Science Formative Assessment,

Volume 1
Second Edition
This book is dedicated to all the classroom teachers
and science specialists I have had the honor and
pleasure to work with over the years in building your
capacity to use formative assessment. I am so
grateful for and in awe of the daily work you do to
support teaching and learning in science.
Science Formative
Assessment, Volume 1
75 Practical Strategies for Linking
Assessment, Instruction, and Learning

Second Edition

Page Keeley
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Contents
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1: An Introduction to Formative
Assessment Classroom Techniques (FACTs)
What Does a Formative Assessment-
Centered Classroom Look Like?
Why Use FACTs?
How Does Research Support the Use of
FACTs?
Classroom Environments That Support
Formative Assessment
Connecting Teaching and Learning
Understanding Misconceptions in Science:
Misconceptions About Misconceptions
Making the Shift to a Formative Assessment-
Centered Classroom
Connections to Current State Standards, A
Framework for K–12 Science Education, Next
Generation Science Standards, and Literacy
Capacities
Chapter 2: Connecting FACTs to Instruction and
Learning
Integrating Assessment and Instruction
 Assessment That Promotes Thinking and
Learning
Linking Assessment, Instruction, and
Learning: The Science Assessment,
Instruction, and Learning (SAIL) Cycle
Stages in the SAIL Cycle
Engagement and Readiness
Eliciting Prior Knowledge
Exploration and Discovery
Concept and Skill Development
Concept and Skill Transfer
Self-Assessment and Reflection
Selecting and Using FACTs to Strengthen the
Link Between Assessment, Instruction, and
Learning
Chapter 3: Considerations for Selecting,
Implementing, and Using Data From FACTs
Selecting FACTs
Selecting FACTs to Match Learning Goals and
Standards
FACTs and Core Disciplinary Content
FACTs and the Scientific and Engineering
Practices
Selecting FACTs to Match Teaching Goals
The Critical Importance of Classroom Context
in Selecting FACTs
Planning to Use and Implement FACTs
Starting Off With Small Steps
 Maintaining and Extending Implementation
25 Ways to Lead Learning About Formative
Assessment
Using Data From the FACTs
Chapter 4: Get the FACTs! 75 Science Formative
Assessment Classroom Techniques (FACTs)
1. A&D Statements
2. Agreement Circles
3. Annotated Student Drawings
4. Card Sorts
5. CCC—Collaborative Clued Corrections
6. Chain Notes
7. Commit and Toss
8. Concept Card Mapping
9. Concept Cartoons
10. Data Match
11. Directed Paraphrasing
12. Explanation Analysis
13. Fact First Questioning
14. Familiar Phenomenon Probes
15. First Word–Last Word
16. Fishbowl Think Aloud
17. Fist to Five
18. Focused Listing
19. Four Corners
20. Frayer Model
21. Friendly Talk Probes
22. Give Me Five
23. Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning
24. Human Scattergraph
25. Informal Student Interviews
26. Interest Scale
27. I Think–We Think
28. I Used to Think... But Now I Know
29. Juicy Questions
30. Justified List
31. Justified True or False Statements
32. K-W-L Variations
33. Learning Goals Inventory (LGI)
34. Look Back
35. Missed Conception
36. Muddiest Point
37. No-Hands Questioning
38. Odd One Out
39. Paint the Picture
40. Partner Speaks
41. Pass the Question
42. A Picture Tells a Thousand Words
43. P-E-O Probes (Predict, Explain, Observe)
44. POMS—Point of Most Significance
45. Popsicle Stick Questioning
46. Prefacing
47. PVF—Paired Verbal Fluency
48. Question Generating
49. Recognizing Exceptions
50. Refutations
 51. Representation Analysis
52. RERUN
53. Scientists’ Ideas Comparison
54. Sequencing Cards
55. Sticky Bars
56. STIP—Scientific Terminology Inventory
Probe
57. Student Evaluation of Learning Gains
58. Synectics
59. Ten-Two
60. Thinking Log
61. Think-Pair-Share
62. Thought Experiments
63. Three-Minute Pause
64. Three-Two-One
65. Traffic Light Cards
66. Traffic Light Cups
67. Traffic Light Dots
68. Two-Minute Paper
69. Two or Three Before Me
70. Two Stars and a Wish
71. Two-Thirds Testing
72. Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong!
73. Wait Time Variations
74. What Are You Doing and Why?
75. Whiteboarding
Appendix: Annotated Resources for Science
Formative Assessment
References
Index
Preface

The most important single factor influencing

learning is what the learner already knows.
Ascertain this and teach him accordingly.

—Ausubel, Novak, & Hanesian (1978)

Formative Assessment in Science

Science educators agree that good assessment
practices are integral to informing teaching and
learning, as well as measuring and documenting
student achievement. When I began writing the first
edition of this book in 2006, the balance of time,
resources, and emphasis on assessment was tilted
considerably toward the summative side. This
imbalance led to a cycle of even more standardized
testing of students, test-taking practice, and “mile
wide, inch deep” instruction, often with only marginal
gains in achievement. When science test scores
failed to improve significantly, the knee-jerk reaction
was to increase the cycle of testing and test
preparation, covering large amounts of content in a
superficial way. This reduced the amount of time
teachers spent on really understanding what their
students were thinking prior to and throughout
instruction and using that information to design
learning opportunities that help students develop
deeper conceptual understanding. Fast forward to
almost 10 years later, and I am happy to say that in
science much of that weight has been shifted to the
formative side so that assessment is truly a balance
between diagnostic/formative assessment and
summative assessment. I like to think, and maybe
I’m not too far off, that the first edition of this book,
combined with the National Science Teachers
Association’s Uncovering Student Ideas in Science
and the extensive professional development that was
provided to districts, contributed to this shift. Today, I
am pleased to see a huge interest in science
formative assessment, particularly as it relates to
uncovering student thinking and using that
information to make better informed instructional
decisions.

This revised edition continues to address the need to

balance opportunity to learn, which includes
assessment for learning (Black, Harrison, Lee,
Marshall, & Wiliam, 2003), with assessment of
learning. Optimal opportunities to learn exist when
science teachers are aware of the variety of different
ideas students are likely to bring to their learning, see
the connections between students’ thinking and the
specific ideas targeted by state and national
standards, and provide learning experiences that
build a bridge between their students’ thinking and
the accepted scientific ideas. What is effective for
one purpose—external accountability—may not
effectively serve the purpose of informing
instructional planning and decision making, which is
what ultimately affects student learning. A rich
repertoire of formative assessment techniques
provides the ongoing feedback and stimulus for deep
thinking that a high-stakes test once or twice a year
cannot provide in time to inform instruction and
improve learning.

Teachers are the most important link in the chain that

connects assessment, instruction, and learning. The
need for a varied repertoire of purposeful techniques
that weave assessment throughout instruction and
learning is what led to this book. I hope you can turn
the insights and ideas gleaned from this book into
practical actions that will transform teaching and
learning in your classroom.

Purpose and Need

A substantive body of research indicates that
formative assessment can significantly improve
student learning. Yet this same research shows that
the features of formative assessment that affect
student achievement are, sadly, missing from many
classrooms (Black et al., 2003). Formative
assessment is research rich, yet practice poor. The
purpose of this book is to provide teachers with
guidance, suggestions, and techniques for using
formative assessment to improve teaching and
learning in the science classroom. A wide variety of
assessment books and resources available to
educators provide the theoretical rationale for
formative assessment, its implications for teaching
and learning, and general strategies. What makes
this book different is that it is focused on the
discipline of science. Science, through which we
seek to understand the natural world, has nuances
that are very different from other subject areas. That
is why science educators need a resource that is
specifically focused on the discipline of science. This
book expands on the current literature by identifying
and describing practical techniques science teachers
can use to build a rich repertoire of formative
assessment strategies for the science classroom that
help them uncover students’ ways of thinking about
phenomena and concepts in science.

The acronym, FACT, is used to label the 75

techniques included in this book. FACT stands for
formative assessment classroom technique. Through
the varied use of FACTs, explicitly tied to a purpose
for gathering information about or promoting
students’ thinking and learning, teachers can focus
on what works best for learning and design or modify
lessons to fit the needs of their students. The FACTs
are easily integrated into existing science curriculum
materials

Audience
The primary audience for this book is K–12 science
teachers. However, many of the formative
assessment techniques described can be used in
other disciplines such as mathematics, social
studies, language arts, visual and performing arts,
health, and foreign language. The FACTs can also be
used in teacher preservice education, general
undergraduate science classes, and teacher
professional development.

Organization
Chapter 1 provides an introduction to formative
assessment in the science classroom. It describes
the inextricable link between assessment, instruction,
and learning. It describes what a FACT is and the
research on learning that supports the use of FACTs.
It describes the learning environments that support
assessment, instruction, and learning. It examines
the relationship between teaching and learning and
describes new roles and implications for a formative
assessment-centered classroom. It also addresses
misunderstandings about misconceptions,
connections to the new vision for science standards,
and ways the FACTs enhance literacy capacities.

Chapter 2 focuses on the use of FACTs to integrate

assessment, instruction, and learning. It examines
the connection between assessment and instruction
and describes a learning cycle model in science
(SAIL cycle) that integrates assessment with
instruction and learning and provides a framework for
using FACTs. It describes how formative assessment
promotes learning in the science classroom,
including the role of metacognition, self-assessment,
and reflection. It provides suggestions for
strengthening the link between assessment,
instruction, and learning.

Chapter 3 addresses considerations for selecting,

implementing, and using the data from science
formative assessment. It includes a chart that
highlights examples of FACTs used throughout the
book and their link to the disciplinary core ideas in A
Framework for K–12 Science Education (National
Research Council [NRC], 2012). It also includes a
chart to show how the FACTs support use of the
scientific practices. It includes a matrix for matching
FACTs with their primary purposes in teaching and
learning.

Chapter 4 is the heart of the book. It includes a

collection of 75 different FACTs. The FACTs are
arranged in alphabetical order so that teachers can
locate them by name. Each FACT uses a common
format that provides a description, how it promotes
student learning, how it informs instruction,
considerations for design and administration,
connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012), general attributes,
modifications that can be made to a FACT for
different types of students or purposes, caveats for
using a particular technique, and uses in other
disciplines besides science including a brief example.
Each FACT includes an example related to a
disciplinary core idea that shows or describes how
the FACT is used in science. Space is provided at
the end of each FACT description to record your
notes on how it worked in your classroom and any
modifications or suggestions for further use.

The Appendix contains annotated resources

referenced in Chapter 4. It also contains additional
resources that a science educator would find useful
for expanding his or her knowledge of formative
assessment and building a repertoire of strategies.
What Is Different About This Edition?
About 80% of the material in this revised edition is
the same as the first edition (Keeley, 2008). Since
the first edition was released, thousands of teachers
have been using the FACTs and have shared with
me various ways they have used them. I have
included several new suggestions, thanks to all the
teachers who enthusiastically provide me with
feedback! I have also changed the examples in
several FACTs to reflect core disciplinary ideas and
scientific practices in A Framework for K–12 Science
Education. These core ideas and practices also
make up the Next Generation Science Standards
(NGSS Lead States, 2013). Since several states are
adopting the NGSS or are using the Framework to
revise their state standards, I have included a
description of the connection to the Framework in
each of the FACT descriptions. Additionally, there are
two charts included in Chapter 3 that link each FACT
to the grade level disciplinary core idea in the
example provided as well as provide links to the
scientific practices.

I also learned that many schools and districts

purchased this book for use with teachers of all
subject areas so they could be using common
formative assessment strategies. As a result, I
included a brief example for each FACT that shows
how it can be used in a subject area other than
science.
Acknowledgments

Most of the ideas and techniques in this book are not

new or unique. They have been drawn from
formative assessment techniques used by classroom
teachers, professional developers, researchers, and
the author’s experiences as a former middle and high
school science teacher. Several of the FACTs are so
commonly used that it is hard to trace back the
original source. In some cases, a new name and a
new twist have been added to an old technique.

I am indebted to the teachers and science specialists

I have had the honor and pleasure to work with over
two decades, who have shared their repertoire of
strategies with me, tried out new as well as variations
of existing strategies, and helped me understand
which FACTs work best in different contexts. I
especially want to thank all the great teachers in
Texas and their instructional coaches and science
coordinators who keep bringing me back for more
and more and more...

I especially wish to acknowledge my muse, mentor,

and inspiration, Dr. Dick Konicek-Moran, who started
me on this path in 1991, before I ever met him. Today
I am honored to collaborate with him on our opus,
Teaching for Conceptual Understanding in Science
(Konicek-Moran & Keeley, 2015), which is what
formative assessment is ultimately all about.

I gratefully acknowledge my Corwin editor, Jessica

Allan, for her patience in keeping me on track,
despite long overdue deadlines. My deep
appreciation also goes to the NSTA Press, David
Beacom, and Claire Reinburg for the opportunity to
further extend this work into the NSTA science
education community.

And last, but most important, I acknowledge the love

and support of my family and friends who share my
excitement every time I have a new book roll off the
press!
About the Author

Page Keeley
is internationally recognized as a leader in
science education and expert in science
formative assessment. She began developing
assessment probes and formative assessment
classroom techniques (FACTs) back in the early
1990s after being inspired by the seminal article,
Teaching for Conceptual Change: Confronting
Children’s Experience by Bruce Watson and Dick
Konicek. With over 250 assessment probes and
138 FACTs, she continues to develop and publish
assessment probes and strategies for science
and mathematics educators.
Page retired from the Maine Mathematics and
Science Alliance (MMSA) where she had been
the Senior Science Program Director since 1996.
Today, she works as an independent consultant,
speaker, and author providing professional
development to school districts and organizations
in the areas of science and mathematics
formative assessment, understanding student
thinking, teaching science for conceptual
understanding, and designing effective
instruction.
Page has been the principal investigator and
project director on three major National Science
Foundation-funded projects including the
Northern New England Co-Mentoring Network,
PRISMS: Phenomena and Representations for
Instruction of Science in Middle School, and
Curriculum Topic Study—A Systematic Approach
to Utilizing National Standards and Cognitive
Research. She also developed and directed two
state Math-Science Partnership projects including
Science Content, Conceptual Change, and
Collaboration (SC4) and TIES K–12: Teachers
Integrating Engineering into Science K–12 and
two National Semi-Conductor Foundation grants,
Linking Science, Inquiry, and Language Literacy
(L-SILL) and Linking Science, Engineering, and
Language Literacy (L-SELL). She developed and
directed the Maine Governor’s Academy for
Science and Mathematics Education Leadership,
which completed its fourth cohort group of Maine
teacher STEM leaders and is a replication of the
National Academy for Science and Mathematics
Education Leadership, of which she is a Fellow.
Page is a prolific author of 17 national best-selling
and award-winning books, including 10 books in
the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series,
four books in the Curriculum Topic Study series,
and three books in the Science and Mathematics
Formative Assessment: Practical Strategies for
Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning
series. Several of her books have won prestigious
awards for educational publishing. In addition, a
collection of her Science and Children K–5
science formative assessment journal articles,
along with study and reflection questions for
professional learning groups, What Are They
Thinking? Promoting Elementary Science
Learning Through Formative Assessment
received the 2015 REVERE Award from the
Association of American Publishers. She has
authored numerous journal articles and
contributed to several book chapters. She is also
a formative assessment probe writer for McGraw-
Hill’s middle and elementary school I-science and
Inspire Science programs. She is a frequent
invited speaker at regional and national
conferences on the topic of formative assessment
in science and teaching for conceptual change.
Prior to her work at the MMSA, Page taught
middle and high school science for 15 years. At
that time, she was an active teacher leader at the
state and national level, serving two terms as
President of the Maine Science Teachers
Association and National Science Teachers
Association (NSTA) District II Director and NSTA
Executive Board member (prior to the Board and
Council restructuring in 1997). She received the
Presidential Award for Excellence in Secondary
Science Teaching in 1992, the Milken National
Distinguished Educator Award in 1993, and the
AT&T Maine Governor’s Fellow in 1994. Since
leaving the classroom in 1996, her work in
leadership and professional development has
been nationally recognized. In 2009, she received
the National Staff Development Council’s (now
Learning Forward) Susan Loucks-Horsley Award
for Leadership in Science and Mathematics
Professional Development. In 2013, she received
the Outstanding Leadership in Science Education
award from the National Science Education
Leadership Association.
In 2008, she was elected the 63rd President of
the NSTA, the world’s largest organization of K–
12, university, and informal science educators.
She has served as an adjunct instructor at the
University of Maine, was a Cohort 1 Fellow in the
National Academy for Science and Mathematics
Education Leadership, was a science literacy
leader for the American Association for the
Advancement of Science/Project 2061
Professional Development Program, and serves
on several national advisory boards. She is a
science education delegation leader for the
People to People Citizen Ambassador
Professional Programs, leading the South Africa
trip in 2009, China in 2010, India in 2012, Cuba in
2014, and Peru in 2015.
Prior to teaching, Page was the research
assistant for immunogeneticist, Dr. Leonard
Shultz, at the Jackson Laboratory of Mammalian
Genetics in Bar Harbor, Maine. She received her
bachelor’s degree in life sciences from the
University of New Hampshire and her master’s
degree in science education from the University
of Maine. In her spare time, she enjoys
photography, dabbles in modernist cooking and
culinary art, and shares her recipes on her food
blog.
Chapter 1 An Introduction to
Formative Assessment
Classroom Techniques (FACTs)

What Does a Formative Assessment-

Centered Classroom Look Like?
In a primary classroom, students are having a
“science talk” to decide which organisms illustrated
on a set of cards are “animals.” After using a Card
Sort strategy to group the cards as “animals” and
“not animals,” the teacher encourages the students
to develop a rule that could be used to decide
whether an organism is an animal. The students
share their ideas, openly agreeing or disagreeing
with their peers. The teacher records the ideas that
are most common among students and notes the
reasoning students use. She notices many students
think animals must have fur or legs and that humans
are not animals and makes note of this to address in
the next lesson. She then gives students an
opportunity to regroup their cards, using the rule they
developed as a class. She listens carefully as
students explain their reasoning based on the
“animal rule” they developed. The teacher adds new
cards to the Card Sort. Some students decide they
need to revise the rule to fit the new cards. The
teacher probes deeper to find out why some students
revised their thinking.

In an intermediate classroom, students use a P-E-O

Probe to predict and explain whether the mass of an
ice cube in a sealed ziptop bag will increase,
decrease, or stay the same after it melts. Using the
Human Scattergraph technique, the teacher quickly
sees that students differ in their predictions and
confidence in their answer. She then provides them
with an opportunity to discuss their prediction and the
evidence that supports it in small groups. The
teacher listens carefully and notes the
preconceptions students use to support their
prediction, particularly concepts they may have
encountered previously, such as density, that seem
to muddle their understanding of the conservation-of-
matter phenomenon of what happens during a
change in state. After students have had an
opportunity to explain their thinking about what would
happen to the mass of the ice cube after it melts, the
teacher provides an opportunity for students to test
their ideas by observing and recording the mass of
an ice cube in a sealed ziptop bag before and after it
melts. She notices how some students are starting to
rethink their prediction and the evidence and
reasoning they used to support it. The class then
comes together to discuss and reconcile their
findings with their initial predictions and ideas. They
write a new explanation for the phenomenon. The
students use Scientists’ Ideas Comparison to
compare how closely their new ideas match the
scientific explanation.

In a middle school classroom, the teacher uses a

Familiar Phenomenon Probe to uncover students’
explanations for the phases of the moon. Using the
Sticky Bars strategy to anonymously display
students’ initial ideas, the teacher and the class could
instantly see that most students believed the phases
of the moon were caused by the shadow of the Earth
cast on the moon. Knowing that this would be a
difficult idea to change, the teacher designs a lesson
that involves the students in using one of the
scientific and engineering practices described in the
National Research Council’s (2012) A Framework for
K–12 Science Education and included as one of the
three dimensions in the Next Generation Science
Standards (NGSS) (NGSS Lead States, 2013) to
make sense of and accurately explain this
phenomenon. She engages the students in
developing and using a model to visually see for
themselves how the position of the moon in relation
to the Earth and the sun results in the different moon
phases. After students use their model to visualize
and understand the phenomenon, they revisit their
original explanations and have an opportunity to
revise them, based on their model. The next day,
students are given a task of researching lunar
eclipses. They use the information from researching
eclipses to work in small groups with Whiteboards to
illustrate and explain the difference between a lunar
eclipse and a new moon. Students share their
Whiteboard ideas and get feedback from the class
and teacher regarding the differences in representing
the two sun-Earth-moon phenomena. At the end of
the lesson, students use I Used to Think . . . But Now
I Know to reflect on their initial explanation for the
phases of the moon and describe how comparing the
model of a lunar eclipse with the model of a moon
phase helped them better understand both
phenomena.

In a high school chemistry class, small groups of

students are using A&D Statements to discuss and
reconcile their different ideas about a claim made by
several groups, “The mass of an iron object
decreases as it rusts.” One student who agrees with
the claim is trying to persuade her classmates to
consider her idea that rust is like a mold that eats
and breaks down iron, causing it to lose mass.
Another student who disagrees with the claim offers
a rebuttal and argues that the oxygen in the air is
combined with the iron to make rust, which would
add additional mass. Each group is trying to come up
with a consensus idea and explanation to share with
the class along with a method to test its idea. The
teacher circulates among groups, probing further and
facilitating an argumentation session. Students write
a Two-Minute Paper at the end of class to share their
thinking with the teacher and describe what they
need to do next to test their ideas. The teacher uses
this information to prepare for student investigation
the next day.

What do all these classroom snapshots have in

common? Each of these examples combines
formative assessment classroom techniques (FACTs)
with instruction for a specific teaching and learning
purpose. Often it is hard to tell whether a particular
FACT serves an instructional, assessment, or
learning purpose since they are so intertwined.
Students are learning while at the same time the
teacher is gathering valuable information about their
thinking that will inform instruction and provide
feedback to students on their learning.

Each of these snapshots gives a brief glimpse into

the different techniques teachers use to promote
student thinking, uncover students’ ideas, and use
information about their students’ progress in moving
toward a learning target to improve their instruction.
The teaching strategies in these snapshots are just a
few of the 75 FACTs described in Chapter 4, along
with the underpinnings described in Chapters 1
through 3, that will help you understand and
effectively use formative assessment. While you may
be tempted to skip ahead and go directly to Chapter
4 to find FACTs you can use in your classroom, you
are encouraged to first read Chapters 1 through 3.
By having a firm knowledge base about the purposes
and uses of formative assessment, as well as
examining implementation considerations before you
select a FACT, the image and use of formative
assessment in your classroom will be sharper and
more deliberately focused.

Why Use FACTs?

Every day, science teachers are asking questions,
listening carefully to students as they explain their
ideas, observing students as they work in groups,
examining student writing and drawings, and
orchestrating classroom discourse that promotes the
public sharing and evaluation of students’ ideas.
These purposeful, planned, and often spontaneous
teacher-to-student, student-to-teacher, and student-
to-student verbal and written interactions involve a
variety of assessment techniques. These techniques
are used to engage students in thinking deeply about
their ideas in science, uncover the preexisting ideas
students bring to their learning that can be used as
starting points to build on during instruction, and help
teachers and students throughout an instructional
cycle determine how well individuals and the class
are progressing toward developing scientific
understanding.

The 75 science FACTs described in this book are

inextricably linked to assessment, instruction, and
learning. The interconnected nature of formative
assessment clearly differentiates the types of
assessments we call assessments for learning from
assessments of learning—the summative
assessments used to measure and document
student achievement. The preposition makes a
difference! Furthermore, a third preposition can be
added: assessment as learning. As you will see once
you begin using the techniques in this book, they
may become learning activities as well as provide
information about learning.

Although it is important to recognize that summative

assessments can also be used formatively, they tend
to be more formal in nature, tend to be given at an
endpoint of instruction, and usually involve grading or
other means of determining and documenting
student achievement. Furthermore, if released items
from large-scale tests are used formatively, be aware
that they may not reveal commonly held
misconceptions. Because common misconception
answer choices are as likely to be selected by high-
scoring students as low-scoring students, they do not
discriminate and thus are rejected from most item
pools when constructing standardized tests.

Figure 1.1 describes the different types and purposes

of assessment in the science classroom. Note that
diagnostic assessment becomes formative
assessment when the information is used by the
teacher to improve teaching and learning. For
example, a teacher can collect data in response to a
probing question to identify the commonly held ideas
students have about a phenomenon. But if the data
are not used to inform teaching and learning, then it
is merely a diagnosis without action taken. In a
medical context, this would be analogous to the sick
patient who goes to the doctor and is diagnosed with
a medical condition. To go beyond the diagnosis, the
doctor would use the information collected
diagnostically to formatively design the best course
of treatment so that the patient’s health would
improve. At the same time, the patient self-monitors
or receives feedback on the progress of his or her
condition so that the patient can improve his or her
health. Finally, the patient comes back for periodic
physical exams, weeks, months, even years later.
The doctor records the extent to which the treatment
worked and the condition of the patient’s overall
health. This last check is analogous to summative
assessment.

Figure 1.1 Types and Purposes of Assessment

NOTE: Diagnostic assessment becomes

formative when the assessment data are used to
inform instruction.

Each FACT described in Chapter 4 is a type of

question, process, or activity that helps provide
teachers and students with information about their
factual, conceptual, and procedural understandings
in science. Furthermore, the content of each FACT
provides valuable information to inform the learning
targets associated with core disciplinary ideas,
scientific and engineering practices, or crosscutting
concepts. These formative assessment techniques
inform teaching by allowing the teacher to
continuously gather information on student thinking
and learning to make data-informed decisions to plan
for or adjust instructional activities, monitor the pace
of instruction, identify potential misconceptions that
can be barriers as well as springboards for learning,
and spend more time on ideas that students struggle
with. Formative assessment is also used to provide
feedback to students, engaging them in the
evaluation of their own and their peers’ thinking and
learning as well as creating a feedback loop back to
the teacher that informs instructional decisions.
Figure 1.2 defines formative assessment in a
nutshell.

In addition to informing instruction and providing

feedback to students, many of the formative
assessment techniques included in this book support
the use of metacognitive skills and promote deeper
student thinking and engagement.

The FACTs described in this book are designed to be

easily embedded into classroom instruction. They are
primarily used to assess before and throughout the
learning process rather than at an endpoint of
instruction (except for reflection). Their main purpose
is to improve student learning and opportunities to
learn through carefully designed instruction. They are
not used for the summative purpose of accountability
—measuring and reporting student achievement. The
versatility of the techniques described
accommodates a range of learning styles and can be
used to differentiate instruction and assessment for
individuals and groups of students. FACTs can be
used to spark students’ interest, surface ideas,
initiate an investigation, seek information from text
and other resources, and encourage classroom
discourse—these are assessment strategies that
promote learning rather than measure and report
learning. A rich repertoire of FACTs enables learners
to interact with assessment in multiple ways—
through writing, drawing, speaking, listening,
physically moving, modeling, arguing, and designing
and carrying out investigations. The following is a list
of 20 purposes for using FACTs in the science
classroom:

1. Activate thinking and engage students in learning

2. Make students’ ideas explicit to themselves and
the teacher
3. Challenge students’ existing ideas and encourage
intellectual curiosity
4. Encourage continuous reflection on teaching and
learning
5. Help students consider alternative viewpoints
6. Provide a stimulus for discussion and scientific
argumentation
7. Help students recognize when they have learned
or not learned something
 8. Encourage students to ask better questions and
provide thoughtful responses
9. Provide starting points for student investigations
and idea exploration
10. Signal readiness to transition to formal concept
development
11. Determine if students can apply scientific ideas
and practices to new situations
12. Differentiate instruction for individuals or groups
of students
13. Promote the use of academic language in
science learning
14. Evaluate the effectiveness of a lesson
15. Help students develop self-assessment and peer
assessment skills
16. Give and use feedback (student to student,
teacher to student, and student to teacher)
17. Encourage social construction of ideas in science
18. Inform immediate or later adjustments to
instruction
19. Encourage and include participation of all
learners
20. Increase comfort in making one’s own ideas
public

Figure 1.2 Definition in a Nutshell

Regardless of geographic area, type of school,
diversity of student population, science discipline,
and grade level science teachers teach, every
teacher shares the same goal. That goal is to provide
the highest quality instruction that will ensure that all
students have opportunities to learn the disciplinary
core ideas, scientific and engineering practices, and
crosscutting concepts that will help them become
science-literate students and adults. Formative
assessment provides ongoing opportunities for
teachers to elicit students’ prior knowledge; identify
the scientific ideas and practices they struggle with,
accommodate, or develop as they engage in the
process of learning; and determine the extent to
which students are moving toward or have reached
scientific understanding at an appropriate
developmental level. FACTs help teachers
continuously examine how students’ ideas form and
change over time, how well they can use the
scientific and engineering practices, and how
students respond to particular teaching approaches.
This information is constantly used to adjust
instruction and refocus learning to support each
student’s intellectual growth in science.

“Assessment for learning is any assessment for which the

first priority in its design and practice is to serve the
purpose of promoting pupils’ learning. It thus differs from
assessment designed primarily to serve the purposes of
accountability, or of ranking, or of certifying competence”
(Black & Harrison, 2004).

“An assessment functions formatively to the extent that

evidence about student learning is elicited, interpreted,
and used by teachers, learners, or their peers to make
decisions about the next steps in instruction that are likely
to be better, or better founded, than the decisions they
would have made in the absence of that evidence”
(Wiliam, 2011, p. 43).

“When data are used by teachers to make decisions about

next steps for a student or group of students, to plan
instruction, and to improve their own practice, they help
inform as well as form practice; this is formative
assessment. When data are collected at certain planned
intervals, and are used to show what students have
achieved to date, they provide a summary of progress and
are summative assessment” (Carlson, Humphrey, &
Reinhardt, 2003, p. 4).

How Does Research Support the Use

of FACTS?
The seminal report from the National Research
Council, How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience,
and School (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999),
has significantly contributed to our understanding of
how students learn science. This understanding has
implications for what is taught in science, how
science is taught, how science learning is assessed,
and how to promote deeper understanding in
science. Three core principles from this report
strongly support the use of FACTs in the science
classroom.

Principle 1: If their [students’] initial

understanding is not engaged, they may fail to
grasp new concepts and information presented
in the classroom, or they may learn them for
purposes of a test but revert to their
preconceptions (Bransford et al., 1999, p. 14).

This principle supports the use of FACTs as a way to

elicit the prior ideas students bring to the classroom,
making their thinking visible to themselves, their
peers, and the teacher. Students do not begin
science learning as blank slates waiting to be filled
with knowledge. By knowing in advance the ideas
students have already formed in their minds,
teachers can design targeted instruction and create
conditions for learning that take into account and
build on students’ preconceived ideas. Students’ own
ideas and the instructional opportunities that use
them as springboards provide a foundation on which
formal concepts and practices in science can be
developed. As students engage in learning
experiences designed to help them develop scientific
understandings, teachers keep their fingers on the
pulse of students’ learning, determining when
instruction is effective in helping students revise or
refine their ideas or use of scientific and engineering
practices and make midcourse corrections as
needed.

Principle 2: To develop competence in an area

of inquiry, students must (a) have a deep
foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understand
facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual
framework, and (c) organize knowledge in ways
that facilitate retrieval and application (Bransford
et al., 1999, p. 16).

This principle points out the importance of factual

knowledge but cautions that knowledge of a large set
of disconnected facts is not sufficient to support
conceptual understanding. Several of the FACTs
described in Chapter 4 not only provide strategies for
teachers to assess students’ knowledge of facts and
understanding of concepts but also actually promote
thinking that supports understanding. This thinking
and the feedback students receive during the
learning process help support the development of a
conceptual framework of ideas. Teachers use the
information on students’ thinking to design
opportunities that will help move students from
novice learners to deeper, conceptual learners who
can draw on and retrieve information from their
framework. As concept development is monitored,
reinforced, and solidified, formative assessment
techniques are also used to determine how well
students can transfer their new knowledge and skills
from one context to another. This is particularly
important as the NGSS, which several states are
adopting or using to inform their revised standards,
are more conceptually rigorous and require students
to use a connected network of ideas.

Principle 3: A “metacognitive” approach to

instruction can help students learn to take
control of their own learning by defining learning
goals and monitoring their progress in achieving
them (Bransford et al., 1999, p. 18).
John Flavel, a Stanford University psychologist,
coined the term metacognition in the late 1970s to
name the process of thinking about one’s own
thinking and learning. Since then, cognitive science
has focused considerable attention on this process
(Walsh & Sattes, 2005). Several FACTs described in
this book promote the use of metacognitive
strategies for self-regulation of learning. These
strategies help students monitor their own learning
by helping them predict outcomes, explain ideas to
themselves, note areas where they have difficulty
understanding scientific concepts, activate prior
knowledge and background information, and
recognize experiences that help or hinder their
learning. White and Frederickson (1998) suggest that
metacognitive strategies not be taught generically but
rather be embedded into the subject matter that
students are learning. The FACTs that support
metacognition are designed to be seamlessly
embedded into the science learning experiences that
target students’ ideas and thinking in science. They
provide opportunities for students to have an internal
dialogue that mentally verbalizes their thinking, which
can then be shared with others.

Evidence from the research studies described in How

People Learn (Bransford et al., 1999) indicates that
when these three principles are incorporated into
instruction, assessment, and learning, student
achievement improves. This research is further
supported by the metastudy described in
Assessment for Learning (Black, Harrison, Lee,
Marshall, & Wiliam, 2003), which makes a strong
case, supported with quantitative evidence, for the
use of formative assessment to improve learning,
particularly to raise the achievement levels of
students who have typically been described as low
performers.

Classroom Environments That

Support Formative Assessment
In addition to contributing to our understanding of
how students learn science, How People Learn
(Bransford et al., 1999) has changed our view of how
classroom environments that support teaching and
learning should be designed. These characteristics
relate directly to classroom climates and cultures
where the use of FACTs is an integral part of
teaching and learning. These environments include
the following:

Learner-Centered Environment.

In a learner-centered environment, teachers pay

careful attention to the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes,
and skills students bring to the classroom (Bransford
et al., 1999, p. 23). In a learner-centered classroom,
teachers use FACTs before and throughout
instruction, pay careful attention to the progress of
each student, and know at all times where their
students are in their thinking and learning. All ideas,
whether they are right or wrong, are valued in a
learner-centered environment. Learners come to
value their ideas, knowing that their existing
conceptions that surface through the use of FACTs
provide the beginning of a pathway to new
understandings.

“The teacher’s job is not to transmit knowledge, nor to

facilitate learning. It is to engineer effective learning
environments for the students. The key features of
effective learning environments are that they create
student engagement, and allow teachers, learners, and
their peers to ensure that the learning is proceeding in the
intended direction. The only way we can do this is through
assessment. That is why assessment is, indeed, the
bridge between teaching and learning” (Wiliam, 2011, p.
81).

Knowledge-Centered Environment.

In a knowledge-centered environment, teachers

know what the goals for learning are, the key
concepts and ideas that make up the goals, the
prerequisites on which prior and later understandings
are built, the types of experiences that support
conceptual learning, and the assessments that will
provide information about student learning. In
addition, these goals, key concepts and ideas, and
prerequisite learnings can be made explicit to
students as well so they can monitor their progress
toward achieving understanding (Bransford et al.,
1999, p. 24). The knowledge-centered environment
uses FACTs to understand students’ thinking to
provide the necessary depth of experience students
need to develop conceptual understanding. It looks
beyond student engagement and how well students
enjoy their science activities. There are important
differences between science activities that are “fun”
and those that encourage learning with
understanding. FACTs support a knowledge-centered
environment by promoting and monitoring learning
with understanding.

Assessment-Centered Environment.

Assessment-centered environments provide

opportunities for students to surface, examine, and
revise their thinking (Bransford et al., 1999, p. 24).
The ongoing use of FACTs makes students’ thinking
visible to both teachers and students and provides
students with opportunities to revise and improve
their thinking and monitor their own learning
progress. In a formative assessment-centered
environment, teachers identify problem learning
areas to focus on. They encourage students to
examine how their ideas have changed over the
course of a unit of study. Having an opportunity to
examine their own ideas and share how and why
they have changed is a powerful way to connect the
student to the teaching and learning process.

“An important feature of the assessment-centered

classroom is assessment that supports learning by
providing students with opportunities to revise and improve
their thinking” (Donovan & Bransford, 2005, p. 16).

Community-Centered Environment.

A community-centered environment is a place where

students learn from each other and continually strive
to improve their learning. It is a place where social
norms are valued in the search for understanding
and both teachers and students believe that
everyone can learn (Bransford et al., 1999, p. 25).
Within this environment, FACTs are used to promote
intellectual camaraderie around discussing and
learning ideas in science. A science community-
centered environment that uses FACTs encourages
the following:

Public sharing of all ideas, not just the “right

answers”
 Safety in academic risk taking
Shared revision of ideas and reflection
Questioning and clarification of explanations
Productive discussions with peers
Use of norms for respectful scientific
argumentation
Group and individual feedback on teaching and
learning

A classroom “ecosystem” with these four overlapping

environments is a place where students and teachers
both feel part of an intellectual learning community
that is continuously improving opportunities to teach
and learn. It is a place where students and teachers
thrive. It is a place where the connections between
assessment, teaching, and learning are inseparable.

Connecting Teaching and Learning

Imagine the following scenario from a popular
cartoon. Two friends are talking about their pets. One
friend says that he taught his dog how to whistle. The
other friend looks at the dog and waits for him to
whistle. After encouraging the dog to whistle with no
luck, his friend repeats that he said he taught his dog
how to whistle, but he didn’t say his dog learned how
to whistle. Without the effective use of formative
assessment, teaching science to children can be like
teaching your dog to whistle.

Teaching without learning can and does happen in

science classrooms. The unfortunate truth is, even
with what one perceives as his or her most engaging
activity or best teaching moments, instruction can
result in little or no gain in conceptual understanding
if the time is not taken to find out students’ initial
preconceptions, ascertain their readiness to learn,
provide opportunities for them to grapple with
alternative ideas, monitor their learning to uncover
any conceptual difficulties that can be addressed
during instruction, and provide opportunities for
feedback and reflection.

Students are very good at playing the “game of

school.” They know how to give teachers the answer
the teacher wants but might not be what the student
actually believes or thinks. Even our brightest
students can “learn” science for the purpose of
passing a test but then quickly revert back to their
misconceptions. Gaps often exist between what was
taught and what students actually learned,
particularly if a student interprets a concept in a way
that was not intended by the teacher’s instruction.
Frequently, these gaps do not show up until after
students have been summatively assessed through
end-of-unit, district, or state assessments, and
sometimes they do not show up at all. When this
happens, these misconceptions can follow students
from grade to grade, right into adulthood. After giving
a summative assessment, it is often too late to go
back and modify the lessons, particularly when
assessments given months and even years later
point out the gaps in student learning.

To stop this inefficient cycle of backfilling the gaps,

teachers need better ways of determining where their
students are in their thinking and understanding prior
to and throughout the instructional process. They
need techniques that can be used on the fly at a
moment’s notice as well as techniques that can be
planned for in advance. Students also need to be
actively involved in the assessment process so that
they are learning through assessment as well as
providing useful feedback to the teacher and other
students. Good formative assessment practices raise
the quality of classroom instruction and promote
deeper conceptual learning. Formative assessment
ultimately empowers both the teacher and the
student to make the best possible decisions
regarding teaching and learning.

