scholarly journals Culturally Responsive Assessment of Life Science Skills and Abilities: Development, Field Testing, Implementation, and Results

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-366
Author(s):  
Robert H. Zimmerman ◽  
C. June Maker ◽  
Fahad Alfaiz

A research team consisting of educators of gifted students, a scientist, and experts in measurement developed a performance-based assessment of life science skills and abilities. Four high schools in the Southwestern United States were the settings for field testing and implementation. Five levels of ratings were given: unknown, maybe, probably, definitely, and wow. The majority of student scores were in the maybe and probably categories. Using six new measures (concept maps in life and physical science, math problem solving, spatial analytical performance assessment, life science performance assessment and physical science performance assessment), 23 students (M2) were selected for participation in science laboratories at an R1 university along with 20 students (M1) selected by conventional means. When the nine attribute scores of the performance-based assessment were compared, no significant difference was found t(41), p > .38, between M1 and M2 students. Performance-based assessments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) will provide an alternative and a complement to standard achievement tests. They have the potential to identify and nurture exceptionally talented high school students across all demographic groups.

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-328
Author(s):  
Fahad S. Alfaiz ◽  
Randy Pease ◽  
C. June Maker

During the Cultivating Diverse Talent in STEM (CDTIS) Project, a team of scientists, teachers, and a researcher developed a performance-based assessment of high school students’ creative problem-solving skills and ability to apply physical science principles in practical ways. It was one of six measures to identify exceptionally talented students. Students identified using conventional methods (M1), with an average grade point average (GPA) of 3.93, had an average rating of 2.95 on a 5-point scale on the mechanical–technical assessment. The M2 students, who were from schools with high percentages of Hispanic, American Indian, and low socioeconomic status (SES) students, had an average GPA of 3.07 and an average rating of 3.27, demonstrating that this assessment can be an important way to change the cultural and economic balance of students identified as exceptionally talented in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). Other researchers are encouraged to examine the validity of the mechanical–technical assessment to identify exceptionally talented students in different groups.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 334-340
Author(s):  
Sindy Nurinda ◽  
Sajidan Sajidan ◽  
Baskoro Adi Prayitno

Scientific argumentation skill required to be mastered in this era. Unfortunately many students still have strunggle improving their scientific argumentation skills. This study was aimed at describing the effectiveness of ecosystem module grounded in Problem-Based Learning in improving scientific argumentation skills. This research was part of the field testing of R&D, a research and development previously conducted. Research participants included tenth grade senior high school students. Two classes were selected as a control and experiment class. The control class (existing) did not use the module but the experiment class use the module (module class) grounded in Problem Based Learning implemented. Data were collected from written tests and observations. Data analysis used the scoring rubric of scientific argumentation skill aspect which their results were tested with Gain test and independent T-test. The findings showed an increase in scores of the four aspects of scientific argumentation skills from the module class. The highest percentage of aspect was rebuttal aspect (27.27%) followed by evidence 26,06% and reasoning 23.94%, while the aspect of claim increased by 20.61%. The independent t-test results showed that there was a significant difference between pre-test and post-test results of the module class. It can be concluded that the ecosystem module with problem-based learning material was effective to improve students’ scientific argumentation skills. The product of this reasearch can be use as a tools to improve students’ scientific argumentation skills.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuo Mori

We examined whether Japanese people, 47 junior high school students, 49 undergraduates, and 52 older adults, possessed negative attitudes against blacks and the picture book Little Black Sambo. We assessed the implicit attitude toward the target word pairs, “black/white” and “Sambo/Heidi,” by utilizing a paper-based Implicit Association Test and found that both black and Sambo were associated more negatively than white and Heidi. However, the implicit attitudes assessed with a single-target IAT showed that 67 Japanese students showed positive implicit scores for blacks but with smaller valences. A post hoc analysis revealed that the reading experience of Little Black Sambo did not show a significant difference between the implicit attitudes of those who had and had not read the book.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 4277
Author(s):  
Matthias Winfried Kleespies ◽  
Paul Wilhelm Dierkes

