A topic in teaching science
Diagnostic assessment is used to explore students' thinking (to check on prerequisite knowledge) and in particular to detect where students hold alternative conceptions (misconceptions).
Researchers have identified common alternative conceptions and developed probes and test instruments to help identify where students in a class hold these ideas.
Some examples of diagnostic questions – how do you think your students might respond?
A particular type of diagnostic tool is the concept cartoon which presents groups of learners with several inconsistent perspectives presented by different hypothetical children.
However, although there are many well-evidenced examples of common alternative conceptions, student thinking can also often be idiosyncratic – so in any class there will be students who hold unhelpful ideas (unhelpful, at least, if they are to learn the canonical science set out in the curriculum) that will not be found among lists of reported misconceptions.
This does not mean that these ideas cannot be diagnosed, but just that it requires the teacher to be alert to the signs – to be a science learning doctor.
Probing for common alternative conceptions and learning difficulties
The Challenging Chemical Misconceptions in the Classroom project was carried out in the academic year 2000-2001. It was funded by the Royal Society of Chemistry (the Professional body and learned society for Chemistry in the UK and Eire), as one of its annual Teacher Fellowship projects and based at the University of London Institute of Education.
During the year a number of probes were developed and tested, designed around common alternative conceptions and learning difficulties in chemistry learning over the 11-18 age range.
See the list of probes included in the project
One of the probes I constructed, on ionisation energy, has been further developed (to include more advanced aspects of the concept) by Prof. Daniel Tan (at the National Institute of Education in Singapore) and colleagues, who prepared a detailed report on the development of the instrument.
Read about The development of a diagnostic instrument
Do you teach chemistry? If so, perhaps you might light to reflect on how your students might answer some of these diagnostic items.
Becoming a science doctor learning
The things that student say, and write, provide clues to their thinking. Whilst apparently 'alternative' takes on science topics may be due to student not concentrating when writing or not communicating clearly, these often sign of ways of thinking that may be inconsistent with what is being taught, and so potentially impediments to learning the martial being taught. The teacher as 'science learning doctor' develops diagnostic skills in following-up these clues to identify and respond to learners' unhelpful idiosyncratic thinking.
Read about 'The teacher as science learning doctor'