Linking assessment, instruction, and learning does

not merely involve adding some new techniques to
teachers’ repertoire of strategies. The purposeful use
of FACTs, on a continuous basis, provides much
more—it organizes the entire classroom around
learning and informs ways teachers can provide
more effective learning experiences based on how
their own students think and learn. Formative
assessment can be used formally or informally, but it
is always purposeful. The FACTs teachers use and
the actions they take based on the information they
have gathered and analyzed can be immediate, the
next day, over the course of a unit, or even shared
with and used by teachers who will have the same
students the next year. If information about student
learning is collected but not used as feedback for the
teacher or student to take action that will improve
teaching or learning, then it is not formative. It
becomes information for information’s sake. For
example, using a FACT to find out if students have
misconceptions similar to the commonly held ideas
noted in the research literature is interesting and
important in and of itself. However, just knowing
students have these ideas does not make this a
formative assessment activity. It is the collecting of
this information and the decisions made as a result of
carefully examining the data that gives it the
distinction of formative assessment and connects
teaching to learning.

“Learning can and often does take place without the

benefit of teaching—and sometimes even in spite of it—
 but there is no such thing as effective teaching in the
absence of learning” (Angelo & Cross, 1993, p. 3).

“Formative assessment isn’t just about strategies to

ascertain current knowledge—formative assessment
happens after the finding out has taken place. It’s about
furthering student learning during the learning process”
(Clarke, 2005, p. 1).

Understanding Misconceptions in
Science: Misconceptions About
Misconceptions
Researchers tend to use words such as alternative
conceptions, partial ideas, preconceptions, naïve
conceptions, facets of understanding, schema,
phenomenological primitives, and more to describe
the ideas students have that are not entirely
consistent with the scientific understanding of a
concept or idea. Since misconception is the term
familiar to practitioners, it is the word that is used
throughout this book. However, familiarity can lead to
complacency when practitioners are not clear about
what a misconception is and how to best address it.
Recognizing that the word misconception is a
general way of referring to views students hold about
the natural world that differ from conventional
scientific explanations is the first step in dispelling
some of the “misconceptions” practitioners have
about misconceptions. It is important to take the time
to understand what type of misconception a student
has and how it may have developed. Resist the urge
to immediately correct a misconception; instead, use
students’ ideas as springboards to guide them
through a process of conceptual change.
Understanding is a continuous process that happens
throughout students’ K–12 education as well as
throughout teachers’ professional learning.
Understanding what underlies the word
misconception will ultimately improve student
learning and strengthen teaching that incorporates
continuous formative assessment (Keeley, 2012).
The following are some of the common
misconceptions science teachers and other
practitioners may have about misconceptions in
science:

All science misconceptions are the same.

The word misconception is used to identify a range of

ideas students have that are not entirely scientifically
correct. Some of these ideas are not completely
“wrong” in a students’ common-sense world.
Inaccurate ideas in science and mathematics have
been categorized in a variety of ways, including
preconceptions, conceptual misunderstandings,
intuitive rules, vernacular misconceptions,
pseudoscientific ideas, overgeneralizations, common
errors, and factual misconceptions (NRC, 1997).It is
important to understand that the word misconception
is a general way of lumping together students’
scientifically inaccurate or partially accurate ideas.
Once a misconception is identified, teachers should
delve further to understand the type of misconception
the student holds. Identifying a specific type of
misconception can help teachers make better
decisions for addressing students’ ideas. For
example, vernacular misconceptions arise from the
way we use words in our everyday language. In our
everyday language, acceleration means going faster,
but in physics it can mean going faster, slowing
down, or changing direction. Knowing that a
misconception originated from students’ everyday
encounter with a word or phrase can help teachers
identify strategies for helping students be more
aware of the impact word use has on their scientific
thinking.

All science misconceptions are major barriers to

learning.

Just as some learning standards have more weight in

promoting conceptual learning than others, the same
is true of misconceptions regarding impeding science
learning. For example, the idea that when once-living
material decays, it simply disappears and no longer
exists, presents a significant conceptual barrier to
understanding what happens to the flow of matter in
ecosystems. In contrast, students who think the
blood in our veins is blue also have a misconception.
While scientifically incorrect, this blue blood idea
does not significantly affect students’ conceptual
understanding of blood flow and the circulatory
system. The first example is a conceptual
misconception. The second is a trivial, factual
misconception. A conceptual misconception warrants
greater attention than a trivial factual misconception.
When using FACTs that probe for students’
misconceptions, it is important to focus on key
conceptual ideas rather than minor facts.

Only “those” students have misconceptions.

Some teachers believe that younger students, low-

performing students, students in the general classes,
special education students, or students from lower
socioeconomic classes are the ones who primarily
have misconceptions about fundamental concepts in
science. Wrong! Everyone harbors misconceptions,
regardless of age, socioeconomic background, or
academic achievement. Even science teachers hold
some deeply rooted misconceptions that went
unchallenged and unresolved throughout their K–16
education. Scientists have them, too. Some scientists
are so specialized in one field of science that they
have misconceptions in other disciplinary areas of
science. The assumption that misconceptions are
more apt to surface among certain types of students
is generally false. As the Private Universe series has
shown us, even the brightest students who take
advanced classes and graduate from prestigious
universities, like Harvard and MIT, harbor science
misconceptions about basic, fundamental ideas
(Private Universe Project, 1995). Using formative
assessment to uncover and act on basic
misconceptions is important for all students.

Misconceptions must be fixed right away.

Teachers often feel compelled to correct a

misconception on the spot. This tendency to fix
misconceptions is common. This may be appropriate
for factual, trivial misconceptions, which can be
corrected on the spot, but it is not the case with
conceptual misconceptions about big ideas in
science. Conceptual misconceptions can be useful
as starting points. Rather than trying to fix students
by correcting their misconceptions on the spot, it is
important to provide instructional experiences that
will confront students with their thinking and guide
them through a process of conceptual change that
allows them to willingly give up the misconception,
resulting in deeper understanding. However, there
comes a point when you cannot let a misconception
linger indefinitely and you must address it.

Misconceptions are a bad thing.

The very word misconception seems to have a

pejorative connotation to most practitioners. Students
do not come to the classroom as blank slates. In fact,
they come with many preconceived ideas about how
the world works that make sense to them. According
to constructivist theory, when new ideas are
encountered, they are either accepted, rejected, or
modified to fit existing conceptions. It is the cognitive
dissonance students experience when they realize
an existing conceptual framework no longer works for
them that makes students willing to give up a
preexisting idea in favor of a scientific one. Having
ideas to work from, even if they are not completely
accurate, leads to deeper understanding when
students engage in a conceptual-change process.
Starting with students’ existing conceptions is like
building a bridge from where they currently are to
where you want them to be conceptually. Harvard
researcher Philip Sadler (1998) describes
misconceptions as “steppingstones” that are
absolutely essential for helping our students
gradually change their conceptual frameworks, so
they can understand the modern scientific view of our
natural world and the universe around us.
Misconceptions come mostly from experiences
outside the classroom.

Many preconceptions students bring to their learning

come from their everyday encounters with the natural
world or things they have read in books or seen
and/or heard in the media. This is particularly
common in science. However, it is harder for
teachers to accept that misconceptions can also
arise from students’ experiences inside their
classroom, whether taught intentionally or
unintentionally. For example, a surprising number of
high school students, even after taking chemistry,
think that a chemical bond is a structural part of an
atom that links it to other atoms. While a teacher
most likely did not teach this, the use of ball-and-stick
models or structural diagrams inadvertently led to
this misconception. It is important to know that
students make their own meaning out of activities
they experience in the classroom, representations
and models they use, and words they hear during
instruction. Formative assessment can help teachers
uncover the misconceptions that might arise during
instruction.

Identifying misconceptions is formative

assessment.
Many teachers are enthused to use the probes in the
Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series (see the
Appendix) and the FACTs in this book. Some
teachers erroneously think that formative
assessment in science is mostly about uncovering
students’ misconceptions. Using FACTs to identify
students’ misconceptions is a form of diagnostic
assessment. Diagnostic assessment does not
become formative assessment until you use the
information you have gathered about students’
misconceptions to change or modify your instruction
and provide feedback to students as they are
learning to help students achieve conceptual
understanding. That is the essence of formative
assessment, with the focus placed on instruction for
conceptual understanding, not just the act of
identifying misconceptions. If you use FACTs to
uncover misconceptions but continue doing what you
have always done, without modifying your instruction
to address students’ ideas, then you are not
practicing formative assessment.

There is tremendous interest in the science

education community in identifying misconceptions.
You can learn a lot about students by understanding
their misconceptions and using them to build a
conceptual bridge from where they are to where they
need to be. However, first be clear about what
misconceptions are as well as what they are not.

Making the Shift to a Formative

Assessment-Centered Classroom
Formative assessment requires a fundamental shift
in our beliefs about the role of a teacher. In a
formative assessment-centered classroom, teachers
interact more frequently and effectively with students
on a day-to-day basis, promoting their learning
(Black & Harrison, 2004). This interaction requires
the teacher to step back from the traditional role of
information provider and corrector of misconceptions
to listen to and encourage a range of ideas among
students. The teacher takes all ideas seriously,
whether they are right or wrong, while helping
students think and talk through their ideas and
consider evidence that supports or challenges their
claims. During such interactions, teachers are
continuously thinking about how to shape instruction
to meet the learning needs of their students and build
a bridge between their initial ideas and the scientific
understandings that make up the learning targets.

The teacher also plays a pivotal role in connecting

assessment to students’ opportunities to understand
how science is conducted in the real world. Providing
opportunities for students to make discoveries
through their own investigations and authentic testing
of ideas often surfaces new ideas and scientific ways
of thinking. The provision of opportunities to speak,
write about, and draw to organize thinking about
such discoveries helps give rise to the students’ view
of science as an enterprise that values curiosity and
personally meaningful insight (Shapiro, 1994).
Furthermore, several of the FACTs incorporate the
use of the scientific and engineering practices
described in A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012) and the NGSS (NGSS Lead
States, 2013), particularly the development and use
of models, constructing explanations and solutions,
engaging in argument from evidence, and evaluating
and communicating information. The chart on page
49 shows how the FACTs support the scientific
practices.

Traditionally, science teachers were considered the

providers of content that students then learned—
teachers teach content and, as a result, students
learn. This factory assembly line model of learning
assumed students came to class with empty heads
and the role of the teacher was to fill those heads
with facts and information. The role of the teacher in
a formative assessment-centered classroom is more
of a facilitator and monitor of student learning. The
teacher’s role expands to helping students use
strategies to understand how well they are learning.
The teacher recognizes that all students come to
their learning with ideas in their heads. Regardless of
whether their ideas are right or wrong initially,
everyone’s ideas matter. The teacher designs the
bridge that will take students from where they are to
where they need to be. But the learning cannot be
done to students by the teacher. It must come from
the students. As a result, students must become
more conscious of the learning process itself and
take greater responsibility for their own learning.

In a formative assessment-centered classroom,

students learn to play an active role in the process of
learning. They learn that their role is not only to
engage in their own learning but to support the
learning of others as well. They come to realize that
learning has to be done by them—it cannot be done
for them. They learn to use various FACTs that help
them take charge of their own learning and assess
where they stand in relation to identified learning
goals. When they know what the learning target is,
they use metacognitive skills along with peer and
self-assessment strategies that enable them to steer
their own learning in the right direction so they can
take responsibility for it (Black & Harrison, 2004).
Standards and learning goals have a significant
impact on what teachers teach and students learn.
Developing content knowledge that includes
important scientific facts, conceptual ideas, scientific
and engineering practices, and habits of mind is at
the center of science teaching and learning. As a
result, teaching, assessing, and learning must take
place with a clear target in mind. Standards should
not become a checklist of content, skills, and
practices to be taught and assessed. Rather, they
inform three-dimensional thinking about disciplinary
core ideas, scientific and engineering practices, and
crosscutting concepts as an interconnected cluster of
learning goals that develop over time. By clarifying
the specific ideas and skills described in standards
and articulated as learning goals, teachers are in a
better position to uncover the gap between students’
existing knowledge or skills and the knowledge or
skills described in the learning goal. As a result, they
are better able to monitor that gap as it closes (Black
et al., 2003). While a particular FACT may determine
the approach that teachers take to uncover students’
ideas and modify instruction accordingly, the
fundamental ideas, skills, and practices students
need to learn and be able to use remain the same.
The focus of teaching and learning is on meeting
goal-oriented learning needs rather than delivering
the “M&M curriculum” (mention & move on) at an
established pace or teaching a favorite activity that
does little to promote conceptual understanding.

Identifying and targeting learning goals is not the sole

purview of the teacher. In a formative assessment-
centered classroom, teachers share learning goals
with students. This may involve breaking them down
into the key ideas and practices students will learn
and indicators of success that reveal the extent to
which students have learned and can use key ideas
and practices. Awareness of the goals for learning
and what success looks like in achieving them helps
students see the bigger picture of learning and make
connections to what they already know about science
concepts.

Another major shift that happens in a formative

assessment-centered classroom is the recognition of
the importance of students’ ideas. Traditional
instruction involved the passing on of information
from the teacher or the instructional materials, with
little thought given to building on students’ initial
conceptions. Students form many of their ideas in
science before they ever formally encounter them in
the classroom. These ideas come from previous
school and life experiences and often conflict with the
scientific understandings teachers are trying to
develop. These preformed ideas are referred to in a
variety of ways, including naïve ideas,
misconceptions, facets of understanding,
phenomenological primitives, partial understandings,
commonly held ideas, or alternative conceptions. In
this book, they are referred to generically as
misconceptions, although the term is not meant to be
construed negatively and does not necessarily imply
that the student’s idea is completely incorrect. In
some cases, misconceptions include partially formed
correct ideas, but they are not yet put together in a
way that is scientifically correct and coherent. It is
important to recognize that these misconceptions
have the following general characteristics:

They form early, often before school begins, and

continue lifelong.

They are subtle and can easily be missed by

teachers who are unaware of them.

They are separable. Students retain their

personal ideas even though they might give
“school answers.”

They are persistent, even after being disproved.

They are highly personal—each student sees

experiences or draws conclusions from his or
 her point of view and constructs a personal
meaning.

They appear to be incoherent to the teacher but

make a lot of sense to the student. (Connor,
1990)

A constructivist approach to teaching and learning

posits that students’ existing ideas make a difference
to their future learning, so effective teaching needs to
take these existing ideas into account. Research
indicates that misconceptions held by students
persist into adulthood if they are left unconfronted
and unchallenged (Carre, 1993). However, this does
not simply imply that misconceptions are a bad thing
and must be confronted on the spot as “wrong
ideas.” Rather than immediately correcting
misconceptions when they surface, teachers should
gather information that may reveal how
misconceptions can be used as starting points for
instruction. Starting with students’ ideas and
monitoring their progress as they are guided through
activities that help them recognize when their ideas
no longer work for them and need to be modified or
changed is the essence of an idea-focused,
formative assessment classroom that supports
conceptual change. Experiencing cognitive
dissonance when one realizes their initial ideas no
longer make sense is a powerful way to learn and
develop enduring understandings in science. To learn
more about teaching for conceptual understanding
and understanding the nature of students’ ideas, see
the Appendix for a description of the resource
Teaching for Conceptual Understanding in Science
(Konicek-Moran & Keeley, 2015).

“Even when college teachers routinely gather assessment

information on student learning through questions,
quizzes, homework, and exams, it is often collected too
late—at least from the students’ perspective—to affect
their learning. In practice, it is very difficult to ‘de-program’
students who are used to thinking of anything they have
been tested and graded on as being ‘over and done with’”
(Angelo & Cross, 1993, p. 7).

“The role of the learner is not to passively receive

information, but to actively participate in the construction of
new meaning” (Shapiro, 1994, p. 8).

Putting one’s ideas forward allows an opportunity for

students to experience uncertainty and cognitive
dissonance—the first step in building a bridge between
students’ ideas and scientific knowledge.

Connections to Current State

Standards, A Framework for K–12
Science Education, Next Generation
Science Standards, and Literacy
Capacities
The FACTs in this book can be used with any science
and language literacy standards. For states that have
adopted the NGSS, FACTs provide opportunities to
elicit, monitor students’ progress in understanding
and using, and reflect on the disciplinary core ideas,
scientific and engineering practices, and crosscutting
concepts in the NGSS. For states that have adopted
the ELA Common Core, FACTs utilize the literacy
capacities of reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
The FACTs become assessment activities that mirror
the content, skills, and practices in existing science
and English language arts state standards as well as
the NGSS and ELA Common Core. Furthermore,
many of the FACTs combine more than one
dimension of standards. For example, Justified Lists
can be used to formatively assess whether students
can transfer their understanding of a disciplinary core
idea or concept to examples other than the ones they
encountered in their classroom investigations while
simultaneously assessing and providing feedback on
the scientific explanations or arguments students
used to justify their claims.

Learning is an ongoing process for both students and

for scientists (NRC, 2014). It is important for teachers
to recognize that students are not yet scientists, but
rather emerging practitioners of science, and their
ways of talking, writing, investigating, modeling,
thinking, and reasoning may differ from professional
scientists in developmental ways. Both A Framework
for K–12 Science Education (NRC, 2012) and the
NGSS emphasize that learning should be seen as a
progression of learning in which students progress in
their understanding throughout the course of a unit,
the entire school year, and even across a K–12 span
of learning. For this reason, it is important to
formatively assess where students are regarding a
learning goal in the standards and use that data to
inform instruction that will help build a bridge
between where students are and where they need to
be regarding a learning goal, even if that bridge
starts with ideas that should have been conceptually
developed and understood at prior grade levels.

A key goal of standards-based, aligned classroom

assessments is to help teachers and students
understand what has been learned and what areas
will require further attention. Formative assessments
will also need to identify likely misunderstandings,
productive ideas of students that can be built on, and
interim goals for learning (NRC, 2014). The FACTs in
this book can help teachers uncover the ideas
students bring to their learning, understand where
student ideas fall on a trajectory of learning, and
inform instructional decisions designed to build a
conceptual bridge that will link the gap between
students’ existing ideas and the grade level
expectation for the disciplinary core idea, scientific or
engineering practice, or crosscutting concept.

The FACTs in this book also support literacy goals in

state standards as well as the literacy capacities in
the ELA Common Core. For example, consider the
following list of skills and practices:

Construct effective arguments

Request clarification
Ask relevant questions
Build on others’ ideas
Question assumptions and premises
Assess the veracity of claims
Assess the soundness of reasoning
Cite specific evidence
Make their reasoning clear
Constructively evaluate others’ use of evidence
Evaluate others’ points of view critically and
constructively
Express and listen carefully to ideas
Cite specific textual evidence to support
conclusions
Participate effectively in a range of conversations
and collaborations with diverse partners
 Build on others’ ideas and express their own
clearly and persuasively

At first glance these appear to be skills and practices

used in science that might be described in a state’s
science standards or framework, particularly the
skills and practices that support productive science
discussions. However, these did not come from a set
of science standards. In fact, these phrases were
taken from a literacy publication: the English
Language Arts Standards from the Common Core
State Standards Initiative (NGAC and CCSSO,
2010). This list of speaking and listening literacy
capacities clearly illustrates the reciprocal nature of
science and literacy.

The FACTs in this book utilize many of these

language intensive practices. Through speaking and
listening, students reveal their ideas, examine others’
reasoning, and communicate their understandings at
various stages of an instructional cycle. The
information gathered by the teacher is used to plan
for subsequent instruction in developing conceptual
understanding of scientific ideas and use of scientific
and engineering practices. FACTs that involve use of
the literacy capacities listed above can also be used
to elicit evidence of how students apply ELA skills
and processes within a science context. This
formative assessment information feeds back not
only to the science teacher, but to the ELA teacher
as well, thus promoting formative assessment that
integrates across standards.

Two tables are included in Chapter 3 of this revised

second edition of Science Formative Assessment: 75
Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment,
Instruction, and Learning to help the user see the
connection between the FACTs and the current vision
K–12 science education is moving toward in several
states. This vision and articulation of content and
practices comes from the NRC’s A Framework for K–
12 Science Education. The Framework was used to
develop the NGSS. Many states that are not
adopting the NGSS are using the Framework to
inform revisions to their standards. Most new
curricula and teacher preparation courses are also
being informed by the Framework. Even if your state
has not revised its standards using the Framework,
most of the FACTs in this book and the examples
provided will relate to or align with your state’s inquiry
and content standards in science as well as literacy
standards used in science.

One of the features that makes this formative

assessment book different from other books on
formative assessment is that it is specific to science.
Each FACT description in Chapter 4 includes an
example of what the FACT looks like when it is used
in science. Furthermore, Table 3.1 on page 45 shows
how FACTs are used across the life, physical, Earth,
and space disciplines of science. It includes all the
FACTs in Chapter 4 and lists the grade level of the
example provided, the concept addressed by the
example, and the connection to a disciplinary core
idea in A Framework for K–12 Science Education.
These are just illustrative examples, and the chart is
not intended to show that each FACT corresponds to
a specific grade level, concept, or disciplinary core
idea. The FACTs can be used across K–12, and even
K–16 and with teachers in professional development
settings, and with a variety of disciplinary content. It
is only intended to show the range of examples
included for the user of this book.

Users of this book can also see how use of a FACT

supports the use of a scientific practice. Table 3.2 on
page 49 shows the connection between FACTs and
the scientific practices. For example, several FACTs
involve the construction of explanations, developing
models, or engaging in argument. Although the
practices in the Framework are described as the
scientific and engineering practices, for the purposes
of this book, only the scientific practices are
emphasized. However, the user of this book can
clearly make the link to the engineering practices as
well.
As you gain a deeper understanding of the purposes
and uses of formative assessment, you may find
yourself reshaping FACTs or developing new ones.
You might find that some FACTs work better than
others depending on the scientific idea being
assessed or the nature of the learners in your
classroom. Many of the FACTs described in Chapter
4 may be new to you; others may be ones you use
routinely. Regardless of how you use the FACTs or
your familiarity with them, one important implication
for the science classroom stands out—formative
assessment provides an effective way for teachers to
create classrooms that reflect current research on
teaching and learning and provide greater
opportunities for all students to achieve deeper levels
of learning consistent with the vision of K–12 science
education described by the NRC in A Framework for
K–12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting
Concepts, and Core Ideas (NRC, 2012).

“Because NGSS-aligned instruction will naturally involve a

range of activities, classroom assessment that is integral
to instruction will need to involve a corresponding variation
in the types of evidence it provides about student learning.
Indeed, the distinction between instructional activities and
assessment activities may be blurred, particularly when
the assessment purpose is formative. A classroom
assessment may be based on a classroom discussion or a
group activity in which students explore and respond to
each other’s ideas and learn as they go through this
process” (NRC, 2014, p. 87).

“The framework and the NGSS address the process of

learning science. They make clear that students should be
encouraged to take an investigative stance toward their
own and others’ ideas, to be open about what they are
struggling to understand, and to recognize that struggle as
part of the way science is done, as well as part of their
own learning process. Thus, revealing students’ emerging
capabilities with science practices and their partially
correct or incomplete understandings of core ideas is an
important function of classroom assessment” (NRC, 2014,
p. 90).

“Science and engineering practices are language

intensive, and engagement in these practices requires
science classroom discourse. Students speak and listen
as they present their ideas or engage in reasoned
argumentation with others to refine their ideas and reach
shared conclusions. They read, write, view, and visually
represent as they develop their models and explanations.
These practices offer rich opportunities and demands for
language learning at the same time as they promote
science learning” (Lee, 2012, p. 2).
Chapter 2 Connecting FACTs to
Instruction and Learning

I taught a great lesson but the wrong class came.

—Anonymous

Integrating Assessment and

Instruction
Formative assessment classroom techniques (FACTs)
are rooted in good teaching practice. They offer a
variety of ways to seamlessly integrate assessment
and instruction that help teachers learn more about
what students need to be successful learners of
science. Teachers who use FACTs start their lessons
where their students’ ideas are, identifying, charting,
and monitoring learning paths that will eventually lead
students to discover, understand, and use the
important ideas and practices of science. Adapting
teaching to reflect the emerging research on
formative assessment and how students learn has a
reciprocal effect on teaching and learning. As
teachers incorporate more FACTs into their teaching
practice, their understanding of student learning
increases, which in turn improves the quality of their
teaching and raises student achievement.

Consider how one first-grade teacher who studied her

own assessment practices reflected on the link
between assessment and her teaching:

Assessment is best if embedded within

instruction. Authentic assessment does not aim
to assign a child a grade but to determine what
children know and where to go next . . . I need to
embed more assessment tools within the
curriculum. I need to also consider a variety of
assessment tools to make certain that I am
actually assessing science knowledge and not
another curriculum area such as writing. I need to
choose tools that allow students comfort to reveal
their knowledge of science. (Cox-Peterson &
Olson, 2002, p. 106)

The above reflection clearly notes the need to select

the right tool or technique for the right instructional
purpose. With 75 FACTs described in Chapter 4 to
choose from, it is important to keep in mind that
FACTs are not intended to be used as strategies
picked at random. To be effectively integrated into
one’s teaching practice, FACTs must be thoughtfully
selected to match the appropriate stage and purpose
of instruction.

The teacher’s reflection in the above quote indicates

that the purpose of formative assessment is to guide
teaching rather than assign a grade to students.
While some of the FACTs described in Chapter 4 can
be graded for summative purposes, their primary
purpose is to inform and guide teaching and learning.
This requires the teacher to shift instructional
approaches from the “deliverer of content” and
“assigner of grades” to careful gatherer and analyzer
of student thinking and learning data that provide the
teacher with information that can be used to make the
content of a lesson more accessible to learners. This
requires teachers to keep their fingers on the pulse of
student learning by constantly being aware of,
supporting, and monitoring students’ questions,
comments, ideas, feedback, and reflections. When
used throughout a cycle of instruction, formative
assessment helps build the type of deeper conceptual
knowledge that leads to enduring understanding.

“The quality of student learning is directly, although not

exclusively, related to the quality of teaching. Therefore,
one of the most promising ways to improve learning is to
improve teaching” (Angelo & Cross, 1993, p. 7).
Assessment That Promotes Thinking
and Learning
Formative assessment enhances the daily
interactions between students and between students
and teachers by providing varied opportunities to
surface, examine, work through, revise, apply, and
reflect on scientific ideas. While FACTs provide
valuable information to the teacher to use for making
instructional decisions, they also activate, encourage,
and deepen student thinking. Students use their
existing ideas and build on them to understand and
explain everyday objects, processes, and
phenomena. FACTs encourage the use of critical
thinking skills such as predicting, hypothesizing, using
analogies, evaluating evidence, asking questions, and
justifying ideas. Through the act of thinking about
their ideas that surface through formative
assessment, students actively engage in the process
of constructing, modifying, or deepening their
knowledge. Therefore, assessment not only serves
the purpose of finding out what students are learning
but also promotes learning.

Metacognition is a key component of assessment that

promotes learning. Metacognition involves thinking
about one’s thinking, including knowledge about one’s
self as a processor of concepts and ideas. Figure 2.1
lists several indicators of metacognition.

Appropriate kinds of self-monitoring through

metacognitive techniques and reflection have been
demonstrated to support learning with understanding
in a variety of areas. Helping students become more
metacognitive about their own thinking and learning is
closely tied to instructional practices that encourage
feedback and self-assessment. However, it is
important to point out that responding to feedback
provided by the teacher or other students is different
from students’ actively seeking feedback from the
teacher or other students to assess their current
thinking and level of understanding (Donovan &
Bransford, 2005).

Providing support for metacognition and peer and

self-assessment is an important use of several of the
FACTs described in Chapter 4. FACTs can provide
opportunities for students to analyze and evaluate
their own ideas and the ideas of their peers.
Awareness of one’s thinking includes knowing when
new knowledge relates to or challenges what one
already knows or believes and leads to questions that
stimulate further inquiry. Opportunities to test out
ideas after making predictions or claims confront
students with the challenge of deciding if their ideas
need to be revised, based on evidence from their new
observations. Small group and class discussions
provide a forum for students to express their ideas,
make their thinking visible to themselves and others,
engage in scientific argumentation, and explore ideas
that seem to make the most sense. Graphic
organizers help students organize their thinking.

Figure 2.1 Indicators of Metacognition

To be effective in promoting thinking and learning,

metacognitive and reflection strategies should be
explicitly taught and used in the science classroom.
FACTs that incorporate these strategies should be
taught in the context of the content students are
learning. Teaching FACTs apart from the content of a
lesson is like teaching science process skills separate
from authentic content-based science inquiry.

Research shows clearly that “the most effective

learners are self-regulating” and that helping students
become more aware of their own learning raises their
performance (Butler & Winne, 1995, p. 245). Not only
do these skills need to be taught to students, but they
are also useful only if students are motivated to use
them (Wiliam, 2011). Therefore, FACTs and
motivation to use them go hand in hand. Because
several of the FACTs in this book are intrinsically
engaging to students, and help them see the value of
self-monitoring, you are apt to see motivation to learn
increase when you effectively incorporate FACTs into
your instruction.

“Learning is a consequence of thinking. Retention,

understanding, and the active use of knowledge can be
brought about by learning experiences in which learners
think about and think with what they are learning . . .
knowledge comes on the coattails of thinking” (Perkins,
1992).

“An assessment activity can help learning if it provides

information to be used as feedback by teachers, and by
their students in assessing themselves and each other, to
modify the teaching and learning activities in which they are
engaged. Such assessment becomes formative
assessment when the evidence is used to adapt the
teaching work to meet learning needs” (Black, Harrison,
Lee, Marshall, & Wiliam, 2003, p. 2).

“Supporting students to become aware of and engaged in

their own learning will serve them well in all learning
endeavors” (Donovan & Bransford, 2005, p. 12).

Linking Assessment, Instruction, and

Learning: The Science Assessment,
Instruction, and Learning (SAIL) Cycle
A continuous assessment, instruction, and learning
cycle model for science that can be used with the
FACTs in Chapter 4 is the science assessment,
instruction, and learning (SAIL) cycle shown in Figure
2.2. This instructional model can help guide science
teachers in selecting an appropriate FACT to match
the purpose and stage in the instructional or learning
process and reinforces the inextricable link between
assessment, instruction, and learning. The circular
diagram illustrates the cyclic nature of the SAIL cycle,
while instruction can loop back and repeat different
stages as needed. Self-assessment and reflection are
the centerpiece that promotes metacognition and is
connected to each stage in the cycle.

In the early 1960s, J. Myron Atkin and Robert Karplus

formulated a constructivist instructional model of
guided discovery designed to be similar to the way
scientists invent and use new concepts to explain the
natural world. This instructional model, called the
learning cycle, was designed to allow students an
opportunity to surface and examine their prior
conceptions. Once ideas are revealed, students have
an opportunity to explore their ideas, arguing about
and testing them in the process. When students see
that their existing ideas do not fully match their
findings, a disequilibrium results that opens the door
to the construction of new scientific ideas. When
students reach the stage where they develop the
formal scientific understandings and patterns of
reasoning that help them make sense of phenomena,
they are encouraged to extend their learning and
apply their ideas to a new situation or context.

Figure 2.2 The Science Assessment, Instruction, and

Learning (SAIL) Cycle

Throughout the various stages of a learning cycle,

teachers design and monitor instruction so that
students become increasingly conscious of their own
and others’ ideas. They gain confidence in their ability
to learn, apply concepts to new situations, and
construct evidence-based arguments (Lawson, 2002).
Teachers orchestrate student learning in different
ways at different stages, encouraging a classroom
climate where ideas are openly generated and
sufficient time is allowed for sense making and
construction of new knowledge. All the while they are
facilitating students’ construction of new ideas,
teachers are formatively assessing by monitoring
students’ changing conceptions and adapting their
teaching and assessment techniques to match their
students’ needs.

The original Karplus learning cycle has undergone

several adaptations, including the popular 5E model
(Bybee, 1997), the conceptual change model (CCM)
(Posner, Strike, Hewson, & Gertzog, 1982; Stepans,
2003), and the SAIL cycle described in this book.
Figure 2.3 shows the similarities between the various
stages of these three adaptations of the Karplus
learning cycle.

“The notion of teaching for conceptual change has gone

hand in hand with considerations of learning as conceptual
change” (Hewson, 1992, p. 2).

Stages in the SAIL Cycle

The FACTs described in Chapter 4 can be used with
any instructional model, including the 5E and CCM
models. The advantage to linking the FACTs to the
SAIL cycle is that it helps provide a framework for
seamlessly integrating assessment, teaching, and
learning. Each of the stages in the SAIL cycle has an
explicit purpose connected to assessment,
instruction, and learning, as shown in Figure 2.4 and
described below. Figure 2.5 shows the different types
of assessment used in each stage of the cycle.

Engagement and Readiness

FACTs can provide an opportunity to activate student
thinking, develop curiosity, and stimulate interest in
the content of a lesson. One widely accepted role of
any teacher is that of student motivator (Osborne &
Freyberg, 1985). Several of the FACTs involve
interesting situations that capture students’ attention
and trigger their thinking. Most students come to
school ready to learn but with different social, cultural,
educational, and real-life experiences. Various FACTs
can reveal information about students’ diverse
backgrounds that affect their readiness to learn. The
information is used by the teacher to determine
supports and provisions that may be necessary to
help students succeed in their classroom learning
environment. Examples from Chapter 4: Familiar
Phenomenon Probes, Interest Scale, or Learning
Goals Inventory.

Figure 2.3 Related Versions of the Learning Cycle

Figure 2.4 SAIL Cycle Connections to Assessing,

Teaching, and Learning
Figure 2.5 SAIL Cycle and General Assessment
Types

Eliciting Prior Knowledge

Drawing out the initial ideas students have developed
through their prior experiences, intuition, and
encounters with familiar phenomena provides a
starting point from which the teacher can design
instruction that will build from students’ ideas. Probing
students’ thinking allows teachers to determine where
and how ideas may have developed and inform the
types of instructional experiences that can build a
bridge between where the students are in their
understanding and the scientific view of the content
they are learning. Elicitation strategies promote
thinking by safely surfacing ideas in a nonjudgmental
way. Discussion that accompanies elicitation allows
students to share their thinking with others, which
further challenges students’ thinking as they evaluate
their peers’ explanations and arguments. Examples
from Chapter 4: Friendly Talk Probes, Commit and
Toss, or Card Sorts.

Exploration and Discovery

The exploration and discovery stage can involve
direct experience with physical objects or processes,
obtaining information and citing evidence from text, or
uncovering ideas in discussion with peers. This stage
can include FACTs that ask students to make
predictions or claims that initiate scientific inquiry
through investigation. Providing opportunities to justify
and then test or gather information related to
disciplinary core ideas gives students an opportunity
to use evidence to support or change their initial
ideas. This period of exploration and discovery allows
the teacher to determine the kinds of understandings
and questions students have before developing more
structured opportunities for formalizing learning.
During this stage, FACTs can also reveal how well
students are responding to the activities, considering
ideas of others, and whether their original ideas have
been challenged based on the evidence gathered
during their exploratory experiences. Assessment
during this stage gives students a chance to share
their developing ideas in a nonjudgmental
environment for feedback from the teacher and peers.
Selected FACTs expose students to others’ ideas and
thereby help them refine or revise their own thinking,
which subsequently informs instruction when shared
with the teacher. Examples from Chapter 4: A&D
Statements, P-E-O Probes, or Concept Card
Mapping.

Concept and Skill Development

Assessment of conceptual understanding and use of
skills, including the scientific and engineering
practices during sense making, clarification, and
development of formal concepts and processes, helps
both reinforce the learning for students and uncover
any difficulties in understanding or gaps that might
still exist. FACTs used during this stage help teachers
determine the extent to which students have grasped
a concept, recognized relationships among ideas,
included appropriate terminology, or successfully
used a scientific or engineering practice. Results
inform instruction by identifying the need for additional
learning experiences and opportunities to build more
solid understandings of content, indicating readiness
to introduce formal terminology, demonstrating ability
to use specific skills and scientific and engineering
practices, or signaling that students are ready to
transfer their newly formed ideas to a new context. In
addition, teacher-to-student and student-to-student
feedback further enhances opportunities to build and
solidify conceptual understanding and utilize the
scientific and engineering practices. Examples from
Chapter 4: Refutations, Scientists’ Ideas Comparison,
or Odd One Out.

Concept and Skill Transfer

Assessment information at this stage is used by the
teacher to address impediments that may interfere
with transferring learning to a new context or
introduce new, related concepts that will build more
sophisticated understandings. Assessment
information is used to modify learning opportunities so
that students can use their newly formed or modified
ideas in a new situation or novel context. Assessment
opportunities provide students with a new opportunity
to demonstrate how they can apply their knowledge,
skills, and scientific and engineering practices.
Examples from Chapter 4: Justified List, Thought
Experiments, or Recognizing Exceptions.

Self-Assessment and Reflection

Encouraging self-assessment and reflection supports
students in developing important metacognitive skills
that help them monitor their own thinking and
learning. Students learn to think about learning as
well as think about thinking. The distinction here is
that self-assessment helps students think about
whether the content makes sense. Reflection helps
them think about how they make sense of the
content. Students’ self-assessments and reflections
provide valuable feedback to the teacher to inform
how students’ ideas have changed or deepened over
the course of instruction, students’ self-awareness of
their learning, and the need to further differentiate
instruction for certain students who may still be
struggling conceptually. Reflections on learning
activities can be used by the teacher to improve an
instructional unit or lesson for future classes or inform
ways to resurface difficult concepts in subsequent
related lessons. Examples from Chapter 4: First
Word–Last Word, I Used to Think . . . But Now I
Know, or Muddiest Point.
Selecting and Using FACTs to
Strengthen the Link Between
Assessment, Instruction, and Learning
Selecting a FACT that informs teaching and promotes
learning is a first step in using assessment for
teaching and learning. The following is a list of
suggestions for using FACTs to strengthen the link
between assessment, instruction, and learning.

1. Think like a diagnostician. Since students’

preconceptions have such a powerful influence on
their learning, teachers need to continually devise
ways to ascertain students’ ideas in such a way that it
becomes second nature to the teacher (Osborne &
Freyberg, 1985). Teachers need to take advantage of
every opportunity in both individual, small group, and
whole-class settings to elicit initial ideas and analyze
students’ thinking. See the Appendix for resources for
supporting diagnostic learning environments in
science.

2. Make students’ thinking explicit during

scientific inquiry. Use FACTs to draw out students’
thinking before and throughout inquiry-based
activities. Encourage students to commit to a
prediction, claim, or outcome, supported by evidence
from prior knowledge and experiences, to construct
their explanations before testing their ideas. After
committing to a justified prediction, claim, or outcome,
students test their ideas and compare their
observations with their initial ideas. When the
evidence from observation does not support their
original thinking, the dissonance that results is the
pivotal point in encouraging students to seek further
information and engage in sense-making processes
that may help them give up their former ideas to
accommodate new ones.

3. Create a classroom culture of ideas, not right

answers. Use the FACTs to encourage students to
share their ideas, regardless of whether they are right
or wrong. Many students have been raised in a
classroom culture where they are expected to give
the “right answer.” Thus they hesitate to share their
own ideas when they think they may be “wrong.” Hold
off on telling students whether they are “right or
wrong” and provide time for them to work through
their ideas, weighing various viewpoints and
evidence, until they are ready to construct a new
understanding. The emphasis on testing or discussing
ideas and revising one’s original explanations should
take precedence over getting the right answer.
Getting all ideas out on the table, before explaining
the correct science, first may be frustrating and take
longer, but in the long run, it will develop confidence
in reasoning abilities as well as deeper, enduring
understandings. In addition, students will be less apt
to revert back to their original conceptions after the
concept is fully developed and the lesson or unit of
instruction ends.

4. Develop a discourse community. One of the key

features of several of the FACTs described in Chapter
4 is the way they promote learning through discussion
and argumentation. When students are talking about
and defending their science ideas, whether in a
whole-class discussion, in small groups, or in pairs,
they are using the language of science as well as
language that has meaning to them. “Talking the talk
is an important part of learning” (Black & Harrison,
2004, p. 4). FACTs that encourage “productive
science talk” not only engage students in activating
their own thinking but also provide examples of
others’ thinking for students to consider. See the
Appendix for additional information on supporting
productive science talk.

