Developing A Framework for Performance Assessment in Science Education

The purpose of this study is to develop a Framework for Performance Assessment in Science Education(FPASE). Science educators in the past have paid more attention to science curriculum and teaching strategies than assessment. In recent years, attention has turned toward performance assessment which addresses the concerns of science curriculum and instruction, and which is consistent with goals of science education at various levels of interests. Science educators are trying to do performance assessment, yet they don't have a framework that is highly qualified in terms of science educational objectives for the future, and advantages of performance assessment. We, therefore, have developed a framework for performance assessment in science education, which may be useful for science teachers to understand and assess their students' abilities. We have extracted seven domains covering students' various abilities as the important objectives of science performance assessment and grouped them into three categories: General, Science specific, and Intermediate abilities. And we developed a F-PASE with a three dimensional solid figured structure, and illustrated it as the configuration of a com. F-PASE is useful for science teachers to develop and select a science performance assessment as well as have a more advanced understanding of their students' abilities. It is a creative and novel assessment framework in terms of structure, configuration, functions and meanings. It also suggests a new vision of an assessment framework in science education.