SMART Assessments: Scientific Mathematical Arenas for Refining Thinking

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Project SMART Assessments (scientific and Mathematical Arenas for Refining Thinking) combines assessment models and extends them via technology for teleconferencing to create frequent, intrinsically motivating assessment strategies. SMART assessment involve a series of stages focused on a Challenge Series in which students work on problems that are imbedded into an instructional unit. Students use gained knowledge to evaluate answers and arguments in a live video teleconference format. They receive immediate feedback and then work on new problems with the opportunity to respond again in a second Challenge Series teleconference program. A series of studies will evaluate the design features of SMART assessments and how these features enhance learning and the quality of teaching in the areas of science and mathematics. The model will be applied across curricular areas to establish its generalizability. Initial application is to mathematics, in particular to the NSF funded Adventures of Jasper Woodbury Series. The model will then be applied to two other programs in science and mathematics. Major outcomes from the project will be: (1) a documented set of assessment design procedures with examples of applications to the three curricula emphasizing problem solving and reasoning in mathematics and science; (2) data from research studies investigating the implementation of such procedures in multiple classrooms with different teacher and student characteristics; (3) data on the impact of such assessment procedures on instructional program outcomes; (4) analyses of the implications of the assessment for psychometric modeling and measurement.