5. Encourage students to take risks. Create a safe

environment where it is acceptable to share an idea
without fear of being corrected by or embarrassed in
front of the teacher or other students. Students will
often hesitate to participate in discussions for fear of
being judged negatively by their peers. Create norms
of collaboration and discussion in the classroom so
that everyone’s ideas are respected and
acknowledged and it is safe to take risks.

6. Encourage students to listen carefully. In a

formative assessment classroom, different ideas are
surfaced and discussed among pairs of students,
small groups, and the whole class. Students need to
learn to listen carefully to others’ ideas and weigh the
evidence that may lead to changing their own ideas.
They need to learn not to accept a claim or idea just
because their peers think it is correct. They need to
learn how to examine all sides of an argument,
including evidence from investigation and other
relevant information sources, before accepting others’
ideas or changing a previously held one of their own.
Formative assessment encourages students to think
rather than just accept ideas as they are presented.

7. Use a variety of FACTs in a variety of ways.

Although many of the features of effective formative
assessment can now be identified, there is no single,
simple recipe that teachers can adopt and follow
(National Research Council, 2001). Even though
FACTs differ from each other in many of the details, a
variety of approaches to using formative assessment
leads to greater likelihood of success in improving
learning. Try out different types of FACTs to promote
thinking and learning and inform teaching. Vary the
ways they are used—through writing, drawing, or
speaking. Vary strategies for sharing responses. For
example, students can form groups based on similar
thinking then jigsaw with other groups to share and
consider alternative explanations. Responses can
also be shared anonymously by the teacher, building
confidence within the class to discuss and evaluate
different explanations without identifying individuals.

8. Use a variety of grouping configurations. Social

interaction plays a powerful part in motivation and the
effectiveness of learning. Many of the FACTs in this
book emphasize the social and community aspects of
learning. The social interactions involved when FACTs
are used in pairs, small groups, or whole-class
discussion and argument are important for developing
and deepening shared understandings. FACTs can
provide a context and focal point for the discussion
and argumentation that occur between students.
Having to provide justification for one’s ideas to a
partner or others in a group develops deeper
understanding in both the justifier and the students
engaged in analyzing the justification.

9. Encourage continuous reflection. Encourage

students to reflect back on their initial ideas to note
their own evidence of conceptual change or identify
areas where they are still struggling with an idea.
Understanding is an evolving process. It takes time
for students to move toward the accepted scientific
explanation, and students need to understand that
there are many steps along the way. Being aware of
their own thinking (metacognition) and knowing the
learning goal they are striving toward will help
students be more accountable for their own learning.
Revisiting their initial response to a FACT and
comparing it to where they are in their current
understanding is a powerful way to recognize and
reinforce learning.

Feedback from teachers who have used FACTs to link

assessment, instruction, and learning has been
overwhelmingly positive. The use of FACTs has
considerably elevated teachers’ expectations of
themselves and their students. The research on the
effectiveness of formative assessment in improving
learning has been confirmed for teachers through
their own empirical observations as they see
evidence of their students becoming more engaged
and metacognitive in science, increasing their
confidence in their ideas, using higher level thinking
and response skills, constructing evidence-based
scientific explanations, and valuing feedback and
reflection. One teacher shared her surprise when her
students begged her to use more assessment probes
in her science lessons. Her comment— “I can’t
believe my students were asking for more
assessments! They even talk about the assessment
probes on their way out the door and continue
arguing about their ideas in the hallway”—is indicative
of the power of formative assessment on increasing
student engagement and eagerness to be learners of
science.

All the ingredients are here for you to pay more

attention to assessment in the context of effective
teaching and learning rather than being distracted by
the cloud of coverage and accountability. While
coverage and accountability are important, they are
achieved appropriately when teachers are truly
accountable to students’ learning needs and use
formative assessment data to continuously inform
their teaching so that students will have the
knowledge and skills to perform well on summative
assessments. When student achievement scores
improve and long-term retention and understanding
replace the short-term memorization for standardized
testing, then you will know you have successfully
linked assessment, instruction, and learning!

Vygotsky (1978) established the zone of proximal

development as the challenge factor in learning—the
difference between what students can do independently
and what they can accomplish with the support of others.
The constructivist model promotes cooperative situations
as essential for effective learning, with much classroom talk
—between students and teachers and between students
together.
Chapter 3 Considerations for
Selecting, Implementing, and
Using Data From FACTs

Selecting FACTs
A variety of factors need to be considered before
selecting a formative assessment classroom technique
(FACT). The FACT needs to be a good match to the
specific content targeted, the needs and styles of the
teacher, and the types of students in the class.

Selecting FACTs to Match Learning

Goals and Standards
Selecting a FACT without a teaching or learning goal in
mind because it seems like a fun thing to do in the
classroom is analogous to “activitymania”—selecting
hands-on science activities that are fun and engaging to
students but do not necessarily promote learning.
Superficially selecting FACTs without a clear purpose in
mind can result in “FACTmania” and derail their
powerful purpose in teaching and learning.

Before a FACT is selected, identify and clarify the

concept, skill, or scientific or engineering practice the
FACT is intended to provide information about. To best
assist students in their science learning, a FACT should
attend to one of the many facets of learning, including
content understanding, application processes, and
reasoning (National Research Council [NRC], 2001).
There must be a clear match between the FACT and
the learning goal it is intended to target. Figure 3.1
includes questions to ask about content and learning
goals that can help inform your selection of an
appropriate FACT. Using a systematic study process
such as science curriculum topic study (CTS) can help
teachers deeply examine the curricular topics they
teach through the lens of state and national standards
and research on student learning, which in turn informs
the appropriate selection of FACTs (see the Appendix
for information on science CTS and resources for
accessing the research on learning).

The release of A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012) and the Next Generation
Science Standards (NGSS) (NGSS Lead States, 2013)
have led many states to revise or reconsider their
current state standards. Some states have decided to
adopt the NGSS as developed by the NGSS Lead
States. Others have chosen not to adopt the NGSS in
their entirety, but to use them to inform revisions that
take into account the core disciplinary ideas,
crosscutting concepts, and scientific and engineering
practices in the Framework. Still other states which
have not begun the revision process, often due to
legislatively mandated timelines, are still urging
educators to incorporate the recommendations from the
Framework, particularly the scientific and engineering
practices, into their instruction. The bottom line is
regardless of whatever state science standards inform
your curriculum, instruction, and assessment, there is
no denying that teaching and learning will be strongly
influenced by the Framework and NGSS in this new era
of rigorous and relevant science standards.

Figure 3.1 Content Considerations for Selecting FACTs

It is beyond the scope of this book to provide an

introduction to the Framework and the NGSS. If you are
not familiar with these, refer to the Appendix for
information on resources to help build your
understanding of these important documents that are
paving the way for major changes in science curriculum,
instruction, and assessment.
The Framework states that “. . . the committee’s work
on the framework and resulting standards is only the
beginning. In order for students to experience and
engage in the opportunities needed for understanding
the three dimensions of scientific and engineering
practices, crosscutting concepts, and disciplinary core
ideas described in the framework, many other players
and components of the system will need to change,
often in dramatic ways” (NRC, 2012, p. 264). One of
these changes that will need to happen is at the
classroom level, continuous use of formative
assessment to determine students’ preconceptions and
changes in thinking over time related to disciplinary core
ideas and their progress in moving toward learning
goals that will prepare them to meet three-dimensional
performance expectations.

A new feature of this second edition book is the

inclusion of how each FACT connects to the
Framework. Tables 3.1 and 3.2 show these
connections. Additionally, Chapter 4 now includes a
short description of how each FACT links to the
Framework. This is not intended as an alignment to the
Framework, but rather a way to consider how the FACT
promotes learning and informs instruction related to a
disciplinary core idea, a crosscutting concept, or a
scientific practice. For example, the Representation
Analysis FACT links to the disciplinary core ideas by
providing an opportunity to elicit students’ ideas related
to a drawing or diagram used to represent a
phenomenon, object, or process that explains a core
idea. Furthermore, it links to the scientific practice of
developing and using models by having students
explain what the drawing or diagram (a type of
conceptual model) represents as well as identify the
limitations of the representation.

Formative assessment is not the goal; it is a means to

achieving a teaching or learning goal.

FACTs and Core Disciplinary Content

All of the 75 FACTs in Chapter 4 can be used to
formatively assess students’ thinking related to a
disciplinary core idea in the life, physical, Earth, and
space sciences as well as understanding concepts
related to engineering, nature of science, and
crosscutting concepts. Table 3.1 summarizes the
example(s) of FACTs described in Chapter 4 to show
how the FACT addresses the concept(s) embedded in a
disciplinary core idea or crosscutting concept. For some
FACTs, there is more than one grade level or concept
example provided. The grade level example provided in
the FACT description is designated in the table, along
with the concept addressed in the example. The table is
provided to help you see the various ways FACTs can
be used to address important content across all grade
levels and disciplines in science. Even if your state does
not adopt the NGSS or revise its standards using A
Framework for K–12 Science Education, the concepts
and disciplinary core ideas included in Table 3.1 are
likely to be similar to those that make up your own state
standards and district curriculum. Therefore, this table
can be used to help you think about connecting FACTs
to standards or learning goals regardless of which state,
district, or school learning outcomes guide teaching and
learning in your setting.

FACTs and the Scientific and

Engineering Practices
“When students engage in science as practice, they
develop knowledge and explanations of the natural
world as they generate and interpret evidence. At the
same time they come to understand the nature and
development of scientific knowledge while participating
in science as a social process” (Michaels, Shouse, &
Schweingruber, 2008, p. 34). The FACTs in Chapter 4
can be linked to a scientific or engineering practice by
(1) providing an opportunity for students to use the
practice to think through and share their ideas, (2)
providing an assessment opportunity for teachers to
determine the extent to which students can use a
scientific or engineering practice, and (3) providing an
opportunity for students to receive feedback on their
use of the scientific or engineering practices. Although
the emphasis in this book is on the scientific practices,
the FACTs can also be used to support engineering
practices. The scientific and engineering practices
described in the Framework and the NGSS and
included in Table 3.2 are as follows:

Practice 1: Asking questions and defining problems

Practice 2: Developing and using models
Practice 3: Planning and carrying out investigations
Practice 4: Analyzing and interpreting data
Practice 5: Using mathematics and computational
thinking
Practice 6: Constructing explanations and designing
solutions
Practice 7: Engaging in argument from evidence
Practice 8: Obtaining, evaluating, and
communicating information

Table 3.2 shows which of these practices are most

central when using the designated FACT. For some
FACTs, all the practices can be used with the FACT
depending on the teaching and learning purpose. For
example, Fist to Five may be used with any of the
scientific practices, especially if the FACT is used to find
out the extent to which students feel they can
successfully use a scientific practice. For some FACTs,
there may be only one or two practices associated with
the FACT. For example, the Explanation Analysis FACT
is linked to the scientific practice of constructing
explanations. Some FACTs are not directly linked to a
practice, although indirectly they are linked depending
on the learning goal the FACT targets. For example,
Commit and Toss is used to anonymously share
students’ thinking. It does not directly utilize the practice
of constructing explanations or obtaining, evaluating,
and communicating information, but it does so indirectly
by providing an anonymous explanation and
communicating ideas. As you use the FACTs, you might
determine other ways a FACT can be used to support a
practice that is not designated on the chart. Ultimately, it
depends on your assessment purpose.
FACTs can provide a starting point for learning the
disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and
scientific practices in the NGSS as well as the
disciplinary content and inquiry processes underlying
other standards. They can help teachers monitor
students’ progress toward achieving the performance
expectations in the standards and adjust their
instruction accordingly so that all students will have
opportunities to meet the standard. They can be used to
provide feedback to students, which they can then use
to take responsibility for their own learning and decide
what they need to do to improve their ability to use core
concepts, crosscutting ideas, and the practices of
science and engineering. They provide metacognitive
and reflective opportunities for students to examine their
own thinking and how their ideas have changed. The
talk and argument involved in using the FACTs models
the way scientists interact. Overall, FACTs can help
teachers and students move toward the Framework’s
vision for science education as well as their own state
or their school district’s vision of science teaching and
learning in this new era of improving science education
for all.

Selecting FACTs to Match Teaching

Goals
Formative assessment is closely linked to goals
teachers have for improving their instruction. Selecting
a FACT that matches an instructional goal can help
teachers become more effective at eliciting students’
ideas, promoting thinking and rich discussion in the
science classroom, monitoring student learning,
providing feedback, encouraging reflection, and
improving all students’ opportunity to learn science at
high levels of understanding. The extensive body of
cognitive research literature on students’ conceptions in
science has alerted teachers to the fact that even the
highest achieving students come to science class with
strongly held ideas about the natural world and how it
works. Their ideas can differ greatly from the accepted
scientific explanations. This recognition of students, not
as “blank slates, but filled with ideas about how the
world works” (Abell & Volkmann, 2006, p. 10), has
encouraged teachers to set teaching goals that will help
them grow in their own understanding of their students’
ideas and the misconceptions that may impede learning
while also serving as springboards on which to build
from their students’ ideas. Establishing teaching goals
and selecting FACTs that match these teaching goals
help teachers teach for understanding, monitor
meaningful learning over time, and provide a way to
evaluate the quality of their teaching in relation to gains
in student learning. The science assessment,
instruction, and learning (SAIL) cycle described in
Chapter 2 provides a useful framework on which
teachers can overlay their teaching goals and select
appropriate FACTs. Figure 3.2 lists questions to ask
about teaching goals before selecting a FACT.

Figure 3.2 Considerations for Selecting FACTs to

Improve or Enhance Teaching Practice
Each FACT described in Chapter 4 provides
descriptions of what it is, how it promotes learning, how
it informs instruction, a science example of using the
FACT, design and administration, connections to the
Framework, modifications, general implementation
attributes, caveats to be aware of when using the FACT,
and connections to other disciplines, including a brief
example in mathematics, language arts, health, foreign
languages, or visual and performing arts. Each of these
should be carefully read over and considered before
you select a FACT to match a learning or teaching goal.

The following suggestions can help you select FACTs

that match your instructional context, goals, and style:

Select a FACT that appropriately matches the

science content you are targeting.
Select a FACT that appropriately matches your
teaching or learning purpose and can be easily
integrated into the lesson.
Choose a FACT that you are comfortable with and
that appeals to your professional judgment and
teaching style.
 Some FACTs require more time than others and
vary with ease of use and cognitive demand. If time
and demand on students’ thinking are concerns,
choose a FACT that has a low rating. If ease of use
is a concern, choose a FACT with a high rating (see
general implementation attributes listed with each
FACT description in Chapter 4).
Some FACTs require advance preparation. Select a
FACT in which you can have all the materials
prepared in advance or that uses readily available
materials.

Each FACT must be considered critically regarding how well it

matches goals for improving or enhancing instruction.

The Critical Importance of Classroom

Context in Selecting FACTs
Every teacher knows that within each class, individual
students are unique. As a whole, they make up a
classroom with its own personality and set of dynamics.
Some days you can teach the same lessons and use
the same FACTs with different students or different
classes of students, and they will feel like very different
students or classes. Each class creates an environment
that brings diverse cultural backgrounds, developmental
readiness, prior experiences, language issues, prior
content knowledge and skills, attitudes, learning and
social styles, and habits of mind that affect their learning
and the interactions that take place between students
and between teachers and students. For this reason,
teachers are encouraged to adapt FACTs rather than
adopt them as is (Angelo & Cross, 1993). In essence,
selecting a FACT is a first step in differentiating
instruction and assessment for diverse students and
unique classroom contexts.

The classroom climate has a major impact on how well

students engage with the FACTs. To use the FACTs
effectively, teachers need to take into account not only
the diverse kinds of students who come to their
classroom but also the kind of classroom climate the
teacher creates that promotes learning for all students.
A classroom climate that values all students’ ideas,
makes it safe to surface misconceptions, promotes
creativity in thinking and generating ideas, encourages
all students to engage in discussion with other students
and the teacher, and values confidence building and
collaborative work can significantly affect how well
FACTs are used to inform instruction and promote
learning. See the Appendix for an excellent resource on
developing a classroom culture for formative
assessment.

The following suggestions can help guide your selection

of FACTs to match the context and culture of your
classroom:
Be sensitive to the cultural and social backgrounds
of your students when selecting a FACT. Set
classroom norms that promote respect for and value
each other’s ideas and the background knowledge
and experiences students bring to their learning.
Select FACTs that accommodate modifications for
English language learners.
If public sharing of ideas is initially uncomfortable for
some students, ease them in by selecting
anonymous strategies that do not identify individuals
with their response.
Select FACTs that engage all students in the
learning process and do not make it easy for
students to “opt out” by letting the most active or
vocal students carry the discussions or answer the
questions.
Don’t grade FACTs. They are not summative
assessments. Use them to provide continuous
feedback that raises the confidence level of
students, stimulates further thinking and discussion,
and encourages students to revise and refine their
ideas.
Create a climate where argumentation that
combines evidence and explanation is a scientific
norm. Choose FACTs that will help all students feel
comfortable debating and defending their ideas,
listening to the viewpoints of others, and
acknowledging and evaluating alternative
explanations.
 Select FACTs that encourage social interaction and
collaboration in an emotionally safe and respectful
environment.
Select FACTs that provide opportunities for students
to interact with diverse types of students and not
always with the same classmate.

There is no one best FACT or system of FACTs. What works

best in one classroom may not work well in another.

“The learning environment which a teacher creates has a

profound impact on the success of the assessment strategies
used” (Naylor, Keogh, & Goldsworthy, 2004, p. 15).

Planning to Use and Implement FACTs

After a FACT or set of FACTs has been selected,
teachers need to consider various factors that support
or hinder implementation in the classroom. Chapter 4
provides a description of implementation attributes;
considerations for designing and administering a FACT,
including modifications; and cautions to be aware of
when using a FACT. These considerations and
suggestions should be examined carefully before
implementing any of the FACTs. In addition, successful
implementation requires an understanding of the
science content and the way science knowledge is
structured. Overlooking the critical need to thoroughly
understand the content before implementing a FACT
can significantly affect its use and impact.

Before using a FACT, it is important to distinguish

between two types of formative assessment: planned
formative assessment and interactive formative
assessment (Hall & Burke, 2003). Planned formative
assessment is a type of formal or semiformal
assessment that is planned for ahead of time to collect
or provide evidence of student thinking and learning.
Often it is curriculum driven. Assessment information is
gathered through a FACT, interpreted, and acted on. On
the other hand, interactive formative assessment tends
to be incidental and unanticipated, and it usually arises
out of an instructional activity. It has the potential to
occur at any time during student-to-student or student-
to-teacher interactions and is more student or teacher
driven than curriculum driven. While it is more difficult to
plan for interactive formative assessment, one can plan
for it insofar as providing opportunities for classroom
observation, discussion, and exchange of ideas is
concerned. The following considerations will help you
plan for and implement the FACTs described in the next
chapter:

Try out some of the FACTs on yourself first to see if

they work in the instructional context you have
chosen. Make sure you are able to come up with a
response or example. If you have difficulty coming
up with a response, then you can be sure your
students will, too.
Introduce the FACT to students and explain the
directions clearly, particularly if it is new to them.
Consider modeling it for them the first time it is used.
Use props to demonstrate the probe context if
appropriate.
If a FACT is new, decide whether to teach the
technique first, providing practice and feedback to
students in trying out the FACT.
Decide whether you want students’ responses to be
anonymous or to identify a response with an
individual.
Modify a FACT for a “teachable moment” or when
there is a need to differentiate for particular students
or groups of students.
Vary your use of FACTs. Students can quickly tire of
using the same technique repeatedly, and the FACT
will lose its effectiveness.
When using a FACT for the first time, plan on it
taking more time than you had anticipated. As with
using any new tool or technique, as a FACT
becomes more familiar to students and to you, the
amount of time it takes to use it well will decrease.
Let students know why you are using a particular
FACT. When the purpose is made explicit to them
and they understand how it helps their learning, the
quality of responses to a FACT will be higher.
Elicit students’ ideas in a context that is familiar to
them when selecting a FACT. Avoid the use of
scientific terminology students may be unfamiliar
with, particularly during the elicitation phase.
Be careful that you don’t cue or lead students
toward the scientific answer too soon after they
respond to a FACT. Allowing time for students to
ponder and linger in uncertainty can actually
promote learning.
Don’t dismiss incorrect ideas. However, refrain from
immediately correcting misconceptions when they
surface from using a FACT. Research shows
students will revert right back to their
misconceptions if they haven’t worked through them.
Use students’ ideas as springboards for learning
that you can build upon as you guide them toward
the correct scientific understanding.
Encourage students to share as many ideas as
possible in response to a FACT. Make sure they give
reasons or cite evidence for their ideas.
Provide adequate time for sense making after ideas
have been activated and surfaced.
Involve students. Ask them for their opinions about
the FACTs you have used. What did they like about
the FACT? What did they not like?
Involve parents. Produce parent-friendly
descriptions of the FACTs you are using so that
parents are informed and encouraged to further
promote student thinking and idea sharing.

“A good idea—poorly implemented—is a bad idea” (Ainsworth

& Viegut, 2006, p. 109).
 “A teacher’s interpretation of a student response, question,
and action will be related to the teacher’s understanding of the
concept or skill that is at issue. Thus a solid understanding of
the subject matter being taught is essential” (NRC, 2001, p.
87).

Starting Off With Small Steps

If FACTs are new to you, start small by “dipping your toe
into the water” and trying out one or two easy-to-use
FACTs. Be sure to record your notes on how it worked
in the spaces provided with each FACT description in
Chapter 4. After trying out a new technique, thoughtfully
reflect on how it worked for you by asking these
questions:

Were your students engaged?

Were you confident and excited about using the
FACT?
How did use of the FACT affect the student-to-
student or student-to-teacher dynamic?
Was the information gained useful to you?
Would you have gotten this information without
using the FACT?
What added value did the FACT bring to teaching
and learning?
Did it cause you to do something differently or think
differently about teaching and learning?
Maintaining and Extending
Implementation
Formative assessment can make a significant impact on
teaching and learning when used purposefully and over
time. Dabbling here and there does not produce
significant gains in student learning or improvement in
teaching practice. Instead, it is the purposeful
commitment on the part of the teacher to make
formative assessment a regular feature of classroom
practice that leads to results. In addition, extending the
use of formative assessment beyond an individual
teacher’s classroom and making it part of a schoolwide
commitment to improving student learning will lead to
gains at a system level.

Formative assessment is an ideal topic on which

professional learning communities (PLCs) can base
research, study, implementation, observation of others’
classrooms, and shared results. See the Appendix for a
PLC resource on using FACTs. Figure 3.3 provides
examples of questions science PLCs can use that link
to their use of formative assessment.

This book can serve as a resource that science PLCs

can use to improve on and examine their formative
assessment practices as well as PLCs made up of
cross-disciplinary teams.
Figure 3.3 Questions for Science Professional Learning
Communities

While this book focuses on examples in science, it can

be used with any subject area. Each of the FACT
descriptions in Chapter 4 provides connections to other
subject areas, such as mathematics, language arts,
social studies, visual and performing arts, health, and
foreign languages, and a brief example of its use in one
of those disciplines. The following are suggestions for
sustaining implementation and extending the impact of
formative assessment outward to other teachers in your
school:
Don’t go it alone! Work collaboratively with other
teachers to try out and evaluate the use of FACTs.
Encourage schoolwide support of formative
assessment. Inform other teachers and
administrators about the FACTs in this book. Many
of them are applicable to disciplines besides
science. Start with a small group of colleagues
interested in trying out the FACTs. As you (and your
students) share success stories, other colleagues
will want to join you in using FACTs.
Combine the FACTs in this book with the FACTs in
the other books in this series: Mathematics
Formative Assessment: 75 Practical Strategies for
Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning
(Keeley & Tobey, 2011) and Science Formative
Assessment, Volume 2: 50 More Strategies for
Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning
(Keeley, 2014a). With a combined total of 138
FACTs (not counting duplicates in mathematics) in
all three of these books, select FACTs to build a
collection of common formative assessment
techniques across disciplines.
Realize that it takes time to change assessment and
instructional practices and build time into trying out
and refining use of FACTs.
Don’t treat formative assessment as a fad or another
new initiative to come down the pike. Recognize
where teachers are already using formative
assessment and extend everyone’s repertoire of
 strategies by trying out some new FACTs and
reflecting on how they worked.
Encourage an environment in which teachers can
watch other teachers in action. Visit each other’s
classrooms. Seeing how formative assessment
plays out with others’ students helps teachers
understand how they can use FACTs in their
classroom.
Use “critical friends” as sounding boards for giving
feedback on formative assessment practices.
Build time into team, schoolwide, department, or
professional learning community meetings for
examining and discussing formative assessment.

“The ongoing identification, collection, and use of information

in the classroom is a complex business” (Sato, 2003, p. 109).

“Formative assessment is relevant to all school subjects and,

although different techniques may be more or less useful in
different subjects, all the broad strategies are applicable to all
subjects. Provided they are open to new ideas, teachers can
learn a great deal by observing good formative assessment
practice in other subjects” (Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall, &
Wiliam, 2003, p. 74).

25 Ways to Lead Learning About

Formative Assessment
Schools, districts, and organizations are increasingly
focused on building their capacity for formative
assessment in science through professional
development. Teachers and other leaders can work with
groups to build their professional knowledge about
effective formative assessment. The workshop model is
the most common format for teacher professional
development, but you can go beyond the workshop
model. Whether you are just beginning the professional
development and leadership work with science
formative assessment or you are working to sustain
teachers’ learning, consider these other ways to lead
and support professional learning in formative
assessment:

1. Organize a collaborative action research group to

investigate students’ thinking using the FACTs.
Share results with colleagues.
2. Write and facilitate teacher cases that highlight
students’ preconceptions or conceptual
misunderstandings and spark discussion of
instructional next steps.
3. Organize reciprocal classroom observations
between groups of teacher partners, using formative
assessment. Have partners come together to share
observations and learnings with other partner
groups.
4. Recruit and support teachers to videotape
demonstration lessons that show how formative
assessment is used throughout the teaching and
learning process. Examine and discuss videos with
colleagues using a video discussion protocol.
 5. Facilitate Collaborative Inquiry Into Examining
Student Thinking (CIEST) that combines a formative
assessment probe, student work, and a deep dive
into studying the learning goal(s).
6. Collaborate with others to write an article for a
science education journal or newsletter that features
use of formative assessment.
7. Lead a book study on science formative assessment
using this book.
8. Collect articles on science formative assessment to
read and discuss with colleagues.
9. Organize classroom walkthroughs to look for
evidence of formative assessment.
10. Give a presentation on science formative
assessment at a local, state, or NSTA conference.
11. Collect data on the commonly held ideas students in
your setting have related to core disciplinary ideas
and engage in data-driven discussions.
12. Encourage teachers to keep a reflective log or
journal on their use of formative assessment.
13. Work with colleagues to develop your own
assessment probe FACTs using the formats in the
Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series (see
Appendix for information on this series).
14. Organize a lesson study group that embeds
formative assessment in the lesson and examines
students’ thinking.
15. Coach a colleague or mentor a new teacher on
effective use of formative assessment or provide
 specialized training for instructional coaches and
mentors.
16. Start a blog on science formative assessment and
share your blog with teachers and other colleagues.
17. Work collaboratively to align the FACTs to your
district’s curriculum materials.
18. Research, develop, discuss, and share differentiated
instructional strategies based on students’ thinking
elicited through FACTs (such as anchoring
examples, bridging analogies, etc.).
19. Start a network of FACTs users to hone strategies
and develop or share new ones.
20. Work collaboratively with colleagues to research and
develop ways to use formative assessment probes
and FACTs with digital technologies.
21. Study and research ways to promote talk and
argument through use of FACTs.
22. Make content and grade level examples of FACTs to
share with other teachers (e.g., go visual with
younger students).
23. Build a professional library of resources on science
formative assessment and encourage users to share
reviews and uses of the resources.
24. Organize weekly online discussions of selected
chapters in What Are They Thinking? (Keeley,
2014b) or Teaching for Conceptual Understanding in
Science (Konicek-Moran & Keeley, 2015). Each
chapter includes reflection questions for use after
reading the chapter and reflection questions to use
after gathering evidence of students’ thinking using
 selected FACTs or considering how to teach for
conceptual understanding.
25. Build a support group for teachers applying for the
Presidential Award or National Board Certification—
both require a video and commentary on a lesson
that uses formative assessment.

Using DATA From the FACTs

Even with careful selection, planning, and
implementation, assessment is not formative unless the
information is used to inform teaching or guide learning.
FACTs provide a variety of raw student-learning data
that can be analyzed in various ways for different
purposes.

The techniques described in this book are not formative

unless teachers use the data to take action in some
way. After teachers have collected formative
assessment data, the important task of constructing
meaning from the data and using it as evidence to
inform teaching and learning is the essence of formative
assessment. Data are not just the sets of test scores
that often reside in a central office. There is a treasure
trove of data being mined every day in the classroom
that comes from listening to students interact, observing
their actions, and analyzing their responses to
questions posed. The challenge is not only in
systematically collecting these data but also
understanding what to do with them. The use of
formative assessment data can be described as helping
teachers to “challenge their assumptions, investigate
their own questions, uncover inequities, discover
previously unrecognized strengths in their students,
question their practice, improve instruction, and see the
world anew” (Love, 2002, p. xxiv).

The following suggestions can help you use the

assessment data you collect in a formative way:

If the FACT involves feedback to students, provide

that feedback as soon after the assessment as
possible.
Decide whether feedback will be written or shared
through discussion. Allow adequate time to discuss
FACT feedback with students.
Let students know how you plan to use the data
from the FACTs to improve your teaching and
provide better opportunities for them to learn.
Select an appropriate question that can be
answered by analysis of the type of data generated
by the FACT.
Decide whether your analysis will be a qualitative
“temperature taking” or whether you will
quantitatively analyze the data by crunching
numbers of responses and percentages of students.
Present analyzed response data to students—
engage them in examining the class data and
coming up with suggestions for improving teaching
and learning.
Avoid being overwhelmed with too much data. Often
you do not have the time to analyze all the student
response data. Choose samples of student
responses to examine and share with the class or
select FACTs that lend themselves to a quick scan
and analysis.
Be prepared for negative feedback. Do not feel
professionally hurt if you find students’ responses
reveal that your instruction was not as effective as
you may have thought. View it as an opportunity to
improve student learning and build on your existing
practice.
Focus on facts from the data, not the inferences.
Don’t try to read too much between the lines and be
aware that further probing is often necessary.
Don’t just gloss over results. Spend time reflecting
on the data and considering what actions you need
to take to improve teaching and learning. Then, take
action!
Share data with others and take collective actions to
improve teaching and learning.
Take time to further explore the research on learning
and suggested interventions that can help students
learn concepts they struggle with as indicated by the
data. Generic instructional strategies may not be as
helpful as science-content-specific pedagogical
strategies. Use the student data to inform areas of
research you may want to learn more about.
Consider being a researcher in your own classroom.
Use the FACTs to collect and triangulate data that
 can be used to investigate problems related to
teaching and learning.

Ultimately, how you select, plan for, implement, and use

data from FACTs depends on your purpose for using
them. As you try out the FACTs, you may discover other
purposes for their use in informing teaching and
learning, including ways to adapt them for use in other
disciplines such as mathematics, social studies, health,
language arts, performing arts, and foreign language.

Examine the list of FACTs and their purposes as

described in Figure 3.4. This chart identifies the primary
purpose of a FACT with an uppercase X. That is the
main purpose for which the FACT was designed.
Secondary purposes are indicated with a lowercase x.
These are purposes that might fit particular contexts for
teaching and learning. You may also find other
purposes not identified on this chart.

Find a few FACTs that pique your interest and resonate

with your instructional style and purpose and read the
descriptions in Chapter 4. The most important take-
home message of this book is to commit to trying at
least one FACT and celebrating its success. It is
through that first small step that large strides will soon
follow!

Figure 3.4 75 FACTs and Their Purposeful Use in

Teaching and Learning
“Just as students analyze and use the information gathered
during a science investigation, so too do you analyze the data
and use the findings to inform instruction, promote student
learning, and enhance your own professional growth”
(Carlson, Humphrey, & Reinhardt, 2003, p. 59).
“It is important to emphasize the critical criterion—formative
assessment—is a process, one in which information about
learning is evoked and then used to modify the teaching and
learning activities in which teachers and students are
engaged” (Black et al., 2003, p. 74).
Chapter 4 Get the FACTs! 75
Science Formative Assessment
Classroom Techniques (FACTs)

The 75 FACTs selected for this chapter were gathered

from a variety of sources. Several of the FACTs
included in this chapter were practiced and honed by
the author during her 15 years as a middle and high
school science teacher and 20 years supporting the
professional learning of science teachers. Some
FACTs were originally developed and used with
professional development strategies for adult learners.
Others have been gleaned from the literature on
formative assessment. Classroom teachers have also
contributed ideas for several of the FACTs in this
chapter. Each FACT selected for inclusion in this
chapter was reviewed against the following
considerations:

1. Does the FACT elicit information about students’

conceptual understanding of science?
2. Does the FACT promote rigor by intellectually
engaging students?
3. Can the FACT be used in a variety of classroom
configurations: individual work, pairs, small groups,
or whole class?
 4. Can the FACT be used flexibly with a range of
classroom environments and diversity of student
populations?
5. Does the FACT promote the spirit of scientific
inquiry and curiosity about science?
6. Is the FACT easy to use? Can it be easily
developed and implemented?
7. Does the FACT have reciprocal benefits? Does it
support student learning as well as inform
instruction and improve teaching practice?
8. Will the FACT enhance the learning environment?
Will it support a culture of safely sharing ideas and
seeking understanding?
9. Will opportunities to learn increase when the FACT
is used?
10. Can the FACT be linked to a learning goal? Can
the FACT be used to support the disciplinary core
ideas, crosscutting concepts, and scientific and
engineering practices in A Framework for K–12
Science Education? Can the FACT be used with
any states’ standards, regardless of whether a
state has adopted the Next Generation Science
Standards (NGSS)?

As you look through this collection of 75 FACTs, make

note of the ones that seem to be a good match for
your unique classroom situation, experience, and
instructional goals. Carefully read the information and
example provided for each FACT. After using a FACT,
add your own notes at the end of the description to
describe how the FACT worked in your setting,
including any modifications or suggestions that would
improve its use in your classroom or other setting.

Each FACT includes a full description that includes the

following:

Description:

This short paragraph provides a brief overview of the

FACT and its use.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning:

This section highlights ways in which the FACT

supports learning. It describes ways in which the
FACT can stimulate metacognition, encourage
productive science discussions, engage students in
scientific argumentation, support self-monitoring and
use of feedback, increase opportunities for students to
frame or respond to questions, and provide for self-
assessment and reflection.

How This FACT Informs Instruction:

This section highlights ways in which the FACT can be

used to inform instructional decisions. It describes
ways in which the FACT can be used to elicit students’
ideas, orchestrate discourse, initiate inquiry, probe
student thinking, monitor progress toward conceptual
understanding, check for learning transfer, and gather
feedback on the impact of instruction. The information
is used to plan for lessons, continuously monitor
learning, and provide feedback to students.

Design and Administration:

This section describes how to implement the FACT,

including preparation of materials, timing, modeling
first-time use, and group work configurations. It
suggests resources to use with the FACT. It often
includes a science-specific example of the FACT, a
student response, or a template that can be used to
design the FACT. Customizable templates that can be
downloaded from
www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates are
mentioned here.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012):

This section describes how the FACT can be used

with the disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts,
or scientific and engineering practices. For teachers in
states that have not used A Framework for K–12
Science Education to develop their standards or have
not adopted the NGSS, this section is still useful as it
describes content and practices that may also be
similar to other standards. Table 3.1 in Chapter 3
shows which disciplinary core ideas are included in
the FACT examples. Table 3.2 in Chapter 3 links
FACTs to the scientific practices.

General Implementation Attributes:

This section describes three general attributes to

consider when selecting a FACT: low, medium, and
high. Ease of Use rates the general mechanical
aspect of using a FACT, such as availability and
preparation of materials, amount of practice students
need before using it, and extent of teacher facilitation
needed to use it effectively with students. A high
designation means that the FACT is very easy to use.
Time Demand rates how quickly and efficiently a
FACT can be used regarding the benefits gained from
its use. A high rating means it is very time efficient. A
low rating does not necessarily mean the FACT is not
useful but rather that it takes considerable time to use.
Cognitive Demand describes the rigor of a FACT
regarding how much is required from the students to
think and respond to the FACT. A high cognitive
demand requires greater and deeper thinking on the
part of the student.

Modifications:
This section provides suggestions for modifying a
FACT for different types of students or configurations.
For example, it may describe ways to simplify the
FACT for students depending on their age or
developmental level. It may provide suggestions for
using the FACT with English language learners. It also
describes ways to modify the way the FACT is used,
such as changing the ways students are grouped for
discussion or adapting a paper-and-pencil-type
technique to use in a discussion format.

Caveats:

With every good technique, there are always cautions

to consider when using a new strategy to improve
teaching and learning. This section describes
immediate as well as long-term cautions and pitfalls to
be aware of when using a FACT.

Use With Other Disciplines:

While the FACTs in this chapter are described

according to how they are used in science, most of the
FACTs can be used in other content areas either as is
or with modification. These connections are noted, but
they are not exclusive. You may find ways to use the
FACT in disciplines not noted in this section. For
FACTs that are not science specific, a brief example is
provided to suggest how the FACT may be used in a
subject area other than science. As teachers work
within interdisciplinary teams in their schools, with
STEM projects, or in a self-contained classroom, it is
helpful to use common techniques and routines
across disciplines and classrooms.

Examples:

Embedded in each of the 75 FACTs descriptions is an

illustrative example of how the FACT can be used with
students. Examples may be general or grade level
specific. They may include actual student work,
authentic student responses, a sample worksheet, a
template, or a scenario or description that illustrates
its use. The examples are intended to give the user a
glimpse into what a FACT actually looks like in
practice. Table 3.1 in Chapter 3 lists which grade
levels and science concepts are included in the FACT
examples provided as well as how the FACT relates to
a disciplinary core idea in A Framework for K–12
Science Education.

My Notes:

This is a blank area for you to record your own notes

after you try out a FACT. In addition, consider building
a file or three-ring binder of the materials you create to
use with each FACT (e.g., specific recording sheets or
templates for the students to record responses or
sample questions or reflection prompts) as well as
student artifacts that can be shared with others in your
professional learning community to collectively gain
insight into the use of formative assessment to
enhance teaching and learning.

Now it’s time to get the FACTs! The FACTs are

organized alphabetically and numbered on the matrix
in Figure 3.4. The matrix can help you select FACTs
that match a specific purpose or stage in your
instructional cycle. Some FACTs will match your
teaching purpose while others may not. There are
plenty of examples to choose from. To use a FACT
effectively, it should fit with your instructional style and
clearly match an instructional outcome. As you come
across FACTs you might try out in your classroom,
consider placing sticky notes on the pages so you can
go back and revisit them. Start small by selecting one
or two FACTs to try out initially. Make notes on how
well the technique worked for you and continue honing
it until the FACT becomes second nature to you. Add
more techniques as you become increasingly
comfortable and confident in using formative
assessment.

