Learning Progressions, Assessment of

Synonyms

Construct map; Foundational knowledge; Instruction-assisted development; Learning pathways; Learning progressions; Teaching and learning sequences

Introduction

“Learning progressions” in science is generally defined based on the statements written at Taking Science to School: Learning and Teaching Science in Grades K-8 (National Research Council [NRC] 2007) and subsequently at Learning Progressions in Science: An Evidence-Based Approach to Reform (Corcoran et al. 2009). Synthetic definition about learning progressions (hereafter LPs) addressed in common at the two reports is:

• Descriptions of the successively more sophisticated ways of thinking about and using core scientific concepts and practices

• Empirically grounded and testable hypotheses about children’s learning pathways with appropriate instructional practices

• Learning pathways that children can follow one another over a broad span of time

Since the above formal addressing, there have been many studies on LPs, and at the...