| Abstract: | This study is part of a broader research project. The main aim was to find out pedagogic practices which can improve students' science achievement, namely, in complex cognitive competencies. The study is based on Bernstein's theory. Previous studies have suggested that the explicitness of the criteria of evaluation is related to students' scientific understanding and achievement. One of the many ways in which the evaluation criteria can be made explicit to students is through assessment tests, and their correction and marking. In this study, we analyze the extent to which students understand teachers' evaluation criteria, more specifically, teachers' marking criteria and procedures (i.e., the extent to which they have recognition and realization rules to the assessing context). We also analyze the relation of that understanding with social class, social context of the school, teacher's conceptual demand, teachers' explicitness of criteria, and science achievement. A clear relation between students' acquisition of recognition and realization rules and social class is shown: the higher the social class, the higher that acquisition. A privileged school's social context and the teacher's explicitness of assessing criteria also contribute to students' understanding of teachers' evaluation criteria. This understanding influences science achievement, especially in complex competencies. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
