Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments Using a Water

Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments Using a Water Systems Learning Progression to Design Formative Assessments and Tools for Reasoning Kristin L. Gunckel, University of Arizona Beth A. Covitt, University of Montana Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching Indianapolis, Indiana March 26, 2012

Research Support Disclaimer Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments This research is supported in part by grants from the National Science Foundation: Targeted Partnership: Culturally Relevant Ecology, Learning Progressions and environmental literacy (NSF-0832173), and Tools for Reasoning about Water in Socio-ecological Systems (DRL -1020176). Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Project Goal Tools for Reasoning To develop instructional materials that connect learning progression research to classroom instruction – Formative Assessments – Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments

Water Systems Learning Progression Accounts (Explanations and Predictions) Tools for Reasoning Moving Water & Substances in Water Environmental Systems Surface Water System Formative Assessments Atmospheric System Human Engineered Components Soil/Groundwater System Biotic System Human Engineered Components

Water Systems Learning Progression Level 4 – Qualitative Model-Based Reasoning Tools for Reasoning – Driving Forces & Constraining Factors (Hows and Whys) – Atomic-Molecular to Landscape Scales Level 3 – School Science Stories – Events in order – Names processes – Microscopic to Landscape Scales Formative Assessments Level 2 – Force Dynamic with Mechanisms – Actors, enablers, antagonists – Macroscopic only Level 1 – Force Dynamic – Water in isolated locations – Human-centric

Reasoning Tools for Understanding Water Systems Tools for Reasoning • Middle school teachers in AZ & MT • Summer workshop to introduce teachers to – Water Systems Learning Progression (WSLP) – WSLP-Based formative assessments & tools for reasoning Formative Assessments • Teachers enact their water curriculum integrating formative assessments and reasoning tools • Teacher feedback and student assessment data inform ongoing revisions

5 Design Criteria WSLP-based instructional materials should: Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments #1 Develop Teachers’ Capacity to Recognize and Construct Scientific Model-Based Accounts #2 Support Eliciting, Analyzing, & Responding to Student Thinking #3 Support Pressing For Explanations #4 Facilitate Classroom Norms for the Social Construction of Understanding #5 Support Flexible Use

LP-Based Formative Assessments Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments • Quick classroom assessments • Aligned with water systems • Include supporting materials for teachers: – Assessment item – Description of purpose and target response – Key for determining students’ levels of achievement based on student responses – Suggestions for instruction for students at each level of achievement

LP-Based Formative Assessments Title River Cleanup Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments Content Runoff What Happens Inside a Transpiration Plant? Infiltration; Infiltration (2 versions cross-section available) representations Map School Map representations Fertilizer Construction Site Connection to WSLP Moving water: Surface water system Moving water: Biotic system Moving water: Soil and groundwater system Moving water: Surface water system Solutions Substances in water: Surface, soil & groundwater, and atmospheric systems Suspensions Substances in water: Surface, soil & groundwater, and biotic systems

River Clean-up Formative Assessment Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments 5 friends were volunteering for an annual river clean-up in their town. One friend asked, “If we didn’t pick this bottle out of the river, where do you think it would go? ” Alberto: Maybe bottles follow water from this river to a smaller river. Brenda: I think the bottles float downstream. Cheng: I think the bottles float away. Elan: Well, the bottles could go to the town of Pueblo Rio. The river in Pueblo Rio is connected to this creek. Deja: I disagree because Pueblo Rio is up in the hills. This river goes to the town of Sweetwater, which is in the lowlands. Who do you agree with most? Explain your reasons.

School Map Formative Assessment Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments If you were looking from the side instead of from above, what would the shape (height) of the land be like across the distance from Point X to Point Y? (Circle the answer you think is the best. ) Explain your reasons for your answer. A D B E C F There’s no way to know.

Formative Assessments Characteristics Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments Criterion Provide teachers with LP-embedded descriptions of goal & lower level accounts 1 Support teachers in eliciting, analyzing & responding to students’ ideas Press students for explanations 2 Can support participatory classroom discourse 4 Accessible to students at all LP levels 5 Flexible for use w/ diverse curriculum materials 5 3

Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments • Form similar to a graphic organizer • Intended to scaffold development of scientific accounts (hows and whys) • Address specific LP-related challenges students encounter – Attending to driving forces and constraining factors – Considering likelihood of multiple/diverse pathways – Distinguishing scale and using scale in scientific accounts

Tools for Reasoning Tool Connection to WSLP Pathways Tracing water along multiple converging/diverging pathways Drivers & Constraints Moving water; Considering driving forces and constraining variables. Tracing Mixtures with Water Substances in water Scale Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments

