Testing & Essay Items Rationale

Testing & Essay Items Rationale

 

Objective 1: Identify major structures of plants (seeds, roots, stems, leaves)

Assessment (Knowledge application/labeling): Using the worksheet provided, look at the plant descriptions and label all of the parts of the plant in the picture.

Because children are hands-on and physical learners, I felt it would be fair assessments to have my students label the parts of a plant. Our text states that "Pictures, drawings, graphs, tables, and so on require the student to think at the application level of the taxonomy of educational objectives and may involve even higher levels of cognitive processes." (Kubiszyn, & Borich, 2013, pg. 145) I prefer to have the students write and label the plant using the descriptions from the worksheet, rather than cut out the plant and glue the parts together because it helps with memory recall and understanding the function that each part of the plant plays.

Objective 2: Students demonstrate an understanding of common plant names and their scientific name by matching the plant common names with their scientific names

Assessment (Matching): Write the letter of the scientific name on the line next to the common name of the plants in the left column. Use a partner if you need help.

Because my students are younger, I felt it was appropriate to use matching as an assessment for new words that they have acquired throughout the unit on plant growth. In the first objective students were required to label parts of the plant from memory with some assistance, in this assessment, students are required to work together to match up the common and scientific names of plants listed that were discussed in the unit. While matching may be an easier form of assessment, it may be more difficult for children at this age and require more critical thinking because of the scientific names involved. There are exactly 10 common names and 10 scientific names listed in no particular order, therefore making this assessment both accurate and easy to understand, so it will be successful.

Objective 3: Students will compare the various ways that plants grow

Assessment (Performance based/lab): Over a 5 day period, students will plant and document the growth of a plant exposed to different amounts of light. Some students will plant their seeds outside in natural light and some will plant inside the classroom in artificial light. Using your lab journals; describe your observations.

I chose to use a performance based assessment for the lab portion of my objectives because it is the most efficient and appropriate way to assess children while they are actively engaged in learning. "But other skills —particularly those involving independent judgment, critical thinking, and decision making—are best assessed with performance tests." (Kubiszyn, & Borich, 2013, pg. 185) As our author points out, and as we have learned from previous posts about performance based assessments, they are beneficial for learning about how and what your students are gathering from the information they are being taught. While conducting their lab on plants and light exposure, it would be appropriate to assess them during their actual observation.

Restricted Response Essay Assessment: Because my Unit plan is for K-3 Grade, the essay response will be restricted to 1 page and content specific.

•   What are the four main things that plants need to grow?

•   What happens when plants get too much sun?

•    What happens when plants don’t get enough water?

•    What things can cause a plant to not grow at all?

I chose to use a Restricted Response Essay for my unit plan because my students are younger and require a less complicated explanation of the information they have learned and my students are not able to write elaborate responses. In the text, our authors use an example of students demonstrating the disadvantages and advantages of traveling by wagon train during the Gold Rush. Like the authors, my essay response questions are very specific to the content that my students learned over all in the unit and do not need elaboration. "The instructional objectives require supplying information rather than simply recognizing information. These processes often cannot be measured with objective items.” (Kubiszyn, & Borich, 2013, pg. 161) I believe that the essay questions I have provided cannot be measured with objective items such as true or false or multiple choice questions, but rather can be answered using critical thinking skills and writing.