Handbook of Research on Science Education

CHAPTER 32

Classroom Assessment of Science Learning

Beverley Bell

University of Waikato, New Zealand

In this chapter, classroom assessment of science learning is taken as that assessment done by the teacher of science, in the classroom, for formative and summative purposes, for use by the teacher and student. Other chapters are reviewing the research on assessment in science education for the purposes of accountability and international comparisons, for summative assessment for reporting to others outside the classroom and for external qualifications, and for program evaluation. In other words, classroom assessment is viewed as teacher assessment for the participants of the classroom—the teacher and students.

Classroom assessment is an important ...