Measuring Primary Students’ Graph Interpretation Skills Via a Performance Assessment: A case study in instrument development

This case study was conducted within the context of a place-based education project that was implemented with primary school students in the USA. The authors and participating teachers created a performance assessment of standards-aligned tasks to examine 6–10-year-old students’ graph interpretation skills as part of an exploratory research project. Fifty-five students participated in a performance assessment interview at the beginning and end of a place-based investigation. Two forms of the assessment were created and counterbalanced within class at pre and post. In situ scoring was conducted such that responses were scored as correct versus incorrect during the assessment's administration. Criterion validity analysis demonstrated an age-level progression in student scores. Tests of discriminant validity showed that the instrument detected variability in interpretation skills across each of three graph types (line, bar, dot plot). Convergent validity was established by correlating in situ scores with those from the Graph Interpretation Scoring Rubric. Students’ proficiency with interpreting different types of graphs matched expectations based on age and the standards-based progression of graphs across primary school grades. The assessment tasks were also effective at detecting pre–post gains in students’ interpretation of line graphs and dot plots after the place-based project. The results of the case study are discussed in relation to the common challenges associated with performance assessment. Implications are presented in relation to the need for authentic and performance-based instructional and assessment tasks to respond to the Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards.     

Erratum to: Measuring Student Career Interest within the Context of Technology-Enhanced STEM Projects: a Cross-Project Comparison Study Based on the Career Interest Questionnaire

Journal of Science Education and Technology -     

Measuring Student Career Interest within the Context of Technology-Enhanced STEM Projects: A Cross-Project Comparison Study Based on the Career Interest Questionnaire

Journal of Science Education and Technology - This article describes Energy for ME and Going Green! Middle Schoolers Out to Save the World, two Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics...     

The utility of citizen science projects in K-5 schools: measures of community engagement and student impacts

Cultural Studies of Science Education - The field of citizen science is one of the fastest growing sectors in informal education, specifically because of the new opportunities that are now...