ECOMP 6102: Reasoning Paper - Final

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ECOMP 6102: Final Design: a Performance Assessment Task

Part 1 - Performance Task Description
Part 2 - Description of Assessment Design
Part 3 - Create and Evaluate a Rubric
Part 4 - Self Assessment


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ECOMP 6102: Design a Performance Assessment Task

Part One - Performance Task Description:
1. Identify the grade level and subject area for which you will be creating an assessment.

Grade level: 6
Subject Area: Technology

2. Write out the Learning Targets (Standard, objective, goal) that will be assessed.

A. ISTE NETS (http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-for-students-2007-profiles.aspx#6-8):
3. Gather data, examine patterns, and apply information for decision making using digital tools and resources. (1,4)

B. District Technology Skills Set
Collect information and display the data in graphical form.

3. Identify the type of performance you will be expecting of your students as the final Performance Assessment for these standards.

a. What performances or products are you expecting from students? 

Students will create a graph/chart based on data collected from the experiments they conducted previously as part of their science fair project. They will use the computer and the application Pages to construct the graph/chart. The final product will include:

• A title that states the dependent and independent variables.
• A legend/key that will tell the audience what the colored parts of your graph represent.
• A label for both your x-axis and your y-axis.
• The unit of measurement used to measure the data results.
• The final product must fit on a single page with decisions about font, color, and type of graph that will make the product easy to read and understand by the audience.

b. Consider the knowledge students will have to have to do this performance. List the elements of knowledge this performance task will require.

Students will need to know the following:

• Graph/chart terminology
• A basic understanding of how to use and navigate the application software
• How to enter data into the Chart Data Editor
• How to use the Chart Inspector to apply enhancements such as axis labels, number of measurement steps, and a legend.

c. Provide some information about how will you teach the skills students need to do this performance task.

Prior to the start of this assignment, students will engage in a series of practice exercises where they will practice creating and modifying graphs in order to become familiar with the application tools, comfortable with the vocabulary, and an understanding of what finished product should look like. Students will first create a graph from scratch, using data provided by the teacher, to practice entering data into the Chart Data Editor and then how to apply the list of required components to the graph. Second, students will be given an incomplete graph that has experiment data but is missing key components and must fill in the missing pieces to complete the graph. The experiment data for these exercises will be taken from actual experiments conducted by students from previous science fair projects.

d. Are there conditions that students need to adhere to?

Students may work individually or with a partner on the practice exercises. Students are encouraged to “peer edit” each other’s work to check for understanding and comprehension of how the data is displayed in their graphs.


Part 2 - Description of Assessment Design
1. Describe the assessment procedures you will use:

a. How will you help students understand what it means to create a "good" product or performance?

At the beginning of the lesson the teacher will review with students the checklist of components that need to be present on any graph/chart they construct. For the graph “built from scratch” activity, the checklist will be used to evaluate the quality of the product using several student volunteers. For the “incomplete graph” activity, students will use the checklist to identify the missing components via class discussion. At the end, several student volunteers will submit their chart for evaluation by the class using the checklist.

b. How will you monitor students as they work on this performance assessment to be sure that the work they are doing is turning out "good"? 

The chart/graph checklist will be displayed on the screen at the front of the class for students to refer to throughout the period. Students will also be required to download a copy of the checklist to be saved to their folder or portable device for reference later in other classes or other projects.

c. What kind of a scoring document will you use to determine students' final grades on this task?

The chart/graph component checklist will be used and referred to throughout the activity as the criteria for determining the students’ progress. A rubric based on the checklist will be used to evaluate students for their final grade.

ECOMP 6102: Writing Essay Questions

1. Use your Test Blueprint to write three (3) Essay Questions that engage students in reasoning.

2. Identify the type(s) of reasoning your students will be required to use to answer each of these questions. Identify all the different types of reasoning students will have to use to answer each of the questions you wrote.

3. Place your Essay Questions in the word document.

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Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)
5. Evaluate digital resources to determine the credibility of the author and publisher and the timeliness and accuracy of the content. (3)

Content	Knowledge & Understanding	Deductive Reasoning	Evaluative Reasoning	Total
Credibility	10	15	15	40
Timeliness	10	20	20	50
Accuracy	15	20	20	55
Total	35	55	55	145_

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Essay Question #1 (classification, deductive reasoning):
In class we talked about what a domain is and what it can tell you about whether a website, and the information it contains, can be trusted. Using the set of domain names provided, organize them into a list from least to most trustworthy. Explain your rationale for the ordering of your list.

Essay Question #2: (analysis, evaluation)
During the course of this activity, we looked at four websites and tried to determine if the information they provided could be trusted. Evaluate the content of the Tree Octopus website and determine if you would recommend this website be added to the school library as a resource for students. In your argument, think about our discussions about timeliness of information and if the content provided appears realistic.

Essay Question #3: (evaluation, knowledge & understanding)
After describing your latest school assignment to your family, your older sibling comes to you and with a sneaky sort of smile, recommends this website that will answer any questions that your teacher may ask of you. Before you base your entire project on this website, describe what you would look for to determine if the website is trustworthy or not. Discuss what items would make you more likely to trust the website and what items would make you begin to doubt its credibility.

 

ECOMP 6102: Create Selected Response Questions

Please write ONE test item for each cell in your Table of Specifications (9 q's total) and Identify the learning Target for each question.

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Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)
5. Evaluate digital resources to determine the credibility of the author and publisher and the timeliness and accuracy of the content. (3)

Content	Knowledge & Understanding	Deductive Reasoning	Evaluative Reasoning	Total
Credibility	10	15	15	40
Timeliness	10	20	20	50
Accuracy	15	20	20	55
Total	35	55	55	145_

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1. Does the author provide his/her name and email address? (LT: identify the source of the information for citation purposes)

Yes

No

2. Does the website show the date when it was last updated? (LT: determine if information is being checked and modified on a regular basis)

Yes

No

3. Do the links going to other sites lead you to where they said they would? (LT: determine if information is being supported by other sources)

Yes

No

4. A website ending in the domain .net is always credible. (LT: know the difference between different types of website domains)

True

False

5. Are you more likely to think that a website is credible if it is updated every: (LT: websites that are updated on a regular basis are more likely to have relevant information)

A. year

B. month
C. week

6. Websites that contain several “dead links” should be considered questionable. (LT: the persistence of dead links point to a site that is not being updated regularly)

True

False

7. Which site could you trust to give you credible resources for researching project topics? (LT: verify the credibility of a site by checking its claims against another source you know to be trustworthy)

A. Follet Destiny

B. Google

C. Wikipedia 

8. A website is more credible if the date it was last updated is changes between pages. (LT: sites that time stamp when each “page” was updated give us a better idea of what content is being updated)

True

False

9. If a photo looks like it might have been changed you should: (LT: images and pictures that have been modified or “photoshop’d” should be considered suspicious)

A. trust the photo

B. ignore the photo
C. check some of the other photos

ECOMP 6102: Create a Table of Specifications

Standard referenced from the International Society for Technology Education (ISTE).

Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)  
5. Evaluate digital resources to determine the credibility of the author and publisher and the timeliness and accuracy of the content. (3)

Content	Knowledge & Understanding	Deductive Reasoning	Evaluative Reasoning	Total
Credibility	10	15	15	40
Timeliness	10	20	20	50
Accuracy	15	20	20	55
Total	35	55	55	145_