FACT 1

A&D Statements
Description
A&D Statements is a two-part strategy that involves analyzing a set
of true or false statements. In the first part of A&D Statements,
students may choose to agree or disagree with the statement,
indicate they are unsure at this time, or choose “It depends on . . .” if
they think certain factors need to be considered before they can
commit to agreeing or disagreeing. “My thoughts” provides a space
for them to explain their thinking. In the second part of the FACT,
students describe what they can do to find out if the statement is
valid by describing how they might test the claim statement, research
what is already known, or use other means of inquiry to support or
disprove the statement. Figure 4.1 shows an example of A&D
Statements used to elicit elementary students’ ideas about magnets
and magnetism.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

A&D Statements provide a metacognitive opportunity for students to
think about what they already know about a concept. In addition, this
FACT “primes the pump” for student inquiry by having students
describe how they could design an investigation or seek reliable
information sources, such as turning to text, that would help them
determine the validity of the statement. When used in small groups,
A&D Statements provide stimuli to encourage scientific discussion
and argumentation. Through the process of defending or challenging
scientific arguments, students solidify their own thinking, evaluate the
alternative views of others, or modify their own thinking as new
information replaces or enhances their initial ideas.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

A&D Statements are best used at the beginning of an instructional
cycle to elicit students’ ideas about a concept. The information helps
teachers identify areas where students may need targeted
instructional experiences that will challenge their preconceptions,
increase confidence in their own ideas, or solidify their conceptual
understanding. The results can be used to differentiate instruction for
selected groups of students who have similar ideas about the
concept. Students’ descriptions of what they can do to support or
disprove the statement provide data the teacher can use regarding
how students plan investigations or how they identify appropriate
scientific sources of information. Students’ ideas about how they can
support or disprove the claim statement can be used to launch into
investigations or provide opportunities to seek information from text
or other sources.

Figure 4.1 A&D Statements for Magnets and Magnetism

Design and Administration
Select A&D Statements that focus on specific concepts, ideas,
and/or practices students will encounter in a lesson or series of
lessons. Develop statements that can lead into student
investigations, use of simulations, or searches for information
sources from text, video, Internet, or other reliable sources of
information. Students should first be given the opportunity to respond
to the FACT individually. Then have students discuss their ideas in
pairs or small groups, reaching consensus on whether they each
agree with the statement while noting any disagreements among
group members. After they have had time to consider each other’s
ideas and identify a way to gather evidence to support or disprove
the statement, allow time for students to investigate or obtain
information. In a whole-class discussion, have students share their
findings, resolving discrepancies between students’ initial ideas and
their explanations supported with evidence from investigation, text,
or other valid information sources. The teacher should listen carefully
as students communicate their findings, helping students build off
others’ ideas while providing guidance and clarification that will help
students accommodate new scientific understandings. A template for
A&D Statements can be found at
www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
This FACT can be used to address ideas related to a core concept or
a bundle of core ideas, crosscutting concepts, and scientific
practices. This FACT provides an opportunity to use the scientific
and engineering practices of planning investigations, constructing
explanations, and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating
information. In evaluating each statement, students consider the
evidence that supports or disproves the claim statement, an integral
part of constructing scientific explanations. The practice of planning
investigations is supported as students identify and describe ways
they can test the claim statement through observation or designing
an experiment. The practice of obtaining, evaluating, and
communicating information is further supported as students seek out
valid information sources and subsequently evaluate and use this
information to support or disprove the claim statement.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
This FACT can be modified for younger students by focusing on one
statement at a time rather than a set of several statements.

Caveats
This FACT should not be used solely as a true or false assessment.
It is important to provide the follow-up experiences for students to
plan investigations and obtain information related to the claim
statements, particularly those in which there is a conflict between
students’ initial ideas and the scientific ideas.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, four A&D Statements for determining students’
initial ideas about fractions might include (1) 9/16 is larger than 5/8,
(2) Denominators must be larger than numerators, (3) Decimals can
be written as fractions, and (4) Dividing a number by a fraction
results in a larger number.

My Notes
_______________________________________________________
_____________________________

_______________________________________________________
_____________________________

_______________________________________________________
_____________________________

_______________________________________________________
_____________________________

_______________________________________________________
_____________________________

FACT 2

Agreement Circles

Description
Agreement Circles provide a way to get students out of their seats,
activate thinking, and engage students in explanation and argument.
Students stand on the circumference of a circle as the teacher states
a claim. Students who agree with the claim step to the center of the
circle. They face their peers still standing on the circumference of the
circle (those who do not agree). They then form small groups of
students made up of those who agree and disagree. The small
groups engage in discussion to communicate and defend their
thinking. After discussion, the students are given an opportunity to
reposition themselves. The idea is to get everyone either inside the
circle or on the circumference. This is repeated with several rounds
of claim statements relating to the same topic.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Agreement Circles activate students’ thinking about scientific ideas
related to a topic or concept. As the claim statements are made,
students access their prior knowledge. They draw on this existing
knowledge to form explanations and justify their ideas to support why
they agree or disagree with the claim statement. As they engage in
discussion, students may modify or reconstruct their ideas as new
information convinces them that their original ideas may need
adjustment. The FACT supports the process of evaluating the
arguments of others, and recognizing how ideas are subject to
change when new or more information becomes available.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This FACT can be used prior to instruction to elicit students’ initial
ideas and use them as springboards into subsequent learning
experiences informed by student ideas that surface through use of
this FACT.

Agreement Circles can also be used during the concept development

stage when formally introduced science concepts may need to be
further solidified or reinforced and the teacher monitors the extent to
which students understand and are able to use the concepts. The
teacher can get a quick visual sense of students’ conceptual
understanding according to which part of the circle they are standing
in. As the teacher circulates and listens to students’ discussions,
information about students’ thinking is revealed that can be used to
design further learning experiences or revisit prior experiences
aimed at developing conceptual understanding. Giving students an
opportunity to change their position after discussion allows the
teacher to see the extent to which the small group discussions may
have changed students’ initial thinking.

Design and Administration

Develop a set of three to five conceptual statements related to the
topic of instruction. Statements should be a combination of true and
false claims. False statements can be developed based on
examining the research on students’ commonly held ideas. See the
Appendix for a description of sources that can be used to identify
common misconceptions. The following is an example of a set of
middle school statements used to elicit students’ ideas about energy:

1. Energy is a substance that is stored in an object.

2. When energy changes from one form to another, heat is usually
given off.
3. Energy can never be created or destroyed.
4. Something has to move to have energy.
5. Energy is a type of fuel.
6. Things at cold temperatures have energy.

Begin by having students form a large circle. Read the first

statement, then give students 5 to 10 seconds of think time. Ask
students to move to the center of the circle if they agree with the
statement and stay on the circle if they disagree. Match students up
in mixed small groups of three to five students from both the inside
and outside of the circle by whatever the proportion of
agree/disagree indicates and give them a few minutes to frame their
arguments and defend their ideas in small groups. Call time, read the
question again, and have students reposition themselves according
to whether their ideas have changed or stayed the same after
discussion or argument. Students who agree with the statement
move to the inside of the circle. Students who disagree stay on the
circumference of the circle. Note any changes in position and then
have students go back to the circle for another round. When finished
with all rounds, the next step depends on the stage of instruction.

If the FACT was used to activate and elicit students’ initial ideas,
then the next step is to plan and provide lessons that will help
students explore their ideas further and formulate understandings. If
the FACT was used during the concept development stage to check
for understanding after students have had opportunities to learn the
ideas, provide an opportunity for a whole-class discussion to resolve
conceptual conflicts, formalize development of the key ideas, and
solidify understanding.
Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
This FACT can be used to formatively assess students’
understanding of disciplinary core ideas related to a curricular topic.
This FACT provides an opportunity to use the scientific and
engineering practices of constructing explanations and engaging in
argument from evidence. In evaluating each claim statement,
students consider the evidence and the reasoning that links the
evidence to the claim to construct an explanation they can use to
present and defend their ideas. They engage in the practice of
argumentation to seek a common understanding with others. At the
same time, they evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the
arguments of their peers. Ultimately students decide whether their
argument or an alternative argument best supports the claim
statement.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Limit the number of statements for younger students. If all students
end up in either the middle or stay standing on the circle, have them
form pairs to share and discuss their thinking with another student.
Sometimes there are differences in how students justify their
thinking, even if all students agree or disagree with the statement. If
there are only one or two students who differ in their thinking from
the rest of the class, facilitate a whole group discussion that includes
an opportunity for these students to present and defend their
argument.

Caveats
Students need to be confident in their ideas and feel safe in publicly
sharing their thinking when using this strategy. Encourage students
to refrain from going with the majority of students or certain students
they perceive as “smart” because that does not always indicate what
the best answer is.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in language arts, statements can be developed
about the characters in a story or novel and students can defend
each statement by citing evidence in the text or explaining how they
interpreted the story.

My Notes
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FACT 3

Annotated Student Drawings

Description
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, perhaps drawing and
visualizing can help science students enhance their learning
potential” (National Science Teachers Association [NSTA], 2006, p.
20). Annotated Student Drawings are student-made, labeled
illustrations that visually represent and communicate students’
thinking about a scientific concept or phenomenon.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Annotated Student Drawings encourage students to access their
prior knowledge and visually represent their thinking. The act of
drawing to explain a concept or phenomenon encourages thinking
and awareness of one’s own ideas. Students have to think about
how to visually represent and explain an idea with minimal use of
words. Students who are strong visual communicators may find this
technique especially helpful. These students are often at a
disadvantage when asked to perform on written assessments that
involve text only. Because of the graphic nature of this FACT, it can
be helpful in drawing out students’ initial ideas and providing a
medium for them to publicly share their thinking.

Annotated Student Drawings can also be used for reflection.

Drawings made prior to as well as throughout instruction can be
recorded in students’ science notebooks or collected and returned to
students at the end of a unit of instruction. Their drawings are
revisited to reflect on what students learned and to describe learning
experiences that helped them change their initial ideas as well as
gain new understandings.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Annotated Student Drawings can be used at the beginning of an
instructional cycle to engage students in a topic with which they have
some familiarity. As an elicitation, Annotated Student Drawings are
used by the teacher to identify conceptual difficulties that may stem
from prior knowledge or experiences. Thinking visually and trying to
draw what is in one’s head can surface areas of understanding or
misunderstanding that are often not captured by words. Graphic
images, terminology used, and descriptions that explain the drawing
may reveal gaps or misconceptions that can be addressed in
subsequent lessons.

Annotated Student Drawings can be a work in progress. After

students create and annotate a drawing as an initial elicitation of
their thinking, they can be revisited again to check for understanding
after students have had an opportunity to formally develop scientific
ideas. Teachers can examine the revised drawings and annotations
for indications of the need to clarify scientific terminology, provide
feedback to individual students on selected aspects of their
drawings, or provide additional learning opportunities to further
solidify understanding. Selected drawings can be used to provide
additional support for concept development by giving the class an
opportunity to examine each other’s drawings, ask further questions,
and provide peer feedback on the accuracy and appropriateness of
their representations.

Design and Administration

Choose a scientific idea or concept in your curriculum that can be
represented through a drawing. Decide whether students will create
their own individual drawing or whether they will work in small groups
to create an Annotated Drawing that represents their group’s
thinking. Provide a clear prompt for the drawing that will elicit the
information you are seeking. For example, in Figure 4.2 students
were asked to draw a picture that would help someone understand
what happens to a sugar cube when it is put into water and
dissolves. Directions for students included the following: Think about
what is happening to a sugar cube when it dissolves in water. Make
a drawing that includes labels and descriptions to show what is
happening. Include any important words that will help someone
understand what your drawing represents.
Sometimes students are asked to draw their conceptual model of
something that is not visible. If it involves microscopic particles, such
as cells, atoms, or molecules, have students use a “zoom in”
technique to show the particles that are not visible to the eye. Figure
4.2 is an initial Annotated Drawing that shows what students think
happens to a sugar cube after it is dissolved in water. Students use
their drawing to explain their thinking to the teacher and to their
peers. The Figure 4.2 Annotated Drawing shows a representation of
the particles in the water and in the sugar cube, including a
magnified view. Some interesting things for a teacher to note are that
the water molecules (using the Mickey Mouse shape!) are much
larger than the sugar molecules and that it appears in the drawing
that the water molecules are perceived as being part of some other
matter, a common misconception that matter is continuous and does
not contain empty space. The teacher can probe further to find out if
the students think there is some type of matter between the water
molecules (in the original drawing, the spaces between the water
molecules were colored blue). In the second part of the drawing, the
sugar particles (called atoms this time) are distributed throughout the
“blue liquid” and in between the water molecules. The teacher would
listen carefully to the explanation of the drawing to determine
whether students think the sugar is breaking down into individual
atoms and that the sugar “atoms” are distributed throughout the
“continuous liquid” rather than the sugar particles (molecules) are
actually moving into empty spaces that are between the water
molecules (the only liquid in the glass). After instruction, the students
would be given an opportunity to revise their initial drawing or create
and annotate a new drawing.

Figure 4.2 Annotated Drawing of Sugar Dissolved in Water

Show students an example from a familiar topic the first time you use
this strategy, pointing out how annotations are used to briefly explain
or label important ideas and words depicted in the drawing.
Emphasize to the students that you are more interested in their ideas
than the right answer or the artistic quality of their drawings. Use the
catchy acronym, “MTV”—Make your Thinking Visible—to engage
students in drawing a representation of their thinking. While
circulating among students and examining their drawings, ask
probing questions to promote deeper thinking or provide feedback to
help them complete the task. After students have completed their
drawings, provide an opportunity for them to explain their drawings
and receive feedback from their peers as well as the teacher.

Give feedback to students on both their initial and final drawings.

Feedback can include aspects of their drawings and explanation that
clearly communicate their thinking as well as feedback on scientific
aspects of their explanation and drawing that are scientifically correct
or parts that need further revision.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
This FACT can be used to formatively assess students’
understanding of disciplinary core ideas related to a curricular topic.
This FACT provides an opportunity to use the scientific and
engineering practices of developing and using a model, since
drawings are often used to represent and explain a conceptual
model. The FACT also supports the practice of communicating
information as the drawing is a visual way to show and explain a
concept or phenomenon to others.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
Consider having younger students verbally describe and name parts
of their drawings while the teacher annotates it for them. This FACT
can also be administered as a small group assessment, using a
large sheet of paper or whiteboards. Students work collaboratively,
discussing their ideas as they reach consensus on the visual
components and annotations that should be included in the drawing.

Caveats
It is best to avoid assigning Annotated Student Drawings as an out-
of-class assignment. Using the FACT in the classroom ensures that
students will represent their own thinking without accessing
information from other sources. This is important since the purpose
of this strategy is to find out what the students’ conceptual
representation is, not simply to “posterize” by copying diagrams or
other pictures from a book or other source. While scientific drawings
are an important part of communicating in science, students with
strong verbal abilities and less developed drawing skills may find this
FACT frustrating. A suggested caution is to avoid or be careful when
praising students who exhibit artistic talent because it may signify to
other students that their drawings are “not as good” and detract from
the primary purpose of making their ideas visible.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in social studies, students might make an
annotated drawing to illustrate and explain the concept of supply and
demand in economics.

My Notes
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FACT 4

Card Sorts

Description
Card Sorts involves sorting a set of cards that contain words,
statements, and/or pictures according to a certain characteristic or
category associated with a concept or scientific idea. Students sort
the cards into two groups: one group contains examples and the
other group contains the nonexamples. As students sort the cards,
they explain how they sorted the cards and come up with a “rule,”
generalization, or reason that can be applied to all the examples.
How This FACT Promotes Student Learning
Card Sorts provide an opportunity for students to access their prior
knowledge. This FACT also promotes metacognition by surfacing
how well they believe they understand a concept or scientific idea.
As students work in pairs or small groups to sort the cards, they
justify their thinking, practice skills of scientific argumentation and
communication, consider the ideas of others, and modify their
thinking as new information leads them to modify their original ideas.
Developing a “rule” or a reason for their sorting promotes higher level
thinking. During discussion, students often raise new questions to be
considered. The exercise in categorizing also helps students
recognize patterns as well as realize that sometimes in science
things in the natural world do not always fit neatly into groups.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Card Sorts provide a way for the teacher to elicit students’
preconceptions, assess students’ ability to transfer knowledge when
provided with new examples or contexts, and look for areas of
uncertainty or disagreement among students that may signify the
need for further instructional opportunities. Card Sorts are best used
in small groups to encourage students to discuss and justify their
ideas. While students discuss their ideas, the teacher circulates
throughout the classroom listening to students agree, disagree, or
express their uncertainty. The teacher notes examples that are most
problematic or flaws in reasoning that can be addressed in
subsequently planned lessons.

Sometimes card sorts can be used to determine whether students

have developed generalizations or are limited to the context in which
they learned the content. For example, students may be asked to
sort objects on cards according to whether they reflect or cannot
reflect light. The cards include a variety of shiny, dull, smooth, rough,
colored, and noncolored objects visible to the eye. Since all the
objects are visible to the eye, they all reflect light to some degree.
The teacher can quickly see at a glance whether students have
developed the generalization that all visible objects reflect light by
circulating throughout the room to see whether students sort the
cards into one or two categories. The information gained from the
Card Sort can help teachers determine whether students were bound
by the context in which they developed ideas about reflection—for
example, activities that involved mirrors may lead to students to
believe that only smooth, shiny things reflect light.

The cards can also be used to orchestrate whole-class discussion.

The discussion and argumentation that ensues provides feedback to
learners that may help resolve conceptual difficulties, while the
teacher maintains a nonjudgmental role as listener and clarifier,
guiding students toward the accepted scientific idea.

Figure 4.3 is an example of a K–2 formative assessment probe that

can be turned into a Card Sort by cutting out the pictures to create a
set of cards (Keeley, 2013). Primary students sort the picture cards
into two groups: “animals” and “not animals.” Several of the cards
are based on commonly held ideas about animals that have been
cited in the research literature, including the idea that animals must
have fur and four legs (Driver, Squires, Rushworth, & Wood-
Robinson, 1994). Examining the grouping of the cards and students’
reasoning provides feedback to the teacher on whether students
have developed a scientific concept of “animal” or whether students
hold a restricted meaning.

Design and Administration

Prepare sets of cards that align with the content goal of the lesson or
cluster of lessons students will experience. You can place text on
index cards or print words and/or pictures onto a sheet of paper
divided into sections and cut out the individual sections. A template
for creating cards can be downloaded from
www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates. Provide students with a
category header under which to sort their cards (e.g., Can Reflect
Light and Cannot Reflect Light). Encourage students to lay out each
card in a row or column under the category header rather than on top
of each other so you can see how students sort each individual card.
Have students work in small groups to discuss each of the cards and
come to a common agreement on which category to place it in
before sorting the next card. Listen carefully to students as they
discuss and argue their ideas. Note examples where instructional
opportunities may need to be further developed to help students
work through their misunderstandings or gaps. If a record of the
sorting is needed, provide individual students and/or small groups
with a recording sheet to note where each card was placed, along
with a justification for its placement. See the Appendix for a source of
formative assessment probes that can be used as Card Sorts.

Figure 4.3 Card Sort: “Is It an Animal?”

SOURCE: Keeley, P. (2013). Uncovering student ideas in

primary science: 25 K–2 formative assessment probes.
Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Used with permission.

Card sorts can include more than just single words or short phrases.
They can also involve full sentences or descriptions. For example,
Figure 4.4 is an example of sentence strips that can be sorted into
interactions that are examples of Newton’s Third Law of Motion (A,
B, C, E, F, G) and interactions that are not examples of Newton’s
Third Law of Motion (D, H) (Keeley & Harrington, 2010). The card
sort reveals whether students recognize that to be an example of
Newton’s Third Law, equal and opposite pairs of forces have to be
between two different objects. Although D and H describe an
interaction of forces, both forces are applied to the same object.

Figure 4.4 Card Sort Sentence Strips for Newton’s Third Law of
Motion

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
This FACT can be used to formatively assess students’
understanding of disciplinary core ideas related to a curricular topic.
This FACT provides an opportunity to use the scientific and
engineering practice of asking questions as new questions often
arise as students surface and discuss their ideas. It also supports the
practice of engaging in argument from evidence as students justify
their claim about why they placed a card into a category using data
or information from prior learning experiences or knowledge of
scientific concepts and principles to construct their argument.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
For younger students or less fluent readers, use pictures of familiar
objects or combine pictures with words. Limit to no more than two
sorting categories for younger students—those that fit the concept
and those that do not. For older students, consider using multiple
categories where appropriate. Consider adding a third category: it
depends on, not sure yet, or examples where we don’t agree. If
students are “stuck,” consider giving them a clue that supports
further thinking but does not disclose the answer, such as “there are
three cards that are not examples.”

Caveats
This FACT can turn into a vocabulary exercise if the words are
unfamiliar to students. Some students, particularly English language
learners, may need help reading the cards or require visual cues.
Emphasize that students need to talk about each card before they
assign it to a category. Discourage students from quickly sorting all
the cards first and then discussing them. As you circulate throughout
the classroom, students may expect you to verify whether they are
right or wrong. Refrain from telling them whether they are correct
because they will stop thinking. In some cases, it may be a few days
until students discover the “best” answer.
Use With Other Disciplines
This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in social studies, a set of cards can be developed
that describe different economic systems. Students sort the cards
into two groups: one group of cards describes capitalism and the
other group of cards does not describe capitalism.

My Notes
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FACT 5

CCC—Collaborative Clued Corrections

Description
CCC—Collaborative Clued Corrections is a feedback technique that
provides an alternative way to mark an assignment with comments
that encourage revision. Students complete and submit an
assignment. The teacher purposefully selects a sample of student
work that includes incorrect or partially correct responses. The
teacher reviews the samples and provides feedback regarding the
number and types of errors or areas for improvement. However, the
specific questions or areas for correction in each question are not
explicitly identified by the teacher. They are only “clued.” The sample
set of clued papers is distributed to small groups of students who
work together to collaboratively seek out the problem areas and
revise them.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

The purpose of this FACT is to provide feedback to students on
homework or class assignments, which typically get corrected,
passed back, and quickly forgotten. The CCC technique is supported
by Black and Wiliam’s (1998) research on how learning improves
when students are given feedback on their work that encourages
revision. Marking wrong answers and grading can sometimes have
negative consequences by sending an unspoken message about
students’ ability. Working together as a group provides all students
with an opportunity to activate and discuss their own ideas related to
the task and modify them based on peer feedback. The task of
identifying the areas that need improvement, based on the teacher’s
clues, provides greater content engagement in learning than passing
back marked assignments. Feedback from the clues focuses
students on the content of the learning goals rather than how well
one student does in comparison to others. Research shows that
marked and graded assignments, particularly when students have
multiple errors and no opportunities to make revisions, are often
ignored, thus contributing little to their learning.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

CCC is an example of a technique in which passing back class work
or homework assignments can be used as learning opportunities
while helping teachers manage feedback on student work in an
efficient way. Not every student paper needs to be corrected and
commented on by the teacher. By selecting representative samples
of work that contain common errors that small groups of students
then collaborate on to revise, the teacher is free to circulate among
groups to provide additional feedback that will support student
learning.

Design and Administration

CCCs are best used with assignments that can springboard into
engaging learning opportunities for students to activate and explain
their thinking. Select papers for the CCC that include common errors
made by students in the class. Provide comments on the paper but
do not explicitly point out where the error or area for improvement
lies. The following is an example of clues a teacher might write on a
high school homework assignment on radioactive decay:

I found two factual mistakes in your descriptions. One

explanation lacked sufficient evidence to support it. Check your
math—there are two mathematical errors dealing with
conversions. There is one scientific term you used incorrectly.
One of your answers could be improved by using a drawing.
With your partners, identify and discuss the areas that need
improvement and work together to revise them.

If an assignment involved short answer or selected response,

the clued feedback might be “three answers are incorrect, two
answers are partially correct.” Students then work together to
identify and correct the incorrect responses and revise the
partially correct response.

Feedback and/or revision groups should be formed based on the

learning needs and social interaction of the individuals in the group.
Each small group can include the student whose paper was marked
with clues or the paper may be anonymous. Different samples may
be given to each group, or all groups might work on the same
sample selected by the teacher. Students work together in their small
groups to identify the areas of correction or improvement, discuss
their ideas related to the questions on the assignment, and
collaboratively revise the work once all members of the group accept
the corrections. The work is resubmitted and then becomes
representative of the group rather than the individual. This
encourages others to participate even though the student work is not
their own. After submitting the group’s work, the teacher returns the
remaining unmarked papers for students to review and revise on
their own or with a partner. Students will often recognize mistakes
similar to the ones they identified in the clued work. Students
become more interested in reviewing their own unmarked papers
and looking for areas to change or improve on, after first having an
opportunity to analyze another student’s work.

It is important to provide time to model and teach this strategy and

allow students an opportunity to practice it. One way of doing this is
to choose one or two samples of anonymous student work to copy,
write clues, and use with the whole class in examining the clues,
looking for the areas that need revision, and discussing and making
revisions to improve the quality and content accuracy of the work.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
This FACT can be used to provide feedback on student work that
includes any of the disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts,
and scientific and engineering practices.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Use short answer, matching, fill in the blank, or multiple choice with
students who have a difficult time deciphering handwriting or reading
a lot of student handwritten text. Note the number of answers that
need revision. Even though questions and responses are not as
robust in a selected response or short answer assignment as they
are in an open-response, essay format, the discussions that ensue
during the CCC provide an opportunity for rich content-focused
dialogue.

Caveats
Be careful that students do not construe this as an opportunity to put
less effort into their own work if they know that only a few papers will
be selected for revision. This FACT works best in classroom
environments where students embrace the idea that their own work
is an important means for helping all students improve the quality of
their work. Make sure that all students have an opportunity to review
their own work after the CCC, regardless of whether their papers
were the ones selected.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in mathematics, a clued paper may be returned
that indicates the number of problems that need revision and the
types of errors made.

My Notes
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FACT 6

Chain Notes

Description
Chain Notes begin with a question printed at the top of a paper. The
paper is then circulated from student to student. Each student
responds with one to two sentences related to the question and
passes it on to the next student. After receiving the previous “chain
of responses,” a student adds a new thought or builds on a prior
statement.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Chain Notes provide an opportunity for students to examine others’
ideas and compare them to their own thinking. In the process of
examining others’ ideas, students build on them or add new ideas of
their own. The FACT encourages students to move beyond recall
since they must first synthesize and evaluate what others have
recorded before adding their own ideas. Chain Notes provide an
opportunity for students to draw on various levels of knowledge,
including FACTs, definitions, specific ideas, big ideas, analogies,
illustrative examples, and evidence from their own or class
experiences to contribute to building the chain.
How This FACT Informs Instruction
Chain Notes elicit different ideas students have about scientific
concepts they encounter during or after a lesson or sequence of
lessons. Chain Notes are best used as a check for understanding
after students have had sufficient opportunities to explore and learn
about the concept addressed by the Chain Note. Analysis of the
students’ notes reveals the extent to which students draw on their
preconceptions as well as the concepts, scientific principles, and
practices they learned in class. The notes reveal students’ level of
sophistication and accuracy in thinking about the concept, the
terminology they use, and common misconceptions. Figure 4.5
shows a transcribed example of a seventh-grade Chain Note that
targets concepts related to matter. Examining the chain of responses
can indicate to the teacher whether the lessons students engaged in
allowed them to make sufficient connections to the concept and
whether they should be modified and/or revisited. Varied information
about students’ ideas related to the concept in question can be
gathered using this FACT. For example, several students seem to
have the idea that matter has mass (or weight) and takes up space,
yet ideas differ when it comes to gases.

Figure 4.5 Seventh-Grade Chain Note

Design and Administration
Select a broad, open-ended question focused on a particular concept
relevant to the curriculum. Write the question at the top of a long
sheet of paper. In addition, post the question somewhere in the room
so that everyone can see it. Pass the note around the class from
student to student, having each student add a one- or two-word
sentence that relates to the question and builds on, extends, or
disagrees with others’ comments. Make sure students know they
should read all the prior responses before adding their own note.
Encourage students to build on the last note made so that it
connects with the idea they are adding. Have students turn the sheet
over when they run out of space on the first page. The Chain Notes
can be passed around while students are engaged in other tasks. It
should take no more than 1 to 2 minutes per student to respond and
pass on. Notes should be brief—only one or two sentences in length.
When completed, the Chain Notes can be read aloud or projected
from an overhead, allowing students to give feedback on the
statements made by their peers. Students discuss whether they
agree or disagree with the statements on the paper and defend their
reasoning.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
This FACT can be used to formatively assess students’
understanding of disciplinary core ideas related to a curricular topic.
This FACT provides an opportunity to use the scientific and
engineering practice of obtaining, evaluating, and communicating
information as students evaluate the information previously shared
before communicating their own ideas.

Modifications
Have students accordion-fold their paper each time they respond so
only the last note or last two notes appear when they pass it on. The
next student writes a note and then accordion-folds it again so that
only his or her response appears when passing it on to the next
student, and so on. This way, teachers can analyze how students
consider and build on the previous idea or two of their peers without
being distracted by all the previous comments. This technique can
also be used as a jigsaw activity with multiple Chain Notes charts
posted around the room. For example, to start off a high school unit
on natural selection, the teacher might post five charts around the
room with the headers: What do variations have to do with survival?
How do mutations happen? What does survival of the fittest mean to
you? How do organisms adapt to a changed environment? What
does reproductive success have to do with species change over
time? Students are divided into five groups. Each group stands at a
chart, discusses the question, and records their group response on
the chart. They then, on signal from the teacher, move to the next
chart, read what group(s) previously recorded, and write their own
ideas that build on or are different from the other groups. After the
last round is finished and all charts are filled in, each group is asked
to summarize the chart they are standing at for the class. The class,
including the teacher, can comment on or provide feedback on the
record of the class’s thinking. The teacher can plan instruction based
on the student ideas recorded on the charts and revisit the charts
after students have had opportunities to learn. Students can then
add to or change what was initially recorded as Chain Notes,
showing evidence of how their ideas have changed or have been
strengthened.

Caveats
This FACT should be explicitly taught and modeled the first time it is
used. Make sure students are not influenced by other students’ ideas
or merely parroting back what others have written.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, and visual and performing arts. For example,
in an art history lesson, students might be asked to describe
impressionism.

My Notes
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FACT 7

Commit and Toss

Description
Commit and Toss is an anonymous technique used to get a quick
read on the different ideas students may have related to a concept,
idea, or phenomenon. It provides a safe, fun, and engaging way for
all students to make their ideas known to the teacher and the class
without individual students being identified with their response.
Students are given a question. After completing the question,
students crumple their paper into a ball and, on a signal from the
teacher, toss the paper balls around the room until the teacher tells
them to stop and pick up or hold on to one paper. Students take the
paper they end up with and share the ideas and thinking that are
described on their caught paper, not their own ideas.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Commit and Toss incorporates an essential component of
conceptual-change teaching and learning—committing to an
outcome or explanation based on students’ preexisting ideas. Before
students crumple and toss their papers, they must think about the
question posed, commit to a response, and explain their thinking.
This FACT helps students recognize the importance of sharing initial
ideas and that it is common for students in a class to have different
ideas. There is a sense of relief when a student realizes that he or
she is not alone in his or her answer. It helps students see that
“wrong” answers can be just as valuable for building learning
opportunities and constructing new ideas as “right” answers. It
provides a nonthreatening opportunity to make everyone’s ideas
public regardless of whether they are right or wrong. It allows
students to tap into others’ thinking, comparing their own ideas with
others’ in the class because the responses are anonymously shared.
Since the technique is anonymous, individual students are more
likely to reveal their own ideas rather than providing a “safe” answer
they think the teacher wants to hear.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Commit and Toss allows the teacher to get a quick read on ideas and
explanations from the entire class, not just students who willingly
share their ideas. It is a safe and engaging way to get a class
snapshot of student thinking. The information is used to design
targeted learning opportunities that will develop conceptual
understanding and support conceptual change.

Design and Administration

Choose a content goal. Design or select an assessment probe or
thought-provoking question that requires students to commit to an
outcome and provide a justification for the answer they selected,
such as the example in Figure 4.6.

Remind students not to write their names on their paper. Give

students time to think about and record their response, encouraging
them to explain their ideas as best they can so another student
would understand their thinking. When everyone is ready, give the
signal to crumple their paper into a ball, stand up, and toss their
paper, catch someone else’s paper, and repeat several times.
Students keep tossing and catching until the teacher says to stop.
Make sure all students have a paper. Remind students that the paper
they have in their hand will be the one they speak from, not the
answer and explanation they wrote on their own paper.

Figure 4.6 Example of an Assessment Probe Used With Commit

and Toss

SOURCE: Keeley, P., & Harrington, R. (2014). Uncovering

student ideas in physical science, Vol. 2: 39 electricity and
magnetism formative assessment probes. Arlington, VA: NSTA
Press. Used with permission.

After students catch a paper, give them time to read the response
and try to “get into the other student’s head” by trying to understand
what the student was thinking. Ask for a show of hands or use the
Four Corners strategy to share the number of students who selected
each response on the paper they are holding (remind students to not
share their own response). Have students form small groups
according to the selected response on their paper and discuss the
similarities or differences in the explanations provided for each
response. Each group reports out to the class the different
explanations students provided for each answer choice. The teacher
can list the ideas mentioned, avoiding passing any judgments, while
noting the different ideas students have that will inform the
instructional opportunities that will follow.

Once all the ideas have been made public and discussed, engage
students in a class discussion to decide which ideas they believe are
most plausible and to provide justification for their thinking. This is
the time when they can share their own ideas. Following an
opportunity to examine the class’s thinking, ask for a show of hands
indicating how many students modified or completely changed their
ideas after listening to others’ explanations. Also ask how many
students are sticking to their original idea. With consensus from the
class, select a few of the common ideas and have students decide in
small groups or as a class how to go about investigating the question
to determine the best answer and explanation. Provide opportunities
for students to test their ideas or obtain information from resources to
inform their explanations. Revisit the question and students’ ideas
again during the concept-development stage of instruction to help
students build a bridge between their ideas and the scientific
explanation. Ask students to consider what else it would take to
convince them to change their thinking if they are still experiencing a
dissonance between their ideas and the scientific explanation. See
the Appendix for sources of formative assessment probes that can
be used with this strategy.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
This FACT can be used to formatively assess students’
understanding of disciplinary core ideas related to a curricular topic.
This FACT provides an opportunity for students to use the scientific
and engineering practice of constructing an explanation because
students must explain their answer choice as well as examine the
explanations of others. It also uses the practice of obtaining,
evaluating, and communicating information as students seek
additional information to support or revise their answer choice and
explanation.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
If you prefer not to have students throw paper balls, this FACT can
be changed to a “commit, fold, and pass” where students fold their
paper in half and pass it around the room until the teacher gives the
signal to stop passing. The paper they have in their hand is the one
they speak from.

Caveats
This is a fun, engaging technique—for this reason, be careful not to
overuse it or it will lose its effectiveness. Remind students to honor
anonymity, even if they recognize someone’s handwriting or get their
own paper back. It is also important to establish the norm that
disparaging or other types of negative comments should never be
made about the student paper they end up with.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can be used with any type of question that asks students
to commit to an answer choice and explain their thinking in
mathematics, social studies, language arts, health, foreign
languages, and visual and performing arts.

My Notes
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FACT 8

Concept Card Mapping

Description
Concept Card Mapping is a variation on the familiar strategy of
concept mapping (Novak, 1998). Instead of constructing their own
concept maps from scratch, students are given cards with the
concepts printed on them. They move the cards around and arrange
them as a connected web of knowledge. They create linkages
between the concept cards that describe the relationship between
concepts. Moving the cards provides an opportunity for students to
explore and think about different linkages.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Concept Card Mapping provides an opportunity for students to
activate their prior knowledge, think about the relationships between
familiar concepts, and make a visual representation of the
connections in their own knowledge network. When students create
maps collaboratively in small groups, the maps promote discussion
among students. Individuals become more aware of their own ideas
and may modify them accordingly as a result of the discussion
generated in their group. Because there is no one “right answer,” this
FACT provides an open entry point for all learners. In the process of
exploring their own and others’ ideas, Students use that information
to connect ideas and terminology in a coherent way, deepening their
understanding of the content and structure of a topic. Students who
tend not to speak up in class have been found to contribute freely in
the nonthreatening activity of concept map making (White &
Gunstone, 1992).

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Teachers can use Concept Card Mapping as an elicitation prior to
instruction or at key points in a sequence of lessons to gather
information about how students make linkages among a connected
set of concepts and terminology. Using a common set of
predetermined words or phrases allows the teacher to see how
different students, or groups of students, make conceptual sense of
the same ideas in different ways. The student-generated sentences
are examined carefully by the teacher to reveal any conceptual
misunderstandings or incorrect ideas. The linkages made by
students reveal the level of sophistication of their ideas, accuracy of
content knowledge, and depth and breadth of their thinking. The
information is used to inform the development of lessons that will
provide students with an opportunity to explore and solidify important
connections.

After students have made their maps, examples can be selected by

the teacher to provide teacher-to-student and student-to-student
feedback during the formal concept development phase of whole-
class instruction. Discussion focuses on whether students agree or
disagree with the connections made on the map and ways they may
have made different linkages. The maps can also be used by the
teacher to initiate questions that probe for deeper student
understanding. Concept Card Mapping can be used again at the end
of an instructional unit to help students reflect on the extent to which
their knowledge increased or ideas changed since their original map
was created. They may create a new map, highlighting areas of
revision in a new color or describing new connections or changes
made.

Design and Administration

For the purpose of this technique, a concept is a defined as a simple
one- to three-word mental construct or short phrase that represents
or categorizes a scientific idea, such as ecosystem, boiling point, or
erosion (Carey, 2000; Erickson, 1998; Konicek-Moran & Keeley,
2015). Choose concepts central to the topic of instruction and print
them on small squares that students cut out from a sheet of paper or
have them place the concepts on individual sticky notes. If students
have never created a concept map, start by introducing concept
mapping using a familiar topic. Engage the class in practicing
concept mapping through an interactive demonstration. Model and
emphasize the importance of creating clear, connecting sentences.
For example, in mapping the topic “States of Matter,” a link between
the ice card and the water card might be connected by the phrase “is
the solid state of.”

Concept cards can be used as an individual, paired, or small group

activity. When using this FACT with pairs or small groups, encourage
students to think first about their own connections and then discuss
them with others. Students then decide which connections best
represent the thinking of the pair or group. Once students are
satisfied with their concept maps, they can glue down their cards,
write in their linkages to form sentences, and share their maps with
others for feedback. Figure 4.7 shows an example of cards used for
a concept mapping activity on “States of Matter.”

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
This FACT can be used to formatively assess students’
understanding of disciplinary core ideas related to a curricular topic.
This FACT provides an opportunity to use the scientific and
engineering practice of obtaining, evaluating, and communicating
information as students think about how to communicate their
understanding of the linkages between concepts to others through
visual means using a concept map.

Figure 4.7 Concept Cards for “States of Matter”

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Low Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: High

Modifications
Combine pictures with words for younger students. Include a few
blank cards for students to write their own additional concepts to add
to their map. If students struggle with determining the connecting
words or phrases, consider providing examples of different
connectors that can be used with the topic chosen.

Caveats
The cognitive demand of this FACT depends on the concrete or
abstract nature of the concept selected and the number of cards to
map. Choose the appropriate level of cognitive demand that matches
the grade level of the students and complexity of the topic they are
studying.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, and health. For example, in social studies, students
can arrange concept cards around the topic of ancient Greece.
Concept cards could include Peloponnesian, philosophers, Dorian,
gods, mythology, democracy, Aristotle, architecture, Athens, Trojan,
Zeus, government, Parthenon, Plato, citizens, Corinthian, Olympics,
slaves, ionic, wars.

