Assessment What are the questions? What evidence will we accept? Diane Ebert-May Department of Plant Biology Michigan State University

The trouble with our times is that the future is not what it used to be. -Paul Valery, The Art of Poetry

Question 1 Students learn science best by doing science. Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree

Question 2 Science should be taught as it is practiced. Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree

Learners doing science...

Question 3 How important is it to use multiple kinds of data to assess student learning? Please respond on a scale if in increments of 10:

How important is it to use multiple forms of data to assess student learning? % Relative Importance n=127

Question 4 How often do you use data to make instructional decisions? Please respond on a scale of in increments of 10:

How often do you use data to make instructional decisions? n=127 Frequency %

Question 5 Large (+200) introductory science/engr lectures are active learning environments. Please respond on a scale of 1-5: 1=strongly agree; 2=agree; 3=neutral; 4= disagree; 5=strongly disagree

Where on the continuum is the ideal classroom ? Question 6

Where on the continuum is your classroom? Question 7

Examples to View

Where on the continuum is the ideal classroom ? Question 6b

Where on the continuum is your classroom? Question 7b

Question 8 True or False? Assessing student learning in science parallels what scientists do as researchers.

1. Description: -What is happening? 2. Cause: -Does ‘x’ (teaching strategy) affect ‘y’ (understanding)? 3. Process or mechanism: -Why or how does ‘x’ cause ‘y’? Parallel: ask questions

We collect data to find out what our students know. Data helps us understand student thinking about concepts and content. We use data to guide decisions about course/curriculum/innovative instruction Parallel: collect data

Quantitative data - statistical analysis Qualitative data break into manageable units and define coding categories search for patterns, quantify interpret and synthesize Valid and repeatable measures Parallel: analyze data

Ideas and results are peer reviewed - formally and/or informally. Parallel: peer review

What is assessment? Data collection with the purpose of answering questions about… students’ understanding students’ attitudes students’ skills instructional design and implementation curricular reform (at multiple grainsizes)

Research Methods

Why do assessment? Improve student learning and development. Provides students and faculty substantive feedback about student understanding. Challenge to use disciplinary research strategies to assess learning.

Data collection approaches

Multiple Choice … … Concept Maps … … Essay … … Interview high Ease of Assessment low low Potential for Assessment of Learning high Theoretical Framework Ausubel 1968; meaningful learning Novak 1998; visual representations King and Kitchner 1994; reflective judgment National Research Council 1999; theoretical frameworks for assessment Assessment Gradient

“Few faculty members have any awareness of the expanding knowledge about learning from psychology and cognitive science. Almost no one in the academy has mastered or used this knowledge base. One of my colleagues observed that if doctors used science the way college teachers do, they would still be trying to heal with leeches." J.J. Duderstadt (2001), president emeritus of the University of Michigan, in "A University for the 21st Century."

System Model

Model for Learning - System

Does active, inquiry-based instructional design influence students’ understanding of evolution and natural selection? Pre-Posttest Analysis

■ Changes in a population occur through a gradual change in individual members of a population. ■ New traits in species are developed in response to need. ■ All members of a population are genetically equivalent, variation and fitness are not considered. ■ Traits acquired during an individual’s lifetime will be inherited by offspring. Alternative Conceptions: Natural Selection

(AAAS 1999) Explain the changes that occurred in the tree and animal. Use your current understanding of evolution by natural selection.

Misconception: individuals evolve new traits % of Students n=80; p<.01

Misconception: evolution is driven by need % of Students n=80; p<.01

In guppy populations, what are the primary changes that occur gradually over time? a. The traits of each individual guppy within a population gradually change. b. The proportions of guppies having different traits within a population change. c. Successful behaviors learned by certain guppies are passed on to offspring. d. Mutations occur to meet the needs of the guppies as the environment changes. Anderson et al 2002

Posttest: Student responses to mc % of Students n=171 *

Animal/Tree Posttest: Gain in student understanding of fitness % of Students n=80; p<.01

Quantitative Data Qualitative Data Design Experiment Ebert-May et al Bioscience

How do assessment questions help us determine students’ prior understanding and progressive thinking about the carbon cycle. Question

Instructional Design Two class meetings on carbon cycle (160 minutes) Active, inquiry-based learning – Cooperative groups – Questions, group processing, large lecture sections, small discussion sections, multi-week laboratory investigation – Homework problems including web-based modules Different faculty for each course – One graduate/8-10 undergraduate TAs per course

Experimental Design Two introductory courses for majors: Bio 1 - organismal/population biology (faculty A) Bio 2 - cell and molecular biology (faculty B) Three cohorts: Cohort 1 Bio 1 (n=141) Cohort 2 Bio1/Bio2 (n=63) Cohort 3 Other/Bio2 (n=40)

Assessment Design Multiple iterations/versions of the carbon cycle problem Pretest, midterm, final with additional formative assessments during class Administered during instruction Semester 1 - pretest, midterm, final exam Semester 2 - final exam

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 Johnson’s 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.

Analysis of Responses Used same scoring rubric (coding scheme) for all three problems - calibrated by adding additional criteria when necessary, rescoring: Examined two major concepts: Concept 1: Decomposers respire CO 2 Concept 2: Plants uptake of CO 2 Explanations categorized into two groups: Organisms (trophic levels) Processes (metabolic)

Coding Scheme

Correct Student Responses (%) Cellular Respiration by Decomposers Bio1/Bio2Other/Bio2 Friedmans, p<0.01

Pathway of Carbon in Photosynthesis Bio1/Bio2 Correct Student Responses (%) Other/Bio2 Friedmans, p<0.05

IRD Team at MSU Janet Batzli - Plant Biology [U of Wisconsin] Doug Luckie - Physiology Scott Harrison - Microbiology (grad student) Tammy Long - Plant Biology Jim Smith - Zoology Deb Linton - Plant Biology (postdoc) Heejun Lim - Chemistry Education Duncan Sibley - Geology *National Science Foundation

What is the question? What research and instructional designs? What data collection methods? How to analyze and interpret data? Are findings valid and generalizable? What are the next questions? WHO? What evidence will we accept?