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Tamala_North_Dissertation.pdf (956.26 KB)

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A Comparison of Two Classroom Assessment Contexts Following a Science Investigation: Does the Use of Interview as an Assessment Tool Provide Different Results than Existing Teacher-Driven Tests?

North, Tamala
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1523432689936995

Abstract Details

2018, Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, Curriculum and Instruction: Early Childhood Education.
Assessment is often used to hold schools and teachers accountable for student learning. Assessment instruments are used as tools to guide curriculum choices and lesson plans, from districts to individual students. In any discipline, knowing what students know and what they have learned following a lesson is important on multiple levels. This is especially true in subjects like science. Despite recommendations from many leading early childhood education authorities, short answer, paper-and-pencil type, tests often prevail for young learners across many subject areas. This type of assessment may not provide all students with the opportunities needed to fully articulate what they’ve learned. This study examined two contexts of assessment following a science investigation, in a second-grade classroom - existing teacher-driven tests and an interview, or narrative, approach to assessment. The teacher-driven test was a one-dimensional, multiple-choice, test. The post-lesson interview was an open-ended interview where student participants were asked to tell a story about what they learned in science. During the interview, students were provided with an opportunity to use various other “languages” to share what was learned. Although the teacher-driven test proved to be a successful assessment “language” for some students, the post-lesson interview empowered more students to express what they learned with more detail. The post-lesson interview also showed that this type of assessment context has the potential to provide useful feedback on lesson quality, future science investigations, and individual student interests. This study also applied an innovative approach to the assessment data by pairing the teacher-driven test with the post-lesson interview. Among other positive results, this unique pairing raised teacher-driven test scores from below average, to above average. This research demonstrated that one-dimensional assessments fail to capture everything students learn. Future research should focus on the creation and application of assessments that allow students to use their preferred assessment “language.”
Ruslan Slutsky, PhD (Committee Chair)
Shauna Adams, EdD (Committee Member)
Florian Feucht, PhD (Committee Member)
Susanna Hapgood, PhD (Committee Member)
183 p.
Early Childhood Education; Education; Educational Tests and Measurements; Elementary Education; Science Education; Teacher Education; Teaching
Assessment; assessment in early childhood; assessment in early childhood science; post-lesson interview as assessment; assessment language; know what students know; one hundred languages; teacher-driven assessment; summative assessment; story of learning

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • North, T. (2018). A Comparison of Two Classroom Assessment Contexts Following a Science Investigation: Does the Use of Interview as an Assessment Tool Provide Different Results than Existing Teacher-Driven Tests? [Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1523432689936995

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • North, Tamala. A Comparison of Two Classroom Assessment Contexts Following a Science Investigation: Does the Use of Interview as an Assessment Tool Provide Different Results than Existing Teacher-Driven Tests? 2018. University of Toledo, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1523432689936995.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • North, Tamala. "A Comparison of Two Classroom Assessment Contexts Following a Science Investigation: Does the Use of Interview as an Assessment Tool Provide Different Results than Existing Teacher-Driven Tests?" Doctoral dissertation, University of Toledo, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=toledo1523432689936995

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

toledo1523432689936995
585
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This open access ETD is published by University of Toledo and OhioLINK.