All Assessment resources

Lesson Plan

Human Body Basics

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about levels of organization in the human body. The probe is designed to find out whether students recognize cells as the basic unit of both structure and function in living organism...

By Page Keeley

Assessment Life Science

Lesson Plan

Functions of Living Things

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about life processes. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize that plants and animals share several life functions, even though they are seemingly very different orga...

By Page Keeley

Assessment Life Science

Lesson Plan

Wet Jeans

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the water cycle. The probe is designed to reveal whether students recognize that water goes into the air around us after it evaporates. ...

By Page Keeley

Assessment Earth & Space Science Physical Science

Lesson Plan

Beach Sand

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about beach formation. It is designed to reveal whether students use concepts of weathering, erosion, and deposition to explain how a beach made up of tiny rock particles formed. ...

By Page Keeley

Assessment Earth & Space Science

Lesson Plan

Mountain Age

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about processes that affect the shape of mountains. The probe is designed to reveal whether students understand the role of weathering in shaping mountains. ...

By Page Keeley

Assessment Earth & Space Science

Lesson Plan

Gazing at the Moon

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about the Earth-Sun-Moon system. The probe is designed to uncover students’ ideas about Moon phases and whether they think the phase of the Moon changes with geographic location. ...

By Page Keeley

Assessment Earth & Space Science

Lesson Plan

Going Through a Phase

The purpose of this assessment probe is to elicit students’ ideas about Moon phases. The probe is designed to find out if students recognize the role of light reflection and the positional relationship between the Earth, Moon, and Sun in understand...

By Page Keeley

Assessment Earth & Space Science

NSTA Press Book

Once Upon a Physical Science Book: 12 Interdisciplinary Activities to Create Confident Readers

Download and read a sample chapter from this book to learn more. The authors of this book have been in your shoes. These experienced science teachers know what it’s like to work with students who struggle to understand their science texts. Once Up...

By Jodi Wheeler-Toppen, Matthew Hackett, Karen Kraus

Informal Education Middle School Physical Science Assessment Curriculum Instructional Materials NGSS Performance Expectations Science and Engineering Practices Teaching Strategies Three-Dimensional Learning Interdisciplinary Literacy

Journal Article

Concept Maps for Structuring Instruction and as a Potential Assessment Tool in a Large Introductory Science Course

Concept maps make connections between ideas apparent, and thus would seem ideally suited to demonstrate learning. Yet, they are not widely used by instructors, particularly in large university classes. In this paper we review the strengths and rati...

By Carl-Georg Bank and Heidi Daxberger

Postsecondary Assessment Preservice Science Education Teacher Preparation

Journal Article

Measuring Computational Thinking Teaching Efficacy Beliefs of Preservice Elementary Teachers

With the release of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), assessing K–12 science teachers’ self-efficacy in Computational Thinking (CT) is an important research gap to study. Bandura defines self-efficacy as awareness of the individual�...

By Erdogan Kaya, Anna Newley, Ezgi Yesilyurt, and Hasan Deniz

Postsecondary Assessment Curriculum

Journal Article

Uncovering Parent’s and Children’s Ideas in Science

By Page Keeley

Early Childhood Elementary Assessment

NSTA Press Book

The NSTA Atlas of the Three Dimensions

Download and read a sample chapter from this book to learn more.A key aspect of learning in K–12 education is the idea that what students know and are able to do grows and evolves over time. Simple ideas learned in the early elementary grades gain...

By Ted Willard

Early Childhood Elementary High School Middle School Preschool General Science Assessment Crosscutting Concepts Disciplinary Core Ideas Instructional Materials Learning Progression NGSS Three-Dimensional Learning New Science Teachers Preservice Science Education Professional Learning old Research Teacher Preparation Administrators

Journal Article

Constructive Error Climate: A Classroom Assessment Technique in Science Classes

Although making errors in the learning process is common, it is usually perceived by students as something negative and a potential threat to self-esteem. Such perception often prevents students from considering errors as learning opportunities. By...

By Yunteng He

Postsecondary Assessment Preservice Science Education Research

Blog Post

Supporting Equity in the Classroom

Middle School Elementary High School Assessment Multilingual Learners Equity NGSS Preservice Science Education Professional Learning old Teacher Preparation Teaching Strategies