Session Information
09 SES 13 B, Assessments and Evaluation Practices in Mathematics and Science Education
Paper Session
Contribution
Many international studies have underlined a worrying decline in young people’s interest in science and mathematics, largely due to the way science is taught in schools (Eurobarometer Report, 2005, 2010; PISA, 2006). To deal with this issue, the Rocard Report (2007) strongly recommended the dissemination and integration of innovative inquiry-based education methods. Inquiry is an intentional process of diagnosing problems, planning investigations, critical debating within a group and researching new solutions by adopting a constructivist perspective (Linn, Davis, Bell, 2004). Recently, Inquiry-Based Science Education (IBSE) has emerged as an effective pedagogical practice for renewing science teaching. Several studies have proved its efficacy in improving both teachers’ motivation and students’ interest and achievement (Duschl, Grandy, 2008; Minner, Levy, Century, 2010). With the same purpose, the European Programme “Science in Society” has funded innovative projects such as Pathway, Profiles, Pri-Sci-Net, INQUIRE, to improve inquiry-based methods in science education.
Our research focuses on INQUIRE, a project involving 17 partners from 11 European countries. INQUIRE aims to reinvigorate IBSE in schools, museums and botanic gardens, fostering the professional development of teachers and educators on the topics of biodiversity loss and climate change and is targeted at the 9-14 age group. Compared to the rapid spread of IBSE methods, evaluation of inquiry-based activities still remains rather undeveloped. Many assessment tools for evaluating the quality of IBSE activities and students’ skills are currently employed but, since IBSE has proved to be a complex process, there is no “right way” to assess it (Dillon, 2012). As a consequence, despite “Science in Society” projects including program monitoring and formal evaluation to determine whether the intended findings are being achieved, there is a lack of effective program evaluation as well as a lack of confidence among professionals in their ability to use evaluation in their programs (Coyle, 2005). Moreover, an additional challenge is the inability of organisations to provide resources to support educators in improving skills and knowledge of program evaluations (NEEAC, 1996).
Consequently, we have developed an evaluation plan of the INQUIRE project within the framework of Evaluation Capacity Building theory (ECB). ECB is the intentional work to create and sustain organizational processes that make quality evaluation and its uses routine, involving the supply of technical skills, tools and resources to produce evaluations which become sustainable over time (Stockdill, Baizerman, Compton, 2002; Preskill, 2008; Fleming, Easton, 2010). To this aim, we examined the activities’ monitoring process and the assessment instruments implemented by the INQUIRE project to evaluate their ability to provide staff with the skills and sufficient resources to conduct rigorous and lasting evaluations. The investigation involved the analysis of documentation (forms, questionnaires, reports, manuals, and lesson plans), research with the stakeholders (interviews, focus groups), and the participation in courses, workshops, and meetings held during the project. The data collected provides an overall picture of the evaluation activities carried out by the project, offering valuable insights into the positive and critical aspects of INQUIRE related to the development of a sound evaluation capacity.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Coyle, K. (2005). Environmental Literacy in America: What Ten Years of NEETF/Roper research and related studies say about environmental literacy in the U.S. The National Environmental Education & Training Foundation. Dillon, J. (2012). Panacea or passing fad, how good is IBSE? BGCI Review, Roots, 9 (2), 4-8 Duschl, R. A., Grandy, R.E. (2008). Reconsidering the Character and Role of Inquiry Science: Framing the Debates. In R.A. Duschl & R.E. Grandy (Eds.) Teaching Scientific Inquiry. Sense Publisher, Rotterdam, Taipei. Eurobarometer Report 2005, http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_225_report_en.pdf Eurobarometer Report 2010, (, http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_340_en.pdf Fleming, L. & Easton, J. (2010). Building environmental educators’ evaluation capacity through distance education. Evaluation and Program Planning, 33, 172-177 Linn, M. C, Davis, E. A. and Bell, P. (Eds), (2004). Internet environments for science education. Mahwah,NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Minner, D. D., Levy, A. J., & Century, J. (2010). Inquiry-based science instruction—What is it and does It matter? Results from a research synthesis years 1984 to 2002, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(4), 474-496. NEEAC (National Environmental Education Advisory Council), (1996). Report assessing environmental education in the United States and the implementation of the National Environmental Education Act of 1990. PISA Report 2006 (2006), http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/15/13/39725224.pdf Preskill, H. and Boyle, S. (2008). A Multidisciplinary Model of Evaluation Capacity Building. American Journal of Evaluation, 29 (4), 443–459 Rocard, M., Csermely, P., Jorde, D., Lenzen, D., Walberg-Henriksson, H. and Hemmo, V., (2007). Science Education Now: A Renewed Pedagogy for the Future of Europe. Brussels, Directorate General for Research, Science, Economy and Society Stockdill, S. H., Baizerman, M., & Compton, D. W. (2002). Toward a definition of ECB process: A conversation with the ECB literature. New Directions for Evaluation, 93, 7–25.
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