Assessment Of Conceptual Understanding Research Articles

ASSESSMENT OF CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING IN STUDENT LEARNING OF MOON PHASES

Many research studies have shown that lower-secondary school students’ scientific literacy depends on their understanding of corresponding scientific concepts. Therefore, it is of great significance to model and assess students’ conceptual understanding in learning specific scientific concepts, because it can reflect and diagnose students’ cognitive characteristics, so as to provide evidence for targeted educational interventions. However, on the topic of Moon Phases, existing research studies have deficiencies in the evaluation and analysis of different levels of students’ conceptual understanding, which restrict teachers to take effective educational interventions to help them. Thus, this study explored a new level division and an assessment test for revealing and explaining students’ different conceptual understanding in learning Moon Phases. This study was conducted among 768 Chinese lower-secondary school students. Through a variety of quantitative and qualitative analyses, it was found that students’ conceptual understanding of Moon Phases can be divided into three levels of continuous improvement, including the mechanical memory of different phenomena of moon phases, the formation of a preliminary mental model of Moon Phases, and the construction of a complete mental model of Moon Phases. Accordingly, this study made some precise suggestions for effectively improving students’ conceptual understanding of Moon Phases. Keywords: assessment of conceptual understanding, level division, Moon Phases, quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis

The Novelty Effect on Assessment Interventions: a Qualitative Replication Study of Oral Performance Assessment in Undergraduate Mathematics

This paper reports on a qualitative replication study investigating the impact of the novelty effect on findings from interventions about the assessment of mathematics at university. The replication study used the same data collection tools of a previous study on oral assessment of mathematics, but data were collected in a context where oral assessment is the norm. We aimed to find whether the results of the two studies were comparable and whether there was plausible evidence of an impact of novelty effect on the findings of the original study. The findings of the current study appear to be comparable to those of the original study. Students associate oral assessment with the assessment of conceptual understanding and written assessment with the assessment of procedures; they report being more anxious about the oral assessment, but they perceive oral assessment as a better learning experience than closed book exams. However, in a culture where oral assessment is the norm, we found students engaging with learning also following considerations of the difficulties of other modules taken in the same period of their degree. Finally, in this culture, oral communication of mathematics is also much valued.

Comparing synchronous and asynchronous online discussions for students with disabilities: The impact of social presence

The affordances of online learning have the potential to improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities by allowing customization and flexibility to meet individual needs. However, there are significant executive function and language processing demands that may be particularly challenging for this population. With that in mind, interventions guided by social presence theory may increase students' ability to engage in online settings. This study implemented a computer mediated, blended classroom setting in order to assess students’ understanding of statistics concepts following synchronous and asynchronous online, video-based discussion sessions. Social presence theory predicts that the immediacy of synchronous interactions should improve social presence, thereby increasing student engagement and performance. Data was collected from 105 students with high-incidence disabilities using a mixed methods experimental design with a within subjects quantitative component. Our findings indicate that while students with disabilities expressed preference for synchronous discussions, including self-reported greater engagement and self-reported improved comprehension, their performance on assessments of conceptual understanding was slightly better following asynchronous discussions. Implications for these disparities between preference and performance are discussed.

Design-Based Research Within the Constraints of Practice: AlgebraByExample

Superintendents from districts in the Minority Student Achievement Network (MSAN) challenged the Strategic Education Research Partnership (SERP) to identify an approach to narrowing the minority student achievement gap in Algebra 1 without isolating minority students for intervention. SERP partnered with 8 MSAN districts and researchers from 3 universities to design and rigorously test AlgebraByExample, a set of 42 Algebra 1 assignments with interleaved worked examples that target common misconceptions and errors. In a year-long random-assignment study, students who received AlgebraByExample assignments had an average 7 percentage point boost on a posttest containing released items from state assessments, and students in the bottom half of the performance distribution where minority students are disproportionately concentrated had an average 10 percentage point boost on a researcher-designed assessment of conceptual understanding. AlgebraByExample is easily incorporated into any existing curriculum, and naturally serves as a launch point for mathematically rich discussion.

PENGARUH BUTIR SOAL DALAM FORMAT ANIMASI TERHADAP HASIL TES PEMAHAMAN KONSEP PEMBIASAN CAHAYA

This study investigates the effect of computer animation on assessment of conceptual understanding in refraction phenomena. An instrument was developed by replacing static pictures and descriptions of ray motion on refraction phenomena with computer animations, a commonly used pencil and paper test. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. The animated and static versions of the test were given to students and the results were statistically analyzed. The questionnaire was also conducted to provide the student responses about using of animated version test on assessment of conceptual understanding in refraction phenomena. The results suggest that the use of the animation version of the test can be improving score of the conceptual understanding test in refraction phenomena. In general, students had a better understanding of the intent of the question when viewing an animation and gave an answer that was more indicative of their actual understanding, as reflected in the response of the questionnaire.Keywords: animation version test, conceptual understanding test, refraction phenomena

Capitalizing on advances in mathematics and k-12 mathematics education in undergraduate mathematics: An inquiry-oriented approach to differential equations

This paper provides an overview of the Inquiry-Oriented Differential Equations (IO-DE) project and reports on the main results of a study that compared students’ beliefs, skills, and understandings in IO-DE classes to more conventional approaches. The IO-DE project capitalizes on advances within mathematics and mathematics education, including the instructional design theory of Realistic Mathematics Education and the social negotiation of meaning. The main results of the comparison study found no significant difference between project students and comparison students on an assessment of routine skills and a significant difference in favor of project students on an assessment of conceptual understanding. Given these encouraging results, the theoretical underpinnings of the innovative approach may be useful more broadly for undergraduate mathematics education reform.

Conceptual astronomy. II. Replicating conceptual gains, probing attitude changes across three semesters

We report on a long-term, large-scale study of a one-semester, conceptually based, introductory astronomy course with data from more than 400 students over three semesters at the University of New Mexico. Using traditional and alternative assessment tools developed for the project, we examined the pre- and postcourse results for Fall 1994, Spring 1995, and Fall 1995. We find our results are robust: novice students show large, positive gains on assessments of conceptual understanding and connected understanding of the knowledge structure of astronomy. We find no relationship between course achievement and completion of prior courses in science or math; we do find a small to moderate relationship between students’ science self-image and course achievement. Also, we detect little change over each semester in students’ mildly positive incoming attitudes about astronomy and science.