R&D: SAVE Science: Situated Assessment using Virtual Environments for Science Content and Inquiry

SAVE Science提议创建一个评估科学学习的创新系统，该系统与科学学习的研究和基于政策的建议相一致，这些建议集中在中学科学内容和探究的大思想上。这样做的动机不仅来自国家科学教育标准和美国科学促进会2061计划中概述的最佳实践，还来自当今学生对科学的兴趣和信心的下降。学生能否在科学方面取得成功的一个数据来源来自测试，但这些测试是否准确地衡量了学生对科学内容和过程的了解？根据美国国家研究委员会（National Research Council）的说法，科学过程通常是通过让学生定义“假设”和“科学方法”等词来评估的。然而，知道这些词的定义并不等同于理解如何做科学探究的基础过程。我们需要的是课堂评估，不仅要评估探究性和内容，而且要做到真实。SAVE Science将设计并实施一系列虚拟环境评估模块，用于评估费城学区（SDP）七年级和八年级的科学内容和探究。这将产生知识，告知教师和学生学生的理解，同时增加兴趣和信心。这些模块将使用一种新颖的评估标准，该标准基于学生在真实的基于上下文的科学课程中的互动，嵌入在虚拟环境中。该项目还将研究如何最好地帮助学生理解复杂的虚拟环境，以及如何帮助教师将技术融入他们的教学中。本研究的更广泛影响将是帮助学生更好地了解自己的知识和学习过程，从而提高科学的效率和对科学事业的兴趣，并通过为教师提供更详细的数据来指导教师的实践，从而为有意义的差异化教学提供信息，从而有助于缩小成就差距。就智力价值而言，该项目将为新兴的协作、基于游戏的STEM教育领域做出贡献。该项目将对学生对科学内容和探究的理解进行创新评估，并将这些评估与标准化考试成绩联系起来。该项目将为研究人员如何设计虚拟环境提供建议，使其丰富沉浸在真实的探究实践中，而不会让学生感到不知所措。

SAVE Science proposes to create an innovative system for evaluating learning in science, consistent with research and policy-based recommendations for science learning that are focused around the big ideas of science content and inquiry for middle school years. The motivation for this comes not only from best practices as outlined in the National Science Education Standards and AAAS' Project 2061, but also from the declining interest and confidence of today's student in science. One source of data for students on whether they can succeed in science comes from tests, but do these tests accurately measure students' knowledge of both content and processes in science? According to the National Research Council, science processes are more often assessed by asking students to define words such as "hypothesis" and "scientific method." However, knowing the definitions of these words is not synonymous with understanding how to do the processes that underlie scientific inquiry. What are needed are classroom assessments that not only assess inquiry as well as content but do so authentically. SAVE Science will design and implement a series of virtual environment situated assessment modules for assessing both science content and inquiry in grades 7 and 8 in the School District of Philadelphia (SDP). These will generate knowledge to inform teachers and students about student understanding, while increasing interest and confidence. The modules will make use of a novel assessment rubric based on student interactions within an authentic context-based science curriculum, embedded in a virtual environment. This project will also investigate how best to help students make sense of the complex virtual environments, and how to help teachers integrate technology into their pedagogy. Broader impacts from this study will be in helping students better understand their own knowledge and learning process thus promoting increased efficacy in science and interest in science careers, and in directing teacher practices by providing them with more detailed data to inform meaningful differentiated instruction which could contribute to closing the achievement gap. In terms of intellectual merit, the project will contribute to the burgeoning field of collaborative, game-based STEM education. The project will develop innovative assessments of student understanding of science content and inquiry and relate these assessments to standardized test achievement. The project will lead to recommendations for how researchers can design virtual environments with rich immersion in authentic inquiry practices without overwhelming students.