher handout. Provide them with time to reflect on the assessment strategies that they have engaged with in this portion of the session and answer the following questions:
How was it used?
How can I use it?
Extend
Display slide 46 and ask participants to choose one of the formative assessment strategies that has been covered during the institute and create an assessment in their content area. Consider grouping participants into content-specific areas and providing time for the assessments to be created in collaboration.
Evaluate
Transition to the evaluation slide 47 and ask participants to complete the K20 TREK Rapid Feedback form. Within the feedback, ask them to list two strategies they plan to implement in the next month.
Research Rationale
Analyzing the current skill level of students in a classroom at any given time and determining the best course of action for ensuring they all meet the target learning goals can be a challenge even for seasoned teachers. The idea of using formative assessment to meet the individual needs of students is not a new topic. In fact, researchers as far back as Benjamin Bloom have shown that one-to-one tutoring is the most effective form of instruction because of the tutor’s ability to pinpoint misconceptions and provide immediate feedback and correctives (William, 2011). Despite continued research backing up the claims that formative assessment can enhance student success, teachers might continue to struggle in their efforts to use the full array of formative assessment practices available. The question then becomes what can teachers do to effectively improve and enhance their use of formative assessment in the classroom environment?
Resources
Annenberg Learner. (n.d.). Lessons from thin air. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from https://www.learner.org/series/minds-of-our-own/2-lessons-from-thin-air/
It’s Okay To Be Smart. (2015, January 19). There’s no such thing as cold [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Akd7MMRKDwc
K20 Center. (n.d.). Claim, evidence, reasoning (CER). Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f506fc09
K20 Center. (n.d.). Feelin’ the phenomena. 5E Lesson. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/lesson/415
K20 Center. (n.d.). I notice, I wonder. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f507d1a7
K20 Center. (n.d.). Justified list. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f5074d76
K20 Center. (n.d.). Sticky bars. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f505ee0f
K20 Center. (n.d.). Triangle of power. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/1663
K20 Center. (n.d.). What is a wave? Lesson 2. 5E Lesson. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/lesson/1666
K20 Center. (n.d.). What’s a GMO? 5E Lesson. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/lesson/458
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Education. (2021). Billion-dollar weather and climate disasters. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/
Wiliam, D. (2011). What is assessment for learning? Studies in Educational Evaluation, 37(1), 3-14. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2011.03.001
