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Science Teachers’ Representations of Classroom Practice in the Process of Formative Assessment Design

  • Published:
Journal of Science Teacher Education

Abstract

Formative assessment has been recognized as an essential element of effective classroom practice; as a result, teachers are increasingly required to create formative assessments for their classrooms. This study examines data drawn from a long-term, site-based professional development program that supported a department of biology teachers in the iterative design and enactment of common formative assessment tools. We analyze teacher conversations to understand how teachers collaborated to design formative assessments. Results indicate that when teachers attended to problems of practice related to teaching evolution, increased transparency in their talk helped build consensus about the design of formative assessment tools. These results highlight the importance of encouraging transparency in teacher dialog when they are engaged in collaborative design of formative assessments.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by a Research Fellowship from the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Knowles Science Teaching Foundation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 26170, Greensboro, NC, 27402-6170, USA

    Sara C. Heredia

  2. University of Colorado, Boulder, 249 UCB, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA

    Erin Marie Furtak

  3. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Deb Morrison

  4. Western State Colorado University, 600 N. Adams St., Gunnison, CO, 81231, USA

    Ian Parker Renga

Authors
  1. Sara C. Heredia
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  2. Erin Marie Furtak
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  3. Deb Morrison
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  4. Ian Parker Renga
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara C. Heredia.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Sample Questions from the Natural Selection Versus Individual Change Assessment

For each of the following examples, check one box to show whether it is an example of a change in a population through the process of natural selection, or whether the change is at the level of the individual. Then explain why you selected that choice

1. Anthropologists studying the height of human populations over time have noticed that the average height of native-born Americans of has been decreasing since World War II. While the exact cause of this change is unclear, scientists hypothesize it may be related to poverty and associated conditions such as lack of health care and poor diet

□ Natural Selection

□ Individual Change

Why do you think so?

2. Pronghorn antelope are able to run so fast that no known predator is able to catch them

□ Natural Selection

□ Individual Change

Why do you think so?

Appendix 2: Sample Questions from the Revised Formative Assessment

How Did it Come to Be?

Read each of the following scenarios. Based on what you know about natural selection, describe how could these scenarios have come to be

1. Pronghorn antelope are able to run so fast that no known predator alive today is able to catch them. There once was a North American cheetah, which is now extinct

2. Arctic hares live in the harsh environment of the North American tundra. In the winter, the hares have a white coat of fur, helping them to blend in with ice and snow. In the summer, their coat turns a gray-blue that matches rocks and plants in their environment

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Heredia, S.C., Furtak, E.M., Morrison, D. et al. Science Teachers’ Representations of Classroom Practice in the Process of Formative Assessment Design. J Sci Teacher Educ 27, 697–716 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10972-016-9482-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10972-016-9482-3

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