Chemistry Facets: Formative Assessment to Improve Student Understanding in Chemistry

Angela Haydel DeBarger, Reina Fujii, Nora Sabelli, Tina Stanford

Supported by research on students' preconceptions, particularly in science, and their need to build on the knowledge and skills that students bring to the classroom, this project will implement a facets-of-thinking perspective to improve formative assessment in high school chemistry. Its goals are: (1) to develop clusters of facets (students' ideas and understandings) related to key chemistry concepts; (2) to develop items that diagnose facets within each cluster; (3) to enhance the existing web-based Diagnoser assessment system for administering items, reporting results, and providing teacher resource materials for interpreting and using the assessment data; (4) to develop teacher professional development and resource materials to support their use of facet-based approaches; and (5) to examine whether student learning in chemistry improves in classes that incorporate a facet-based assessment system. Anticipated sets of products include: (a) 16-20 facet clusters, and 12-20 validated items per clusters; (b) teacher resources including elicitation questions and classroom activities related to each cluster, and a framework for professional development; and (c) a web-based Diagnoser for chemistry, including student assessments and teacher resource materials. The evaluation plan consists of three components: (1) a small-scale experimental study to examine the efficacy of the use of Diagnoser with Washington and California high school chemistry students and teachers, (2) an Advisory Board to monitor and assess the work, and (3) an external evaluator who will assess the facet and item development, as well as factors affecting implementation.

9/2007 - 8/2011 (current)

Funders & Clients 

National Science Foundation

Partners 

Research Areas

Assessment
Learning Environments
Teacher Learning
Technology Development

Keywords 

chemistry
formative assessment
science assessment
teacher professional development
technology-supported assessment