Assessment in the science classroom

Abstract

This paper reports on research into two teachers' views and practices about assessment at the classroom level. Emphasis was given to practical work and its assessment. Findings suggest it is unhelpful to define practical work as distinct from other activities in the science classroom. Various methods used for assessing activity within the participant teachers' classrooms are described. The participant teachers were found to be primarily concerned about issues of ‘fairness’: task validity, reliability of assessment based on co-operative work and assessment of the affective domain. The place of teacher intuition in assessment is raised and briefly discussed. Directions for the ongoing research are foreshadowed.