My Notes
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FACT 9

Concept Cartoons
Description
Concept Cartoons were originally developed in the United Kingdom
as cartoon drawings that visually depict children or adults sharing
their ideas about common, everyday phenomena (Naylor & Keogh,
2000). Students decide which character in the cartoon they agree
with the most and explain why. Cartoon characters’ comments about
the situation presented in the cartoon include an idea that may be
more scientifically acceptable than the others as well as alternative
ideas based on common misconceptions. Sometimes there is no
single right answer because it may depend on factors that surface
during student discussion about the cartoon. Figure 4.8 shows an
example of a Concept Cartoon for primary students, designed to
reveal whether students recognize that all animals need air.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Concept Cartoons are designed to engage and motivate students,
uncover students’ thinking about their own ideas, and encourage
discussion. This FACT is particularly effective with struggling readers
or English language learners because the ideas are set in a visual
context and contain limited text. Showing cartoon characters with
differing points of view reinforces the value placed in science on
examining alternative ideas. Students examine these ideas and work
to resolve differences to come up with an acceptable explanation.
Concept Cartoons help students develop confidence and trust in
making their ideas public. As the developers of the cartoons note,
“After all, if they get one wrong, then they can always blame the
cartoon character for putting forward that idea!” (Naylor & Keogh,
2000, p. 7). It is the process of surfacing and discussing their own
ideas that makes this a powerful technique for promoting student
learning.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Concept Cartoons are most often used at the beginning of instruction
to surface students’ initial ideas and engage them in wanting to learn
more about the science related to the cartoon situation. The ideas
that surface when students respond to the cartoon provide valuable
information to the teacher to use in designing instructional
experiences that will confront students with their ideas and beliefs
about the situation presented in the cartoon.

Concept Cartoons can also be used throughout instruction to initiate

starting points for inquiry, solidify concepts learned, and transfer and
apply the scientific concepts students learned to a new, real-life
situation. The cartoons are a particularly useful medium for engaging
students in scientific argumentation, providing an opportunity for
teachers to listen to students discuss their ideas and use the
information to modify lessons or plan for further instruction and
assessment. Many of the cartoons lend themselves to follow-up with
an inquiry investigation in which students test their ideas or turn to
text and other resources for more information. For example, after
students have discussed their ideas from the cartoon shown in
Figure 4.8, they may use science nonfiction books to learn about
aquatic animals and how they meet their need for oxygen in a water
environment.

Figure 4.8 Concept Cartoon

 SOURCE: Keeley, P. (2013). Uncovering student ideas in
primary science: 25 K–2 formative assessment probes.
Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Used with permission.

Design and Administration

Concept Cartoons are designed to probe students’ thinking about
everyday situations they encounter that involve the use of scientific
ideas. Teachers can use Concept Cartoons that are already
published and available, create their own, or adapt the Uncovering
Student Ideas in Science assessment probes to a cartoon format
(see the Appendix for sources of published Concept Cartoons).
Consider having students who like to draw create the characters and
the setting for your cartoon and then add your answer choices to
their “talk bubbles.” Figure 4.9 shows an example of a teacher-
developed concept cartoon to elicit students’ ideas about
composition of clouds. If you create your own Concept Cartoons,
limit the amount of text. Check to be sure there are no contextual
clues that might cue the right answer, such as a “happier” facial
expression for the best answer or one character having a more
technical and detailed explanation. Before showing the cartoon,
introduce the topic and scenario to students. You can provide the
cartoon as a printed handout or as a projected image, or sketch it out
for students on a chart or whiteboard.

Figure 4.9 Example of a Teacher-Developed Concept Cartoon

Concept Cartoons work well as a small group or whole-class

discussion stimulus as long as individual students first have an
opportunity to activate their own thinking. Provide students with time
to individually think about their own ideas and then have small
groups of students discuss their ideas and try to come to a
consensus of “our best idea so far.” At this point, the teacher is
circulating and listening to ideas being discussed but not passing
judgment on students’ ideas. Have each group share their best
thinking about the Concept Cartoon with the whole class. After all
groups have shared which character they agree with and explained
why they agree, the class can take a vote on which cartoon
character students now think has the best idea. When possible,
follow up the discussion by providing students with the opportunity to
engage in inquiry by testing their ideas or obtaining more information
from text, videos, or other valid sources. Have students share the
outcomes of their inquiries. Use the results in a whole-group
discussion in which students revisit the Concept Cartoon, share their
findings, consider what they have learned, and explain how their
ideas have changed or been strengthened. Probe further to find out
what evidence led students to modify, change, or further solidify their
initial ideas.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
This FACT can be used to formatively assess students’
understanding of disciplinary core ideas related to a curricular topic.
This FACT may provide an opportunity to use any or all of the
scientific and engineering practices. For example, depending on the
concept, students may need to develop and use a model to explain
their thinking. This FACT also supports the practice of planning and
carrying out an investigation since many of the Concept Cartoons
can be used to generate a question, make a prediction or
hypothesis, test their prediction or hypothesis, and analyze and
interpret data. If quantitative data are involved, students may engage
in the practice of using mathematics and computational thinking. The
scientific practice of constructing explanations and engaging in
argument from evidence is supported as students develop
explanations to support the cartoon character’s claim. They use their
explanations to engage in argument with their peers for the class to
come to a common understanding. The practice of obtaining,
evaluating, and communicating information is supported when
students turn to text or other resources to gather and evaluate
information they can use to support and communicate their ideas.
Often, new questions arise for further investigation, which support
the practice of asking questions.
General Implementation Attributes
Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
If you are using published Concept Cartoons, consider whiting out
the text in the talk bubbles and adding commonly held ideas you may
have observed with your own students. An alternative way to
generate distracters is to ask students to work in small groups to fill
in the bubbles with ideas they think the characters may have and
exchange them with other groups for discussion. Students can also
create their own cartoons to describe ideas related to phenomena or
concepts.

Caveats
Not all cartoons have one right answer. Consider asking students for
the “best” answer given the situation presented. It is the process of
discussing ideas that is most important, not determining which
character is correct. Refrain from giving away the answer soon after
presenting the cartoon. Allow students time to ponder and consider
others’ ideas through discussion and inquiry. Sometimes the cartoon
can be revisited several days later and discussed, using evidence
and new information students have acquired through their
instructional experiences. Allowing time for ideas to simmer and stew
increases cognitive engagement as the teacher builds the bridge
from students’ initial ideas to formal scientific explanations.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies, and
health. For example, a Concept Cartoon in mathematics may portray
three students talking about multiplication. The purpose is to
determine whether students have a conceptual understanding of
multiplication or if they think multiplication means “more.” One
student’s talk bubble contains, “When you multiply you get a bigger
number.” The second student’s talk bubble contains, “When you
multiply you get a smaller number.” The third student’s talk bubble
contains, “When you multiply, you get either a larger or smaller
number.” Students choose the character they most agree with and
justify their answer choice mathematically.

My Notes
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FACT 10

Data Match

Description
Data Match provides students with a data set from a student
investigation or “canned data.” They are provided with several
statements about the data. Students use evidence from the data to
determine which statements are accurate. Research shows that
some students tend to “look for or accept evidence that is consistent
with their prior beliefs and either distort or fail to generate evidence
that is inconsistent with those beliefs” (American Association for the
Advancement of Science [AAAS], 1993, p. 332). Data Match helps
teachers determine whether students rely on evidence derived from
valid, scientific data or whether they make inferences and form
interpretations based on their own beliefs.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Making claims and drawing conclusions based on evidence from
valid and reliable data is an essential feature of scientific inquiry
(NRC, 1996). Data Match provides students with an opportunity to
consider what constitutes evidence, practice interpreting data, and
consider how confident they are in interpreting results of an
investigation. If raw data are used, this FACT also supports student
learning of ways to organize and analyze data to look for patterns.
Data Match reinforces the notion that collecting data is not enough—
that one must make sense of the data, using it as evidence for their
claims and explaining how the data support a claim.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Data Match helps teachers determine how well students understand
the role and significance of data they obtain through investigation or
secondhand data sets they analyze for patterns and relationships.
“Once collected, data must be presented in a form that can reveal
any patterns and relationships and that allows results to be
communicated to others. Because raw data as such have little
meaning, a major practice of scientists is to organize and interpret
data through tabulating, graphing, or statistical analysis. Such
analysis can bring out the meaning of data—and their relevance—so
that they may be used as evidence” (NRC, 2012, p. 61). This FACT
reveals how students use and make sense of data.

As students work in groups to discuss the statements and analyze a

data set to determine whether the data support the statement, the
teacher listens carefully, noting instances where students ignore the
data to fit their own beliefs. The information is used to guide students
in distinguishing between evidence that comes from data and
inferences that are based on assumptions and personal beliefs. The
FACT also reveals whether they struggle to link the data with a claim
statement. If the data are organized and presented in graphical form,
the FACT also reveals how well students can interpret a graph. If
students start with raw data, the FACT also reveals the extent to
which they are able to select an appropriate type of graph and plot
data so that they can be used to reveal patterns and relationships.

Design and Administration

Quantitative or qualitative data can be used with this FACT,
depending on the developmental level of the students. Using data
students have collected themselves makes the task more
meaningful. Students should be encouraged to organize their raw
data in a suitable form. Students should record their own ideas
before engaging in small group and/or whole-class discussion about
the data statements. Figure 4.10 is an example of a Data Match set
of statements used with elementary students after they collected and
recorded data on the effect of different surfaces on the melting time
of an ice cube. (Note: Students also organized their data in a bar
graph.) Actual data sets (canned data) or graphs from scientists’ or
others’ work can be used for this FACT. See the Appendix for a
source of canned data sets and graphs.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
This FACT can be used to formatively assess students’
understanding of the connection between disciplinary core ideas and
the data that support those ideas. The scientific and engineering
practice of analyzing and interpreting data is addressed by this
FACT. Once students collect data or are presented with a data set,
they examine the data for patterns and relationships that support the
Data Match statements or claims. If they collect raw data, they must
organize the data first to see the patterns and relationships.
General Implementation Attributes
Ease of Use: Low Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
Have the students generate a list of statements, supported by the
data that can be used in a class discussion to differentiate between
evidence-based claims and inferences based on beliefs or lack of
appropriate or sufficient evidence.

Figure 4.10 Ice Cube Melt Data Match

Caveats
If using a large set of raw data, have students organize the data first.
If data from actual student investigations are not available, use
caution when developing an example of a data set to use with this
FACT. Contrived data may contain inaccuracies that contribute to
misconceptions. Whenever possible, use data from actual
investigations or credible sources. See the Appendix for sources of
data sets teachers and students can use with this FACT.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can be used to examine data in mathematics and social
studies. For example, in social studies, students can examine current
census data and decide if statements are FACTs, based on the data,
or inferences.

My Notes
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FACT 11

Directed Paraphrasing
Description
Directed Paraphrasing involves students in translating a lesson or
part of a lesson using language and examples appropriate for a
specific audience (Angelo & Cross, 1993). For example, following a
lesson on fossils that targeted ideas about how the presence and
location of fossils reveals information about Earth’s history, students
summarize the key points learned during the lesson as if they were
talking to a younger brother or sister looking at fossils in a science
museum; or, at a higher level, they may paraphrase their
understandings as if they were talking to a paleontologist.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Directed Paraphrasing provides an interesting, creative, and
challenging way for students to summarize what they learned in their
own words, use appropriate scientific terminology, and consider how
to best communicate their understanding to a specific audience.
Explaining what one has learned to others, in examples and words
familiar to the specific audience, provides a metacognitive
opportunity for the learner to examine his or her own understanding
and think about how to translate it so that others can understand.
When one has to explain something to others, one’s own learning
increases. Considering how to present information to a specific
audience strengthens the scientific practice of communicating
information. Listening to other students share their paraphrases and
providing feedback to peers on the accuracy of the science and how
it is communicated helps solidify student learning of the content as
well as improve the practice of communicating scientifically.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Teachers can use this FACT to have students summarize a lesson or
segment of a lesson. The lesson could include a lecture, group
discussion, activity, investigation, video, or text reading. Listening to
students paraphrase what they learned provides an opportunity for
the teacher to gauge whether key points in the lesson were identified
and understood by students, indicating the need for revision or
additional opportunities to learn the scientific ideas. Listening to the
ways in which students communicate their ideas to a specific
audience provides the teacher with useful information about
students’ ability to effectively communicate scientific ideas.

Design and Administration

First, decide on an appropriate time to break during the lesson so
students can summarize what they learned without interrupting the
conceptual flow of the lesson. Encourage students to individually
record their scientific ideas that summarize the lesson or part of the
lesson before selecting an audience for their paraphrase. Assign an
audience or have students select a specific audience for which they
will develop their summary. Examples of audiences used for Directed
Paraphrasing could include younger students, parents, students in
the same class who were absent when the lesson was taught, adults
with different careers, famous persons, scientists whose work is
related to the topic, or teachers in the school who teach different
subject areas. Give time for students to think about how to put the
lesson activity, lecture, or reading into words and examples that
would be appropriate for the intended audience so that they can
understand the science that is summarized. Another way to use
Directed Paraphrasing is to have students work in small groups.
Each small group develops a Directed Paraphrase for a different
audience, which they then share with the whole class for feedback.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
This FACT can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas or
crosscutting concepts. It supports the scientific practice of obtaining,
evaluating, and communicating information. Communicating in
written or spoken form is a fundamental practice of scientists
because they share their findings with other scientists. Many
scientists also communicate scientific ideas for public understanding
through books, videos, public presentations, and other ways of
translating their science so that children and adults can understand
science.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: High

Modifications
Consider having the class generate the key points together that they
can use to summarize the lesson and then assign the Directed
Paraphrase as an individual or small group assignment. Have
students create two different summaries for two different audiences,
to communicate their ideas based on the same lesson. Have them
describe the differences in how they communicated the same
information to two different audiences.

Caveats
It may be necessary to model an example for the class the first time
this FACT is used. Directing the paraphrase toward a particular
audience increases the cognitive demand of summarizing
information. Make sure your students are familiar with the intended
audience before asking them to translate what they learned for that
audience.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in social studies, language arts, health,
and visual and performing arts. For example, students can
summarize a reading passage from historical fiction for a character
that lived at that time and communicate it to a student who was not in
class on that day.
My Notes
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FACT 12

Explanation Analysis

Description
Explanation Analysis encourages self and peer assessment of
students’ ability to both construct and analyze a scientific
explanation. It is based on the C-E-R Framework—Claim, Evidence,
and Reasoning (Krajcik et al., 2006; Zembal-Saul, McNeill, &
Hershberger, 2012). Teachers and students constructively critique
scientific explanations for accuracy and inclusion of the key
components that distinguish scientific explanations from other types
of explanations: the claim, appropriate and sufficient evidence, and
reasoning that links the evidence to the claim using a scientific
principle (Krajcik et al., 2006). While the original work of Krajcik et al.
(2006) and Zembal-Saul et al. (2012) focused more on scientific
explanations using data from investigations, this FACT can be used
with explanations from assessment probes and other types of
questions that elicit initial ideas as well as ideas that have been
solidified through students’ instructional experiences.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Constructing scientific explanations is an important practice that
helps students make sense of phenomena. This FACT provides an
opportunity for students to hone and self-assess the scientific
practice of constructing written or verbal scientific explanations as
well as analyzing the explanations of others to provide effective
feedback. Students often think of explanations as the endpoint of a
task. Teacher-led feedback on students’ explanations helps students
see that their written explanations are not set in stone and can be
revisited, rethought, and revised (Krajcik et al., 2006). Explanation
Analysis provides a formative opportunity for students to work in
small groups to assess their own and their peers’ explanations
against a common set of accepted criteria. This process of analyzing
explanations and providing feedback develops deeper conceptual
understanding of what a scientific explanation is as well as improves
students’ ability to write scientific explanations.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Scientific explanations differ from explanations in other content
areas. For example, explaining what happened during a story in a
language arts class is more descriptive than it is explanatory when
compared with scientific explanations. In science, explanations
involve data, valid information, reasoning, and use of scientific
principles and concepts that link evidence to a claim. Students are
frequently asked to provide explanations in science during activities,
lessons, and assessments, yet this practice often is not explicitly
taught or feedback is not provided to students to improve the quality
of their explanations. An analysis of students’ explanations may
reveal a need to explicitly teach students how to construct
explanations to differentiate description from explanation. Teachers
can use this FACT to give feedback on explanations related to
specific class activities or investigations. The FACT is particularly
useful when used with assessment probes that ask students to
commit to an answer choice (the claim) and support the claim with a
scientific explanation. The criteria shown in Figure 4.11 can be
embedded into instruction to help students construct well-developed,
scientific explanations.

The cycle of feedback and revision, using the assessment criteria,

helps teachers see how students improve over time in their ability to
construct scientific explanations. The assessment data are used to
help teachers make decisions about when to provide additional
scaffolding or when to reduce the amount of scaffolding students
need to construct explanations. Furthermore, when students are able
to construct good explanations in science, they serve as a window
into examining how well students understand science concepts and
principles and use scientific terminology. Explanations that lack
evidence from data or valid information sources and fail to link the
evidence to the claim with scientific concepts and principles may
indicate the need to adjust instruction accordingly.

Design and Administration

Guide students through the Explanation Analysis process the first
time it is used by having students generate a scientific explanation
as part of an activity, investigation, or assessment probe in which
they have had the opportunity to generate data and learn and use
science concepts and principles. Provide students with the
assessment criteria listed in Figure 4.11 or generate your own set of
criteria students can use for peer or self-assessment of their
scientific explanations. First have students self-assess their own
scientific explanation using the criteria and then revise it and submit
it for feedback from the teacher. Once students become familiar with
the FACT, they can work in groups to help each other analyze and
revise their scientific explanations, providing and receiving peer
feedback in the process. Teachers can select a sampling of student
explanations to use during a whole-class discussion focused on
critiquing explanations and providing constructive feedback. See the
Appendix for other resources that support constructing scientific
explanations.
For example, sixth graders were asked whether a magnet wrapped
in aluminum foil could attract a steel paper clip. Some students
initially claimed that the magnet would not attract a steel paperclip
because the magnetic force could not pass through the foil. They
reasoned that because aluminum is a metal, it acted like an
“insulator” on the magnet. The students were given magnets and
aluminum foil to test their initial claims. After they observed that the
foil-wrapped magnet picked up the paperclip, the teacher then did a
demonstration holding various materials between the magnet and a
paper clip. The students observed how the magnetism passed
through some materials and picked up the paper clip (e.g., paper,
plastic, cloth, aluminum foil, copper, glass, silver), but not others (thin
sheet of steel). The teacher explained how aluminum is a
nonmagnetic material. Nonmagnetic materials do not interact with
magnets or magnetic fields. As a result, the magnetic field produced
by the magnet is unaffected by the aluminum foil and will still interact
with the paper clip. When an iron-containing material such as steel (a
ferromagnetic material) is placed between the magnet and a
paperclip, there is no magnetic interaction between the two objects.

Figure 4.11 Criteria for Providing Feedback on Scientific

Explanations
 SOURCE: Adapted from Krajcik, J. S., Moje, E. B., Sutherland,
L. M., Meriweather, A., Rucker, S., Sarratt, P., Hines-Hale, Y.
(2006). More emphasis on scientific explanation: developing
conceptual understanding and science literacy. In R. Douglas,
M. Klentschy, K. Worth, & W. Binder (Eds.), Exemplary science
in Grades 5–8: Standards-based success stories (pp. 99–113).
Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.

Now that the students had an opportunity to make observations and

learn about magnetic materials and magnetic fields, the teacher had
them revisit the question and construct a scientific explanation that
included a claim, evidence, and reasoning, using the criteria listed in
Figure 4.11. The scientific explanation provided an opportunity for
the students to solidify their new ideas as well as provide information
to the teacher on the extent to which the students understood the
scientific concepts or principles and were able to use scientific
terminology with an understanding of the concepts. Below is an
example of a student’s scientific explanation. The student made a
new claim, supported it with sufficient and appropriate evidence
using data (observations) from his investigation, and linked the
evidence to the claim by using his scientific knowledge of magnetic
and nonmagnetic materials’ effect on magnetic interactions that he
learned about during the sense-making part of the lesson.

A magnet wrapped in aluminum foil will pick up a steel paper

clip. I wrapped a bar magnet completely with foil. When I held it
near a paper clip, the paper clip moved to the wrapped up
magnet and stuck to it. I did this several times on all the sides of
the magnet. Each time the paper clip moved to the wrapped
magnet. This happened because the magnetism is not stopped
by the aluminum foil. Aluminum foil is not attracted to a magnet.
A magnet won’t pick it up. The only metal that can be put around
a magnet to stop the magnet from attracting the paper clip is
iron or steel. These are called ferromagnetic materials. Because
ferromagnetic materials are attracted to magnets, they can be
used to shield its magnetism. This is why horseshoe magnets
sometimes have an iron keeper attached to the poles when the
magnet is not being used.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
This FACT supports the scientific practice of constructing scientific
explanations by breaking them down into component parts that
students can use for self-assessment or to provide feedback that will
improve the quality of their scientific explanations.
General Implementation Attributes
Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
With young children, science tends to be more observational than
explanatory and they have not yet fully developed the scientific
principles that can be used to link the evidence to the claim. Hence,
younger students may not be ready to fully describe their reasoning.
Instead, encourage them to focus just on the claim and the evidence
that supports their claim. The criteria listed in Figure 4.11 are
designed for use after students have had opportunities to investigate
and learn science concepts and principles. If these criteria are used
to develop explanations for assessment probes or elicitation
questions given as a preassessment of prior knowledge and
experiences, be aware that students may initially develop
explanations that draw on their beliefs or everyday experiences
rather than data or information from valid sources. You can
encourage students to use the claim-evidence and reasoning
framework to develop explanations that uncover their existing ideas,
but refer to them as explanations at this stage rather than scientific
explanations. Once they have had the opportunities to gather
scientific evidence and learn scientific concepts and principles, they
can revisit and revise their initial explanation using the criteria for
scientific explanations.

Caveats
Students should be explicitly taught how to construct explanations in
science. They need opportunities to practice using the three
components of a scientific explanation before asking them to analyze
their own or others’ explanations. Model this FACT for students who
are using it for the first time. Make sure students understand the
language used in this FACT. If students are not familiar with the
concept of a claim or what constitutes evidence, make sure you
develop a conceptual understanding of the language used to
construct explanations. If students don’t understand what is meant
by linking evidence to the claim, consider using a metaphor such as
“building a bridge between the claim and the evidence” (Krajcik et al.,
2006, p. 104).

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT is specific to constructing explanations in science.

My Notes
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FACT 13

FACT First Questioning

Description
Quality questions provide insight into students’ ideas and growing
knowledge base. Fact First Questioning is a higher-order questioning
technique used to draw out student knowledge beyond recall level. It
takes a factual “what” question and turns it into a deeper “how” or
“why” by stating the fact first and asking students to elaborate.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Students, including high achievers, can memorize, recall, and recant
information with very little conceptual understanding. By stating the
fact first and asking students to explain or elaborate on it, you enable
students to tap into deeper thinking processes that lead to a more
enduring understanding of science concepts. Stating the fact first
and then allowing for wait time provides an opportunity for students
to activate their thinking about the concept before being asked the
higher-level question.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This FACT helps teachers expand their repertoire of questioning
strategies for the purpose of finding out what their students know and
understand. A simple change in the way factual questions are asked
and responded to can open the door to providing valuable
information to teachers about student understanding of the
conceptual ideas related to an important scientific fact. The
information helps teachers determine whether students recall
important knowledge at a superficial level or have developed deeper
conceptual understanding. The information can be used to examine
whether terminology and facts are overemphasized at the expense
of scientific understanding and adjust instruction accordingly to focus
on concepts instead of terminology and facts.

Design and Administration

Any factual question can be thoughtfully turned into a Fact First
Question. Use the general template: State the fact followed by “Why
is X an example of Y?” (Black, Harrison, Lee, Marshall, & Wiliam,
2003). For example, instead of asking, “Which essential life process
releases energy from food?,” turn it around to ask, “Cellular
respiration is an example of an essential life process. Why is cellular
respiration an essential life process?” Instead of the factual recall
answer—cellular respiration—from the first question, the Fact First
Question produces a much deeper response that involves describing
cellular respiration as a process that happens within cells to break
down molecules to release the energy required for cells to function.
Figure 4.12 lists a variety of other Fact First Questions used at
different grade levels.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Fact First Questioning can be used with any of the disciplinary core
ideas. This FACT supports the scientific practice of asking questions.
By framing Fact First Questions, students and teachers are asking
well-developed questions that help them become critical consumers
of scientific knowledge (NRC, 2012).

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Figure 4.12 Examples of FACT First Questions

Modifications
Consider modifying traditional textbook recall questions into Fact
First Questions. Have older students come up with their own Fact
First Questions and responses.

Caveats
Use Fact First Questions after students have had an opportunity to
experience and learn the content. Some “why” questions are not
appropriate for younger students, especially in cases when
observations are developed before explanations. For example, K–2
students should know the scientific fact that the moon can
sometimes be seen in the daytime. This can be observed by
students and assimilated into their knowledge about the Earth,
moon, and sun system. However, it is beyond the developmental
level of primary-age students to explain why the moon can
sometimes be seen in the daytime.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in mathematics, instead of asking, “What do you
get when you multiply a negative integer by a negative integer?,”
state it as a Fact First Question: “A negative integer multiplied by a
negative integer gives a positive integer. Why is the product positive
when two negative integers are multiplied together?”

My Notes
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FACT 14

Familiar Phenomenon Probes

Description
Familiar Phenomenon Probes are two-tiered questions consisting of
a selected response section and a justification for the selected
response. They are designed to elicit students’ ideas about a familiar
phenomenon. “Phenomena” are real-world objects, systems, and
events that provide evidence of key ideas in science. A phenomenon
may be experienced firsthand or vicariously. The distracters (wrong
answer choices) usually include commonly held ideas noted in the
research on students’ alternative conceptions in science (commonly
referred to as misconceptions). In the second part of this FACT,
students are asked to provide an explanation to support the answer
they selected. Figure 4.13 is an example of a Familiar Phenomenon
Probe used to elicit ideas about the familiar phenomenon of seeing
bubbles rise and pop in a pot of boiling water (Keeley, Eberle, &
Tugel, 2007).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Familiar Phenomenon Probes are used to draw out students’ ideas
related to phenomena they have encountered in their everyday
experiences. They engage students in thinking about the scientific
ideas related to the phenomenon and committing to a response that
matches their thinking. After sharing their own thinking and
considering the ideas of others, students will sometimes modify their
ideas when evidence from investigation, information from text or
other resources, and reasoning used by others in their arguments
override and replace their existing conceptions. The nature of this
type of assessment probe also creates a “desire to know” on the part
of the student, leading to further questioning, investigation, and
argumentation.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Familiar Phenomenon Probes provide a window into students’ ideas.
Teachers use these purposefully designed questions to gather
evidence of students’ preconceptions, including commonly held
ideas noted in the cognitive research literature. Teachers take these
ideas into account when designing instruction and monitoring student
learning. The probe initiates discussion about scientific ideas and
may lead into investigations that allow students to test their ideas or
develop and use models that help them visualize or make sense of
the phenomenon. This FACT can also be used to apply what
students have learned in a context different from the one they
experienced in their instructional activities. The results of the probe
are useful in determining how well students can transfer their
learning to a new context. If results indicate that transfer did not take
place, it may signify the need to provide additional learning
opportunities or for teachers to be more explicit in developing the big
ideas and broader generalizations related to the topic.

Design and Administration

Design or choose assessment probes that use examples of familiar
phenomena to elicit ideas related to a specific learning goal. See the
Appendix for sources of Familiar Phenomenon Probes. If you design
your own probe, choose a phenomenon that has explanatory power.
Develop an engaging prompt, provide selected responses with
distracters that mirror common ideas, and provide an opportunity for
students to explain their thinking.

The probe can be administered as a written task or used orally to

stimulate small or large group discussion. This FACT is first used at
the start of a sequence of instruction to determine students’
preconceptions. It can be used again after students have had
opportunities to develop their ideas to determine the extent to which
their ideas have changed or become more solidified or sophisticated,
and whether they can use terminology with understanding.
Encourage students to write as much as they can in their explanation
so you can use their ideas to help them learn. Consider sharing the
results with students so they can examine the variety of ideas held
by their classmates.

In addition, it is helpful to provide an opportunity for students to

discuss their ideas in small groups or as a whole class, but let them
know that you are not going to reveal the answer right away. Assure
them that they will revisit the probe again after they have had an
opportunity to further explore and investigate their ideas. After
students have experienced lessons related to the probe, revisit their
initial ideas, discuss them as a group, and reflect on whether they
have modified or changed them. This FACT can be combined with
other strategies such as Commit and Toss, Four Corners, Human
Scattergraph, Sticky Bars, and Traffic Light Cards.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Familiar Phenomenon Probes can be used with any of the
disciplinary core ideas that explain a phenomenon. This FACT
provides a rich and engaging strategy to support most of the
scientific practices, including the scientific practice of asking
questions as the probe itself is an example of an interesting question
that leads to further investigation. It supports the practice of
developing and using models because many phenomena can be
explained and understood with the use of a model. This FACT is
often used to launch into a student investigation, supporting the
practice of planning and carrying out investigations. The practice of
constructing scientific explanations is supported through the format
of this probe in which the second part of the question asks students
to explain their thinking. Students use their explanations of the
phenomenon to engage in the practice of engaging in argument from
evidence. After using the probe as an initial elicitation, students may
seek further information, which may come from text or other reliable
sources, to understand the phenomenon and be able to explain it to
others. This supports the practice of obtaining, evaluating, and
communicating information.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
Where appropriate, use props to demonstrate the phenomenon. For
example, when using the assessment probe shown in Figure 4.13,
safely demonstrate the phenomenon by boiling water in a large, clear
beaker or glass kettle so students can see the bubbles forming and
rising to the surface. Familiar Phenomenon Probes can also be
turned into open-response questions by omitting the distracters. For
example, the prompt in Figure 4.13 can be changed to “What do you
think is in the bubbles? Explain your thinking.”

Caveats
Before developing or using a Familiar Phenomenon Probe, make
sure all students are familiar with the phenomenon. Avoid using
unfamiliar objects or processes.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT is specific to science because of its emphasis on
phenomena that can be used to explain the natural world.

Figure 4.13 Example of a Familiar Phenomenon Probe

SOURCE: Keeley, P., Eberle, F., & Tugel, J. (2007). Uncovering

student ideas in science: 25 more formative assessment probes
(Vol. 2). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Used with permission.
My Notes
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FACT 15

First Word–Last Word

Description
This FACT is a variation of acrostics. Students construct initial “first
word” statements about a key concept in the curriculum before
instruction that begins with a designated letter of the alphabet. “Last
word” provides an opportunity to revisit their initial ideas and revise
them to change their ideas be more specific and detailed in their
description of the concept. The acrostic format provides a structure
for them to build their idea statements off different starting letters that
make up the word (Lipton & Wellman, 1998).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

The First Word part of this acrostic FACT is used to activate student
thinking about the concept or topic students will be studying prior to
beginning a curricular unit. Writing descriptive statements that reflect
one’s conceptual understanding is a metacognitive task that requires
students to think about what they already know. The Last Word part
of the acrostic FACT provides a reflective opportunity for students to
examine their initial thinking at the beginning of a unit of instruction
and reflect on how their present understanding extends or modifies
their initial ideas.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This FACT provides an opportunity at the beginning of instruction to
uncover likely barriers to learning, such as tenaciously held
misconceptions, incorrect factual knowledge, basic rather than deep
understanding, or major gaps related to conceptual understanding of
a concept. After instruction, it helps teachers examine how students’
ideas may have changed, solidified, or become more sophisticated
throughout the course of their learning. Figure 4.14 is an example of
a seventh grader’s First Word, before a series of lessons on
photosynthesis. The teacher can scan the First Word to determine
what the student already knows about the concept, the sophistication
of knowledge expected at that grade level, use of appropriate
terminology, and any misunderstandings the student may bring from
prior experiences. In this example, the student has some correct,
basic ideas about photosynthesis; yet the FACT also reveals a
significant, common misconception that plants get their food directly
from the soil. The teacher may notice similar ideas in other students’
papers. The teacher uses this information to plan a lesson that will
challenge the students’ concept of “plant food.”

Figure 4.14 Seventh Grader’s First Word on the Concept of

Photosynthesis
The Last Word provides a postassessment opportunity for teachers
to formatively assess how students have progressed in their
conceptual understanding after instruction. The teacher looks for
scientific accuracy, more detailed statements, use of terminology
with understanding, and sophistication of ideas compared to their
initial statements about the concept. It may also reveal
misconceptions that continue to persist. The example of the Last
Word in Figure 4.15 indicates that the student changed her idea that
plants get their food from the soil. The student uses appropriate
terminology encountered during the unit such as producers,
chlorophyll, chloroplasts, and respiration. The student adds carbon
dioxide as one of the needs of plants for photosynthesis. Several
correct initial statements have been revised to indicate a more
sophisticated level of knowledge. The information from Last Word
may signify whether additional learning experiences or modifications
to lessons are needed.

Design and Administration

Choose one word or a short phrase that represents a major concept
or focus of the curricular topic you are teaching. The First Word is
given to students before beginning a sequence of instruction. Have
students write the word vertically down the page. Start with the first
letter in the acrostic to begin a statement related to the topic. Remind
students that there is no such thing as a blank slate in their heads.
Everyone can write something that springs to mind. Encourage
students to write full sentences, not single words or short phrases. If
students struggle with writing ideas as sentences rather than words
or short phrases, practice by creating an example of a First Word
acrostic using a concept they previously studied, to show students
what the FACT should look like. Collect the First Words for analysis
and save them for a final reflection.

Figure 4.15 Seventh Grader’s Last Word on the Concept of

Photosynthesis

After completing a series of lessons on the concept or topic, the

students repeat the process on a new sheet of paper called the Last
Word. Pass back the saved First Words and have students examine
them to compare their ideas at the beginning of instruction to their
current thinking. They write a Last Word by repeating what they
stated before, if their idea has not changed; revising prior statements
to include more detail, complexity, and appropriate terminology; or
correcting misunderstandings by completely rewriting the statement
to be scientifically correct. Students are often quite surprised and
proud to see how their ideas have changed considerably. They are
able to recognize and acknowledge the extent to which new and
deeper understanding developed as a result of their instructional
experiences.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
First Word—Last Word can be used with any of the disciplinary core
ideas or can include one of the crosscutting concepts as the acrostic
(e.g., patterns). This FACT also supports the scientific practice of
obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information as students
decide how to effectively communicate their ideas beginning with a
starting letter.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
Use shorter words for the acrostic with younger students. This FACT
can be used in pairs or small groups to support for students who lack
strong language skills and need the support of their peers. It can also
be used as a whole-class activity, charting the class ideas as the
First Word and revisiting it to create a Last Word chart that reflects
the class’s best thinking after a sequence of instruction. Allow a pass
on statements that begin with letters such as X or Z.
Caveats
Don’t assume students know what acrostics are. It may help to
model the strategy with a familiar concept the first time it is used
and/or begin some of the sentence stems with the class to start them
off when using this FACT for the first time.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in social studies, students may create a First
Word–Last Word on the concept of government.

My Notes
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FACT 16

Fishbowl Think Aloud

Description
The Fishbowl Think Aloud is a technique used to listen in on the
thinking of a selected group of students. Four or five students are
selected to be in a “fishbowl,” sitting together in a cluster or the front
of the room. The rest of the class and the teacher face or surround
the students who are in the fishbowl and listen attentively to their
conversation. The conversation is a response to a prompt in which
the students “think aloud,” discussing and defending their ideas as
the teacher and other students listen, note areas of agreement or
disagreement, identify missing evidence or information, and
reconcile their own thinking with that of their peers in the fishbowl.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

This FACT requires the students in the fishbowl to think out loud by
describing their ideas and sharing their reasoning. While the
students in the fishbowl are thinking and talking through their ideas,
the other students are mentally comparing their ideas to what they
are hearing in the fishbowl. This continuous evaluation and reflection
on learning helps students think about their own ideas, strive to put
them together in a coherent way, and compare their thinking with that
of other students. The fishbowl also helps students learn how to
engage in productive science talk.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

The students selected to sit in the fishbowl represent a sample of the
class. The sample may surface some of the ideas and ways of
thinking that are indicative of the class as a whole. As the teacher
listens to the conversation, understandings and misunderstandings
can be noted that may need to be addressed in subsequent
instruction. The FACT also provides an opportunity for the teacher to
see how well students can engage in “science talk” that is supported
by evidence and explanation. If students have difficulty engaging in
discussions that require them to justify their ideas with various forms
of evidence, it indicates the need to further develop this hallmark
practice of science. The observing students are allowed to ask
questions or make comments at the end of the fishbowl discussion.
This provides another opportunity to see how well students
understand a concept or idea, including their ability to identify
inaccuracies and challenge arguments that may conflict with their
own thinking by offering a rebuttal.

Design and Administration

This FACT is best used during the concept development stage of
instruction, after students have had opportunities to learn scientific
principles, terminology, and FACTs and gather evidence through
investigation. Choose students for the fishbowl who, as a group, are
representative of the class as a whole. Seat them so they can see
each other and so the class can see them. These are the only
students who can talk during the initial fishbowl stage. Remind the
other students that they are to listen during the fishbowl and note any
questions or comments they want to make at the end.

Provide the students in the fishbowl with an interesting open-ended

prompt for discussion to begin the thinking process. Formative
assessment probes from the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science
series work well with this FACT (see the Appendix). For example, Is
an atmosphere necessary for gravity to act on an object? One
student will begin the process of thinking out loud, sharing his or her
answer and the reasoning behind it. Other students join in, agreeing
or disagreeing, building on each other’s ideas. If students have not
experienced techniques such as Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong!, the
teacher may have to help facilitate the conversation the first time the
strategy is used. It is important to encourage all students in and
outside the fishbowl to participate and focus on each other.

When appropriate, encourage fishbowls to use models to support

their explanations and arguments. For example, students in a
fishbowl discussing whether we can see “Earth phases” from the
moon may be encouraged to develop and use a visual or physical
model during their discussion. After the fishbowl conversation ends,
the students who have been listening and evaluating what they
heard have an opportunity to share whether they agree or disagree
with any of the ideas discussed in the fishbowl as well as ask
additional questions.

An important ground rule must be reinforced to guide the

participation of the students sitting outside the fishbowl: During the
fishbowl discussion, the students who are observing and listening
are not allowed to speak. Their job is to listen, learn from, and
evaluate the fishbowl discussion to provide feedback on the ideas
being discussed. Remind the students who are not in the fishbowl
that they will have an opportunity to discuss their ideas after the
fishbowl conversation.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
The Fishbowl Think Aloud can be used with any disciplinary core
ideas or crosscutting concepts. This FACT supports the scientific
practice of asking questions, because students are encouraged to
ask additional questions of their peers in the fishbowl. Depending on
the question and topic, it can also support the practice of developing
and using a model to explain ideas. During the fishbowl, students
construct explanations and use their explanations to engage in
argumentation. Students outside the fishbowl may offer alternative
explanations or rebuttals to the fishbowl arguments. This supports
the scientific practices of constructing explanations and engaging in
argument from evidence.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Low Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Students outside the circle can come up with the questions for the
fishbowl, in addition to the prompt provided by the teacher. Students
can also ask questions of the fishbowl group after they finish their
fishbowl conversation. Each questioner can then take the seat of a
student in the fishbowl and participate in discussions within the
fishbowl. This can be repeated several times, encouraging students
to question each other and widening the opportunity for other
students to participate.

If the goal is to have all students share their thinking, consider four
rounds. Put a quarter of the class inside the fishbowl and then switch
three times to give everyone a chance to be inside the fishbowl. To
wrap up the fishbowl, encourage everyone to share one thing they
learned from the experience.

