EDU-08: Assessment In Education Seminar Report

EDU-08: ASSESSMENT IN EDUCATION

Topic: General techniques of assessment-Practical work

Submitted by- Emila Joy
                           Physical Science
                           B.Ed semester-2
Submitted to- Mrs Parvathy V Prasad
Submitted on- 03/03/2020

Practical work

        Millar described a practical activity as ‘Any science teaching and learning activity which at some point involves the students, working individually or in small groups, in observing or manipulating objects to develop understanding’. (Millar (2009)). It is described in The National Strategies as: ‘Any activity that enables pupils to have direct, often hands-on, experience of the phenomena they are studying’ . (The National Strategies (2008)

          A demonstration may deliver a much clearer understanding of a scientific concept. Similarly, an enquiry-based approach may not be the best forum to teach the scientific knowledge needed to understand a particular concept, but it could be a great opportunity to motivate students or to encourage them to ask questions.

Purpose:

•Practical skill development
•Developing specific knowledge
•Understanding of science
•Developing and understanding of the process of scientific enquiry
•To promote a logical and reasoning method of thought

Practical work is desirable for practical assessment to give the students the opportunity to:

•Carry out a range of experiments with varying degrees of difficulty
•Analyse and evaluate given results demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of the process of scientific enquiry
•Demonstrate how to sensibly plan an investigation, with due consideration for safety.

Types of practical work:

           Practical work can encompass many different components, which can be divided into two main groups as described in Woodley E, (2009), as follows:

Core activities: These include ‘hands-on’ activities such as different investigations, laboratory techniques and procedures, as well as fieldwork. These types of activities can help enhance the development of students’ practical laboratory skills, as well as helping them to understand key scientific concepts and phenomena. This includes:
•Investigations
•Laboratory procedures and techniques
•Field work

Directly related activities: These are closely connected to the above core activities and they include;
•Demonstration by teacher
•Designing and planning scientific investigations
•Experiencing phenomena
•Data analysis using ICT
•Analysis of results

Complementary activities: The complementary activities are important in supporting the development of conceptual understanding in science through practical works
•Science related visits
•Survey
•Presentations and roleplay
•Simulations including the use of ICT
•Models and modelling
•Group discussions
•Group text based activities

Advantages:

•Practical skill development
•Experimental learning
•Independent learning
•Learning in different ways
•Establishes the link between theory and practice
•Scientific attitude
•Enables the teacher to objectively assess the competencies of manual skills of the students.

Disadvantages:

•Subject to human errors
•Can produce artificial or non feasible results
•Groups may not be comparable
•Time consuming
•Adequate technical support
•Teacher may find it difficult to develop uniform, fair and reliable assessment rubrics to evaluate students practical skills.

Conclusion:

          Practical work is viewed by the vast majority of science teachers, as an essential and integral part of science education. In fact, many regard it as an indispensable aspect of being a ‘science teacher’ It is really important that science teachers are sceptical about the benefits of practical work. Without practical work, science is just a collection of abstract ideas without a clear explanatory purpose.

Reference:
Woodley E(2009)
Miller(2009)
scienceteacher.com