Assessing pupils’ ability to generalize∗

∗ All data are presented here with the permission of the Department of Education and Science Assessment of Performance Unit. The APU reports are Crown copyright and should not be reproduced without the permission of the Controller of HMSO.

The development of the questions and mark schemes on which this paper is based has been contributed to in a greater or less degree by all existing and past members of the science teams at Leeds University and King's College London (KQC), London. The present paper represents the view of the named authors, and not necessarily either those of the DES or of other members of the Leeds and King's College teams.

The paper presents findings from the British national science monitoring programme operated by the Assessment of Performance Unit. It focuses on 15‐year‐old pupils’ interpretation of presented data and self‐generated observations and, in particular, on their ability to arrive at generalized conclusions when requested so to do. The responses of a national sample of pupils are analysed for the effects of gender, question type, question and ‘ability’ (using the surrogate of likely examination entry). Significant differences are found between responses based on practical situations, as opposed to pencil‐and‐paper questions, and some interaction with ‘ability’ is noted. Data are presented in relation to individual questions, in order to explore the variations observed within questions of the same type. The least able pupils were found to have difficulty with the basic phenomenal reference of even simple data. The difficulties of able pupils tended rather to be associated with the elimination of potential relationships from complex multivariable data. Questions based on material resources are found to present particular problems of validity and reliability. The paper concludes with a discussion of some implications of these findings.

∗ All data are presented here with the permission of the Department of Education and Science Assessment of Performance Unit. The APU reports are Crown copyright and should not be reproduced without the permission of the Controller of HMSO.

The development of the questions and mark schemes on which this paper is based has been contributed to in a greater or less degree by all existing and past members of the science teams at Leeds University and King's College London (KQC), London. The present paper represents the view of the named authors, and not necessarily either those of the DES or of other members of the Leeds and King's College teams.

Notes

∗ All data are presented here with the permission of the Department of Education and Science Assessment of Performance Unit. The APU reports are Crown copyright and should not be reproduced without the permission of the Controller of HMSO.

The development of the questions and mark schemes on which this paper is based has been contributed to in a greater or less degree by all existing and past members of the science teams at Leeds University and King's College London (KQC), London. The present paper represents the view of the named authors, and not necessarily either those of the DES or of other members of the Leeds and King's College teams.