Caveats
It is important to set norms before this FACT is used so that students
in the fishbowl feel safe and comfortable with the public display of
their thinking. It may be necessary to appoint a student facilitator to
keep the discussion going and making sure everyone in the fishbowl
has a chance to participate. See the Appendix for resources that
support science talk.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, and visual and performing arts. For example,
in language arts, teachers may use a fishbowl as students read To
Kill a Mockingbird. The fishbowl discussion may focus on
understanding Atticus’s character by comparing his approach to
cross-examination of the witnesses to Mr. Gilmore’s.

My Notes
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FACT 17

Fist to Five

Description
Fist to Five indicates the extent of student understanding of a
concept or procedure by holding up a closed fist (no understanding),
one finger (very little understanding), and a range up to five fingers (I
understand it completely and can easily explain it to someone else).
For example, after giving instructions for a lab activity, teachers
might ask for a Fist to Five to do a quick check on whether students
understand the directions before proceeding with the lab.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Fist to Five provides a simple and quick feedback opportunity for all
students in a class to indicate when they do not understand a
concept or skill and need additional support for their learning. It is
especially effective with individual students who are reluctant to let
the teacher know that they are experiencing difficulty during a
lesson. It encourages metacognition by raising self-awareness of
how well a student feels he or she understands a concept, skill, or
procedure.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Fist to Five is a feedback and monitoring technique used to check
understanding or skills at any point in a lesson. It is particularly
useful when new material is presented, a new procedure is
introduced, or directions for a task are given. It allows the teacher to
direct the challenge and pace of lessons toward the needs of the
students rather than follow a prescribed instructional plan. The quick
read of the class provides teachers with the feedback they need to
modify the lesson or pair students to help each other when one
student is having difficulty.

Design and Administration

At any time during a lesson, ask students to hold up their hands for a
check of understanding. Develop a scale that fits the concept, skill,
or procedure being taught. For instance, after explaining a lab
procedure a closed fist may indicate “I have no idea how to do this,”
one finger means “I barely understand how to do this,” two fingers
mean “I understand how to do part of it, but I need help with most of
it,” three fingers indicate “I understand most of it, but I might need a
little help,” four fingers mean “I understand how to do it and am ready
to go ahead,” and five fingers indicate “I understand how to do it very
well and can help others.” Some teachers post a Fist to Five chart in
the room so students remember how many fingers to hold up. For
example, the chart in Figure 4.16 may be used to respond to a
content question, such as “At this point, how well do you think you
understand and can explain how radioactive decay of unstable
isotopes drives mantle convection?”

Make sure all students hold up their hands. The information can be
used to group students for peer assistance by putting the students
who hold up two to three fingers together with the students who hold
up four to five fingers. The teacher can then take the closed-fist and
one-finger responses aside for differentiated assistance. The
information can also be used to assign small groups for activities or
discussions by making sure each group has students who can
support the learning of others in their group.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Fist to Five can be used with any disciplinary core ideas or
crosscutting concepts. This FACT can support any of the scientific
practices, particularly as students are learning how to use the
practice. For example, Fist to Five might be used to determine how
well students feel they are prepared to engage in an evidence-based
argument after an investigation or when using a computer simulation
to model a phenomenon, students may be asked to indicate how well
they feel they can use the model to explain the phenomenon.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Low

Figure 4.16 Fist to Five Chart for Checking on Content

Understanding

Modifications
This FACT can be modified as a fist to three strategy: fist—I don’t get
it at all; one finger—I barely get it; two fingers—I get most of it; and
three fingers—I completely get it.

Caveats
When matching students who claim to understand with students who
need help, make sure that the students who held up four to five
fingers really do understand the concept or procedure well enough to
explain it to others before putting them into peer-assistance groups.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For instance, in mathematics, it may be used to check on
whether students are able to use an algorithm.

My Notes
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FACT 18
Focused Listing

Description
Focused Listing asks students to recall what they learned, related to
a science topic, that they encountered in a prior instructional unit or
grade. Students list concepts, FACTs, scientific terminology, ideas,
skills, procedures, and instructional experiences they recall from
prior instruction (Angelo & Cross, 1993).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

This is a knowledge-comprehension level activity designed to
activate thinking and improve ability to recall information and
experiences from previous instruction. It helps students identify what
they think they learned in school as well as prior ideas they may
have developed outside formal learning experiences. It also helps
students avoid the common complaint of “We already did that in X
grade” by recognizing that teaching and learning require revisiting
previous concepts and experiences to build on them for deeper
understanding.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Focused Listing helps the teacher gauge students’ readiness and
familiarity with the concepts, ideas, terminology, and practices they
will encounter in an instructional unit that may build on previous
learning experiences. The lists students generate provide information
to the teacher about the web of recalled information and classroom
experiences students associate with a curricular topic. The
information is used to make decisions on how to best build from
students’ prior experiences and knowledge. Figure 4.17 shows an
eighth-grade example of a Focused List that recalls students’
knowledge and experiences related to previous instruction about the
reflection of light.
Design and Administration
Select a concept that students have encountered in a previous grade
or unit that is an integral part of the topic they will be studying. Make
sure it is not too broad or too narrow. Have students write the word
or phrase at the top of a sheet of paper and list as many terms,
FACTs, ideas, concepts, definitions, or experiences as they can that
they remember from previous lessons in other grades or units of
study. Students can also work in small groups to develop collective
Focused Lists. Examine the lists or have small groups post their
charts. Look for similarities, noting which things students readily
recall and whether there are things missing from previous instruction
that may be critical to their learning.

Figure 4.17 Focused List on Light Reflection

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Focused Listing can be used with any disciplinary core ideas or
crosscutting concepts. This FACT can also be used with any of the
scientific practices students will be using to learn more about their
previous experiences and understanding related to the practice. For
example, the FACT may be used to find out what students know and
can list about developing and using models, including what kinds of
models they developed or used.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
This FACT can also be conducted as a whole-class brainstormed list.

Caveats
Familiarity does not always equate with conceptual understanding.
Be aware that students can recall information and experiences
without conceptual understanding.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in a health class, teachers might precede a unit
on nutrition by using Focused Listing to find out what students
learned and the experiences they had in a previous grade related to
the topic of nutrition.

My Notes
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FACT 19

Four Corners

Description
Four Corners is used to elicit students’ ideas in response to a
question with multiple answer choices. Students move to a corner of
the room designated to match their response. While in their corner,
students discuss their ideas with other students who selected the
same answer.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Four Corners provides an opportunity for students to make their
ideas public. By meeting “in the corner” with students who have
similar ideas, students can further discuss and clarify their own
thinking with others before engaging in a whole-class discussion or
small groups of students with different ideas. In the process of
explaining their thinking to others in their corner, students sometimes
notice gaps or inconsistencies in their own reasoning and question
whether they have enough information to be certain their ideas are
plausible. This may lead to the need to seek additional information or
evaluate the ideas of others who selected a different answer.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Teachers can visually see which ideas individual students have as
well as which idea is most prevalent in the class. By circulating
among the corners as students are discussing and clarifying their
ideas, the teacher gains insight into students’ foothold ideas—those
ideas students assume to be true at that point in time (Hammer &
Van Zee, 2006). The information is used to inform instructional
strategies that can help students gradually move toward and accept
the scientific ideas.

Design and Administration

Choose a selected response question that provides different answer
choices that need to be supported with an explanation. Examples of
FACTs in this chapter that can be used with Four Corners include
Concept Cartoons, Familiar Phenomenon Probes, Friendly Talk
Probes, and P-E-O Probes. (For a source of these questions, see
the Appendix.) Designate the answer choices on signs posted at
each corner of the room. Ask students to individually commit to an
answer and write an initial explanation. After students complete their
individual think time, have them get up from their seats and go to the
corner of the room that matches their answer choice. Provide time
for students to share and discuss their thinking with others who
selected the same response. Circulate among the groups, listening
for evidence of understanding or misunderstanding.

Teachers can follow up the discussion at the Four Corners with a

class debate about the ideas by having students return to their seats
for mixed small groups and whole-class discussion. Another
alternative is to have students remain in each of the corners and
work together as a group to present an argument to their peers that
supports their answer choice. As students listen to and consider the
arguments of other groups, they may move to a different corner
when they give up their own idea in favor of a new one.

Figure 4.18 shows an example of a formative assessment probe that

can be used with this strategy. Students move into the corner that
designates their answer choice (Faith, Milo, Judd, or Fran). The
teacher listens carefully to the groups as they discuss their ideas,
noting whether students recognize that an interaction can occur
between a charged and a neutral object by using evidence such as
charging a balloon by rubbing it on their hair and sticking the charged
balloon to a neutral wall. The teacher also listens for inaccuracies in
terminology such as referring to a “neutral charge.”

Figure 4.18 Formative Assessment Probe Used With the Four

Corners Strategy

SOURCE: Keeley, P., & Harrington, R. (2014). Uncovering

student ideas in physical science, Vol. 2: 39 electricity and
magnetism formative assessment probes. Arlington, VA: NSTA
Press. Used with permission.
Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
Four Corners can be used with any disciplinary core ideas or
crosscutting concepts. This FACT supports the construction of
scientific explanations, because students must explain their thinking
related to their answer choice. It also supports the practice of
engaging in argumentation from evidence as students work together
in their corner to develop an evidence-based argument they can
present to the other groups.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: High

Modifications
Use different areas of the room or designated tables for more than
four responses, or use only three corners for selected response
items that include fewer than four selected responses. This FACT
can also be used with Commit and Toss by having students move to
the corner that represents the answer on the paper they are holding,
discuss the explanations on their papers (not their own explanation,
but rather the anonymous one on the paper they ended up with), and
try as a group to summarize the reasons students selected the
answer designated by their corner.

Caveats
This FACT works best in a classroom environment where students
feel comfortable expressing and defending their own ideas without
being influenced by others’ responses. It may be necessary to have
students use a response card or commit on paper before moving into
a corner to ensure they are moving to the corner that represents their
thinking, not the corner where their friends or most of the class is
standing.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, the strategy can be used in mathematics to
represent different answer choices to a mathematical question.
Students meet in like corners to show how they solved the problem.

My Notes
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FACT 20

Frayer Model

Description
The Frayer Model is a graphic organizer that was first developed by
Dorothy Frayer and her colleagues at the University of Washington
(Buehl, 2001). It was originally developed for use in vocabulary
development but can also be used to organize understanding of a
concept. The Frayer Model graphically organizes knowledge about a
concept or scientific word into an operational definition,
characteristics, examples, and nonexamples.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

The Frayer Model can be used to activate students’ prior knowledge
about a scientific concept. It provides students with the opportunity to
clarify what they think the concept is and communicate their
understanding by providing an operational definition, describe
characteristics, and list examples and nonexamples from their own
background knowledge or experiences with the concept. This FACT
can also be used to help solidify conceptual understanding after
students have had an opportunity to learn about the concept.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

The Frayer Model is used to determine students’ prior knowledge
about a concept or scientific terminology before planning a lesson.
Barriers that can hinder learning may be uncovered with this FACT.
Students’ completed Frayer Models provide a starting point with an
operational definition and understandings gained through
instructional experiences that can be further refined and solidified
through class discussion and formal clarification of the concept.
Frayer Models can also be used for evidence of conceptual
understanding after students have had an opportunity to learn about
and use the concept or terminology.

Design and Administration

Create a chart such as the one shown in Figure 4.19 or use the
template on www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates. Begin by
using a familiar concept to explain the Frayer Model diagram and
demonstrate how to fill it in. Provide students with the concept or
scientific word you want them to think about and give them time to
complete the graphic organizer. For example, a teacher might use
the Frayer Model to elicit evidence of students’ prior knowledge of
natural resources. The teacher might select the concept renewable
resource to determine students’ understanding of the concept and
whether they can distinguish between renewable and nonrenewable
natural resources.

Figure 4.19 Frayer Model Template

SOURCE: Created by Frayer, D., Frederick, W. C., &

Klausmeier, H. J. (1969). A schema for testing the level of
 cognitive mastery. Madison: Wisconsin Center for Education
Research.

Once the Frayer Model chart is completed, students can share how
they completed their chart and modify their charts as they gain new
information. Students can also work in groups to create their Frayer
Models, using them during a whole-class discussion about the
concept and refining them as new information is added to their
existing model. Frayer Models can be used with Justified List probes,
selecting the examples and nonexamples from the objects on the list.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Frayer Models can be used with any disciplinary core ideas. They
can also be used to determine how students think about a
crosscutting concept. This FACT can support concepts related to any
of the scientific practices such as a scientific question, model,
experiment, data, mathematical model, scientific explanation,
scientific argument, or scientific information source.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
The center bubble is typically used to insert the concept word. It can
also be used for a student drawing or other visual representation of
the concept. Consider providing students with a reverse Frayer
Model. Fill in the four boxes and have students determine the
concept that goes in the middle bubble.

Caveats
Frayer Models have been used in language arts to support
vocabulary development and word recognition prior to a reading
assignment. In science, their primary purpose should extend beyond
vocabulary development and focus on enhancing conceptual
understanding. When students select nonexamples, they typically fill
in that part of the Frayer Model with almost anything that is not an
example, regardless of whether it is related to the topic. Encourage
students to include nonexamples that are related to the topic but are
not examples of the selected concept. For example, nonexamples of
renewable natural resources should include things like coal, oil, or
natural gas.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, a Frayer Model can be used to determine how
students organize information about different geometric figures.

My Notes
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FACT 21

Friendly Talk Probes

Description
Friendly Talk Probes are two-part questions that consist of a selected
response section followed by a justification. The probe is set in a
real-life scenario in which friends, family members, or other
characters talk about a science-related concept or phenomenon.
Students are asked to pick the person they most agree with and
explain why. There is usually one best answer that most closely
matches the scientific idea. Distracters are often based on commonly
held ideas noted in the research literature. The conversation
between the characters draws students into the ideas almost as if
they are participating in the conversation (Keeley et al., 2007).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

This FACT can be used to engage students in surfacing and
examining their preconceptions as well as solidifying concepts and
applying understandings in a new context. It promotes engagement
with ideas in an accessible way by having friends, family, or familiar
student and adult roles legitimize the act of putting alternative ideas
forward for scrutiny. When a student can relate an incorrect or naïve
idea he or she has to one of the characters in the probe, he or she is
less apt to feel uncomfortable about revealing a “wrong answer.” The
format models what should happen in a science classroom where
students share different ideas, showing that it is typical to initially
have several different ideas about and ways of explaining a
phenomenon. By making ideas public and engaging in science talk,
students learn that they can eventually develop a shared, common
understanding in much the same way as scientists.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Friendly Talk Probes can be used at multiple points prior to or
throughout a sequence of instruction to find out what students are
thinking in relation to an important curricular goal. This FACT can be
used as an initial elicitation to engage students in thinking about the
concepts they will encounter during their instructional experiences
and provide them with an opportunity to share their ideas and explain
their thinking. The information is used to plan instructional
experiences that will confront students with their initial ideas and
guide them toward conceptual understanding. This FACT can also
be used as an application of students’ learning following their
instructional experiences in learning about the concept. Develop or
choose a probe that targets the concept taught and presents ideas in
a new or interesting context. The responses are useful in
determining how well students can transfer their ideas to a new
context. Results may signify the need to provide additional activities
or be more explicit about developing the big idea and broader
generalizations related to the targeted concept.

Design and Administration

The challenge in designing these types of probes is to be careful that
you do not oversimplify a complex idea. Design or choose probes
that use examples of familiar events, processes, or objects that can
be realistically discussed by the characters represented. The
Appendix provides information about the Uncovering Student Ideas
in Science series, a source of Friendly Talk Probes. The probe can
be administered as a paper-and-pencil task or used orally to
stimulate small or large group discussion. It can be combined with
other FACTs in this chapter, such as Commit and Toss, Four
Corners, Human Scattergraphs, and Sticky Bars, to determine the
range of ideas held in a class. An example of a Friendly Talk Probe is
shown in Figure 4.20.

Select names that portray the diversity in a classroom. It is important

for students to see that everyone, including people with backgrounds
similar to theirs, talks about science.
Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
Friendly Talk Probes can be used with any of the disciplinary core
ideas. This FACT provides a rich and engaging strategy to support
most of the scientific practices, including the scientific practice of
asking questions because the probe itself is an example of an
interesting question that leads to further investigation. It supports the
practice of developing and using models because sometimes
students use a model to explain their thinking. This FACT is often
used to launch into a student investigation, supporting the practice of
planning and carrying out investigations. The practice of constructing
scientific explanations is supported through the format of this probe
in which the second part of the question asks students to explain
their thinking. Students use their explanations to engage in the
practice of engaging in argument from evidence. After using the
probe as an initial elicitation, students may seek further information,
which may come from text or other reliable sources, and revisit the
probe again using new information to communicate their ideas. This
supports the practice of obtaining, evaluating, and communicating
information.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Figure 4.20 Friendly Talk Probe

 SOURCE: Keeley, P. (2011). Uncovering student ideas in life
science: 25 formative assessment probes. Arlington, VA: NSTA
Press. Used with permission.

Modifications
To help auditory learners, select students to act out the probe by
representing the characters and reading their viewpoints. For visual
learners, these probes can be readily turned into Concept Cartoons.

Caveats
Sometimes students will not agree with anyone because they feel
there is not enough information or they have an idea that is very
different from the characters in the probe. Acknowledge this if it
occurs and provide an option for these students to add their own
statement.
Use With Other Disciplines
This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies, and
health. For example, a Friendly Talk probe in mathematics might
start off with “Four friends were studying for their math test. They
each had different ideas about finding the mean in a set of data. This
is what they said: . . .” The prompt is then followed by four answer
choices from Nancy, Alvin, Cara, and Truax (Keeley & Tobey, 2011).
The students circle who they most agree with and provide a
mathematical justification for their answer choice.

My Notes
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FACT 22

Give Me Five

Description
Give Me Five is a reflection technique used to sample a group’s
thinking. Students are given a prompt and take a minute or two for a
“quiet think.” Five students then volunteer to publicly share their
thinking.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Give Me Five provides students with an opportunity to individually
and publicly share their thinking during a lesson or at the end of a
sequence of instruction. This FACT encourages students to be
thoughtful reflectors and demonstrates teachers’ respect and value
for students sharing personal insights into their learning. As students
listen to others publicly share their reflection, they compare what
others have said to their own learning.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Selecting five students to publicly share their reflection provides a
sample collage for the teacher to gain feedback on what students
feel they have learned and how they perceive the impact of a lesson
on their learning. Give Me Five is a simple, quick technique for
inviting and valuing public reflection and welcoming feedback from
students that will be used to design responsive instruction.

Design and Administration

Provide a reflection prompt that is inviting and open to a variety of
responses by all students. Be sure to give time for individuals to
quietly reflect, perhaps through a quick write, before asking for five
volunteers to share their reflection. Practice the use of wait time if, at
first, students are hesitant to share their thoughts publicly. This FACT
can be used at any critical juncture during a lesson or at the end of a
lesson or class period as closure. Hold up your fist, showing a finger
each time a student shares a reflection until you have completed five
fingers. Some examples of reflection prompts are:

What was your most important learning during today’s lesson?

 How did today’s lesson change your thinking?
How well do you think you are able to plan and carry out your
own scientific investigation?
How did today’s lesson help you better understand why
scientists are concerned about climate change?
What did you enjoy most about the electricity and magnetism
unit?
How did today’s lesson help you understand the difference
between science and engineering?
What was most interesting to you today?
How did today’s science discussion improve your understanding
of balanced and unbalanced forces?

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Give Me Five can be used to share reflections on learning about any
of the disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting concepts, or use of the
scientific practices.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
Five is an arbitrary number. Depending on time and number of
students, you might consider additional reflections, such as a Give
Me Five, Eight, or Ten. You can also ask for a show of hands for how
many students had a similar reflective thought each time a student
shares his or her reflection.

Caveats
Don’t overuse this technique or it may become a trivial exercise,
particularly if the same reflective prompts are used. Be sure to vary
the prompts. Make sure the same students are not always the ones
whose reflections are selected to be shared.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can be used in mathematics, social studies, health,
language arts, foreign languages, and visual and performing arts.
For example, at the end of a unit on poetry, the teacher might use a
Give Me Five to have students reflect on writing poems by asking,
“What do you like most (or least) about writing your own poetry?”

My Notes
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FACT 23

Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning

Description
Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning is a FACT in which students
question each other about the content they are learning using higher-
order, open-ended question stems. The questions are used to
promote thinking and generate focused discussions in small groups.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

When students ask questions of each other, they activate their own
thinking, elicit ideas from others, and promote shared learning within
their group. Asking higher-order questions in a mutually supportive
peer environment allows students to articulate their thoughts and
exchange ideas in ways that differ from their interactions with the
teacher. The scaffolded approach to asking questions that they are
interested in seeking answers to helps them become better
questioners. Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning supports
metacognition because students must think about what they already
know or need to know to frame their questions.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Questioning is an essential strategy for monitoring student
understanding. Typically, questions are asked by the teacher, and
responses are used to inform instruction. In this FACT, the students
ask the questions, which provide an additional layer of formative
assessment information by allowing the teacher to circulate among
groups and note the kinds of questions students ask each other and
how they respond. Raising a question is an indication of a student’s
need to understand a concept better. Teachers can carefully listen to
the questions asked to identify areas to target in their instruction as
well as glean information on students’ understanding by listening to
their responses to the questions. As teachers circulate among the
groups, they can provide feedback on students’ responses, probe
further, or redirect to focus on a particular insight, particularly when
students in a group are having difficulty with a response or the
potential for a misconception arises.

Design and Administration

This FACT is typically used after students have had an opportunity to
learn about the concepts in question, drawing on their conceptual
understanding developed through instruction. The teacher provides
students with a prompt directly related to the lessons or sequence of
lessons the questions will target and gives them a few minutes to
formulate questions using a list of question stems such as the one
shown in Figure 4.21. For example, the teacher might say,

For the past few days we have been learning about rocks and
the different processes that formed them. Think about what you
have learned. Write down two or three questions you would like
to ask your classmates that will help you improve your
understanding of rocks and rock formation. Use the question
stems on the list to make up your questions.

Students then form small groups of three to four and take turns
asking their questions and discussing their answers. Each small
group notes any questions they have difficulty answering. The
teacher can choose to help individual groups work through the
questions they are having difficulty with, note them for discussion
with the whole class, or use them to select additional learning
opportunities to solidify students’ understanding.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning can be used to discuss any of
the disciplinary core ideas. It also supports the scientific process of
asking questions when students frame questions that can be
answered with data from their investigations or valid information they
obtain.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium
Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
This FACT can be used after a scientific investigation or homework
assignment. Consider having students use Traffic Light Dots to mark
how well they feel the group was able to answer the questions. Have
students turn in their Traffic Light Dotted questions as an indication
to the teacher of questions that students felt they could answer,
partially answer, or could not answer to inform further support for
learning. Questions can also be used later for summative
assessment.

Caveats
The task of developing good questions is a complex process for
teachers, let alone students. When students are first introduced to
this FACT, it is important to give them feedback on the questions
they develop to ensure they can be answered by students from the
learning experiences provided in class and the information they have
access to.

Figure 4.21 Question Stems for Guided Reciprocal Peer

Questioning
Use With Other Disciplines
This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, students can use this FACT to question each
other after reading a story or chapter in a novel.

My Notes
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FACT 24

Human Scattergraph

Description
The Human Scattergraph is a quick, visual way to get an immediate
classroom snapshot of students’ thinking and the level of confidence
students have in their ideas. The technique gets the class up and
moving as students position themselves on a “floor graph.” As
students position themselves on a spot on the floor that corresponds
to a point on the graph, it creates a visual scattergraph of class
results.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

This FACT can be used to engage students in surfacing and
examining their own ideas as well as ideas from the whole class.
Seeing that students in the class vary in their answers and
confidence levels can be both a surprise and a relief to students who
learn that they are not alone in their thinking or in how much
confidence they have in their ideas. It sends a message that the
class must work together to develop their understanding so that
everyone can eventually come to an agreement on the answer to the
question and raise the level of confidence in their own ideas.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This FACT can be used at the beginning of a lesson or sequence of
instruction to elicit students’ initial ideas and motivate them to want to
further explore and discover scientific ideas. It can be used during
the exploration and discovery stage of instruction to determine how
well students are making sense of the phenomena or concepts they
encounter. Looking about the room to see where clusters of students
and individuals place themselves gives immediate feedback to the
teacher on the different ideas students have and their levels of
confidence. Human Scattergraphs can be used to initiate argument
among students who hold different ideas, by pairing them with
students standing in different areas of the scattergraph. Students
who are low on the confidence scale can be asked what it would take
to raise the level of confidence in their thinking, sparking discussion
and/or providing opportunities to test ideas. They can also be
matched with students who have a similar idea and higher level of
confidence to draw out ideas that may increase their confidence
level.

Design and Administration

Choose selected response questions with at least three and no more
than four choices for this FACT. Label the wall (Y-axis) on one side of
the room with the choices (e.g., A, B, C). Label the adjacent wall (X-
axis) with a range of low confidence to high confidence. Have
students position themselves according to where they feel they fall
on “the graph.” Figures 4.22 and 4.23 show an example of a
formative assessment probe used with this FACT and the distribution
of students positioned on the scattergraph.
Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
Human Scattergraphs can be used with any of the disciplinary core
ideas. It also supports the scientific process of constructing
explanations and engaging in argument from evidence as students
develop explanations to support their answer choice and use their
explanations to engage in argument with students who selected a
different answer.

Figure 4.22 Human Scattergraph for the Mirror on the Wall Probe

SOURCE: Keeley P., Eberle, F., & Dorsey, C. (2008).

Uncovering student ideas in science: Another 25 formative
assessment probes (Vol. 3). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Used
with permission.

Figure 4.23 Human Scattergraph for the Mirror Problem

General Implementation Attributes
Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
A paper version can be used instead of a human graph. Pass the
graph, with axes labeled, around the class and have students put
their initials on the data point according to where their answer choice
falls and their level of confidence. With this method, teachers also
have a written record. The scattergraph can then be passed back
later after students have had an opportunity to explore the question
and develop a scientific explanation. Students then reinitial their
position, drawing a line to connect their initial and later positions,
showing the extent to which their confidence level changed or if they
changed their response to the question.
Caveats
Students who have difficulty with spatial thinking may need help
positioning themselves on the floor graph. Some students may go to
the answer choice where they see most students standing. To avoid
this, have students commit to their answer choice on a slip of paper
before positioning themselves on the graph.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts for any type of selected response question in which students are
likely to have different ideas or solutions.

My Notes
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FACT 25

Informal Student Interviews

Description
The Informal Student Interview is a variation of the formal, structured
student interview. This FACT involves conversational interviews with
students in informal settings, such as lunch, recess, hallway talks,
bus duty, riding on the bus to a field trip, and other situations where
students are not in a formal classroom setting. The Informal Student
Interview uses a series of probing questions to sample the thinking
and ideas of a set of representative students.

How This FACT Promotes Learning

Informal Student Interviews provide an informal way for students to
share their thinking. Because they happen outside a formal
classroom setting, students who may be reluctant to explain their
thinking for fear of being wrong may be more apt to freely share their
ideas. The interviews support metacognition by providing interesting
questions that encourage students to think, explain, and reason
scientifically while making students more aware of their own ideas
and the reasons for their thinking.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Informal interviews conducted with a few carefully selected students
ranging in academic success, diversity, and out-of-school
experiences enable the teacher to identify the different ideas the
class is likely to bring to their learning. It also helps the teacher
understand how students’ ideas may have developed prior to
instruction so that appropriate strategies can be used to move
student learning forward. The data are useful in understanding the
different types of ideas students are likely to bring to a planned
instructional unit, modifications that should be considered, the types
of prior experiences that may have informed their preconceptions,
connections students make to other concepts, and gaps that may
need to be addressed for students to build on previous ideas.

Design and Administration

Select a topic that is going to be taught in a future unit of instruction.
Interview questions, even when used informally, should be thought
out and planned in advance. Since informal interviews do not involve
the structured setting of a formal student interview, open the door to
spontaneous conversation with a group of students by starting off
with an inviting, opening statement such as the following:

I was wondering if you could help me think through some ideas

about science. I have been talking with several people who
seem to have different ideas, and I’m curious about what you
think.

Pose questions so that they are clear and open ended, and do not
cue students about the answer they think you are looking for. For
example, a question might be the following:

Have you ever watched the liquid go up or down in a

thermometer? I’m trying to figure out what would happen if I held
a thermometer upside down while I put something hot on the
bulb. What do you think would happen to the liquid inside the
thermometer when I hold it upside down and put something hot
on it?

Allow students to share their different ideas but also probe for more
detail in their explanations. For example, Sam says, “Well, I think the
red stuff won’t go anywhere because it’s used to going up when it
gets bigger.” Jenna says, “It will go down in the same place it would
go if it were held the right way.” Other students jump in and share
their ideas.

At this point you might say,

I’m hearing several different ideas—some of you are saying the

liquid in the thermometer won’t go up or down; it will stay the
 same. Some of you think it will be pushed downward. And some
of you think it will only move a tiny bit. Can you tell me more
about why you think that?

This provides the entry point for students to further explain their
thinking. Other questions asked might include “Have you ever tried
anything like this? How do you think a thermometer works?”
Continue asking questions that will help you understand how
students think about the concept or phenomenon. Make sure you do
not interject any bias or leading statements into the questions. When
you are finished, thank the students for sharing with you. After the
conversation, make notes describing the important things you heard.
Below is a list of examples of interview stems you can use for
Informal Student Interviews:

What can you tell me about _______________?

Have you ever tried to _______________? What happened?
Have you ever seen _______________? What can you tell me
about it?
What does it take to _______________?
What does it mean when someone says _______________?
The other day I saw _______________? What could that be?
What do you think causes _______________?
Is there some way you can model that for me?
How can I explain this to my friends?
Can you tell me more about that?
Can you help me understand _______________?
Some people think _______________. What are your ideas
about this?
Have you ever tried to _______________? What happened?
Why do you think that happened?
Where did you learn this?
How would you explain _______________?
What do you predict would happen and why?

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Informal Student Interviews can be used to probe students’ thinking
about any of the disciplinary core ideas or crosscutting concepts.
Since this FACT encourages students to explain their thinking, it
supports the scientific practice of constructing explanations.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
This strategy can be modified as a formal, structured interview,
focusing on one student at a time. See the Appendix for video
examples of student interviews. The scope and type of questions
should match the developmental levels of the students.

Caveats
Keep in mind that interviews elicit the most useful information when
the students have a good rapport with the teacher. It is essential to
help the students feel relaxed. They should consider the verbal
exchange as a fun chance to talk with the teacher outside a formal
classroom learning experience. Remember this should be a friendly
conversation about science—not an interrogation! Do not correct,
revise, or provide instruction when the students are sharing their
ideas with you. This is not intended to be a teachable moment but
rather an opportunity for students to openly share their thinking with
you in a nonjudgmental way. Resist the temptation to pass judgment
on their ideas with statements such as “Oh, that’s a great idea,”
“Well, that’s not quite what I am looking for,” or “Are you sure about
that?,” otherwise the students may try to provide the answers they
think you are looking for rather than what they really think.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies, and
health where students are likely to have common misconceptions or
strong beliefs. For example, in social studies, an informal interview
can be used to find out students’ ideas and beliefs about whether
there should be term limits for members of Congress.

My Notes
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FACT 26

Interest Scale

Description
The Interest Scale is used to gauge student interest in a curricular
unit or topic. The technique uses a chart with a scale ranging from no
or low interest to very high interest. Each student places a marker on
the scale to indicate his or her level of interest.

How This FACT Promotes Learning

Student interest is a strong, contributing factor to student learning.
Providing an opportunity to express their interest level shows
students that you value knowing their initial level of engagement
regarding the topic they will encounter in the curriculum or curricular
unit.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This simple strategy can be used to identify the level of interest
before instruction, or during certain points during a sequence of
instruction when student interest in a topic may be waning. The
teacher uses the feedback to modify lessons as appropriate to make
the content more relevant and engaging to students. The strategy
helps spot particular students or groups of students who may be
disengaged and need differentiated strategies for motivating and
interesting them in learning about the topic.

Design and Administration

Invite students to identify and share their initial interest level before
you begin instruction in the topic. Give them a few minutes to discuss
what they think the topic is about before choosing their level of
interest. Make a chart with a range from very high interest to no or
very low interest, or use a scale of your choosing, such as the
temperatures on the thermometer chart shown in Figure 4.24. Give
students sticky notes and ask them to place them by the range value
that matches their current level of interest. Encourage students to be
thoughtful and honest. For example, the teacher might say:

This week we are going to learn about how animals detect,

process, and use information about the environment. We will
explore how the brain and senses work together to help animals
survive. Before we begin, I would like to know if this is
something you are interested in learning about. Are you curious
to learn how the brain and senses work? Are you looking
forward to the activities we will do to learn more about this topic?
Please put your initials on a sticky note and place your note on
 the temperature chart, showing how interested you are in this
topic. Zero degrees is very cold. It means you have no or little
interest in this topic. One hundred degrees is very hot and
means you are very interested in this topic. You can place your
sticky note anywhere in between. The hotter the temperature,
the more interested you are in this topic.

Revisit the scale during different points in the instructional sequence

to allow students to reposition their sticky notes according to whether
their interest level has changed. If the level of interest in the class
significantly drops, ask students to do a quick write to explain why
they are or are not interested and use the information to adjust
instruction accordingly if appropriate. Conversely, if the interest level
rises significantly, finding out what led to increased engagement may
be useful for designing further instructional experiences.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Interest Scale can be used to ascertain student interest related to
any of the core disciplinary ideas.

Figure 4.24 Interest Scale

General Implementation Attributes
Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low Cognitive Demand:
Low

Modifications
Students can be given the option of anonymously sharing their
interest level. Instead of a wall chart, circulate a handout with a scale
and room for students to put their names. A thermometer template
can be downloaded from
www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates. Another quick and easy
way to collect information about student interest is to have students
write a number from 1 to 10 that expresses their level of interest on a
slip of paper that is dropped in a box. These slips of paper are later
analyzed by the teacher. A bar graph can also be used to indicate
and display student interest.

Caveats
Be sure students know that expressing a lack of interest does not
mean that the content of instruction will be changed. This FACT is
intended to provide feedback to the teacher to help make the topic
more interesting and relevant to students. Teachers should not take
results personally, particularly since different topics have different
levels of appeal to students’ interest. That does not make them any
less important than topics that are very engaging. It is important to
establish an environment of trust and respect to use this strategy
effectively.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual performing arts.
For example, before beginning a music unit on classical music, the
music teacher can gather interest data that will help inform
instruction.
My Notes
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FACT 27

I Think–We Think

Description
In I Think–We Think, students use a two-column sheet of paper to
record their own individual ideas (I Think), prior to group discussion,
and ideas their group or the class has that surface through group
discussion (We Think) (Goldberg, Bendall, Heller, & Poel, 2006).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

The I Think–We Think strategy provides an opportunity for students
to think about and record their own ideas prior to engaging in small
or large group discussions. First, students must explicitly formulate
and record their own ideas. When students compare their own ideas
(I Think) to the group’s ideas (We Think), they clarify their initial
thinking, may modify their own thinking to accommodate new ideas
shared through group discussion, or recognize how their ideas
informed the group’s thinking. During the concept-development stage
of instruction, students can evaluate how closely their individual and
group ideas match the scientific ones developed through sense-
making discussions and formal concept development. I Think–We
Think can also be used again as an individual or whole-class
reflection to compare how students’ initial, evolving ideas have
changed, contributed to, or been modified throughout the sequence
of instruction.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This FACT provides teachers with an opportunity to become aware
of students’ initial ideas and monitor how they contribute to the
group’s learning. It reveals how ideas may change as students
interact with other students during activities and small group and
class discussions. The information is used to guide students toward
development of conceptual understanding of the ideas targeted in
the lesson or sequence of lessons.

Design and Administration

Provide students with a two-column sheet to record their ideas.
Begin by having students record their initial, individual ideas. You
may choose to collect responses and analyze them to inform
instructional decisions as well as determine groupings for small
group work. After students have described their own thinking,
provide an opportunity for small groups to engage in discussion,
recording the ideas that emerge from the group discussion, both
consensus ideas and ideas that differ among group members. Do
not pass judgment as students discuss their ideas and encourage as
many ideas as possible. In the whole-class discussion, point out the
similarities and differences in student thinking and keep a record of
ideas to refer to throughout instruction, particularly as students
change or modify their thinking.
Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
I Think–We Think can be used to record students’ ideas related to
any of the core disciplinary ideas. It also supports the scientific
practices of constructing explanations and argument from evidence.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
For whole-class discussion, make an Our Ideas chart that is a
compilation of the small group ideas. Figure 4.25 is an example of an
Our Ideas wall chart in which the teacher listed the ideas reported by
the small groups about melting and how to distinguish it from other
processes such as dissolving. The ideas listed on this chart are then
used in whole-group discussion and argument to come to an
agreement about distinguishing the process of melting from other
processes by supporting or refuting each of the statements on the
chart with evidence.

Caveats
I Think–We Think is a record of an individual’s and small group’s
original thinking. Make sure students do not change their original
record over the course of small group and whole-class discussion.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, and health with any topic or concept that can be
supported by an evidence-based argument. For example, in a health
class, I Think–We Think can be used to find out students’ initial ideas
about the effect of smoking on a person’s health.

Figure 4.25 Our Ideas About Melting vs. Dissolving

My Notes
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FACT 28

I Used to Think . . . But Now I Know

Description
I Used to Think . . . But Now I Know is a routine designed by Harvard
Project Zero to help students reflect on their thinking about a topic,
concept, or practice and how their thinking has changed (Ritchhart,
Church, & Morrison, 2011). It is a reflection technique in which
students compare their ideas at the beginning of a lesson or
instructional sequence to the ideas they have after completing the
lesson(s). This FACT provides feedback to the teacher on the
effectiveness of instruction on promoting conceptual change or
deepening content knowledge.

How This FACT Promotes Learning

This FACT is a self-assessment and reflection exercise that helps
students recognize if and how their thinking has changed as a result
of instruction. It prompts students to recall what they used to think
about the content or use of a scientific practice at the beginning of
the instructional sequence and consider how their thinking changed.
Metacognition involves not just the ability to self-regulate learning,
recognize the demands of a learning task, and know of one’s own
learning strengths and weaknesses, but it also involves knowledge
about what one has learned (Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 1999). I
Used to Think... But Now I Know provides an opportunity for students
to recognize their own progress toward meeting a learning goal and
recognize the cause-and-effect relationship between their learning
and their instructional experiences. When used as a public reflection,
students recognize what others have learned, supporting a shared
community of learners.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This FACT can be used to examine the extent to which a sequence
of instruction was effective in promoting conceptual change or
deepening students’ content knowledge. It helps the teacher
understand what students recognize as having shifted in their
thinking and may reveal misconceptions that developed during
instruction that the teacher was unaware of. Examining students’
responses may reveal patterns of similar changes in thinking or
reveal changes in thinking that the teacher had not anticipated, but
which were significant for the students. This FACT may also provide
new ideas about how to design instruction the next time the
sequence of lessons or unit is taught.

Design and Administration

Explain the purpose of this FACT to students as a way for them to
reflect on their learning and identify how their ideas have changed
over time. Provide students with a copy of a recording sheet, such as
the one in Figure 4.26, or an exit slip, or have them complete the
sentence stems in their science notebooks or journals. A template for
this FACT can be downloaded from
www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates. Provide time for a quiet
write. Use Partner Speaks, Think-Pair-Share, or other pair strategies
to have students share reflections with a partner. It is also worth
taking time to share as a whole group so that you can probe further
for conceptual change as well as what initiated a change in thinking
for the students.

