Oct23

Using Essay Questions

I want to use more essay-type questions on my unit assessments, but with 150 students I feel swamped trying to grade all of the papers and provide feedback. Any suggestions for making this a good learning process?
- Brian, Reading, Pennsylvania

I can feel your pain, sitting at the table for hours after giving a test. But from my experiences, I can offer a few suggestions.

Determine the purpose of your test questions. Making lists and writing definitions are low-level tasks that could be assessed with objective or short-answer questions. Use your time to find out how well students can describe, analyze, summarize, compare/contrast, identify advantages/disadvantages, create a graphic, interpret data, or address what if or why questions.

This means that there is not one correct response. Make a rubric in advance to describe what a satisfactory response would include. Do the same for a great response and for an incomplete one. I used a version of the rubric my state had for writing, with an emphasis on the content of the response.

It may be helpful to have students do more writing in class, where you can model and provide instant feedback. Share some sample questions and your basic rubric with the students ahead of time along with examples of responses at each of the levels. They can practice writing in their notebooks or share their work with each other.

Explain to students that you need time to read their work carefully and respond thoughtfully. I've tried dividing the test into two parts: objective and essay. The first I could return and discuss quickly (even the next day), but the essays I returned and discussed a little later. I also had a score for each, showing students the essay part was just as important as the objective questions.

Ask students to start each essay response at the top of a page, even if their previous response did not take up a whole side. You can then organize the papers so that you are reading all question 1s, then all question 2s, and so on. This way your rubric for each question is fresh in your mind, and after a few papers, you get the general gist of the responses.

Now that you're streamlining the process, you should have time to provide feedback. Feedback should be more than a final grade or total score and more than a generic "good job" or "needs work." To be effective, feedback should be focused on the task to provide comments on what was good and suggestions for improvement. I'd recommend a new book from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students. The January 2008 issue of Science Scope had "Assessments" as a theme with ideas for feedback, too.

If you teach more than one subject, don’t give tests to all of your classes on the same day. Give yourself some breathing room.

Most importantly, don't give up! In real life, few of us take multiple-choice tests for a living. But we do write notes, memos, summaries, letters, articles, and blogs. So anything we can do to help students become better thinkers and writers is worth the time and effort.
Published: Oct-23-08 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Oct14

Department Chairperson

Do you have any suggestions for a brand-new science department chairperson?
--Derek, Chillicothe, Ohio

First of all, congratulations on assuming a leadership role in your school! This is a wonderful opportunity to share your expertise and to learn from others.

One of your more visible tasks will be to facilitate meetings. We teachers complain that there's no opportunity to collaborate, yet without any leadership these meetings often degenerate into gripe and gossip sessions. Send out an agenda prior to the meeting (and cc: the principal). Use e-mail or an attachment to the agenda to communicate information items so that the meeting time can be spent productively. Have non-negotiable agenda items that reflect your department's goals (in areas such as curriculum, instructional strategies, grading policies, data analysis, safety, technology applications, parent communications) and stick to the agenda-unless a really great discussion is happening. Set aside a few minutes to recognize new issues or other concerns. Celebrate any successes or accomplishments, too, and some munchies might be appreciated at the end of a long day. Be respectful of time. Give people a few minutes to tidy up their classrooms, but start and end the meeting at the designated times. Send meeting minutes to all members of the department and to the principal to keep him/her in the loop. If meetings in previous years were seen as a waste of time, you may have to be persistent to let people know that things are going to be different.

Does your role include supervising teachers? Observing your colleagues in the classroom and offering suggestions add a different dimension to the role. If your state requires an administrative certificate to do formal observations, be sure your credentials are in order. Even if you don't formally supervise teachers, make yourself available to assist and answer questions. Rather than giving advice or mandates, ask questions to start discussions: What happens when…? Have you ever tried…? Did you notice that.…? Get to know the curriculum and state standards for areas of science in addition to your own so that you can ask meaningful questions. And listen to your colleagues. Sometimes they just need to think out loud.

