New Perspectives in Science Education
Application of Inquiry-based Science Assessment Questions on Earth Science content domain (V)
Young Tae Kong, Chinju National University of Education (Korea, Republic of)
Sang Je Park, Chinju National University of Education (Korea, Republic of)
Abstract
This study incorporates inquiry-based questions in science assessment and analyzes student responses in purpose of evaluating scientific inquiry abilities of fifth and sixth grade students in Korea. It aims to assess students’ performances on inquiry-based evaluation and to develop guidance on teaching for development of inquiry skills. This study reports the result about an earth and universe domain.
To fulfill the research goal, the study is carried out as followed.
The chosen research subjects were 1,198 fifth and sixth graders from seven elementary schools in Woolsan, Gyeongsangnam-Do, Korea. The assessment questions were devised by modifying and reinforcing the NAAA (National Assessment of Academic Ability) developed by NIER (National Institute for Educational Policy Research of Japan) to incorporate inquiry-based learning and correspond to 2007 amendment of national science education curriculum in Korea.
From this result, we could be concluded that the inquiry-based science assessment helped develop students’ inquiry skills, and it was determined to be an adequate evaluation method for building scientific knowledge and concepts for students.
