Science Concepts Pre–Post Assessment (Williams et al., 2012)
Expert NotesStrengths:Uses pre- and post-lesson measures with aligned content questions, allowing for direct comparison of students’ conceptual understanding before and after the instructional intervention.
Cautions:Uses relatively simple scoring (e.g., binary correct/incorrect for content questions), which may not capture partial understanding or nuances in students’ reasoning.
Topics: Student LearningThis science assessment consists of pre- and post-lesson survey instruments designed to measure students’ understanding of science concepts following participation in LEGO Mindstorms-based activities. The assessments include both content and evaluation questions and are administered immediately…Inheritance Modeling Task Assessment (Cisterna et al., 2019)
Expert NotesStrengths:Elicits students’ understanding through model-based tasks, requiring them to create and explain visual representations of scientific processes, which helps reveal how students organize ideas about structure, function, and inheritance
Cautions:Students’ performance on the assessment depends heavily on their ability to construct and interpret models, so difficulties with drawing, labeling, or representing ideas may obscure their actual conceptual understanding of inheritance.
Topics: Student LearningThis assessment consists of student-generated modeling tasks designed to measure elementary students’ understanding of inheritance through visual and explanatory representations. Students are asked to create, use, and revise models that show how traits are passed from parent organisms to offspring…SNAP- Short Response items; Short Performance Assessments
Expert NotesStrengths:NGSS-aligned assessments that use performance-based, phenomenon-driven tasks that require students to apply knowledge and practices in realistic contexts, which helps capture deeper understanding and supports meaningful implementation of the standards.
Cautions:Performance-based tasks can be time-intensive to administer and score, especially since they often involve open-ended responses that require rubric-based evaluation rather than quick, objective grading.
Topics: Student LearningThe Stanford NGSS Assessment Project (SNAP) assessments are a coordinated system of three types of science assessments designed to measure students’ three-dimensional learning aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These assessments are developed across domains including…SNAP- Short Response items; Short Performance Assessments
Expert NotesStrengths:NGSS-aligned assessments that use performance-based, phenomenon-driven tasks that require students to apply knowledge and practices in realistic contexts, which helps capture deeper understanding and supports meaningful implementation of the standards.
Cautions:Performance-based tasks can be time-intensive to administer and score, especially since they often involve open-ended responses that require rubric-based evaluation rather than quick, objective grading.
Topics: Student LearningThe Stanford NGSS Assessment Project (SNAP) assessments are a coordinated system of three types of science assessments designed to measure students’ three-dimensional learning aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These assessments are developed across domains including…SNAP- Short Response items; Short Performance Assessments
Expert NotesStrengths:NGSS-aligned assessments that use performance-based, phenomenon-driven tasks that require students to apply knowledge and practices in realistic contexts, which helps capture deeper understanding and supports meaningful implementation of the standards.
Cautions:Performance-based tasks can be time-intensive to administer and score, especially since they often involve open-ended responses that require rubric-based evaluation rather than quick, objective grading.
Topics: Student LearningThe Stanford NGSS Assessment Project (SNAP) assessments are a coordinated system of three types of science assessments designed to measure students’ three-dimensional learning aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). These assessments are developed across domains including…Junior School Bebras Cards
Expert NotesStrengths:Uses authentic, problem-based Bebras tasks that require students to apply computational thinking skills to varied, real-world–like scenarios, supporting transfer of skills across contexts rather than isolated knowledge recall.
Cautions:Relies on paper-based, multiple-choice–style Bebras tasks, which may not fully capture students’ ability to generate solutions or demonstrate computational thinking in more open-ended or creative problem-solving contexts.
Topics: Student LearningThe Junior School Bebras Cards are an unplugged instructional and assessment tool designed to develop and measure primary students’ computational thinking skills through problem-solving activities. The instrument is designed to assess how students transfer computational thinking skills to novel…Students Knowledge Test (SKT)
Expert NotesStrengths:Designed as grade-specific, developmentally appropriate assessments with a consistent structure (e.g., 15-item multiple-choice format)
Cautions:The use of primarily multiple-choice items may limit the assessment's ability to capture students’ deeper reasoning or understanding of the engineering design process beyond recognition-level knowledge.
Topics: Student LearningThe Students’ Knowledge Tests (SKTs) are grade-specific multiple-choice assessments designed to measure elementary students’ understanding of engineering and science concepts. Each version of the test contains approximately 15 items aligned to content taught through introductory engineering lessons…Students Knowledge Test (SKT)
Expert NotesStrengths:Designed as grade-specific, developmentally appropriate assessments with a consistent structure (e.g., 15-item multiple-choice format)
Cautions:The use of primarily multiple-choice items may limit the assessment's ability to capture students’ deeper reasoning or understanding of the engineering design process beyond recognition-level knowledge.
Topics: Student LearningThe Students’ Knowledge Tests (SKTs) are grade-specific multiple-choice assessments designed to measure elementary students’ understanding of engineering and science concepts. Each version of the test contains approximately 15 items aligned to content taught through introductory engineering lessons…