Your responsibilities may also include ordering and organizing textbooks and other instructional materials for your department. But in science, this responsibility also includes laboratory equipment and materials. Maintaining expensive equipment, securing potentially harmful materials, keeping current MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheets), and promoting laboratory safety are all part of your domain. NSTA has some great resources on safety and science facilities that should be part of your professional library.

Some department chairs do this as a labor of love, but don't be afraid to ask about compensation. Many districts have stipends or supplemental contracts for department chairs. Others may give department chairs a reduced teaching load or fewer duties.

Don't let the job overwhelm you or take excessive time away from your own classes. Work with your department to develop a prioritized list of goals, but don't try to do everything at once. Keep a log or journal of what you do and the time you spend, and reflect on what you're learning.

As a new chairperson, you may run into some resistance from teachers who are used to the old ways. That was my biggest challenge. I wanted to please everyone, and I was not being successful. My mentor was a very wise principal who told me that some people aren't happy unless they're complaining about something. He helped me to realize that my primary responsibility was to the students.

Perhaps our colleagues would like to share comments about their challenges and successes as department chairs. Good luck!

Some resources you may find helpful:
Published: Oct-14-08 | 0 Comments | 0 Links to this post

Oct01

Science Kits

I've been asked to chair a committee to look into using science "kits" for our elementary classes. We're interested in this, but where do we start?
-- Mariana, Manchester, New Hampshire

Science kits are published by many companies and individuals and address a variety of topics. They can be helpful for teachers who do not have a lot of background experience in science topics – either in the content itself or in designing and implementing inquiry-based activities. They can also be expensive. You'll want to ask several questions:
  • What do you hope to accomplish by using the kits? Is your school/district trying to get inquiry into elementary classes, to provide a complete set of materials and resources for studying a topic, or to ensure that all students have common experiences? Kits can provide these, but if you already are implementing a strong, inquiry-based curriculum, the kits may not be necessary.
  • How do the kit topics align with your state standards and local curriculum? Using kits should be an integral part of your science program, not an add-on. Many also are designed to be appropriate at specific grade levels (e.g., K-2, 3-5, 6-8).
  • What are the credentials of the publisher and the history of the publisher in developing and supporting the kits?
  • What research does the publisher have to show the effectiveness of their particular kits?
  • Do the kits provide background information and opportunities and resources for the inquiry process? The activities should promote processes such as observing, questioning, hypothesizing, predicting, investigating (including planning, conducting, measuring, gathering data, controlling variables, interpreting, and drawing conclusions), and communicating. Evaluate them carefully; some kits are just a collection of materials for demonstrations and/or replication activities.
  • How will you implement the kits? I recommend providing the professional development offered by the publisher, even if it adds to the cost of the kits.
  • Will it stifle creativity? I asked a colleague (one of the best elementary science teachers I know) about the kits in his school. He appreciates them for the way they guide teachers through the processes and provide the materials. He noted the ones they used were not tightly scripted so teachers had room to incorporate their own experiences and go beyond the basics if they felt comfortable doing so.
  • Will you be able to cover the same amount of material? My colleague noted that the kits take time to implement fully, and therefore teachers may not "cover" as many topics as they did without them. However, he noted the kits provided opportunities for students to develop skills in the processes of science (a focus of many state standards as well as the National Science Education Standards). So you may wind up "covering" more about these processes.
There are some practical considerations, too. Where will the boxes be stored? Will the same kits be used by more than one class during the year? If so, what rotating schedule will you have? Who will be responsible for ensuring that all materials are in place for the next class? How will you budget for replacing consumables? Some kits sell replacement materials, but this can be expensive. Some teachers get funds from the school/district and have fun scouting local discount stores for the materials.

This can be a great opportunity to get inquiry science into your classrooms. Just remember that although inquiry-based science often involves hands-on activities, not all hands-on activities are inquiry-based. Good luck in your efforts and keep us posted!

Published: Oct-01-08 | 2 Comments | 0 Links to this post