Facts, concepts, principles, laws, and theories are components of science information. Inferences are made regarding individuals’ knowledge about and understanding of these components based on those individuals’ responses to assessment items or teachers’ questions.
Measurement of knowledge about and understanding science information is challenging for several reasons. One challenge relates to the difference between knowing about and understanding. A second challenge relates to the fact that knowledge about and understanding always involves the measurement of abilities. A third challenge relates to differences in how these components are labeled and defined in the science education literature.
Knowledge about components of science knowledge typically is measured using multiple choice or constructed response items. For instance, knowledge of the boiling point of water could be measured by requiring an individual select 1,000 °C from five temperatures in response to the question: what is...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
American Association for the Advancement of Science (2009) Benchmarks for science literacy. Project 2061. http://www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/online/index.php?txtRef=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eproject2061%2Eorg%2Fpublications%2Fbsl%2Fdefault%2Ehtm%3FtxtRef%3D%26txtURIOld%3D%252Ftools%252Fbsl%252Fdefault%2Ehtm&txtURIOld=%2Fpublications%2Fbsl%2Fonline%2Fbolintro%2Ehtm. June 2011
National Assessment Governing Board (2007) Science Framework for the 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress. National Assessment Governing Board, Washington, DC
National Center for Education Statistics (2007) Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC, http://nces.ed.gov/timss/. June 2011
National Center for Education Statistics (2009) Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC. http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/. June 2011
National Research Council (2011) A framework for K-12 science education: practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Committee on Conceptual Framework for the New K-12 Science Education Standards. National Academies Press, Washington, DC
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this entry
Cite this entry
Champagne, A.B. (2014). Facts, Concepts, Principles, and Theories in Science, Assessment of: An Overview. In: Gunstone, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Science Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6165-0_26-3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6165-0_26-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6165-0
eBook Packages: Springer Reference EducationReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Education