Some subscribers to Phys-L might be interested in "No Standard
Outcome Measures For Science Education? #2" [Hake (2011)].
The abstract reads:
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ABSTRACT: Robin Millar and Jonathan Osborne in Chapter 3 of "Research
and Practice: A Complex Relationship" [Shelley et al. (2009)] claimed
that: (a) NO STANDARD OR COMMONLY AGREED OUTCOME MEASURES EXIST FOR
ANY MAJOR TOPIC IN SCIENCE EDUCATION. . . . [[my CAPS]]. . . , (b)
the Force Concept Inventory (FCI) reflects a choice of *values* that
is arguable, and (c) the FCI has not been subjected to the same
rigorous scrutiny of factorial structure and content validity as have
standard measures in psychology.
That no standard outcome measures exist for any major topic in
science education is negated by the existence of Concept Inventories
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concept_inventory> for astronomy,
biology, chemistry, economics, engineering, geoscience, and math.
That the FCI reflects *values* that are arguable is correct only if
the arguers think that there's little value in students' learning the
basic concepts of Newtonian mechanics.
That the FCI has not been subjected to rigorous scrutiny of factorial
structure ignores the 1995 factor analyses of Huffman & Heller and
Heller & Huffman, and responses to those analyses by Hestenes &
Halloun and Halloun & Hestenes.
That the FCI has not been as not been subjected to rigorous scrutiny
of content validity ignores section IIB. "Validity and reliability of
the mechanics test" (Mechanics Diagnostic) in Halloun & Hestenes
(1985a) - that verification of validity applies also to the FCI since
it's almost the same as the Mechanics Diagnostic.
*************************************************
"50 years of research, curriculum development, and implementation
have not presented consistent and compelling patterns of outcomes."
Shelley et al. (2009, p. 4) summarizing a claim by Osborne (2007)
"Physics educators have led the way in developing and using objective
tests to compare student learning gains in different types of
courses, and chemists, biologists, and others are now developing
similar instruments. These tests provide convincing evidence that
students assimilate new knowledge more effectively in courses
including active, inquiry-based, and collaborative learning, assisted
by information technology, than in traditional courses."
Wood & Gentile (2003) "Teaching in a research context"
REFERENCES [All URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and accessed on
16 Oct 2011.]
Hake, R.R. 2011. "No Standard Outcome Measures For Science Education?
#2" online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/rfyamc>..
Post of 16 Oct 2011 11:04:41-0700 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The
abstract and link to the complete post were transmitted to various
discussion lists and are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at
<http://bit.ly/pFXc32>.
Osborne, J. 2007. "In praise of armchair science education,"
contained within E-NARST News 50(2), online as a 3.2 MB pdf at
<http://bit.ly/qsRwaK>. The talk itself is online as a 112 kB pdf at
<http://bit.ly/r4Khl7>.
Shelley, M.C., L.D. Yore, & B. Hand, eds. 2009. "Quality Research in
Literacy and Science Education: International Perspectives and Gold
Standards." Springer, publisher's information at
<http://bit.ly/b58vbP>. Amazon.com information at
<http://amzn.to/97OVJx>, note the searchable "Look Inside" feature.
Barnes & Noble information at <http://bit.ly/p40bKu>. An expurgated
(teaser) version is online as a Google "book preview" at
<http://bit.ly/qK8T9P>.
Wood, W.B., & J.M. Gentile. 2003. "Teaching in a research context,"
Science 302: 1510; 28 November; online as a 209 kB pdf at
<http://bit.ly/oK46p7>.