Session N - SimScientists : an example of how technology can support differentiated instruction in the classroom

Michael Timms, ACER

This paper reports on a study of how simulation-based science assessments can become transformative components of multi-level, balanced science assessment systems. Parts of the study involved the design of the assessments so that they provided differentiated instruction directly to individual students and, through reporting and recommendations, informed teachers’ differentiation of their instruction to support groups of students who were struggling with particular aspects of the learning. The project studied the psychometric quality, feasibility and utility of simulation-based science assessments designed to serve formative purposes during a unit and to provide summative evidence of end-of-unit proficiencies. The frameworks of evidence-centered assessment design shaped the specifications for the assessments. The SimScientists program at WestEd, a US educational research and development organisation, developed simulation-based, curriculum-embedded, and unit benchmark assessments for two middle school topics, Ecosystems and Force & Motion. These were field-tested in three US states. Students performed better on the interactive, simulation-based assessments than on the static, conventional items in the post test. Importantly, gaps between performance of the general population and English language learners and students with disabilities were considerably smaller on the simulation-based assessments than on the post tests.

Abstract

Concurrent Session Block 3