Thursday, December 6 8:00 AM–12:00 PM

SC-1: It All Begins with a Rock: Earth Science Made Fun

Sheraton Birmingham Hotel, Medical Forum A

Ticketed Event: $26 advance; $33 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Birmingham Advance Registration Form.

Learn some hands-on tools that will help you assess how well your students are learning and retaining earth science. By relating rocks and minerals to everyday living, students are better able to understand their importance in our world. Tools include creative writing, math, social studies, and economics activities and games that are aligned with the national standards and integrated for use in many classes.

Participants will explore energy conservation, reclamation, environmental issues, and basic geological information through these easy, inexpensive activities. You’ll learn basic mineral identification, study the rock cycle, and match everyday products with a sample. Using raw materials, you will make a marketable product and then develop a campaign to market it. A board game shows the mineral resources in our country and develops mapping skills, bringing geography and minerals together. Leave with a complete reproducible packet of all material presented. We invite you to visit our website at www.womeninmining.org.

Presenter(s): Arloa Woolford (Women in Mining Education Foundation, Winnemucca, Nev.); Carol Berry (Women in Mining Education Foundation, Pleasant Grove, Calif.)

FORMAT: Short course
GRADE LEVEL: Grades 4–9
CONFERENCE STRAND: Assessment: Connecting Research to Practice

Thursday, December 6 8:00–9:00 AM

To Know What They Know (Or Don't Know)

Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, North Meeting Room E

Participate in biology activities that will be evaluated using research-based formative assessments. Learn quick and effective strategies to gauge student understanding in the biology classroom.

Presenter(s): Tammy P. Dunn (Jefferson County School System: Birmingham, AL)

FORMAT: Workshop
SUBJECT: Biology
GRADE LEVEL: Middle Level-High School
CONFERENCE STRAND: Assessment: Connecting Research to Practice

Thursday, December 6 12:30–1:30 PM

Manipulating Inquiry

Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, North Meeting Room E

Learn how to use manipulatives with inquiry to promote and evaluate chemistry concept understanding for content such as chemical nomenclature, reaction types/balancing equations, and stoichiometry. Templates provided.

Presenter(s): Brenda M. Rinehart (Thompson High School: Alabaster, AL); Michelle Holdbrooks (Thompson High School: Alabaster, AL)

FORMAT: Workshop
SUBJECT: Chemistry
GRADE LEVEL: High School
CONFERENCE STRAND: Assessment: Connecting Research to Practice

Thursday, December 6 2:00–3:00 PM

Science Notebooks: A Tool for Organizing Science Literacy in Grades 6–8

Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, North Meeting Room F

Help middle school students improve science, math, reading, and writing scores in a manner that can serve as formative, summative, holistic, and analytical assessment.

Presenter(s): Sandy Ledwell (Alabama Dept. of Education: Montgomery, AL)

FORMAT: Presentation
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: Middle Level
CONFERENCE STRAND: Assessment: Connecting Research to Practice

Thursday, December 6 3:30–4:30 PM

Assessments for Science Notebooks and Hands-On Learning

Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, North Meeting Room F

Elementary teachers—learn how to incorporate the scientific method in science notebooks, and how to use them as an assessment tool. See examples of assessments that can be used for all levels of students in an elementary classroom.

Presenter(s): Valerie R. Sweeney (McDavid Jones Elementary School: Citronelle, AL)

FORMAT: Presentation
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: Elementary
CONFERENCE STRAND: Assessment: Connecting Research to Practice

Friday, December 7 8:00–9:00 AM

Embedded Formative Assessment in the Science (EFAS)

Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, North Meeting Room E

EFAS is ideal for start-up activities—eliciting responses from students; administering pre/post-tests and benchmark tests; and quizzing on homework, reading assignments, and laboratory work. Handouts provided.

Presenter(s): Greg Dodd (George Washington High School: Charleston, WV)

FORMAT: Workshop
SUBJECT: Chemistry
GRADE LEVEL: Middle Level-College
CONFERENCE STRAND: Assessment: Connecting Research to Practice

Friday, December 7 11:00 AM–12:00 PM

Using Formative Assessments to Uncover Student Misconceptions: Bridging Research and Practice

Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, North Meeting Room E

This workshop models research-supported, inquiry-based instruction using formative assessment techniques to expose student misconceptions and drive curricular progress. Student success is displayed with performance assessments.

