SBIR Phase I: Assessing Complex Learning Outcomes through Web-based Classroom Assessment Services

本小企业创新研究一期项目将为不满课堂测试局限性的建构主义教师开发数据库信息技术，以指导改革。学习伙伴关系将提供基于网络的课堂评估服务，以衡量各种复杂的学习成果。与考试准备项目EduTest.com不同，The Learning Partnership的系统将经过优化，能够诊断学生的学习情况，并为改进学习过程提供指导。本项目的技术目标如下：将美国国家航空航天局未来课堂开发的离散评估方法应用于“观察环境”课程，这是西北大学与芝加哥学校合作开发的为期一年的全面探究式高中科学课程，完全集成了技术。2. 创建一个集成这些离散评估方法的评估框架。该框架将从三个层面跟踪学生的表现：活动水平、模块水平和课程水平。3. 开发数据库信息技术，支持大规模定制评估任务、跟踪学生表现和报告结果。这些服务将满足人们对在线评估材料日益增长的需求。如果美国的科学教育改革要取得成功，新的评估方法至关重要。一方面，评估是必不可少的，为学校管理者提供学生学习的经验证据，以达到问责的目的；另一方面，为教师提供指导其实践所需的深度信息也很重要。学习伙伴计划建议通过提供课堂评估服务来解决这一问题，该服务将多种形式的评估结合在一起，以跟踪学生从活动水平到高风险测试水平的进步。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will develop database information technology for constructivist teachers who are dissatisfied with the limitations of classroom testing for guiding reform. The Learning Partnership will provide Web-based classroom assessment services that measure a wide range of complex learning outcomes. Unlike EduTest.com, a test preparation program, The Learning Partnership's system will be optimized to diagnose student learning and provide direction for improvements in the learning process. The technical objectives for this project are as follows: 1. Adapt the discrete assessment approaches developed at the NASA Classroom of the Future for use with the Looking at the Environment curriculum, a one-year comprehensive inquiry-based high school science curriculum that is fully technology integrated that is being developed at Northwestern University in partnership with the Chicago schools.. 2. Create an assessment framework that integrates these discrete assessment approaches. The framework will track student performance at three levels: activity level, module level, and course level. 3. Develop database information technology that will support mass customization of assessment tasks, tracking of student performance, and reporting of results. These services will address a growing demand for online assessment materials. If science education reform in the U.S. is to succeed, new approaches to assessment are critical. On the one hand, assessment is essential provide school administrators with empirical evidence of student learning for accountability purposes; on the other hand, it is also essential to provide teachers with the depth of information needed to guide their practices. The Learning Partnership proposes to address this problem by providing classroom assessment services that bring together multiple forms of assessment for tracking student progress from the activity level to the high-stakes testing level.