The UN's sustainable development goals (SDGs), which aim to solve important economic, social, and environmental problems of humanity, are to be supported by education for sustainable development (ESD). Empirical studies on the success of the implementation of the SDGs in the field of education are still pending. For this reason, using the loss of global biodiversity as an example, this study examined the extent to which high school students, teacher trainees in biology, and biology bachelor students can identify the causes of the global biodiversity loss. A new questioning tool was developed and tested on 889 participants. In addition, the relationship between connection to nature and the personal assessment about biodiversity threats was examined. The factor analysis of the scale used showed that 11 out of 16 items were assigned to the intended factor. The comparison between high school students, teacher trainees in biology, and biology bachelor students showed no significant difference in overall assessment of the reasons for global biodiversity loss. When comparing the three risk levels in which the risk factors for biodiversity could be divided, across the three student groups, only minor differences were found. Therefore, a specific education of prospective teachers is necessary, as they have to pass on the competence as multipliers to their students. No significant difference could be found when examining the relationship between connection to nature and the overall scores of the assessment scale for the reasons of biodiversity loss. However, it was found that people who felt more connected to nature were more capable of assessing the main causes of risk for global biodiversity, while people who felt less connected to nature achieved better scores for the medium factors.


2021 ◽  
pp. 073563312110399
Author(s):  
Ting-Ting Wu ◽  
Jian-Ming Chen

Many countries have incorporated computational thinking (CT) and programming languages into their science and technology courses. Students can improve their CT ability by learning programming languages. Moreover, situated learning enables students to generate knowledge and master problem-solving skills through interaction with situations. This study incorporated Webduino learning and the situated learning strategy into a programming course and analyzed its impact on high school students’ CT ability, learning motivation, and course satisfaction. A quasi-experimental research method was adopted, wherein the experimental group was subjected to the situated learning strategy and the control group was subjected to a traditional teaching method. The study results revealed that integrating Webduino programming with situated learning could effectively improve five categories of CT skills; moreover, the activity models of situated learning enhanced the value and expectation dimensions of learning motivation. In addition, satisfaction with the course content and self-identity slightly improved. However, because teachers were required to elaborate on stories to promote learner engagement with life situations, the time available for programming was limited. Thus, no significant difference was observed in teaching satisfaction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 704-711
Author(s):  
Emre Turegun ◽  

The study aimed to examine the levels of aggression and violence of students and other professional groups who are Düzcespor football fans. For the research model, the survey model, one of the quantitative research types, was chosen. The study's data collection process was carried out during the 2019-2020 season of the Turkey Football Federation, and the population of the study consisted of Düzcespor fans between the ages of 12-68. The sample of the study, on the other hand, consists of 498 people who voluntarily participated in the study using the random sample selection technique. As a result of normality tests (Kolmogorov-Smirnov and Shapiro Wilk), it was determined that the scores obtained from the scales did not show a normal distribution. For this reason, non-parametric tests Mann Whitney-U Test, Kruskal Wallis Test, and Bonferroni Test, one of the Post Hoc tests, were used to determine which group caused the significant difference between the groups as a result of the analysis. Frequency, percentage, minimum, maximum, average, and standard deviation values were also used to analyze the data. The level of significance was determined as p < 0.05. The study's findings showed that Düzcespor supporters had moderate aggression and violent behaviors. There was a significant difference between the variables of gender, age, education level, occupation and income, and aggression and violent behavior. The study results revealed that aggression and tendency to violence are higher in males, younger people, high school students and people with low income.


1970 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 565-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vernon J. Damm

The possible relationships among creativity, intelligence, and self actualization were examined in 208 high school students to determine whether or not consistent self actualization scores existed for subjects high in the first two variables. Students high in both creativity and intelligence had significantly higher scores in self actualization than those obtained by students high in either creativity or intelligence. No significant difference in self actualization was found between students high in creativity only and those high in intelligence only. The results were interpreted as indicating that educational systems should stress both intellectual and creative abilities to achieve the highest level of psychological well being in students.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdallah Mohammad Salem Almahasneh ◽  
Samsiah Abdul-Hamid

Peer assessment training has appeared as potential new tools for enhancing Arab English as foreign language (EFL) high school students on writing performance. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of using peer assessment training on writing performance among Arab EFL high school students. One hundred and twenty students aged fifteen and sixteen years old participated in this study with an equal number of male and female students. The students were from two Arab high schools in Malaysia. This study employed a quasi-experimental research design. Data was collected using Analytical Marking Scale (Alderson, et al., 1995) to assess student’s writing performance in the pretest and posttest. The result of this study shows that there is a significant difference in the writing performances between the experimental and control groups at P &lt; 0.001. The findings suggests that students who have been exposed to peer assessment training write a better draft compared with those students who were only given conventional training in writing an essay, and without the benefit of peer feedback.


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