Investigated are the context dependency and construct validity of practical skill assessment in science which may include the skills of observing, manipulating, planning, interpreting, reporting, and self-reliance. Pupil performance on a variety of practical tasks were compared with external examination grades in biology and chemistry. (CW)

Presented is a criticism of the instructions given for and the scoring of the Draw-a-Scientist test (Chambers, 1983). A response to this criticism by authors who employ this method is included. (CW)

Explores the concept of construct validity in the context of a public examination. Multitrait-multimethod analysis and factor analysis were used. Discusses the analyses in terms of theory versus practical components and experimental versus observational investigation in practical components. Sample items for the practical examinations are…

Describes the development and validation of an instrument to test the biology-related attitudes of science students in grades 10-12 in Indonesia. Validation procedures included use of latent partition analysis to examine the conceptual structure of the instrument. (Author/JN)

Develops an 18-category Explanation Appraisal Schedule (EAS) for the analysis of teaching effectiveness in the expository mode. Describes the validation procedures with the worksheet of the EAS. Reports that the EAS provides a discriminating instrument for use in analyzing teaching effectiveness. (Author/YP)

Presents study findings which supported the use of answer-until-correct tests. Discusses results based on responses of secondary students from England (N=387) that revealed that the answer-until-correct test of mechanical reasoning had similar findings to the spatial reasoning test. (ML)

Examines the ratings of 395 science teachers on 38 Intellectual Skills Co-ordination Controls in Teaching (ISCONT) variables. Identifies 5 factors using factor analysis. Proposes a structural model of an Integrated Teaching Plan. (YP)