This research aims to produce feasible and valid assessment instrument of Higher Order Thinking Skill (HOTS) to measure students' Higher Order Thinking Skill in Physics learning. The type of this research was research and development, adapted from development model from Brog and Gall. The researchers modified Borg and Gall's development model as…

Background: Context-based learning approaches are used to enhance students' interest in, and knowledge about, science. According to different empirical studies, students' interest is improved by applying these more non-conventional approaches, while effects on learning outcomes are less coherent. Hence, further insights are needed into the…

The results of the Romanian pupils on international tests PISA and TIMSS in Mathematics are below the average. These poor results have many explications. In this article we compare the Mathematics problems given on these international tests with those given on national tests in Romania.

While some students have the opportunity to engage in the kinds of structured inquiry and real-world problem solving called for in the science education reform literature, many other students receive only a daily grind of note taking, end-of-chapter questions and sample test items from state assessments. The result is an engagement gap whereby…

Two exam questions are presented with explanations of the acceptable solutions. The first deals with hybridization and the second with empirical formulas. (SA)

Explains the importance of problem solving and critical thinking for scientific literacy and discusses assessment strategies to evaluate student problem solving. (YDS)

This study used innovative assessment practices to obtain and document broad learning outcomes for a 15-hour game-based curriculum in Quest Atlantis, a multi-user virtual environment that supports school-based participation in socio scientific inquiry in ecological sciences. Design-based methods were used to refine and align the enactment of…

Reports a study investigating the utility of 52 items, selected from a readily available item pool developed for instructional purposes, when the items are used to measure critical thinking abilities of biology students. The items had reasonably good internal consistency reliability and good concurrent validity. (PR)

Use of problem-solving skills in various classroom situations are discussed. Demonstrates that the thinking level of assigned problems, type of examination questions, example-type problems in class, time factor in examinations, grading, help outside of classroom, and behavioral objectives are all areas where problem-solving skills of students can…

This study investigated problem solving skills in mechanics problems that required the use of diagrams. These skills were examined in two ways. First, the study examined student problem solving skills using solution scripts from the Western Australian Tertiary Admission Examination in physics. Solution attempts by students in the 1978 and 1979…

We report on a study of what happened when we recycled a conceptual examination question in a first-year university physics course. The question, which was used for three consecutive years, asked about an astronaut's experience of weighing in an orbiting space-craft. The original intention was to use a phenomenographic approach to look for…

This study investigated the relationships among the symbolic representation of problems given to students to solve, the mental representations they use to solve the problems, and the accuracy of their solutions. Twenty eleventh-grade science students were asked to think aloud as they solved problems on the ideal gas laws. The problems were…

Promotes the use of machine-scored tests in basic engineering science classes. Discusses some principles and practices of machine-scored testing. Provides several example test items. Argues that such tests can be used to enhance basic understanding of concepts and problem solving skills. (TW)

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Nation's Report Card, has developed and pilot-tested a variety of hands-on science and mathematics tasks. These tasks were developed as prototypes for use in future national assessments, but the concepts measured and the innovative approaches used are equally suitable for classroom…