MOSART

Misconceptions-Oriented Standards-based Assessment Resources 

for Teachers

Hello All,

Teaching and tutoring science and mathematics, I have learned students can have some interesting misconceptions.  Many misconceptions are fairly common, not necessarily tied to current or past instruction.  Sometimes it is easy to see how a student came to a certain way of thinking, other times it requires the teacher to question.   MOSART tests are distractor-driven multiple choice tests developed to assess understanding of science concepts within the National Science Education Standards (NSES) in grades K-12 in the areas of Life Science, Physical Science, Earth Science, Chemistry, Physics, and Astronomy/Space Science.  MOSART tests have the potential to be a powerful diagnostic tool for determining the level of understanding of each science concept along with determining where misconceptions may be hiding allowing teachers to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of a class or individuals.  At a later date, if desired, a parallel test could be administered as a post-test to check for students' growth during a course.  Teachers must take the short tutorials that explain how to use and understand the tests before being allowed to select tests.  After, the selected tests can be emailed to the teacher.  The key at the end of each test connects each question to a standard which may be used for more in-depth analyses.  This is followed by a list of common misconceptions for the grade level and subject.

Happy analyses,

Mrs. A

Wikispaces Classroom is PBL Friendly

Hello All,

I recently attended the webinar Wikispaces Classroom Tour through Wikispaces.  The features are quite impressive and I found Wikispaces Classroom easy to navigate and use.  With all the buzz about Project Based Learning (PBL) and authentic assessment in education circles, the one feature that stood out to me was Projects.  The teacher can create the project, add dates to the calendar, create teams, and view user activity.  Teams can be created by dragging and dropping member names, randomly assigning members using the team generator, or uploading members from a spreadsheet.  The privacy settings can be set for only the team to edit, for other members of the Wiki to view but not edit, or for other members of the Wiki to also edit.  Numerous pages for the project can be setup for the teams by the teacher or the teacher can allow permission for each team to add pages for the project.   Under the assessment tab, the teacher can view who is online and whether each person is reading, writing, or has saved.  This information can be accessed searching by users or by projects.  If you are curious about the other features available at Wikispaces Classroom, visit the About Wikispaces Classroom link here: http://www.wikispaces.com/content/classroom/about.

Happy potential PBL,

Mrs. A

PhET Sims

Hello All, 

I imagine the PhET website has been reviewed ad nauseam.  I have been waiting for some time to share my enthusiasm over this resource.  PhET offers various interactive science simulations.  My interest there has primarily been chemistry; the other branches of science are well represented along with math.  One can search the simulations by subject and grade level.  Once a simulation has been selected a list of lesson ideas can be found below the simulation.  There are options for running the simulations either directly using the website or downloading to another device.  Under the teacher tab, educators have access to past workshop materials regarding how to integrate the simulations into teaching. Another exciting feature of this site is the materials can be translated using the PhET Translation Utility for another possible way to reach students where language is a potential barrier. The only down side I see here is that the simulations do not work with or do not work well with Ipad, Android, or tablets.  Most of the simulations require the use of a keyboard and/or mouse.  See the embedded Salts and Solubility simulation below if you are curious to see a sample of what the site has to offer.

Enjoy playing,

Mrs. A

Click to Run