Purpose: This project will develop and study the feasibility of using virtual performance assessments to assess middle grade (6th and 7th) students' science inquiry learning in a standardized testing setting.
Outcomes: To develop virtual performance assessments that are valid, reliable, and feasible way to measure middle school students inquiry learning.
Content: The content will be based on the National Science Education Standards (NSES) for 6th and 7th grades.
Assessment Development/Framework: To insure construct validity, we plan to use a modified version of the Evidence Centered Design framework.
RQ 1: Can we construct a virtual assessment that measures scientific inquiry, as defined by the NSES? What is the evidence that our assessments are designed to test NSES inquiry abilities?
RQ 2: Are these assessments reliable?
RQ 1: We will conduct an alignment study to test the alignment of questions to inquiry standards and test performance expectations (Webb, 1999; Quellmalz, Kreikemeier, Haydel-DeBarger, Haertel, 2006; Quellmalz, 2007) as well as cognitive studies to ensure our questions are measuring what we intend them to measure (Baxter & Glaser, 1998; Messick, 1989; Quellmalz, 2007).
RQ 2: We will conduct generalizability studies (G-study) on their effectiveness (Cronbach, Gleser, Nanda, & Rajaratnam, 1972; Shavelson & Webb, 1991).
Funders: The United States Department of Education, Institute of Educational Sciences (IES)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Christopher Dede
Contact: Jody Clarke, email: jec294 at mail dot harvard dot edu