questions.17 In addition to these state programs, it is worth considering an inter- national example of how a performance task can be included in a monitoring assessment.
Assessment Task Example 10, Floating and Sinking: To create standards for sci- ence education in Switzerland, a framework was designed that is similar to the U.S. framework. Assessments aligned with the Swiss framework were developed and administered to samples of students in order to obtain empirical data for spec- ifying the standards. Like the U.S. framework, the Swiss framework defined three dimensions of science education—which they called skills, domains, and levels— and emphasized the idea of three-dimensional science learning. The domain dimension includes eight themes central to science, technology, society, and the environment (e.g., motion, force and energy, structures and changes of matter, eco- systems). The skills dimension covers scientific skills similar to the scientific prac- tices listed in the U.S. framework. For each skill, several subskills are specified. For the skill “to ask questions and to investigate,” five subskills are defined: (1) to look at phenomena more attentively, to explore more precisely, to observe, to describe, and to compare; (2) to raise questions, problems, and hypothesis; (3) to choose and apply suitable tools, instruments, and materials; (4) to conduct inves- tigations, analyses, and experiments; and (5) to reflect on results and examination methods (see Labudde et al., 2012).
To collect evidence about student competence with respect to the frame- work, Swiss officials identified a set of experts to develop assessments. From the outset, this group emphasized that traditional approaches to assessment (e.g., paper-and-pencil questions assessing factual knowledge and simplistic understand- ings) would not be sufficient for evaluating the integrated learning reflected by the combinations of domains and skills in the framework. As a result, the group decided to follow the example of the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which (in its 1995 iteration) included an add-on study that used per- formance tasks to assess students’ inquiry skills in 21 countries (Harmon et al., 1997). One of the performance tasks used for defining standards in science educa- tion in Switzerland is shown in Figure 5-4, and, for use in this report, has been translated from German to English.
17Examples are available at http://www.nysedregents.org/Grade4/Science/home.html and http://
R02484 FIG5-4a convert.eps Floating and Sinking You have
One ship
Two large discs (each weighing 10 grams)
Two small discs
(each weighing 4 grams) A candle
Your ship can be loaded in different ways. We will try out one way. Question 1
One small disc is placed as cargo in the ship. The disc is placed on the inside edge of the ship, not in the center. What will happen when you put the ship in the water?
In the space below, draw a picture of what you think will happen. On the lines below, write an explanation of what you think will happen.
Scoring Rubric for Question 1 3 Points:
Drawing/answer that reflects the following ideas: The ship is floating but is tilted to one side. The placement of the disc on the inside edge of the ship caused the ship to float unevenly.
FIGURE 5-4 Sample performance-based task.
NOTES: The English translation of the three examples of answers are as follows “the little boat is heavy on the one side (at code 2)”; “it remains on the top of the water, but the little boat is inclined and water is coming in” (code 1, drawing on the left); “it tilts over” (code 1, drawing on the right).
R02484 FIG5-4b convert.eps
2 Points:
Drawing/answer that reflects the following concept: The ship is floating but is tilted to one side. There is no explanation for why it tilts.
1 Point:
Drawing/answer that indicates that the ship floats, but there is no recognition that the off-center placement of the weight causes the ship to float unevenly.
0 Points:
Drawing/answer that indicates that the ship sinks—or other answers/drawings.
Question 2
a. Place the disc in the ship as was demonstrated for question 1. b. Place the ship onto the water..
c. Observe what happens..
d. In the space below, draw a picture of what happened. On the lines below, write an explanation of what happened.
Scoring Rubric for Question 2 2 Points:
The drawing contains the following elements: the water surface, the ship floating tilted in the water, the lowest point of the ship is the side containing the disc. The written
explanation indicates that the ship floats but is tilted.
1 Point :
The drawing contains some points of the correct solution (e.g., it may contain two elements, such as the water surface and tilted ship, but part of the explantion is missing).
0 Points: Other
R02484 FIG5-4c convert.eps Example Responses 2 Points 1 Point 1 Point 0 Points
Translation: The disc makes the ship heavy on one side.
