Traditionally, assessing and grading students in science has been an exercise centered around points and percentages (Feldman, Kropf, and Alibrandi 1989; Prøitz 2013). However, with the introduction of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the need to revisit grading practices stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing number of…

One way to probe students' misconceptions about science during instruction is by using formative assessments. Described as assessments "for" learning rather than assessments "of" learning (Black and Wiliam 1998), they provide teachers with information about student understanding during instruction. Examples of formative…

Students' understanding of science develops through everyday experiences. As a result, they come to the science classroom with their own notions of how the world works. As teachers, we often must help students overcome their prior naive notions and move them toward a more scientific understanding. This process, known as conceptual change, is…