New Perspectives in Science Education

In "Inquiry-Based Study of Science and Mathematics (Inquiry Science) ", all students choose their own research themes and was engaged in inquiry activities. We hypothesized that, if given a clearly defined rubric for self and mutual evaluation, students would be able to assess their own progress and maintain self-motivation while taking part in inquiry activities.

Based on the specific evaluation items already presented to students, we created a long-term rubric for inquiry science with an eye on addressing three key elements of the new Course of Study in Japan. Using the rubric, students conducted self-evaluation every hour, and together with the teacher, they focused on one of the perspectives, " Basic and fundamental knowledge and skills " or " The ability to think, to make decisions, to express themselves and other abilities ". The teacher and the students then discussed and set specific goals for the research content. The teacher evaluated  the third elemnt " An attitude of proactive learning " at the end of the term.　

We conducted self-evaluation and mutual evaluation for the tasks of "summarizing the contents of the group's research in writing". Using the following criteria proposed Goto’s the mutual evaluation chart [1],these are "Corresponds to the question", " The results are presented and the necessary evidence is provided.", and " Written correctly ".

From the results of the mutual evaluation practice, the self-evaluation scores, which were based on the evaluation from others and re-written, were significantly higher for all evaluation criteria when compared to the first self-evaluation scores. The evaluation criteria are known to be related to the "ability" of scientific literacy as defined in previous resarch [1], and it is thought that the students further acquired the "ability" of scientific literacy through this practice. It is suggested that the rubric for evaluation in "Inquiry Science " and the self and mutual evaluation by students will help students to recognize their own progress and increase their motivation to learn through inquiry activities.

Keywords: rubric, self and mutual evaluation, motivation to learn, Inquiry Science

References

[1] Goto Kenichi. (2013), "A Study on the Effectiveness of Self-Evaluation in High School Chemistry Experiments: Using a Mutual Evaluation Table," Journal of research in science education, Vol. 54, No. 1, pp. 13-24.