The tendency to assess students has increased worldwide (Lundahl et al., 2010). The purpose is usually to assess their knowledge, but large scale tests also aim at building foundations to make grading more equivalent on a national level (Lundqvist / Sund, in Press; Sund, in Press). The theoretical tests are suitable for subject matter knowledge, but the challenge is to assess practical abilities. This is often done by theoretical tests asking questions on experiences and results from practical work (cf. Ofqual, 2015). Another approach is to develop test with parts containing a practical inquiry. It is well known in earlier research that it is complicated to conduct practical tests (Abrahams / Reiss, 2012). This case study focuses on the possible obstacles for teachers when they are assessing practical abilities during a test in a laboratory environment. The purpose of this study is to investigate the prerequisites for teachers to make an individual assessment of students’ individual abilities during a practical work. The research question is: What obstacles are present when teachers assess student’s individual achievements? The study involves two teachers and their students conducting a systematic inquiry which is a part of the Swedish national test, year nine (15-16 years). Data is gathered by two mounted video cameras and three pairs of spy-glasses. Data is analysed with an interpretive and iterative method (Kvale / Brinkmann 2009; Wolcott, 1994), where the analytical questions discerned three categories and thee sub categories respectively. The results make a number of practical and social obstacles visible. They are discussed in relation to alternative ways of assessing students’ practical abilities to be able to avoid some of the discerned challenges.

Abrahams, I. / Reiss, M. J. (2012): Practical Work: Its Effectiveness in Primary and Secondary Schools in England. Journal of Research in Science Teaching 49(8): 1035-1055 // Kvale, S. / Brinkmann , S. (2009): InterViews: Learning the Craft of Qualitative Research Interviewing. Sage // Lundahl, C. / Roman, H. / Riis, U. (2010): Tidigt ute med sena betyg - sent ute med tidiga! Svensk betygspolitik i ljuset av internationell betygsforskning och betygssättning i Europa. [Early with late rating - late with early! Swedish assessment policies in light of international assessment research in Europe.] Pedagogisk forskning i Uppsala 157. Uppsala // Lundqvist, E. / Sund, P. (in Press): Selective traditions in group discussions – teachers’ views about good science and the possible obstacles when encountering a new topic. Cultural Studies in Science Education (accepted Sept, 2015). // Ofqual (2015): Assessment of Practical Work in New Science GCSEs – Summary. https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/408513/2015-03-03-assessment-of-practical-work-in-new-science-gcses-summary.pdf // Sund, P. (in Press): Discerning selective traditions in science education – A qualitative study of teachers’ responses to what is important in science teaching. Cultural Studies in Science Education (accepted April 4th, 2015) // Wolcott, H. F. (1994): Transforming qualitative data: description, analysis, and interpretation. Thousand Oaks, California Sage Publications, Inc.