Formative Assessments JiTT Quiz Think-pair-share 1-minute paper Clickers with peer discussion Group work followed by report-out Jigsaw Concept maps Homework Projects Many others!

Formative assessments have multiple roles in the classroom 1 Formative assessments have multiple roles in the classroom 1. Assessments help confront misconceptions (http://www.learner.org/resources/series26.html)

A small acorn grows into a large tree A small acorn grows into a large tree. What contributes most to this biomass? a. sun b. water c. air d. soil

2. Assessments help students distinguish between what they know and what they don’t know.

Genetic diseases, like Phenlyketonuria (PKU), confirm that there is a link between an individual’s DNA and that individual’s proteins. Below is a DNA molecule and the amino acid sequence that would result from translating the DNA sequence. 3’CGTTTTACCAAACCGAGTACTGAG 5’GCAAAATGGTTTGGCTCATGACTC TRP-PHE-GLY-SER Which nucleotides are responsible for this particular sequence of amino acids? As a group, write down what you know about DNA and proteins on one side of the white board. On the other side, write what else you need to know to be able to answer this question.

3. Assessments can provide a gauge of progress

Feedback from clickers informs you and your students Value of peer discussion

Clicker example Imagine that earlobe attachment is dictated by a single gene (a simplification), yielding two traits: unattached and attached. Unattached earlobes are due to the dominant allele (top picture) Attached earlobes are due to the recessive allele (bottom picture) From this information, you can conclude: Attached earlobes are seen less frequently than unattached earlobes in a population Attached earlobes are seen more frequently than unattached earlobes in a population Either phenotype could be seen more frequently in a population: you need more information dominant recessive Initial After discussion

4. Formative assessment can aid construction of new knowledge

Darwin at the Olympics (For this exercise, pretend you are a student who is just learning about natural selection) Work with your group to modify the 100-meter dash such that it would become an example of natural selection. Which are actual examples of natural selection, and why?