SPARCS: Standards- and Preconceptions-based Assessment of Reform Curricula in Science

该项目建议开发多项选择题和工具，用于衡量5-12年级学生对K-4年级和5-8年级物理和地球/空间科学选定的NRC标准的理解程度。与传统的多项选择题不同，项目团队将利用基于学生备选概念的现有知识来开发基于误解的诊断测试。这些测试将使用学生在科学概念方面经常具有的替代概念作为干扰。该项目将经过一系列精心设计的步骤，包括项目生成、专家评审和验证、仪器试验、更大规模的现场测试，并最终在试点研究中使用仪器，以确定使用特定课程的学生是否符合这些新仪器测量的特定NRC标准。

The project proposes to develop multiple choice items and instruments to be used to measure the understanding of grades 5-12 students on selected NRC standards in physical and earth/space science for grades K-4 and 5-8. Instead of traditional multiple-choice items the project team will use existing knowledge based on student alternative conceptions to develop misconception-based diagnostic tests. These tests will use as distractors the alternative conceptions that students often have in regard to scientific concenpts. The project will move through a series of well designed steps in terms of item generation, expert review and validation, instrument piloting, larger field tests and finally use instruments in pilot studies to determine if students who have been using particular curricula met particular NRC standards as measured by these new instruments.