Developing the Next Generation of Physics Assessments

TL;DR

This paper introduces new criteria for developing physics assessments aligned with modern science education reforms, demonstrated through revising a traditional assessment item to better evaluate student understanding of concepts and scientific practices.

Contribution

It presents a novel set of criteria for creating assessments that reflect current science education reforms, including scientific practices and crosscutting concepts.

Findings

Assessment items aligned with new criteria better evaluate student understanding.

The case study demonstrates effective revision of traditional assessments.

Assessment development guided by these criteria supports comprehensive science learning.

Abstract

Science education at all levels is currently undergoing dramatic changes to its curricula and developing assessments for these new curricula is paramount. We have used the basis of many of these new changes (scientific practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas) to develop sets of criteria that can be used to guide assessment development for this new curriculum. We present a case study that uses the criteria we have developed to revise a traditional physics assessment item into an assessment item that is much more aligned with the goals of current transformation efforts. Assessment items developed using this criteria can be used to assess student learning of both the concepts and process of science.