Presenter(s): Stephanie Levens (North Broward Preparatory School: Coconut Creek, FL)

FORMAT: Workshop
SUBJECT: Chemistry
GRADE LEVEL: High School
CONFERENCE STRAND: Assessment: Connecting Research to Practice

Friday, December 7 11:00 AM–12:00 PM

Assessing for Learning—Bringing Students to Success

BJCC, East Ballroom A

As a nation we are committed to leaving no child behind. Yet the assessment practices to which we have traditionally held are not sufficient to bring each child to success in the learning process. We need a balanced assessment program, assessment of and for learning that meets all users of assessment and acknowledges the student as the primary user. This talk will focus on the power of assessment for learning to maximize students’ desire to learn and ultimately to maximize their achievement. I will share the research behind assessment for learning and behind the motivation to learn.

Presenter(s): Carol A. Commodore, Founding Member, Leadership, Learning and Assessment, LLC, Oconomowoc, Wis.

Bio: Dr. Carol Commodore is the founding member of Leadership, Learning and Assessment, LLC. She is also one of the founding members of the Wisconsin Assessment Consortium and an independent consultant with Educational Testing Service’s Assessment Training Institute of Portland, Oregon. Carol was a classroom teacher for over 20 years and for another 11 years held administrative positions in education. Carol’s research interests focus on the impact of assessment and instruction on learners and their learning.

FORMAT: Featured Speaker
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: General
CONFERENCE STRAND: Assessment: Connecting Research to Practice

Friday, December 7 12:30–1:30 PM

Project Based Learning in the Middle School Classroom

Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, North Meeting Room D

This presentation will include project ideas and scoring rubrics for middle school science. Topics will include forces and motion, nutrition, electricity, biomes, food chemistry, and more. Handouts!

Presenter(s): Linda D. Wenndt (Alabama School of Fine Arts: Birmingham, AL)

FORMAT: Presentation
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: Middle Level
CONFERENCE STRAND: Assessment: Connecting Research to Practice

Friday, December 7 2:00–5:00 PM

SC-8: Basic Principles of Effective Assessments

Sheraton Birmingham Hotel, Medical Forum C

Ticketed Event: $50 advance; $57 on-site

Purchase tickets when you register online or on the Birmingham Advance Registration Form.

Are you assessing for learning or still learning to assess? Using assessments to inform instruction is a paradigm shift that is often difficult and daunting. The objectives of this short course are to help you determine the purpose of assessments, deal with preconceptions, determine what students really need to know, differentiate types of assessments, understand the basic principles of effective assessment, and understand options for assessment.

Assessment tools such as rubrics, thinking maps, journals, and ranking tasks are valuable resources. This short course will take you through the process of developing assessments (formative and summative) that will target conceptual understandings. We will use sample student data and identify the preconceptions in their answers.

By the end of this workshop, you will have your own toolbox to use in creating assessments, including an awareness of current research on what works in classrooms and how students learn.

Presenter(s): Karen Jo Matsler (Independent Consultant, Arlington, Tex.)

FORMAT: Short course
GRADE LEVEL: Middle Level–College
CONFERENCE STRAND: Assessment: Connecting Research to Practice

Saturday, December 8 8:00–9:00 AM

Alternative Assessment Using TIPERs (Tasks Inspired by Physics Education Research)

Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, North Meeting Room D

The varied T(asks)IPERs are intended for physics instructors who are looking for more conceptual analysis in their course. Participants will become familiar with the tasks and develop some of their own.

Presenter(s): Elizabeth Holsenbeck (Alabama State University: Montgomery, AL)

FORMAT: Presentation
SUBJECT: Physics
GRADE LEVEL: High School-College
CONFERENCE STRAND: Assessment: Connecting Research to Practice

Saturday, December 8 9:30–10:00 AM

The World Is Flat: An Inservice-Preservice Model to Identify and Change Misconceptions That Children Have About Science

Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex, North Meeting Room D

A work in progress to help teachers identify student misconceptions, drive instruction, and evaluate changes in student achievement will be shared with participants.

Presenter(s): Robert C. Barkman (Springfield College: Springfield, MA); Julie Smist (Springfield College: Springfield, MA)

FORMAT: Presentation
SUBJECT: General Science
GRADE LEVEL: Elementary-Middle Level/College
CONFERENCE STRAND: Assessment: Connecting Research to Practice