Using Formative Assessment to Uncover How Students Think About Science

Formative assessment is a critical tool for enhancing student learning by gathering evidence of student thinking and using it to inform instruction. It emphasizes assessment for learning rather than assessment of learning, helping students reflect on their understanding and promoting engagement. Key strategies include clarifying learning intentions, fostering effective classroom discussions, providing actionable feedback, encouraging peer collaboration, and empowering students to take ownership of their learning. Techniques such as Predict-Explain-Observe (P-E-O), sticky bars, commit-fold-pass, and card sorts are effective in eliciting preconceptions, promoting metacognition, and supporting inquiry-based learning. These methods align with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), which emphasize learner-centered approaches, integrating disciplinary core ideas, science practices, and crosscutting concepts. The NGSS approach encourages students to explore phenomena, engage in evidence-based reasoning, and develop explanations through investigations. Formative assessment is applicable across K–12 education and supports all learners, from struggling to high-achieving students, in building conceptual understanding and scientific reasoning.