Ongoing, Embedded, Authentic Assessment

How can teachers get an idea of what students know and can do in the "best practices" learning environment? Teachers need to assess children's knowledge and scientific reasoning skills throughout the instruction process. Teachers can gauge preexisting knowledge from the questions that children generate for investigation. This process allows teachers to decide how to help kids realign their conceptions with more scientifically accepted ideas. Similarly, as children are gathering background information and devising their experiments, the teacher is observing their techniques.

No matter how the teacher has designed the lesson, knowledge can be assessed when children are asked to communicate what they have learned. Computers can assist in this process; many simulations have questions or journals embedded in them. Teachers can see student responses to questions or prompts in the program. Teachers also can evaluate children who are using presentation software to communicate their understanding.