Abstract
Scientific explanation is one of the most core concepts in science education, and its mastery level is crucial for a deep understanding of the nature of science. As a new generation of assessment theory, cognitive diagnostic assessment (CDA) can get the knowledge of students' mastery of fine-grained knowledge. Based on the extant research, this research has formed eight attributes of scientific explanation concepts. By coding the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) test items, a CAD tool was formed. Data collected from 574 Grade 4 students in Hangzhou, China, combined with the data of the United States, Singapore, Australia, the United Kingdom, and Russia, were used in our study. The Deterministic Inputs, Noisy “And” gate (DINA) model was used to analyze the results from three aspects: the probability of mastery of attributes, the international comparison of knowledge states, and the analysis of learning paths. This study provided a new perspective from a CDA approach on the assessment of scientific explanation.
Highlights
One of the goals of science education is to help students become scientifically literate individuals capable of participating in science discourses and practices (McNeill et al, 2006; Anderson, 2013)
We introduced a cognitive diagnostic modeling (CDM)-based methodology to assess students’ ability to construct scientific explanations using the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 Grade 4 science dataset of the United States, Singapore, Russian, the United Kingdom, Australia, and data we collected from Hangzhou, China
Results from our study agreed with previous studies about scientific explanation and scientific literacy at a coarse-grained level (McNeill et al, 2006; Yao and Guo, 2018; Zhan et al, 2019); the information provided at fine-grained levels further illustrated the relationship among the eight attributes
Summary
One of the goals of science education is to help students become scientifically literate individuals capable of participating in science discourses and practices (McNeill et al, 2006; Anderson, 2013). To meet this goal, cultivating students to construct scientific explanations and supporting science teachers in assessing students’ explanations is essential for science learning and teaching around the world The Nest Generation Science Standards (NGSS) Lead States in 2013 include “constructing scientific explanation” as one of the eight science and engineering practices. China 2011, p. 13–14) specifies that “students should be able to know scientific explanations that are based on empirical evidence, scientific knowledge, and scientific reasoning.”
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