Assessing science teaching and learning

Assessment is an integral component of everything that you do as a teacher. The importance of assessment cannot be underestimated. This importance arises due to assessment being the tool that provides feedback to the student, teacher, school administration, and parents and caregivers about the effectiveness ofleaming and instruction in the classroom. With state and national level assessment, such as Queensland Core Skills (QCS) test, Higher School Certificate (HSC) in New South Wales and National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) nationally, it can be seen that it provides the lens through which classroom activity, student learning and teacher effectiveness are determined. By the end of this chapter, you will have a good understanding of assessment as a tool for measuring student performance and, more importantly, as a tool used by the teacher and student to make the classroom a highly effective learning environment. You will also understand the differing requirements relating to assessment and reporting imposed on teachers at the federal and state level. This chapter will present to you some of the theory behind how teachers approach the development of assessment tasks in science. You will be introduced to a number of ideas, including the use of formative assessment, used primarily as a means of informing both the student and teacher about progress and as a means of diagnosing learning challenges, and summative assessment, which will form the basis of measuring and reporting student progress. The opportunity to consider the different roles of assessment as it relates to learning will also be provided.