The following is an example of how a teacher might use this FACT:

When we started our unit on the position and apparent motion of

stars in the night sky, you all had some initial ideas about star
locations patterns. Think back to the ideas you had before we
developed models to help us understand more about stars.
Write what you used to think by starting off your sentences with
“I used to think . . .” and fill in the rest. Then I want you to think
about how your beginning ideas have changed as a result of the
activities, readings, and class discussions. Write what you think
 now that is different from each of your “I used to think”
sentences. Start your sentences with “But now I know . . .” and
fill in the rest. Be prepared to share your changes in thinking
with others.

Figure 4.26 Example Recording Sheet

The teacher can also use this reflection FACT to help students think
about how their use of the scientific practices has changed. For
example, the teacher might ask students to reflect on engaging in
scientific argumentation before and after they developed the
knowledge and skills to use the practice effectively. The teacher
might have them complete I used to think scientific arguments . . .
but now I know they . . .

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
I Used to Think . . . But Now I Know can be used to reflect on any of
the conceptual understandings related to the disciplinary core ideas
or crosscutting concepts. It can also be used with any of the scientific
practices to reflect on the use of the practice as well as conceptually
understanding features of the practice. For example, students might
use this FACT to reflect on their concept of a variable as part of the
practice of planning and carrying out investigations.
General Implementation Attributes
Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
An additional column can be added to include . . . And This Is How I
Learned It to help students reflect on what part of their learning
experiences helped them change or further develop their ideas. This
provides additional feedback to the teacher on what was effective for
learning from the students’ viewpoint.

With very young children, the teacher can record the students’
reflective statements on a class chart. This FACT can also be used
after students have listened to a speaker, read an article or other
text, or watched a video.

Caveats
Some students may have difficulty recalling their initial ideas. If a
class record exists from other FACTs, it may be helpful to first share
with the class some of the earlier ideas that were noted. The focus of
the reflection should be on conceptual ideas or use of scientific
practices, not merely an accumulation of new facts and vocabulary.
Make sure students do not think that this strategy is about identifying
right versus wrong ideas, but rather it is a way for students and
teachers to both recognize how thinking has developed, deepened,
shifted, or changed as a result of learning experiences.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and performing arts. For
example, after completing a class project on the Civil War, a social
studies teacher might use this strategy for reflection before and after
students completed their projects.

My Notes
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FACT 29

Juicy Questions

Description
Like squeezing an orange to get the juice out, Juicy Questions
squeeze a lot of content out of students’ thinking. This FACT requires
students to think deeply and draw on connected knowledge of
seemingly unrelated concepts that will help them answer a rich,
novel question. A Juicy Question often requires students to first
consider a series of smaller questions and ideas before answering
the Juicy Question.

How This FACT Promotes Learning

This FACT requires students to activate their prior knowledge and
“squeeze out” several different ideas that they can use to think about
the Juicy Question. Students must think deeply to consider smaller
questions and ideas that will help them answer the bigger question.
Research on expertise shows that it is the organization of connected
knowledge that distinguishes expert thinkers and problem solvers
from novices (Bransford et al., 1999). The questions are so
intrinsically interesting to students that they will search for
information on their own to seek an answer to the question.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

By providing a robust, engaging question to bring students’ prior and
existing knowledge to the fore with a novel question, the teacher can
gauge how students draw on a connected set of ideas to think about
and explain their answer to a Juicy Question. The teacher is able to
listen carefully for the ideas students use, recognizing when students
are able to transfer knowledge used in one context to a new
situation.

Design and Administration

A Juicy Question is one that cannot be answered immediately and
requires several smaller questions and ideas to answer it. Juicy
Questions often involve integrating ideas from concepts taught in
separate units. Knowing the right answer to the question itself is not
the goal. Sometimes Juicy Questions do not even have one right
answer. The goal is to use the question to uncover a set of concepts
or ideas students can access to think about, explain, and pose
additional questions related to the Juicy Question. For example,
Figure 4.27 is a Juicy Question that can be used to elicit several
connected ideas.

Figure 4.27 Juicy Question: Chicken Eggs Probe

 SOURCE: Keeley, P., & Tugel, J. (2009). Uncovering student
ideas in science: 25 new formative assessment probes (Vol. 4).
Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Used with permission.

Knowing what happens to the mass of the chicken egg right before
the chick hatches is not as important as using the Juicy Question to
draw out prior knowledge that the student can use to ask additional
questions, construct an explanation, or engage in argumentation.
After posing the question, the teacher can use students’ written
explanations or listen as they present their arguments to collect
evidence of the concepts and ideas students use to explain their
thinking. Using the Chicken Eggs probe as a Juicy Question, the
teacher identifies six ideas and a real-life experience to look or listen
for evidence of prior knowledge transferred to this novel context
(Keeley & Tugel, 2009). Do the students:

Use the biological concept of food to recognize the yolk as

providing the molecules that serve as the building blocks for
growth?
Recognize and use the idea of a transformation of matter to
transform food into the body material of bones, beak, flesh,
feathers, and so on?
 Recognize how the development of a bird embryo differs from
the development of a human embryo, particularly as it obtains
food and gases?
Have any prior experiences raising chickens for eggs or
incubating fertilized eggs that they draw on?
Use conservation of mass reasoning?
Consider whether the egg is a closed or open system?
Question the properties of the egg shell as far as its
permeability?
Consider the gas exchange during the process of respiration?

As you can see from the list above, there is a lot you can squeeze
out of this question that makes it “juicy”! Getting the right answer is
not as important as generating the ideas listed above. As a matter of
fact, with this question, most students do not choose the best answer
(Group B). Many students will select Group C, using conservation of
mass reasoning, which is correct—mass is conserved. However, the
egg is not a closed system. The best answer is actually B! On
average, avian species lose about 17% of their mass before hatching
from an egg. This is due primarily to the loss of water vapor, which
passes through the eggshell during respiration. While it is not
important for students to know the right answer, it is the reasoning
they use that makes this a valuable formative assessment. Students
access many different ideas, often correctly, but may fail to consider
one of the connected ideas (such as the closed system).

Begin by having students list the knowledge they need to answer the
question. Then have them use their knowledge to commit to an
answer choice and construct an explanation. Additionally, have them
generate questions that may help them “put the pieces together” to
support their answer choice. Use these smaller questions to guide
the class discussion, taking note of where students may have
misconceptions or difficulty with some concepts. After students have
constructed their own explanation, using a set of connected ideas,
provide an opportunity for them to engage in argumentation small
groups or as a whole-class discussion. As students listen to and
evaluate the arguments of others, ideas surface that they may not
have considered, which may lead them to revise their thinking.
Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
Juicy Questions combine several disciplinary core ideas and
crosscutting concepts. It supports the scientific practice of asking
questions because students often pose a set of smaller questions to
consider in answering the question. It supports the practices of
constructing explanations and engaging in argument from evidence
as students access their connected set of ideas to explain the
phenomenon and then use their explanations to engage in
argumentation. It also supports the practice of obtaining, evaluating,
and communicating information because teachers will often provide
an opportunity for students to research the question and then revisit
it using information they derive from valid sources.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: High

Modifications
Instead of having students generate the list of concepts and ideas
that can be used to answer the question, provide a list for them and
ask them to write about or discuss how each of the concepts or ideas
relates to the Juicy Question. Follow this by asking students if there
are any other concepts or ideas they can squeeze out of the
question.

Caveats
Avoid developing questions that use obscure facts or knowledge
students have not had instructional opportunities to develop.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in language arts, social studies, and
health. For example, in social studies, the teacher might use a Juicy
Question to draw out students’ prior knowledge about colonial
America by asking, “Which do you think best describes colonial
America: (a) land of opportunity, (b) land of oppression, (c) land of
liberty, or (d) land of ordeal?”

My Notes
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FACT 30

Justified List

Description
A Justified List begins with a statement about an object, process, or
concept. Examples that fit or do not fit the statement are listed.
Students check off the items on the list that fit the statement and
provide a justification explaining their rule or reasons for their
selections.
How This FACT Promotes Student Learning
Justified Lists activate students’ thinking about a concept or idea.
They require students to think beyond the context in which they may
have learned about the concept or idea. For example, prior activities,
such as building musical instruments to learn how they make sound,
may have helped students learn that sound is made when an object
vibrates. A Justified List probe, such as the one shown in Figure
4.28, prompts them to think how this idea may apply to other objects
that differ from musical instruments. The FACT may also lead into an
opportunity for students to plan investigations or obtain information
about the items on the list and then modify their ideas based on new
evidence. Justified Lists can be used to solidify ideas during formal
concept development. The items on the list can be used to
encourage argumentation during small group discussion or class
discourse, further promoting student thinking and resolving
discrepancies between students’ own ideas and those of their peers.
Justified Lists can also be used again for reflection at the end of a
unit of instruction. Students examine their original list, reflecting on
how they might respond differently based on new knowledge they
have.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Justified Lists can be used to elicit students’ prior ideas, particularly
about a topic in which students may have become context bound in
their learning. This FACT helps determine whether students fail to
generalize a concept or idea, indicating to the teacher that
generalizations beyond the example(s) used in class need to be
explicitly addressed during instruction. The items on the list can
springboard into opportunities to develop investigations or engage
students in small group or whole-class argumentation, supporting
their claims with evidence about why or why not particular items
belong on the list.

Listen carefully to the justification students use, because it may point

out the need for targeted instructional experiences that will confront
students with their existing ideas and support conceptual change.
This FACT can also be used as an application to determine the
extent to which students are able to transfer the ideas they
developed during the formal concept development stage to new
contexts or examples.

Figure 4.28 Justified List Probe: Making Sound

SOURCE: Keeley, P., Eberle, F., & Farrin, L. (2005). Uncovering

student ideas in science: 25 formative assessment probes (Vol.
1). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Used with permission.

Design and Administration

Design Justified Lists that probe a concept or “big idea” in science
and preferably have a body of cognitive research behind them that
informs the selection of items to put in the list. Provide a short
prompt that identifies the concept or idea and then provide a list of
examples and nonexamples. Sometimes nonexamples are not
provided to see if students recognize that all the items on the list fit
the concept or idea. The second part of the probe asks students to
explain their rule or reasoning. Curriculum Topic Study (see the
Appendix) includes a process for developing these types of probes.
You can use ready-made Justified List probes, one of the signature
formats in the Uncovering Student Ideas series (see the Appendix).
This FACT can be given individually as a written assessment, or it
can be given to pairs or small groups to discuss their ideas and
come to an agreement about what should be checked off on the list.
Encourage students to check off the examples that fit the statement
according to ideas they have, not the answer they think the teacher
is looking for. Encourage them to provide a detailed explanation that
supports the reasoning they used to decide if an item on the list fits
the concept or idea. Small groups can share their lists with the whole
class for discussion and feedback. If this is used as an individual
written probe, consider collecting the probe, analyzing the data to
inform the instructional opportunities you will need to design, and
returning it to students for revision after they have completed an
instructional sequence targeting the concept or idea. The lists can
also be tallied and posted as a class chart for students to examine
the range of ideas held by the class, signifying the need to develop a
class consensus.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Justified List probes can be used with any of the disciplinary core
ideas. This FACT is often used to launch into a student investigation,
supporting the practice of planning and carrying out investigations.
The practice of constructing scientific explanations is supported
through the format of this probe in which the second part of the
question asks students to explain their thinking. Students use their
explanations to engage in the practice of engaging in argument from
evidence. After using the probe as an initial elicitation, students may
seek further information, which may come from text or other reliable
sources, and revisit the probe again using new information to
communicate their ideas. This supports the practice of obtaining,
evaluating, and communicating information.
General Implementation Attributes
Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Some students may not recognize a word on the list or may be
unfamiliar with an object. Have students cross off any examples on
the list they do not recognize, including unfamiliar words, and focus
only on the familiar items. Use fewer choice items with K–2 students.
It may be helpful to provide pictures and words for younger students
or students who are English language learners, such as the example
in Figure 4.29 (see the Appendix for a source of K–2 probes). The
items on the list can also be put on cards and used as a Card Sort
FACT.

Figure 4.29 Justified List Probe for K–2 Students

 SOURCE: Keeley, P. (2013). Uncovering student ideas in
primary science: 25 K–2 formative assessment probes.
Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Used with permission.

Caveats
Make sure students are familiar with the words and items on the list.
Otherwise, this FACT may end up being a vocabulary exercise or run
the risk of being developmentally or contextually inappropriate.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and performing arts. For
example, in mathematics, students can be given a list of
mathematical expressions, statements, or figures that contain a letter
or letters. Students are asked to select the examples that contain a
variable. Nonexamples might include 3 m = 300 cm (the letter stands
for a measurement) or a triangle with points labeled A, B, and C to
see if students overgeneralize by thinking that anything that has a
letter in mathematics is an example of a variable. Or they may
undergeneralize if they fail to select the expression □ + 3 = 5,
thinking that only letters represent variables.

My Notes
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FACT 31

Justified True or False Statements

Description
Justified True or False Statements involve students in evaluating a
set of statements. The students draw on evidence from data, prior
knowledge, or other sources to analyze the validity of each
statement. Students describe the reasoning they used to decide
whether each statement is scientifically correct.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Justified True or False Statements activate student thinking about a
science topic or concept. This FACT supports one of the hallmarks of
science: “How do we know what we know?” Students need to
consider the evidence that supports or refutes the statement and use
critical reasoning skills to make a case for or against its validity. By
engaging in argument with others to defend or refute a statement,
students solidify their thinking. Conversely, by evaluating the
counterarguments of others, students may acquire new information
to revise or replace their initial ideas. Engaging in argumentation with
this FACT is also a way to provide feedback to others on the
strengths or weaknesses of their arguments.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This FACT is used to examine students’ ideas before and/or during
instruction, including what they consider to be appropriate evidence
or valid information to support their ideas. Listening carefully as
students discuss their ideas and present their arguments to others
may reveal misconceptions, strengths or weaknesses in their ability
to reason scientifically, or areas of uncertainty that may be
addressed in subsequent discussion.

Design and Administration

Select a topic or core concept. Develop five or six statements that
are core ideas related to the topic or concept as well as false
statements that some students may be likely to think are true,
especially if they are based on the research on commonly held
ideas. Use no more than three statements for younger children. This
FACT can be used individually, in pairs, with small groups, or in a
whole-class discussion. Students discuss and justify each statement,
one at a time, trying to come to an agreement on whether it is true or
false, or noting reasons why they cannot reach consensus. The
teacher notes areas of conceptual difficulty to inform subsequent
instruction, including opportunities for students to obtain further
information to help them understand the content and communicate
their ideas. Figure 4.30 is an example of Justified True or False
Statements for the topic of landforms and how they change. A
template for this FACT can be downloaded from
www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Justified True or False Statements can be used with any of the
disciplinary core ideas. By defending whether they think a statement
is true or false, students are using the scientific practice of engaging
in argument from evidence. Students may follow up their initial
answers to the FACT by seeking more information and presenting it
to others. This supports the practice of obtaining, evaluating, and
communicating information.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Figure 4.30 Justified True or False Statements for Landforms and

How They Change
Modifications
For struggling readers or very young children, post the statements on
a chart, read them aloud with the class, and list the class ideas.
Keep the chart as a visual record of the class’s thinking to revisit
their ideas after they have gained more information from their
instructional experiences.

Caveats
Avoid simple recall statements of factual information. Statements
should provoke student thinking, drawing out commonly held ideas
that students might have that are related to the topic.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in mathematics, students might be given the
equation a = 12 + b (when b does not equal 0). A set of true and
false statements to be mathematically justified as being true or false
could include: (1) a is always greater than b, (2) b is always greater
than a, (3) a = 12, (4) a and b could be equal, (5) a cannot be less
than 12, or (6) If b is odd, then a must be even.
My Notes
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FACT 32

K-W-L Variations

Description
K-W-L is a general elicitation technique in which students describe
what they Know about a topic, Want to know about a topic, and
Learned about the topic. It was originally developed as a reading
comprehension strategy (Ogle, 1986). There are different variations
of K-W-L, depending on the students’ age and the teacher’s purpose.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

K-W-L Variations provide an opportunity for students to become
engaged with a topic, particularly when asked what they would like to
learn. It is a metacognitive exercise that requires students to think
about what they already know. K-W-L provides a mechanism for self-
assessment and reflection at the end, when students are asked to
think about what they learned. The three phases of the K-W-L help
students see the connections between what they already know, what
they would like to find out, and what they learned as a result.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

K-W-L Variations provide information to the teacher about students’
prior knowledge at the beginning of a unit of instruction as well as at
the end. Teachers can use what students list under “what I know” to
determine readiness to learn, examine students’ familiarity with the
topic, and identify preconceptions so that instruction can focus on
building new knowledge and experiences from students’ starting
points. Students’ ideas can be used by the teacher for discussion
starters. The “what I want to know” provides an opportunity to design
relevant instructional experiences that include students’ own ideas
about what they would like to learn during the unit of instruction.
Finally, the “what I learned” column provides an opportunity to
examine the scope and depth of student learning and make
adjustments as needed to improve instructional activities and further
develop student understanding.

Design and Administration

Provide students with a K-W-L handout to fit the variation of K-W-L
you are using, such as the template in Figure 4.31 (this template can
be downloaded from www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates).
Remind students to only fill in the first two columns. The K column is
used to record their prior knowledge, regardless of whether their
ideas are right or wrong. Students should be encouraged to think
about and record what they think they know and should not be
corrected as they share their initial thinking. Collect and save their K-
Ws and return the student papers at the end of the unit when they
are ready to revisit their initial ideas and reflect on the L. Students’ K-
Ws can also be synthesized by the teacher, or shared during class,
and posted as a class chart to refer to throughout the instructional
unit.
Figure 4.31 K-W-L

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
K-W-L can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas or
crosscutting concepts. If the crosscutting concepts are new to
students, it might be helpful to start with a K-W-L to determine what
they know about the crosscutting concept. The FACT also supports
the practice of asking questions, particularly when teachers use the
second column for students to pose investigatable questions. The
FACT also supports the practice of obtaining, evaluating, and
communicating information. When students record what they want to
know, they often turn to text and other resources to gather and
communicate information.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
Other versions include K-W-F: what I Know, what I Wonder about,
how will I Find out; K-T-L: what I think I Know, what I Think I will
learn, what I Learned; K-T-F: what I Know for sure, what I Think I
know, how will I Find out; and O-W-L: what I Observed, what I
Wonder about, what I Learned. A fourth column can be added to the
standard K-W-L, making it a K-W-L-H. The H stands for How I
learned it.

Another variation of K-W-L is the four-column KLEW chart, used with

the whole class throughout a sequence of lessons to connect claims
and evidence (Zembal-Saul et al., 2012). The K stands for what we
think we Know. Students record their initial ideas about a concept or
phenomenon before investigation. The L stands for what are we
Learning? Here students record their claims as they are generated
from their investigations as well as information from text and other
resources. The E stands for what’s your Evidence? This is where
students record and discuss the data collected from their
investigations or information from valid sources and connect the data
to the claims in the L column (Note: KLEW does not always progress
linearly from left to right. Sometimes the claims in the L column are
generated from the evidence in the E column). The W stands for
what are we Wondering about? and is used to record students’
questions throughout the sequence of instruction. See the Appendix
for additional resources on using a KLEW chart.

Caveats
Be careful not to overuse this strategy because students quickly tire
of it if it is used in the same way with every instructional unit. Be
aware that the open-ended nature of this FACT is not as effective in
pinpointing specific misconceptions, learning gaps, or conceptual
difficulties as some of the other specific probing techniques.
Sometimes students don’t know what they know, when they actually
have many good and alternative ideas. One variation you can use to
focus the K-W-L or any of its variations on collecting formative
assessment evidence of specific content is to use a Directed K-W-L.
This FACT turns the K column into a teacher-generated list of
concepts, ideas, scientific terminology, and/or experiences students
will encounter in a series of lessons. The students mark the list with
a √+ (check plus) for the things they think they know and understand
or have experienced and can explain, a √ (check) for the things they
have heard about but don’t really know enough about, and a √−
(check minus) for things on the list that are new to them. The teacher
can use this information to plan instruction, being aware of concepts
students have some familiarity with, concepts that are new to them,
and prior experiences they may had that could affect their learning.

Figure 4.32 is an example of a Directed K-W-L for a series of lessons

on electric circuits.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, a K-W-L chart can be used in mathematics to find
out what students know about graphs prior to teaching a sequence of
lessons on types of graphs.

My Notes
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Figure 4.32 Directed K-W-L on Electric Circuits

FACT 33

Learning Goals Inventory (LGI)

Description
A Learning Goals Inventory (LGI) is a set of questions that relate to a
major learning goal that is targeted by a lesson or series of lessons.
Students are surveyed about their prior knowledge of the learning
goal. They also describe any prior experiences connected to the
learning goal.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

The LGI activates student thinking about a learning goal that is the
target of instruction and student learning. It requires them to think
about what they already know in relation to the learning goal as well
as when and how they may have previously learned about it. It also
helps make the learning target explicit to students. A key principle of
learning is that students must know what the learning target is.
Explicitly sharing learning goals with students raises their awareness
of what their learning will be focused on.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

The LGI provides information to teachers on students’
preconceptions and experiences related to a learning goal. This
information is particularly helpful when students are coming from
other schools or classes within a school where there is not a
consistent curriculum. It provides an opportunity for teachers to see if
a learning goal may be “new” to students or if students already have
prior knowledge that the teacher can use to build on.

Design and Administration

Identify the learning goal that is the target of the lesson or series of
lessons. The learning goal may be a curricular objective or the state
standard that is targeted by the lesson(s). Create a question
inventory on the goal such as the one shown in Figure 4.33, which
comes from the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (Texas
Education Agency, 2007) for Biology. Give time for students to fill it
out. Use their responses to design instruction that introduces new
content or builds on what students previously learned related to the
learning goal.

Figure 4.33 LGI for Biology

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
LGI can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas or
crosscutting concepts. Since the scientific practices may also be
included as learning goal statements in lessons and state standards,
any of these practices can also be used with this FACT.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
The LGI can be conducted orally with younger students as a whole-
class inventory.

Caveats
Learning goals that come from state and national standards are
interpreted in a variety of ways by teachers. Consequently, expect
the same variation in interpretation from students. How one student
may interpret a learning goal may be very different from how another
student interprets it.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, a learning goal for the LGI in mathematics is
“Specify locations and describe spatial relationships using coordinate
geometry and other representational systems.”

My Notes
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FACT 34

Look Back

Description
A Look Back is a recount of what students learned over a given
instructional period of time. Students recount specific examples of
things they know now that they didn’t know before and describe how
they learned them (B. Chagrasulis, personal communication, 2005).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

This FACT provides students with an opportunity to look back on and
summarize their learning. Asking students “how they learned it” helps
them think about their own learning and the different ways, as
learners, they are able to integrate new scientific information.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Teachers can use the information from this FACT to examine aspects
of an instructional sequence students seemed to get the most out of
and why. The student feedback can be used to inform the use of
various strategies that may work well in the existing unit as well as in
other instructional units. Look Back also alerts teachers to strategies
and activities that seem to be most effective for individual students.
The information can be used to differentiate instruction for individual
learners, based on their descriptions of what helped them learn.
Design and Administration
This FACT is best used no more than 3 weeks or midway into a
sequence of instruction. It is important to model this FACT with
students the first time you use it. Use a template such as the one
shown in Figure 4.34. This template can be downloaded from
www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates. An example of Look
Back is as follows:

For the last 2 weeks, we have been learning about biodiversity

in ecosystems. Please take 15 minutes to do a look back by
making a list of all the things you learned in the last 2 weeks that
you didn’t know before or know as well when we started the unit.
Next to each learning you identified, please describe how you
learned it and why that way of learning is effective. Your
descriptions will be used by me to think about ways I can make
your science learning more relevant and effective.

Figure 4.34 Template for Look Back

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Look Back can be used with any curricular topic for reflection that
includes disciplinary core ideas. It may also reveal how any of the
crosscutting concepts or scientific practices contribute to students’
understanding of scientific content.
General Implementation Attributes
Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
With younger students, use shorter amounts of time to Look Back.
For example, use the end of the week for them to Look Back on the
week’s activities.

Caveats
Be aware that failure to mention some key ideas taught during the
instructional period does not mean that students did not learn them.
This FACT reveals what stood out most for students in their learning,
not necessarily how much they learned. Some students may have a
difficult time looking back more than a few days. Provide the daily
syllabus, sections used in the curriculum materials, learning targets,
or outline of the unit to help them retrace the instructional sequence.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in language arts, students examine famous
speeches and use Look Back to describe what they learned about
different styles of speeches.

My Notes
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FACT 35

Missed Conception

Description
A Missed Conception is a statement about an object or phenomenon
that is based on a commonly held idea noted in the research on
students’ ideas in science. Students are asked to analyze a
statement, describe why some people may believe it is true, describe
what one could do to help someone change his or her “missed
conception” in favor of the scientific idea, and reflect on their own
ideas in relation to the statement. This FACT is used to check for
conceptual understanding after a concept or idea has been
developed through instruction.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Commonly held ideas that differ from the scientific way of thinking
are pervasive in science and may interfere with students’ learning.
This FACT provides an opportunity to examine a commonly held idea
associated with a concept or idea that has been developed during a
lesson or sequence of lessons. The Missed Conception provides a
self-assessment opportunity for students to examine whether they
have a similar misconception. Even with good instruction, some
misconceptions are so tenacious that there may be some students
who still hold on to their own private ideas even though they may
give the “correct answers” on a summative assessment or during a
class activity.

This FACT provides a metacognitive opportunity for students to

examine their own ideas or beliefs and develop the intellectual
empathy to understand why some people have different ideas about
scientific concepts and ideas. The interactive nature of this FACT
may provide an opportunity for some students to be confronted with
their own thinking, to understand why their own ideas may not fully
match the scientific view, and resolve the discrepancy by
understanding more about how others think and the evidence
needed to change a strongly held idea or belief.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Missed Conception provides a checkpoint for teachers to identify
students who may need differentiated experiences to help them
resolve the discrepancy between their ideas and the scientific
explanation that was developed through instruction. Teachers use
the information to learn more about how students think about their
own thinking and gain feedback on how various instructional
experiences helped students learn. This FACT can also point out
gaps in knowledge or lessons that may need to be improved to help
students transition from a strongly held misconception to the
scientifically accepted view of the concept or idea.

Design and Administration

This FACT is best used after students have had opportunities to
develop an understanding of a scientific concept or idea. The focus
is on conceptual thinking, not memorization of facts. Develop the
Missed Conception statements from common misunderstandings
you may have heard students say or write in their explanations or
utilize the research on students’ ideas in science. See the Appendix
for sources that you can use to identify commonly held
misconceptions. Explain the reason for using this FACT to your
students. Students can respond individually, or you can have them
work in small groups to discuss and respond to the statement and
the questions. Circulate and listen to the discussions, noting ideas
that may need to be challenged and addressed. Ask small groups to
share their thinking about the Missed Conception during a whole-
class debrief. The teacher may provide additional comments as
needed.

If some students still believe the Missed Conception, even after

instruction, there are times when a teacher needs to make the
decision to move forward. As hard as this may be to move forward
when not all students have achieved the desired scientific
understanding, some students may not be ready to change their
ideas, regardless of how much additional instruction is provided.
Thus, it may be best in some situations to revisit ideas later in a new
context or different grade when some students may be more
developmentally or cognitively ready to build new understanding.
Figure 4.35 shows an example of using Missed Conception after
students had an opportunity to formally develop a scientific
understanding of what causes the seasons.

Figure 4.35 Example of a Missed Conception on the Seasons

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Missed Conception can be used with disciplinary core ideas. It
supports the scientific practice of constructing an explanation
because students offer a rebuttal of the Missed Conception by
providing a scientific explanation. It can also support the scientific
practices of developing and using a model for phenomena that can
be explained through modeling or by testing ideas by describing how
to plan and carryout an investigation.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
For topics that have several commonly held ideas associated with
them, develop a cluster of statements and assign one to each group
of students. Each group can then report out for feedback from the
whole class. Have students interview their parents, nonscience
teachers, or other adults about the concept or idea to observe
firsthand how common these ways of thinking are, even in the adult
population. It will help them understand how some strongly held
ideas persist into adulthood and why it is important to confront and
work through them in the science class.

Caveats
Do not use this FACT at the beginning of an instructional unit.
Missed Conceptions should not be explicitly identified as
misconceptions for students until students have had sufficient
instructional opportunity to work through and resolve their own ideas,
which may be similar to the missed conception and provide a starting
point for instruction.

Missed Conceptions should be based on important conceptual ideas,

not trivial facts. They should support conceptual understanding, not
memorization.
Be sure you do not develop a negative impression of
misconceptions. It is important for students to know that these are
common, even among educated people, and that they can be used
as springboards to learning if we take the time to become aware of
them and work on developing explanations that support conceptual
understanding.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT is specific to science as it presents students with
commonly held ideas related to everyday phenomena.

My Notes
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FACT 36

Muddiest Point

Description
Muddiest Point is a quick and easy monitoring technique in which
students are asked to take a few minutes to jot down what the most
difficult or confusing part of a lesson was for them (Angelo & Cross,
1993).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

The Muddiest Point provides a metacognitive opportunity for
students to think about their own learning and what is difficult or easy
for them to understand. It is especially helpful when students
encounter new information, deal with complicated procedures, or
engage in discussions that result in cognitive conflict. This FACT
provides a comfortable way for students who are reluctant to let
others know when they are having difficulty understanding a concept
or performing a skill.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

The Muddiest Point is a feedback and monitoring strategy used to
efficiently collect information on what students find most difficult or
confusing about a lesson or part of a lesson. It can be used any time
during instruction, including the spur of the moment, when teachers
detect that students may be experiencing difficulty understanding a
concept or idea or performing a scientific procedure. The information
is used as feedback to address student difficulties. Teachers can
quickly administer, collect, and sort responses to make immediate
decisions about instruction for the class or for individual students. It
can also be used at the end of a lesson to assess where students
are in meeting the learning intention of a lesson. The information
helps the teacher prepare for strategies or activities that will address
students’ difficulties in the next lesson.

Design and Administration

At a determined point during an activity, lab, presentation,
discussion, video, or assigned reading, distribute half sheets of
paper or index cards. Ask students to describe the “muddiest point”
of the lesson thus far. Clarify what is meant by muddiest point. For
example, a high school chemistry teacher using this FACT at the end
of a lesson to assess students’ content understanding might say,

So far today we have been learning about the patterns that

informed the design of the Periodic Table. What has been the
muddiest point so far in today’s lesson for you? Please take a
few minutes to jot down any ideas or parts of the lesson that
were confusing or difficult for you to understand so I can
address them in class tomorrow.

An elementary teacher might use this FACT to determine how well

students can perform a scientific procedure:

You have been looking for microorganisms in a drop of pond

water. What is the muddiest point for you thus far when it comes
to using the microscope? I will use the information you give to
me to think about ways to help you better use the microscopes
in tomorrow’s lesson.

Let students know why you are asking for this information. Collect
their responses and decide how the information will inform the rest of
the lesson or the following lesson. Be sure to let students know how
you plan to use their responses. When they understand that the
information is seriously considered by you to make changes that will
benefit them, they will respond thoughtfully and with detail. After
reading the responses, share with students examples of the
responses that informed your instructional decisions and follow up by
taking action.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Muddiest Point can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas or
crosscutting concepts. It can also be used with any of the scientific
practices by having students describe what was muddiest for them in
using the practice.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Low/Medium

Modifications
This strategy can also be used with homework and in-class
assignments. It can be combined with an additional question asking
students what could be done to help clear up the muddy points for
them.

Caveats
This FACT focuses on the negative rather than the positive. Vary this
strategy with POMS—Point of Most Significance to provide
opportunities for students to identify the most significant learning that
took place for them during a lesson.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in a dance class, the teacher may ask students to
complete a Muddiest Point after learning about the principles of
choreography.

My Notes
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FACT 37

No-Hands Questioning

Description
Students typically raise their hands when they wish to respond to a
teacher’s question. With No-Hands Questioning, students do not put
their hands up to respond to a teacher’s question. The teacher poses
a question, practices Wait Time, and calls on students randomly.
This FACT acknowledges that everyone needs to be ready to share
his or her ideas. It reinforces the notion that everyone’s response is
important, not just the students who show they know the answer by
raising their hand (Black et al., 2003).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

No-Hands Questioning is used to stimulate thinking and provide an
opportunity for all students to share their thinking, not just students
who raise their hands. Often when a question is asked, hands will
shoot up immediately. As a result, the students who take longer to
think about an idea stop thinking once they see that others already
have the answer. This FACT can increase students’ engagement and
motivation to think about their ideas and construct a well-thought-out
response, since everyone in the class has an equal chance of being
called on to respond.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This FACT, combined with Wait Time, is a way for teachers to
encourage all students to be active participants in the learning
process. Many students have been habituated to raise their hands.
By calling on students who raise their hands, teachers are
unintentionally giving students who do not raise their hands
permission to opt out of thinking or being a contributing member of a
learning community. No-Hands Questioning provides an opportunity
for teachers to hear from a wide range of students in the class, not
just those who raise their hands or opt out by not raising their hands.
By using this FACT, the teacher is not only becoming more aware of
students’ ideas but is also supporting a learning community in which
everyone’s ideas are valued.

Design and Administration

Prepare a set of quality questions ahead of time (see the Appendix
for source material on developing quality questions). Practice Wait
Time both before and after posing a question. Call on a student by
name after posing the full question and then extend the question
further to probe for his or her ideas, giving the student additional time
to think. In addition, the manner in which questions are asked by the
teacher when a student is called on indicates to the student that the
teacher is interested in his or her thinking. The following example
shows how questions can be framed using this FACT:

Teacher: “What do you think would happen if all the microbes on

Earth suddenly died?” Teacher uses Wait Time. “Jana, what ideas do
you have about this?”
Jana: “Well, I think it would be a good thing because there would be
fewer diseases and less people would die.” Teacher uses Wait Time
after Jana’s response.

Teacher: “I wonder what others think about Jana’s idea.” Teacher

pauses for Wait Time. “Tyrone, what are your thoughts?”

Tyrone: “I think it would be good that people wouldn’t get as many

diseases, but I think it would be bad for the Earth because there
wouldn’t be anything to break down all the things that die so they
would just build up.” Teacher uses Wait Time.

Teacher: “Let’s add to Tyrone’s idea or share a different thought.”

Teacher pauses. “Petra, what are you thinking about right now?”

Share the reason for using this FACT with students so they
understand that it is intended to help them think, provide an
opportunity for any student to be heard, and share various ideas that
students may have. Make sure students know that every idea is
valued, not just the “right answer,” so all students feel they have
something to share in response to the question asked.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
No-Hands Questioning can be used with disciplinary core ideas or
crosscutting practices. It can also be used with any of the scientific
practices to ask students to share their ideas linked to one of the
practices. For example, a No-Hands question might ask students to
share a conceptual model.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Depends on the question

Modifications
You may choose to use random selection techniques such as cards
with students’ names on them or the Popsicle Stick Questioning
FACT to select specific students. A modified version of No-Hands
Questioning, combined with Wait Time Variations, is to have
students put their hand up when they have an idea or comment to
share. The teacher nods to the individual student when a hand goes
up. The nod is the signal to then put his or her hand down. Once a
significant number of hands have gone up, and then down, call on
selected students.

Caveats
Avoid the use of recall questions, because they tend to result in more
“I don’t know” responses and provide little feedback on conceptual
understanding.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts with good questions.

My Notes
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FACT 38

Odd One Out

Description
Odd One Out combines seemingly similar items and challenges
students to choose which item in the group does not belong.
Students are asked to justify their reason for selecting the item that
does not fit with the others (Naylor, Keogh, & Goldsworthy, 2004).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Odd One Out provides an opportunity for students to access prior
knowledge to analyze relationships between items in a group. By
thinking about the similarities and differences, students are
encouraged to use evidence-based reasoning skills in a challenging
and engaging way. The FACT can be used to stimulate small group
discussion after students have had an opportunity to think through
their own ideas. As students discuss their ideas in a group, they may
modify their thinking, propose an investigation, or seek information.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Odd One Out can be used at the beginning of instruction to find out
what students already know about a topic. It can also be used during
the development of conceptual understanding to examine students’
reasoning related to the concepts or ideas that were targeted by the
lesson or sequence of lessons. Teachers can use this FACT to
examine how their students make connections among concepts and
ideas. The information is helpful in considering instructional
experiences that can challenge students’ commonly held ideas. Odd
One Out can also be used to assess how well students can transfer
their learning to a new context if there is a possibility that they could
be limited by the instructional context in which they learned about the
ideas. Results from Odd One Out may indicate the need to design
additional learning opportunities so that students can experience
examples different from the ones used in their instructional materials.

Design and Administration

Select items that lend themselves to a grouping where one item
justifiably does not fit with the others. Be sure to choose items and a
relationship that is not immediately obvious to promote deeper
thinking. Provide the list as a handout, projection, or chart. Alert
students to what the topic of the Odd One Out is before they
examine the list of items. Make it clear to students that they should
explore what they think rather than guess the answer they think you,
the teacher, are expecting. Have students record their own thinking
before discussing their ideas with a partner or in groups. Allow
students enough time to discuss the various possibilities before
revealing “the odd one out.” Figure 4.36 shows an example of an
Odd One Out designed for the topic of properties of matter.

Figure 4.36 Odd One Out for Properties of Matter

 SOURCE: Based on Odd One Out Strategy created by Naylor,
S., Keogh, B., & Goldsworthy, A. (2004). Active assessment:
Thinking, learning and assessment in science. London, UK:
David Fulton.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Odd One Out can be used with disciplinary core ideas. It can also be
used with the crosscutting concept of Patterns, because students
often recognize patterns to eliminate the item that does not fit with
the others.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Medium
Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
With younger children or less fluent readers, consider using pictures
with words. Use only one or two sets for younger students. Instead of
“Odd One Out,” use “Which of These Things Is Not Like the Other?”

Caveats
Make sure students are familiar with the words or objects listed
before they are asked to examine the relationship between them.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in foreign language, the Spanish words manzana,
frijoles, naranja, and durazno all represent fruits except for frijoles.
Frijoles is the Odd One Out because it is a vegetable (beans).

My Notes
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FACT 39

Paint the Picture

Description
Many great works of art visually communicate the ideas and beliefs
of people who lived at the time of the painting. Some works of art
capture the likeness of the person, object, or event depicted; others
symbolically or abstractly communicate the ideas and beliefs of the
artist. Paint the Picture is a way for students to communicate through
visual art. The FACT visually depicts students’ thinking about
phenomena in science with drawn or painted pictures. Students are
asked to design a visual representation that depicts their conceptual
model of a phenomenon and can be used to explain the
phenomenon without the use of words or labels.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Paint the Picture provides an opportunity for students to organize
their thinking and represent their conceptual model in a visual format.
It allows every student a creative and unique way to make their
thinking visible to themselves and others. Furthermore, it provides a
stimulus for further discussion about students’ ideas. The act of
describing and explaining the representation of their conceptual
model to others further supports and solidifies their learning. In
addition, Paint the Picture reinforces the importance of using
representations to convey one’s conceptual model.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Paint the Picture can be used prior to instruction to elicit initial
conceptual models. It can also be used as a checkpoint after
students have had an opportunity to learn about concepts and ideas
in science. For example, a teacher might hold up a large syringe and
ask, “What happens to the air molecules in this syringe if I push the
plunger in when the cap is on? Draw a before-and-after picture of the
molecules inside the syringe that shows what you think happens to
the molecules.” For example, in Figure 4.37, the drawing shows the
molecules closer together when the syringe is compressed.
However, the student reveals a possible misconception about the
size of molecules decreasing when pushed closer together as well
as the belief that there is some type of matter between the
molecules. Students’ ideas may be explicitly revealed from the
drawing itself, or when the students describe their drawing. The
teacher can use the drawings as a stimulus to probe further for
students’ ideas. Teachers can group similar drawings and engage
the class in a feedback discussion. Comparing different drawings of
conceptual models with a scientific representation can help students
bridge the gap between their own models and the scientific ideas
explained by models.

