Formative Assessment in the AP Science Classroom
Ryan Fedewa, Stevenson High School
I attended this session to learn different approaches for formative assessments that could be applied to all AP Science courses; not just physics. While Standards Based Grading (SBG) wasn’t explicitly mentioned, some aspects of the presenters formative assessments would align. I would imagine a tool like BlueHarvest would also work well.
- 5 Formative Assessment characteristics
- the provision of effective feedback to students
- the active involvement of student in their own learning
- the adjustment of teaching to take into account the results of the assessment
- the recognition of the profound influence assessment has on the motivation and self-esteems of students, both of which are critical influences on learning
- the need for students to be able to assess themselves and understand how to improve
- “We’re going to let our students know where they’re at, and let them know how they can improve from there.”
- Example Tools
- administered weekly 5-10 question multiple choice quiz as the source of the data
- also included unit exams and final exam (but will exclude final exam next year)
- plan to incorporate practice AP exams and practice ACT exams
- tagged each question with a science skill as well as a science content area
- College Board Science Practices work well as tags