The major purpose of the study was to determine whether
science process achievement tests could be developed for administration
to groups of primary grade students. Six Basic Science Process
Tests (BSPT) were constructed as samples of the format proposed.
Each BSPT was designed to assess one of the basic science processes
taught in the first three parts of the 1967 edition of Science--A
Process Approach (Sci-APA). The test items were projected 35 mm
color slides with a tape recording which asked questions and controlled
slide advancement.
Pilot studies in kindergarten, and first and second grades with
320 students in Corvallis and Portland, Oregon during the spring of
1968 contributed to the development of general testing procedures
and directions for training students to use BSPTs. Preliminary
indications of item performance and time requirements were determined
from administrations of groups of validated items to students
just completing a year of Sci-APA study at the minimum expected
grade levels. The sample BSPTs were assembled and synchronized
for automatic administrations to students who had studied the 1967
edition of Sci-APA.
Measuring and Classifying BSPTs were administered twice to
classes of first, second and third graders in Park Falls, Phillips
and Rhinelander, Wisconsin during September, 1968. The 850
students yielded more than 100 students who took each BSPT at the
minimum expected grade level who had Sci-APA the previous year,
and more than 100 students in the same grades who had no Sci-APA
experience. Test-retest score pairs were correlated for each
experience group to give reliability estimates for each BSPT.
The major question was whether groups of primary grade students
could be assessed with the tests developed concerning their
science process achievements. The administrations of the standardized,
synchronized BSPTs seemed acceptable with student groups.
Two of the six BSPTs were accepted as reliable on the basis of test-retest
correlations. Thus, it was concluded that successful educational
measurement instruments can be constructed to assess science
process achievement using this format.
A second question considered whether there was a difference in
BSPT results between students who had studied Sci.-APA for a year
and those who had not. Three of the six BSPTs yielded significantly
higher means for the Sci-APA trained groups. Both of the reliable
BSPTs which assessed process achievements taught in Part A of
Sci-APA produced significantly higher means for Sci-APA students. / Graduation date: 1970 / Supplemental material (tests, slides and audio tapes) can be accessed and used on-site at the Valley Library.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/23468 |
| Date | 07 August 1969 |
| Creators | Beard, Jean |
| Contributors | Williamson, Stanley E. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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