Translation: The ship floats but tilts and water comes in. Translation: It turns over. Translation: It constantly moves to the edge. FIGURE 5-4 Continued
R02484 FIG5-4d convert.eps
Question 3
What else would you like to know about the shipand what happens when it is loaded with the discs? Write your question below.
______________________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
Scoring Rubric for Question 3
Types of Questions:
a. Does the ship sink when I load it evenly with all four discs? b. What happens if I load the ship with two large discs?
3 Points:
Question or hypotheses of type a
2 Points:
Question or hypotheses of type b
1 Points:
No real question/question not related to material/problem recognizable
0 Points:
Other questions (e.g., How far does it splash when I throw the discs into the water?) or statements (e.g., Put the disc into) the ship.
Question 4
Research your question. Perform an experiment to find the answer to your question. Draw and write down what you have found out.
R02484 FIG5-4d convert.eps
Scoring Rubric for Question 4 2 Points:
Answer fullfills the following criteria:
a. Tight relation to question: Design provides answer to the posed question/problem. b. The observations (drawing and text together) are detailed (e.g., The ship tilted to the
left, the load fell off and sank quickly).
1 Point:
Answer fullfills the following criteria:
a. Somewhat connected to the question: Design is at least directed toward the posed question/problem.
b. The observations (drawing and text together) are understandable but incomplete or not detailed (e.g., The ship tilted).
0 Points Other answers
Question 5
Consider what you could learn from the experiments you have just done. Mark “Learned” if the statement indicates something you could find out from these experiments. Mark “Not Learned” if it is something you could not learn from these experiments.
[Below, the correct answers are indicated with an X.]
Learned Not Learned
X When discs are placed at the edge of a ship, it can turn over and sink.
X Ships need a motor.
X The heavier a ship is, the deeper it sinks into the water.
X A ship made from metal can be loaded with iron and still float.
X Round ships float better than long ships.
This task was one of several designed for use with students in 2nd grade. As part of the data collection activities, the tasks were given to 593 students; each student responded to two tasks and were given 30 minutes per task. The task was designed primarily to assess the student’s skills in asking questions and investigating (more specifically, to look at phenomena more attentively, to explore more precisely, to observe, to describe, and to compare), within the domain of “motion, force and energy”: for this task, the focus was on floating and sinking, or buoyancy in different contexts. The full task consisted of eight questions. Some of the questions involved placing grapes in water; other questions involved load- ing weights in a small “ship” and placing it in water. Figure 5-4 shows an excerpt from the portion of the task that involves the ship (see Table 1-1 for the specific disciplinary core ideas, scientific practices, and crosscutting concepts assessed).
In the excerpt shown in the figure, the first two activities ask students to observe a weighted ship floating on water and to describe their observations. Students were given a cup half full of water, a small ship, four metal discs (two large discs and two small discs), and a candle.18 Students were instructed to (1) place the metal discs in the ship so they rested on the inside edge of the ship (i.e., off center); (2) place the ship into the water; (3) observe what happens; and (4) draw and describe in writing what they observed. The test proctor read the instructions out loud to the students and demonstrated how the discs should be placed in the ship and how the ship should be put into the water. The task included two additional activities. For one, students were asked to formulate a question and carry out an experiment to answer it. In the final section of the task, students were asked a series of questions about the type of information that could be learned from the experiments in the tasks. The figure shows the rubric and scoring criteria for the open-ended questions and the answer key for the final question. Sample responses are shown for the second activity.
As can be seen from this example, the task is about buoyancy, but it does not focus on assessing students’ knowledge about what objects float (or do not float) or why objects float (or do not float). It also does not focus on students’ general skill in observing a phenomenon and describing everything that has been observed. Instead, students had to recognize that the phenomenon to observe is about floating and sinking—more specifically, that when weights are placed off center in the ship, they cause the ship to float at an inclined angle or even to sink. Moreover, they were expected to recognize the way in which the off-center
load will cause the ship to tilt in the water. The task was specifically focused on the integration of students’ knowledge about floating and sinking with their skill in observing and describing the key information. And the scoring criteria were directed at assessing students’ ability to observe a phenomenon based on what they know about the phenomenon (i.e., what characteristics are important and how these characteristics are related to each other). Thus, the task provides an example of a set of questions that emphasize the integration of core ideas, cross- cutting concepts, and practices.