Assessment Guide for the Solar Rotation Activity

In Class Assessment:

Success in terms of Goal 1, that students skills supporting the ability to perform science as inquiry should be assessed during the class periods in which the activity is performed.

As the students develop strategies in their small groups and as the groups discuss results and methodologies with the greater class, are they making any gains interms of ability to:

• Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions, and models using evidence,
• Think critically and logically to make the relationships between evidence and explanations,
• Recognize and analyze alternative explanations and predictions,
• Communicate scientific procedures and explanations, and to
• Use Mathematics in all aspects of scientific inquiry?

Homework and Assessment:

Students' submissions for the assignments should be evaluated in terms of the goals:

• Goal 1: How well are the students demonstrating the ability to think critically to make relationshis between evidence and explanation, communicating procedures and explanations, and applying well-reasoned mathematics to scientific inquiry?

• Goal 2, to improve students' command of practical geometry skills. Does the student's explanation show significant ability to use visualization, spatial reasoning, and geometric reasoning to solve the problem at hand?

Using Assessment to Inform Improvements

Assessment is a vital tool for Scopes for Schools as we seek to improve and evaluate our activities and our program as a whole. Now that you have had a chance to assess this activity, Scopes for Schools would greatly appreciate a chance to learn from both your specific experience with the activity and your general experience as an educator.

We invite any feedback you care to give, and would especially like to hear about:

• How well the activity met it's goals, as demonstrated by the assessment;
• What we can do in terms of altering the activity itself or the assessment techniques to better meet our goals;
• Any suggestions you have ("shoulds" or "should nots") for future teachers who use this activity.