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Open-ended items are those for which a student must write a short response to a question. Included in this packet are the four open-ended experimentation items which appeared on the written test as a follow-up assessment to the hands-on performance task. In addition, one open-ended item designed to assess conceptual understanding and application of knowledge is included. CAPT open-ended items are scored on a four-point scale (0-3) using a holistic scoring method. This involves judging the overall quality of the student response. The general scoring rubric for the science open-ended items describes the characteristics of a response at each score point. Keep in mind that the scoring criteria are based on reasonable expectations of grade ten students responding under testing conditions. Students are given approximately five minutes to respond to each open-ended item. The responses are therefore less polished than they might be if students were given more time to revise their answers. In addition, students are asked to respond to a wide variety of scientific topics, many of which they may not have studied for some time. All of this is taken into consideration when scoring the responses. Item 1 This item assesses students' understanding of what constitutes an appropriate statement of the problem for a scientific investigation. In this case, the group's statement is not clear. A clear statement of the problem would include an explanation of why they were wrapping the four materials around a cup. The purpose of the experiment is to determine which material is the most effective insulator for a paper cup. CAPT Framework Experimentation: Define the problem Item 2 This item assesses students' understanding of conclusions drawn from scientific investigations and factors that affect their validity. In this group's experiment the white paper did show the sma drop in temperature, however, the water in the four cups started at different temperatures which will affect the results. It is also not clear if other important variables in the experiment have been controlled such as the amount of water used, how the cups were wrapped, or whether or not all the cups were covered. The conclusion should also be considered very tentative because it is based on the results of only one trial of the experiment. CAPT Framework Experimentation: Draw conclusions and discuss their validity Item 3 This item assesses students' ability to draw conclusions from the results of a scientific experiment and discuss their validity. The results from this group's experiment indicate that the combination of the four materials is the best insulator of those tested. The temperature of the water in the cup with the combination of materials dropped the least amount, only 4 degrees Celsius. The starting temperatures of the water was controlled for the five cups increasing the validity of the conclusion, although it is still unclear if other important variables were controlled. CAPT Framework Experimentation: Draw conclusions and discuss their validity Item 4 This item assesses students' understanding of what constitutes an appropriate experimental design. In this case, students do not have all of the information that they need to replicate the experiment. Student's are given some important information such as the starting temperature of the water and the amount of material wrapped around the paper cups. However, other important information is missing such as the amount of water used in the cups, how the cups were wrapped or whether or not the cups were covered. CAPT Framework Experiment: Design and conduct appropriate experiments Scoring Rubric for Open-Ended ItemsScore 3 The response is an excellent answer to the question. It is correct, complete, and appropriate and contains elaboration, extension, and/or evidence of higher-order thinking and relevant prior knowledge. There is no evidence of misconceptions. Minor errors will not necessarily lower the score. Score 2 The response is a proficient answer to the question. It is generally correct, complete, and appropriate although minor inaccuracies may appear. There may be limited evidence of elaboration, extension, higher-order thinking, and relevant prior knowledge, or there may be significant evidence of these traits but other flaws (e.g., inaccuracies, omissions, inappropriateness) may be more than minor. Score 1 The response is a marginal answer to the question. While it may contain some elements of a proficient response, it is inaccurate, incomplete and/or inappropriate. There is little if any evidence of elaboration, extension, higher-order thinking or relevant prior knowledge. There may be evidence of significant misconceptions. Score 0 The response, although on topic, is an unsatisfactory answer to the question. It may fail to address the question, or it may address the question in a very limited way. There may be no evidence of elaboration, extension, higher-order thinking, or relevant prior knowledge. There may be evidence of serious misconceptions. |
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