Pathways Tool Before After Before Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments After Before After

Pathways Tool Before Tools for Reasoning After Before After In a cloud above Idaho After In Clark Fork River near Superior In Clark Fork River by Frenchtown In a fish in the Clark Fork In the atmosphere In a Mountain Water Well in Missoula In the groundwater Snow on ground in Anaconda Formative Assessments Running off over the ground near Blackfoot River Before Falling as rain in E. Missoula In groundwater near Milltown Running off over the ground in Clinton In Rattlesnake Creek In Missoula Aquifer In a cloud above Turah In a Mountain Water pipe heading to my house In my belly (I caught and ate the fish, but this is not very likely)

Drivers & Constraints Tool Gravity – pulls water down Tools for Reasoning Infiltration Formative Assessments Permeability – Water infiltrates into spaces between sediment; larger sediment size results in greater permeability.

Tools for Reasoning Characteristics Criterion Formative Assessments 1 Support teachers in eliciting, analyzing & responding to students’ ideas 2 Support level 4 accounts of hows and whys Tools for Reasoning Support teachers in developing capacity to recognize and construct scientific accounts 3 Intended to be used in student-centered discussion & argumentation 4 Accessible and/or adaptable for students at multiple LP levels 5 Designed to be used w/ diverse curriculum materials 5

Ongoing Goals Help teachers use LP to inform instruction through… Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments – Shifting focus from “covering” content to attending & responding to student thinking. – Supporting students in developing Level 4 accounts. – Testing/revising tools & formative assessments with teachers & students. – Developing & sharing productive examples of tool and formative assessment use in the classroom. – Developing effective professional development for using tools and formative assessments.

Questions/Comments? Contact Info Tools for Reasoning kgunckel@email. arizona. edu beth. covitt@umontana. edu Paper Available At Formative Assessments www. umt. edu/watertools or http: //edr 1. educ. msu. edu/Environmental. Lit/

Upper Anchor Loop Diagram Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments

Key for Evaluating Responses Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments

Suggestions for Level 3 Students Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments Provide activities that focus on driving forces and constraining factors that determine which way surface water flows, and clues to direction of surface water flow that are on some maps. E. g. , • Provide map showing river entering familiar lake (e. g. , Erie) • Ask students to describe way water is flowing and to explain how they know • Encourage students to describe what force moves surface water (i. e. , gravity), what factors constrain direction of surface water flow (i. e. , topography), and what you can tell about these things by looking at a map.

Tracing Water: Infiltration Tools for Reasoning Formative Assessments In the drawing, show where the water in a puddle goes when it soaks into the ground. Be sure to show what it looks like underground and where the water goes.

Tracing Mixtures With Water Tool Tracing Back Where did the substance come from? The Mixture Tracing Forward What’s mixed in the water? (Teacher provides) If the water moves (new place) __________, will the substance stay mixed with the water? Yes or No Tools for Reasoning Where did the water come from? If no, how and why will it separate? Where is the mixture now? (Teacher provides) Formative Assessments How did the substance get into the water? Where will the substance end up next? What kind of mixture is it? Suspension or Solution How do you know?

Tracing Mixtures With Water Tool Tracing Back Where did the substance come from? The Mixture Tracing Forward What’s mixed in the water? (Teacher provides) If the water moves (new place) __________, will the substance stay mixed with the water? Yes or No Tools for Reasoning Where did the water come from? If no, how and why will it separate? Where is the mixture now? (Teacher provides) Formative Assessments How did the substance get into the water? • • Groundwater Downriver Atmosphere Plants Where will the substance end up next? What kind of mixture is it? Suspension or Solution How do you know?

Scale Tool Atomic. Molecular Not visible Nanometer or smaller Tools for (<10 -9 m) Reasoning Molecule Formative Assessments Microscopic Macroscopic Visible with microscope (10 -8 m to 10 -4 m) Visible with naked eye Millimeter (10 -3 m) to Meter (100 m) to Hectometer (10 2 m) Cells Water Drop Landscape Larger than what you can see at once Kilometer or more (>10 3 m) Football Field Watersheds

Scale Tool Atomic. Molecular Not visible Nanometer Tools for or smaller Reasoning-9 (<10 m) Molecule Microscopic Macroscopic Visible with microscope (10 -8 m to 10 -4 m) Visible with naked eye Millimeter (10 -3 m) to Meter (100 m) to Hectometer (10 2 m) Cells Water Drop Landscape Larger than what you can see at once Kilometer or more (>10 3 m) Football Field Watersheds Formative Assessments