Figure 4.37 Paint the Picture: Molecules in a Compressed Syringe

Design and Administration

Provide students with drawing materials. Pose a question designed
to probe their conceptual understanding and ask them to draw a
picture, without using any words, which represents their thinking
about the concept or phenomenon. Encourage students to draw
what is in their head (their conceptual model) so that someone else
can understand their thinking. After students have finished their
drawings, use various pairing strategies or small group
configurations to provide students with an opportunity to explain their
drawing to their peers and give each other feedback on the
representation of their ideas. The teacher circulates and listens
carefully, noting particular drawings that may be used in a class
discussion or that may inform instructional decisions.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Paint the Picture can be used with phenomena that provide
explanatory power for disciplinary core ideas. This FACT also
supports the scientific practice of developing and using a model
since students create a visual representation of their conceptual
model. It also supports the scientific practice of obtaining, evaluating,
and communicating information as students use pictures to
communicate their thinking about a phenomenon.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Paint the Picture can be conducted as a pair or small group activity
where students work with others to create a representation of their
collective thinking. It can also be used with Whiteboarding.

Caveats
Avoid commenting on students’ artistic abilities. The drawings should
be for the purpose of making student thinking visible. Students may
disengage with the strategy if they feel judgments are being made
about artistic quality. Students with strong verbal and written
communication skills may have less developed visual communication
skills, necessitating a probe beyond the picture.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT is specific to conceptual models of phenomena in
science.

My Notes
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FACT 40

Partner Speaks

Description
Partner Speaks provides students with an opportunity to talk through
an idea with another student before sharing with a larger group.
When ideas are shared with the larger group, pairs speak from the
perspective of their partner’s ideas. This changes the emphasis from
the student’s own ideas to consider the ideas of his or her partner
and encourages careful listening between student pairs.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Having a partner to talk with allows students to think through and
articulate their ideas to others for feedback before sharing with a
larger group. It helps students develop careful listening and
paraphrasing skills since the strategy requires them to share their
partner’s thinking, not their own. Partner Speaks provides an
opportunity for shy, less confident students who may not be
comfortable sharing their own ideas in a large group to let their ideas
be heard through someone else. It also teaches overconfident,
dominating students to honor and share the ideas of others rather
than focusing solely on their own ideas.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This FACT can be used during any point in a lesson when social
engagement enhances the development and sharing of ideas. As
teachers listen to the interaction, they learn more about student
thinking in preparation for the next steps in a lesson or sequence of
instruction. Partner Speaks can be used to promote deeper
engagement with an idea, especially when there is a need to have
students think through a new idea, difficult question, or novel context.

Design and Administration

Have students turn to their “elbow partner” and provide time for them
to take turns discussing an idea. If there is an uneven number of
students, assign some groups as triads. When using this strategy for
the first time, it may be helpful to model for students what it looks
and sounds like when two people are engaged in dialogue (e.g., one
person speaks while the other listens and vice versa, with the
purpose of deepening thinking) and both partners share what their
partner shared with them. Encourage students to make eye contact
and think about what their partner is saying as they respectfully listen
without interrupting. The following is an example of how a teacher
might describe this strategy to students:

Today we are going to investigate how a dropped ball bounces

off different surfaces. What kinds of surfaces give you the
highest bounce? Why do you think the type of surface makes a
difference? Turn to your partner and take turns discussing your
ideas. Be sure to listen carefully, without interrupting, while your
partner shares his or her thinking. When you describe your own
thinking to your partner, be sure to explain the reasons for your
ideas. When you are finished taking turns, each of you will need
to be prepared to share your partner’s ideas with the rest of the
class. You will not be talking about your own ideas but rather the
ideas of your partner. Therefore it is very important for you to be
a good listener and not interrupt your partner’s thoughts.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Partner Speaks can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas
or crosscutting concepts. It also supports the scientific practice of
constructing explanations or engaging in argument from evidence as
students use their explanations to present or defend an argument. It
also supports the practice of obtaining, evaluating, and
communicating information. Students must listen carefully as their
partner’s ideas are shared with them and then must be able to
communicate their partner’s idea to others.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Combine this strategy with various methods for mixing up students
and assigning partners so that students are not always talking with
the same partner.

Caveats
In some classes, gender and friendship issues may hinder the use of
Partner Speaks. It is recommended that teachers establish norms for
partner discussions. Students should also be reminded not to pass
judgment on their partner’s ideas as their partner talks as well as
when they share their partner talks with the class.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and performing arts. For
example, in language arts, the teacher can use the Partner Speaks
strategy to engage students in discussion about the characters in a
novel.

My Notes
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FACT 41

Pass the Question

Description
Pass the Question provides an opportunity for students to
collaborate in activating their own ideas and examining other
students’ thinking. Students work with a partner to respond to a
question, partially finishing the response. When the time is up, pairs
exchange their written, partially completed response with another
pair to finish modifying, adding to, or changing it as the pair deems
necessary.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

The interactive nature of the pair discussion provides an opportunity
for students to think about what they know and discuss their ideas
with their partner. After the partially finished written response is
passed to a new pair of students, the new pair must examine the
thinking of their peers and decide whether they agree with their
thinking. If they agree, the pair continues the response by completing
what was already started by the other pair. If their ideas differ, they
may modify or change the response the other pair started and
complete it for them. Pairs then get together to give feedback to each
other.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

As the teacher listens carefully to students exchange ideas in
response to the question posed, the teacher gathers evidence on the
nature and depth of students’ understanding. The information may
surface disagreements students have about the content, furthering
the need to design additional opportunities that will address the
concept in question. The student responses can also be collected
and examined to gather evidence of the range of students’ thinking,
indicating the need for differentiation with certain groups of students.

Design and Administration

Develop a question that will elicit a rich explanatory response that
draws on students’ prior knowledge or experience or provides a new
context in which they can apply what they have been learning.
Arrange students in pairs and present the question. Give pairs a few
minutes to discuss the question and collaboratively draft a partial
response to the given question. Make sure students know they need
to develop enough of a response so that another pair can follow their
thinking but not so much that it doesn’t leave room for the other pair
to complete it. After 2 to 3 minutes have passed, pairs swap their
partially completed answer with another pair. The pair then picks up
from where the other pair left off. Encourage pupils to cross off parts
they don’t agree with and modify or exchange the crossed-off part
with their own ideas. They may continue adding their own ideas to
enhance, extend, and complete the response. When both pairs are
finished, they share the completed responses with each other,
defend their reasons for any changes they made, and provide
feedback on each other’s thinking. They also examine whether their
ideas converged or diverged. The teacher may ask pairs to share
their examples with the whole class, providing feedback from the
teacher and the rest of the class on the response to the question.

For example, the teacher may say, “You have described how the
length of your shadow changes throughout the day. Is there ever a
time during the day when the sun is visible that you will have no
shadow? Discuss your ideas with your partner. Then use the Pass
the Question strategy to partly answer the question using the ideas
you discussed with your partner. Make sure you provide enough of
an explanation so that another pair can understand your thinking and
finish the explanation by adding additional evidence or reasoning. Or
another pair may decide to modify the explanation you started. Write
down your partial explanation and be prepared to exchange your
responses to the question with another pair. We you are finished, we
will examine all the responses and give feedback, as a class, on our
answers to the question.”

After discussion, one pair writes, “We think it depends on where you
live. Our shadow gets shorter toward noon then lengthens again but
there is always some shadow. The only time you won’t have a
shadow on some days is if you live on the equator. To have no
shadow the sun needs to be . . .” They provide just enough
explanation for the next pair to know what their claim is and part of
the evidence or reasoning they used. They stop in midsentence,
providing just enough information for the next pair to pick up and
finish the sentence and the explanation.

The pair exchanges their answers to the question with another

group. The group reads the partial explanation, compares what they
discussed, and then proceeds to finish the answer. The pair adds “ . .
. right overhead. The sun is never overhead unless you live on or
near the equator and that only happens on some days. Where we
live there will always be some shadow. We even observed this once
when we did the astronomy with a stick activities.”

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Pass the Question can be used with any of the disciplinary core
ideas or crosscutting concepts. It supports the scientific practice of
constructing explanations as students construct a partial explanation
or finish the explanation that was started. It also supports the
practice of engaging in an argument from evidence as students must
evaluate the partial argument constructed by the other pair and build
on it or offer a rebuttal.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium
Cognitive Demand: High

Modifications
This FACT can also be used with individuals. An individual student
starts the response and then exchanges with another student for
completion and sharing. It can also be a written exchange between
two different classes studying the same topic. The FACT can be
followed up by having students test their ideas to support their
explanation with evidence they collect or seek information through
text or other valid resources.

Caveats
Be aware that some students may exchange inaccurate ideas. For
questions that can’t easily be tested, debrief by including how a
scientist or someone who knows the content well would respond to
the question. Without this opportunity to compare their responses to
the scientific ideas, some students may be left accepting
misconceptions or inaccurate statements that were made by their
peers.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, Pass the Question can be used in mathematics to
solve problems. Students partially complete a solution to a
mathematical problem, exchange their partial solution with another
pair that evaluates the approach to solving the problem and then
completes the rest of the solution or modifies the problem-solving
approach as needed.

My Notes
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FACT 42

A Picture Tells a Thousand Words

Description
In this FACT, students are photographed during an activity or
investigation. Students are given the photograph and asked to
describe what they were doing and learning during the “inquiry
moment” (Carlson, Humphrey, & Reinhardt, 2003). Students write
about their experience, telling the story of the photograph.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Students enjoy seeing themselves in photographs. There is a high
level of engagement and an intrinsic desire to want to explain what is
happening in a picture when the student is part of it. Asking students
to annotate their photograph as they are engaged in a scientific
investigation or other activity helps them reflect on their learning and
use of the scientific practices. This FACT can motivate reluctant
writers to write more vivid, detailed accounts of their experience
since the photograph personalizes it for them.
How This FACT Informs Instruction
Periodically taking digital photographs of the class during important
inquiry moments provides the teacher and the class with a
documented way to track how students’ scientific ideas and practices
are developing through inquiry. The images can be used to spark
student discussions, explore new directions in inquiry, and probe
their thinking as it relates to the moment the photograph was taken.
By asking students to annotate the photos with a description of what
they were learning and the skills or practices they were using,
teachers can better understand what students are gaining from an
instructional experience and adjust it as needed. If students can’t
describe what they were learning, then this is a signal to the teacher
that the purpose of the activity was not clear or that students were
engaged in the “hands on” part of the learning, but not the “minds
on.” It also helps the teacher see how students’ conceptual
understanding develops during an investigation and what might be
done differently to help students move toward the learning goal. The
photographs can also be used to spark whole-class discussions that
provide an opportunity to probe deeper into students’ ideas and
reasoning. At the end of a unit, the photographs can be posted on a
reflection wall and used as a class look back to retrace thinking and
learning.

Design and Administration

Digital cameras make it quick and easy to take and print a picture.
This FACT can be used any time during an activity-based lesson or
investigation. It is particularly effective when students are excited
about a discovery, experience something unexpected, or have an
“aha” moment during inquiry. Choose situations where students can
relate to and remember what happened in the photograph.
Encourage students to call you over to take a picture that they think
is important to show what happened during a learning experience.

For example, a group of students made a pendulum and were

observing its patterns of motion as they shortened the string. The
teacher took a photograph of the students as they were counting and
recording the number of swings the pendulum made. After the
investigation, the photograph was returned to the students and the
group wrote about the question they were investigating, the pattern
they observed, and what they learned from the investigation as it
related to the learning intention that was shared at the beginning of
the lesson.

After taking photographs, download and copy them onto a page that
allows enough space on the paper for students to describe what they
were thinking and learning when the photograph was taken.
Distribute photographs to students for reflection as soon as possible
after taking the photograph. Encourage students to write a detailed
description of what they were doing, thinking, and learning about
when the photograph was taken. In addition, the teacher or other
students in the class can add feedback notes to comment on the
students’ picture and annotations. Posting the annotated photos
further reinforces the importance of sharing students’ experiences
and thinking.

The reflective, annotated writing can be assigned to individual

students or as a group reflection by the students seen in the
photograph. The group reflection provides an additional opportunity
for students to discuss and share their thinking about what they were
doing and learning during an investigation. A collection of class
photographs, with annotations, can be displayed as a visual record
of students’ learning for others to see, read, and reflect on.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
A Picture Tells a Thousand Words can be used with any of the
disciplinary core ideas or crosscutting concepts that involve active,
hands-on learning. It supports the scientific practices of asking
questions and planning and carrying out investigations as students
focus on the question to describe what is happening in the
photograph as well as what they were doing and learning through the
investigation.
General Implementation Attributes
Ease of Use: Depends on availability of camera and printer

Cognitive Demand: Medium Time Demand: Low

Modifications
Younger students may dictate their descriptions to the teacher to
include as annotations on the photographs. Students who have
access to digital devices with cameras can take and annotate their
own photos and share them digitally.

Caveats
It may not be possible to photograph every student during every
activity. Make sure over the course of a unit that all students have an
opportunity to see themselves in a photograph and describe what
they were doing and learning. Try not to take more than one day to
return the photographs for annotation.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, a teacher takes a photograph as students are
using manipulatives to mathematically model the volume of two
containers, one that is short and wide, the other tall and narrow. The
students describe how they filled the containers with marbles and
counted the marbles to compare the two volumes. They explain how
they thought the taller container would have a larger volume but
learned that the short, wide container held more marbles and had a
larger volume.

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FACT 43

P-E-O Probes (Predict, Explain, Observe)

Description
A powerful way to promote conceptual change is to have students
make predictions that are often based on their commonsense
interpretations of everyday phenomena (Konick-Moran & Keeley,
2015). P-E-O Probes present a phenomenon or situation in which
students are asked to make a prediction or select a prediction from a
set of selected responses that best matches their thinking. Students
provide an initial explanation to support their prediction. The probe is
followed by an opportunity for students to test their prediction,
observe the results, and modify their explanation as needed if their
observations do not support their prediction. Figure 4.38 is an
example of a P-E-O Probe from the Uncovering Student Ideas series
(see the Appendix for more information on this resource).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

P-E-O Probes draw out students’ ideas and explanations related to a
phenomenon that can then be tested and observed by students. This
FACT activates student thinking about scientific ideas and provides
an opportunity to discuss their thinking with others. The probe
provides an entry point into inquiry that engages students in wanting
to know if their prediction is accurate. When their observation does
not match their prediction, it creates a dissonance that leads to
further investigation and reconstruction of ideas. P-E-O Probes also
help students understand and develop a critical practice central to
science—the importance of revising one’s explanation when new
evidence becomes available.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

P-E-O Probes provide a way for teachers to gather data on students’
preconceptions, including commonly held ideas noted in the
cognitive research literature that may have been developed or
reinforced through previous experiences. For example, in Figure
4.38, the response reveals a commonly held idea that if one’s eyes
have time to adjust to the darkness, then they will eventually be able
to see an object, even though they may not see the color. This
response indicates a lack of understanding the role of light in how we
see. The teacher uses this evidence of a lack of understanding the
connection between reflected light and how we see objects to design
instruction that will develop this idea.

P-E-O Probes are best used as an elicitation of initial ideas and

exploration into testing students’ ideas. This FACT can be used
individually as a written assessment or given to pairs and small
groups to discuss their ideas and come to agreement on a
prediction. They can then test their prediction. Teachers examine or
listen carefully to the students’ justification for their prediction and
provide opportunity for students to share their revised or solidified
explanations after they test their prediction, especially if they find that
their observations do not match their original prediction. This is an
opportunity to guide students toward reconciling what they believed
would happen and what the actual result was. Teachers can use this
opportunity to help students think through, discuss, and get feedback
on their revised explanations to accommodate the change in their
thinking that resulted from their investigation.
Figure 4.38 P-E-O Probe

SOURCE: Keeley, P., Eberle, F., & Farrin, L. (2005). Uncovering

student ideas in science: 25 formative assessment probes (Vol.
1). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Used with permission.

For example, when students test their ideas with an apple in a dark
room and find out that they can’t see the apple regardless of how
long they spend looking at it, that experience provides an ideal time
to introduce the role of light reflecting off an object and entering our
eye to explain how we see. The discussion might reveal that
students picked up a common misconception from the popular
activity of observing the pupils in their eye after they have been in
the dark and a light is then turned on. They might believe that the
pupils “adjust to the dark” by getting bigger rather than
understanding the pupils are opening wider to try to let more light in,
even if there is no light. It is also an opportunity to discuss how most
people have never experienced total darkness unless they have
been in a cave or down in a mine shaft; there is usually some
ambient light present, which explains why they see things in their
dark bedroom at night.

Design and Administration

Design P-E-O Probes to target important learning goals in science
that can be tested using simple materials. You can also use ready-
made probes from the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series or
Haysom and Bowen’s (2010) P-O-E’s by reversing the E and the O
(see the Appendix for this resource). A source for these probes is
described in the Appendix. Encourage students to record their own
prediction and explanation before discussing their ideas in small
groups. After students have had an opportunity to discuss their
predictions and modify their alternative explanations as needed,
have small groups engage in inquiry to test their predictions in a
context similar to the one described in the probe. After they observe
the result, be sure to provide time for students to revisit and revise
their explanation, extending the probe to become P-E-O-E. Engage
the whole class in a discussion to help students accommodate the
result and solidify their conceptual understanding of the explanation
of the phenomenon.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
P-E-O Probes can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas.
This FACT supports the scientific practice of planning and carrying
out an investigation because students have to design a way to test
their prediction. It also supports the practice of analyzing and
interpreting data because students analyze the data from their
investigation to determine whether the data support their prediction.
P-E-O Probes support the practice of constructing explanations as
students’ prediction becomes their claim; they test their claim by
gathering data that are used as evidence to support their claim.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium/High

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
After students have committed to an outcome and discussed their
explanations with others, teachers can use the probe scenario as a
whole-class demonstration if materials or time are limited. The
results of the demonstration can be used in orchestrating discourse
to help students revise their original explanation and further develop
their conceptual understanding.

In situations where students cannot test their prediction firsthand,

provide a follow-up opportunity for students to obtain valid
information from text, video, or other sources that can be used to
support or revise their initial prediction and explanation.

For younger students, use a Concept Cartoon format to commit to a

character’s idea that most matches the students’ prediction, explain
the reasons for their prediction, and then engage young children in
coming up with a way to test their predictions. Figure 4.39 is an
example of a K–2 P-E-O Probe (Keeley, 2013). See the Appendix for
a source of P-E-O Probes for students in the primary grades.

Caveats
To use this FACT effectively, make sure you provide adequate time
for students to explain their initial thinking before testing their
prediction, observing the result, and constructing a new explanation.
Use With Other Disciplines
This FACT can also be used in mathematics for activities that involve
mathematical investigations. For example, students are shown a
picture of two bags containing marbles. One bag has two black
marbles and three white marbles. The other bag has six black
marbles and nine white marbles. Students predict which bag gives a
greater chance of selecting a black marble. One of the prediction
choices is that there is an equal chance in both bags of selecting a
black marble. Students then test their ideas with a probability
experiment.

Figure 4.39 Primary Grade Level P-E-O Probe

SOURCE: Keeley, P. (2013). Uncovering student ideas in

primary science: 25 K–2 formative assessment probes.
Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Used with permission.
My Notes
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FACT 44

POMS—Point of Most Significance

Description
POMS stands for point of most significance. It is the opposite of the
Muddiest Point. In this quick technique, students are asked to
identify the most significant learning from a lesson.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

POMS is a metacognitive strategy used to help students connect
with the important goals of a lesson. Students reflect back on the
lesson and identify the key points that contributed to their learning.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

POMS is used at the end of a lesson to gather information on what
students feel were the most significant points made during a lesson.
Teachers can quickly administer, collect, and sort responses to
gather evidence about how well the key ideas intended by the lesson
were perceived as important learnings by the students. If the POMS
of the students differ from the key ideas the lesson was intended to
develop, the teacher can use this information to strengthen the
connection between the goals of a lesson and students’ instructional
experience. If the POMS reveals misunderstandings about the key
ideas, the teacher makes note of these misunderstandings to
address in subsequent instruction or may discard the activity if
results reveal that it was ineffective in developing students’ ideas.

Design and Administration

At the end of a lesson, this FACT can be used as an exit slip or a
class debrief. Have students describe orally or in writing the most
significant point or points made during the lesson that contributed to
their learning. For example, an elementary lesson on animal
adaptation might conclude with, “Today we investigated and
discussed adaptations and how some species of animals have
characteristics that help them survive in a changing environment.
What points made during today’s activity or discussion best helped
you understand what adaptations are and why they are important to
a species’ survival?” Collect and analyze students’ responses to
decide if the lesson met its goal or needs to be modified. Be sure to
let students know how you used their responses. When they
understand and see that you seriously consider their feedback for
making changes that will benefit them, they will respond thoughtfully
and with detail.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
POMS can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas,
crosscutting concepts, or scientific practices that are explicitly
developed through a lesson.
General Implementation Attributes
Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Low/Medium

Modifications
POMS can be changed to Part of Most Significance to be used as a
reflection on the most effective part of a lesson rather than the key
points that contributed to their learning.

Caveats
Focusing only on the most significant point of the lesson may result
in overlooking areas where students are experiencing conceptual
difficulties. Vary this strategy with Muddiest Point to provide
opportunities for students to express what may have been difficult for
them as well.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, a mathematics teacher can use POMS after a
lesson on distinguishing parallelograms from other types of
quadrilaterals to determine what features of a parallelogram stood
out for them.

My Notes
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FACT 45

Popsicle Stick Questioning

Description
Popsicle Stick Questioning is a technique used to selectively choose
students for No-Hands Questioning. The purpose of this technique is
to ensure that certain students, identified in advance by the teacher,
are called on during “random” class questioning. Names are written
on Popsicle sticks and placed in a cup. An inner cup, placed inside
the outer cup, holds the Popsicle sticks with the names of students
the teacher wants to be sure to call on. The names can be pulled out
from the inner cup when needed, while giving the appearance that
students are all randomly selected when called on to respond to a
question (Wiliam, 2005).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

This is a type of No-Hands Questioning strategy that encourages all
students to think and be prepared to answer questions when
randomly called on. Since hands are not raised, students who do not
raise their hands cannot opt out of the thinking necessary for
answering questions. When this FACT is used, students tend to
engage more in their own thinking to prepare for the chance of being
called on for a response. Because all students think they have an
equal chance of being called on, this selection strategy ensures that
selected students who need to be heard from have an opportunity to
think and formulate their ideas.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

There are times when it is important for the teacher to gather
evidence of thinking and learning from certain individual students in a
class. This FACT provides a way for teachers to ensure that certain
students are called on to share their thinking without their feeling as
if they had been singled out. The teacher can use the information to
examine how individual students are progressing in their learning.
This FACT can also be used for grouping students for differentiated
strategies or collaborative group work.

Design and Administration

Write all students’ names on the Popsicle sticks and place them in
an opaque cup, such as a coffee mug. Place another smaller cup
inside the larger cup. The names of a few preselected students the
teacher wants to be sure to call on are placed in the inner cup. The
inner cup is visible only to the teacher. The other Popsicle sticks are
placed outside the inner cup. When the teacher feels a need to call
on one of the preselected students, a name is drawn from the inner
cup. The following describes how a teacher might use this FACT:

Mrs. Johnston was questioning students about their ideas

related to the phases of the moon model they were developing
and using. She noticed that several students were struggling
through the previous day’s activity. She decided she needed to
call on them during the class discussion so they would make
their thinking visible to the class and receive feedback to help
them move toward a scientific understanding. To ensure that
they would be selected during the “random” Popsicle stick draw,
she placed their Popsicle sticks in the center inner cup, where
she could easily draw them out when necessary.
Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
Popsicle Stick Questioning can be used with “random” student
questioning related to any of the disciplinary core ideas, crosscutting
concepts, or scientific practices.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Depends on the question asked

Modifications
Use different colored inks for particular subgroups of students. Write
some students’ names down more than once to increase the
probability of being selected.

Caveats
Don’t allow students to see the inner cup!

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts for any type of questioning.

My Notes
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FACT 46

Prefacing

Description
Prefacing is a talk move technique in which students learn how to
probe explanations to encourage their peers to improve
communication of their ideas. This FACT is used with lessons that
require students to explain their thinking to other students.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Prefacing is used to support construction of explanations. It provides
a way for students to draw ideas out from their classmates and
improve the quality of their explanations. For the student who is
explaining his or her ideas, Prefacing encourages that student to
delve deeper into his or her thinking. For example, following a lab
investigation on conservation of matter when a gas is produced,
students may use Prefacing during a sense-making small group
discussion of results with questions and statements such as:

Can you restate your original claim?

How does that account for the mass of the gas?
Can you say more about why you included the empty balloon for
comparison?
 I’m not sure I understand why you did it this way.
Can you say more about why you think your data support your
claim?

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Prefacing helps facilitate communication of students’ explanations.
As students use this FACT during small group discussions, the
teacher circulates through the classroom, listening to and noting
areas where students may be having difficulty explaining and
supporting their thinking. The teacher may note areas where the
outcome of the investigation or activity was not clear to students. The
teacher may also use the same Prefacing statements to further help
students develop their reasoning abilities.

Design and Administration

Prefacing is a skill that needs to be taught. Teachers should model
Prefacing with students, explicitly pointing out various ways
Prefacing can be used for encouraging communication of
explanations. Examples of Prefacing statements are included in
Figure 4.40. A chart showing examples of Prefacing statements may
be posted in the room. The chart can be used by students when they
are discussing results of an investigation and engaged in
argumentation to evaluate the explanations of others.

Figure 4.40 Examples of Prefacing Statements

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
Prefacing can be used to probe explanations related to core
disciplinary ideas. It supports the scientific practices of constructing
explanations and engaging in argument from evidence.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium/High Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Simplify the language of the Prefacing statements if students are not
familiar with the terminology of claim, evidence, and reasoning.

Caveats
This FACT is best used when students have collected their own data
they use to construct an explanation.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT is specific to inquiry-based science.

My Notes
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FACT 47

PVF—Paired Verbal Fluency

Description
PVF is a technique used for partner discussion or reflection. Partners
take turns in timed rounds, talking about an assigned topic or
prompt. While one person talks, the other listens until time elapses
and partners switch roles (Lipton & Wellman, 1998).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

The purpose of PVF is to activate student thinking. The act of talking
nonstop for a specified interval stimulates students to communicate
their ideas while digging deeper into their existing knowledge base.
Active listening by the partner stimulates additional thinking about
the topic. The structured protocol provides a process for students to
be metacognitive in a verbally active way. In a very short period of
time, students can surface a significant amount of knowledge,
beliefs, wonderings, and understandings from their instructional
experiences.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Observing students actively engaged in discussing their ideas often
reveals the level of engagement in students’ learning. Students
engaged in an animated discussion show involvement with the
content. Alternatively, students who show disinterest and do not say
much may reveal disengagement in the content or significant gaps
that impede their ability to discuss their ideas in depth. Teachers can
listen in as students are discussing to learn more about what
students have learned. After students have engaged in PVF, they
may have identified unresolved issues or difficulties to bring to the
attention of the teacher. These issues or difficulties are then
addressed by the teacher to further develop conceptual
understanding through class discussion or additional learning
experiences.

Design and Administration

PVF can be used prior to instruction, as a review of a lesson, or for
reflection purposes at the end of a sequence of instruction. It also
works well as a prelude to whole-class discussion. Some ways to
use PVF include having students talk about a topic to be introduced
by sharing what they already know about the topic; having students
discuss a recent laboratory experiment, including the significance of
their findings; or having students reflect at the end of a kit-based
science unit by talking about their key learnings. Start by asking
students to find an “eye contact partner” by standing up and making
eye contact with someone who is not sitting near them. The partners
move together and wait for the teacher’s instructions. Ask each pair
to decide who will be Partner A and who will be Partner B (usually
the student who wants to go last chooses Partner B, so you may
want to announce that Partner B will go first!). Give the class a
discussion prompt or topic to discuss. For example, ask students to
discuss the social, economic, environmental, and political risks and
benefits of energy production. Announce that when you give the
signal, one partner will talk for exactly 1 minute while the other
partner only listens. Announce “switch,” and partners trade roles and
repeat. At the next switch, the first partner talks for 30 seconds,
followed by switch and the other partner talks for 30 seconds. At the
end of the activity, ask for a few volunteers to share what they
learned from their partner or to comment on any learning issues they
discussed that may need to be resolved.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
PVF can be used to reflect on any of the disciplinary core ideas or
crosscutting concepts. It supports the scientific practices of
obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information as students
strengthen their verbal communication skills while simultaneously
develop good listening habits to evaluate the ideas of others.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Students can be paired using a variety of strategies. The time
intervals can be changed to other configurations such as 1 minute–
40 seconds–20 seconds, 60 seconds–30 seconds–10 seconds (for a
closing statement), or other configurations selected by the teacher or
students.

Caveats
This strategy may be difficult for English language learners or
students who have a hard time concentrating or hearing. There is a
high level of noise in the classroom when many students are talking
at the same time.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and performing arts. For
example, in language arts, students can use PVF to discuss what
they learned about the Great Depression from reading Steinbeck’s
Grapes of Wrath.

My Notes
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FACT 48

Question Generating

Description
Question Generating is a technique that switches roles from the
teacher as the generator of questions to the student as the question
generator. The ability to formulate good questions in science can
indicate the extent to which a student understands ideas that
underlie the concept or topic.
How This FACT Promotes Student Learning
Students typically think that asking questions is easy and answering
them is difficult (Naylor et al., 2004, p. 120). When they are put in a
position to develop thinking questions that go beyond recall, they
realize they have to draw on their own understanding of the concept
or topic. Generating good questions in science requires more than
superficial knowledge of the topic. It requires the student to delve
deeper into his or her existing knowledge base. As they formulate
“thinking questions,” students practice metacognition by recognizing
their level of understanding needed not only to form the question but
to respond to it as well.

Nobel physicist Isidor Issac Rabi claimed that he owed his mother
his success because she didn’t ask what he did in school that day.
Instead, when he came home from school she asked him, “Izzy, did
you ask a good question today?” (Konicek-Moran & Keeley, 2015, p.
47).

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Question Generating can be used prior to instruction to find out what
students already know about the concept or topic. The number of
questions students come up with, the quality of the questions (recall
versus thinking questions), and the sophistication of the ideas
embedded in the question reveal the extent of student knowledge
about the topic. As students learn to distinguish productive questions
from nonproductive questions, their higher-level questions reveal
interesting insights into their thinking about the content. Teachers
can also have students exchange or answer their own questions at
different stages during a sequence of lessons, revealing information
about what students have learned or are thinking about. Selected
student-generated questions can be saved and used at the end of a
unit of instruction for self-assessment, reflection, or summative
assessment.

Question Generating can also be used to develop investigable

questions. The FACT helps students distinguish between a question
that can be answered with scientific data and one that cannot.

Design and Administration

Provide a stimulus, such as an object, picture, statement, or problem
around which students can generate their questions. For example, in
an elementary unit on soils, the teacher might show two different
colored soil samples and ask the students to think of some good
questions to ask about differences in soils. Students may come up
with questions such as:

What causes soils to be different colors?

Does the color have something to do with what is in the soil?
Does the color change when the soil is wet or dry?
Does the color of the soil make a difference in how plants grow
in the soil?
What are some other colors of soil?

To help students develop good questions, the teacher can provide a

list of question stems or post a chart of question stems to refer to in
the classroom. Figure 4.41 shows examples of Question Generating
stems.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Question Generating stems can be used to pose questions related to
disciplinary core ideas. Question stems can include crosscutting
concepts such as patterns or cause and effect. This FACT supports
the practice of asking questions by helping students frame questions
that can be investigated or answered by obtaining scientific
information from text or other sources.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium (depends on readiness and grade level)
Time Demand: Medium Cognitive Demand: High

Modifications
If individual students have difficulty generating questions, provide an
opportunity for students to develop questions in small groups.
Questions can also be developed as a whole-class activity. Have
students sort their questions into ones that can be answered by
collecting data from an investigation, and ones that can be answered
by obtaining information from text or other sources. You may include
a third category for questions that cannot be answered through
science to help students distinguish between scientific and
nonscientific questions.

Figure 4.41 Sample Question Generating Stems

Caveats
Some students, particularly younger students, lack the scientific
knowledge base to answer “How does” or “Why does” questions.
These questions could be better phrased with stems such as “Why
do you think . . .” rather than “Why does . . .”, which shows that
students’ thinking about their own ideas is valued just as much as
correct answers.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in mathematics, Question Generating stems might
include: How can you prove ___?, Is ___always true?, What other
way could you ___?, What would happen to the pattern if ___?, Is
equal to ___?, or How does the compare to the ___?

My Notes
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FACT 49
Recognizing Exceptions

Description
Recognizing Exceptions targets the tendency of students to form
overgeneralizations. Students are presented with a question that
encourages them to look for exceptions. For example, Do all seeds
need warm temperatures to germinate? shows how this FACT
encourages students to think beyond the general notion that seeds
need warmth to germinate. For example, there are exceptions in
which some seeds, such as acorns, require a period of cold before
they can germinate.

How This FACT Promotes Learning

Recognizing Exceptions allows students to examine FACTs, rules,
and conclusions that have been developed through activities and
investigations. Students examine how applicable their
“generalizations” are across various contexts and examples. The
FACT helps students recognize limitations in describing natural
objects, organisms, events, and processes. It also stimulates higher-
order thinking by requiring students to delve deeper into a concept to
explore situations and contexts, other than the ones used in their
lessons. Questions that elicit student thinking about generalizations
stimulate thinking more than a recall question such as What do
seeds need to germinate?

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This FACT allows teachers to examine whether students
overgeneralize information that is presented to them, read, or
constructed through inquiry. It allows the teacher to identify what
students know, what they partially know, and what they may not
know at all. The teacher can use this information to provide
examples that will help students recognize exceptions to their own
rules and student-generated conclusions they have developed in the
science class. The FACT may reveal students with very
sophisticated and advanced knowledge about a concept or
phenomenon.

Design and Administration

Choose an applicable question that reveals exceptions to a concept,
rule, or student-generated conclusion developed in class. Use stems
such as the ones shown in Figure 4.42.

Use the questions in conjunction with other FACTs, such as Think-

Pair-Share or Partner Speaks, to initiate individual thinking, small
group discussion, and whole-class discussion. Provide students with
exceptions if they do not surface and help students understand why
they are “exceptions to the rule.” For example, students learn that
individual organisms do not adapt to drastic changes in their
environment by changing their traits, but rather they are born with a
trait from their genetic code that allows them to survive the change,
reproduce, and pass the trait on to their offspring. However, there is
a rare exception explained by a new branch of genetic research
called epigenetics. Epigenetics explains how some genetic changes
do not result from mutations in the DNA code but rather are due to
changes in methylation or to other chemical modifications of DNA’s
backbone and affect transcription without changing the DNA
sequence. These changes can appear in a single generation and
occur in response to environmental stresses.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Recognizing Exceptions can be used to examine generalizations
related to core disciplinary ideas. This FACT supports the practice of
constructing explanations by helping students understand how
explanations are used to help us understand the natural world but
there can sometimes be exceptions to an explanation.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Figure 4.42 Recognizing Exceptions

Modifications
This FACT can be modified to focus on undergeneralizations. For
example, use question stems such as the following:

Are these the only examples that fit this rule?

What other examples can you think of?
What would help us decide if this is true for other things?

Caveats
Use this FACT only with topics that have a scientific basis supported
by empirical evidence. Beware of topics that may encourage
pseudoscientific beliefs or arguments against well-established
scientific theories. For example, intelligent design and creationism
are not scientific exceptions to the theory of biological evolution; they
are beliefs.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies, and
health. For example, in mathematics, does multiplication always
result in a bigger number?
My Notes
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FACT 50

Refutations

Description
Refutations are used to check students’ declarative and procedural
knowledge. This FACT involves analyzing statements about scientific
ideas, processes, or procedures that contain both accurate and
incorrect information. Students make corrections to the statements
so they are scientifically accurate and justify why they made the
changes.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Analyzing a Refutation provides an opportunity for students to think
about and clarify their own ideas. Using this FACT in small groups
provides a mechanism for students to make their ideas public and
engage in scientific argumentation. It supports metacognition by
having students explain their thinking to others and encourages
feedback on others’ ideas as students work collaboratively to revise
the statements. When students correct the refutations, they are
creating their own refutational text. Refutational text is an explanation
that starts with a naïve or incorrect idea and then refutes the idea
with the accepted scientific idea (Konicek-Moran & Keeley, 2015).
Studies have shown that students using refutational text enjoy the
exercise and are more likely to alter their mental models and
conceptions than those using standard text material written about
straight content in a didactic manner (Alvermann & Hynd, 1989).

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Refutations can be used prior to instruction to grab the learner’s
attention and identify where students have strong or weak factual
and conceptual knowledge related to a topic. This FACT can also be
used to monitor student learning throughout instruction. Figure 4.43
shows an example of a Refutation used with the topic of the nature
of particulate matter during a change in state. Commonly held ideas,
including specific misconceptions, can be included in a Refutation to
help teachers identify students who may have similar ideas. If the
teacher sees that these ideas go unnoticed in the refutation, this
information can be used to design learning experiences that will
confront students with their ideas and move them toward the
scientifically accepted view. Justifications and corrections students
make to the incorrect statements provide information to the teacher
on how students think about the content or practices. Teachers may
determine the need to revisit basic ideas and practices and build on
them so that students develop understandings at a level of
sophistication appropriate for their grade or developmental level.

Figure 4.43 Refutation Example

Design and Administration
Refutations are designed to draw out students’ ideas related to the
content they are learning. They can be written as a first-person
narrative, story, article, or textbook-like passage. Include commonly
held incorrect ideas, often referred to as misconceptions, cited in
research studies. The Appendix includes a source of materials that
can be used to identify commonly held ideas. Refutations should be
a reasonable length for both the content and the grade level of the
students. Students can underline or highlight the areas of text they
think need correcting, revise as necessary (individually or in groups),
and justify their revisions. Engage the class in a whole-group
discussion in which they justify why they think a statement is
incorrect and what they would do to correct it. The Everyday Science
Mysteries series includes stories that include refutations (see the
Appendix for more information on this resource).

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Refutations can be used with any of the core disciplinary ideas. This
FACT supports the practice of constructing explanations by
analyzing claims, evidence, reasoning, and scientific explanations
and revising them to be scientifically accurate. It also supports the
practice of obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
because students need to learn how to read and evaluate text before
accepting the information as given.
General Implementation Attributes
Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
The Refutation may consist of text, include text and graphics, or be
used as a read aloud. When used as a read aloud, read the entire
passage first while students listen carefully. Then repeat and have
students raise hands when they disagree with a statement, discuss
their reasons for disagreeing, and then revise it to be scientifically
correct.

Caveats
Do not let scientifically incorrect statements go uncorrected. Give
students time to think through the corrections and discuss them,
realizing that all students may not spot all the inaccuracies,
particularly if they have ideas that go unchallenged. Make sure all
students eventually have an opportunity to examine and discuss the
corrected version of the Refutation.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, foreign languages, health, and performing arts. For
example, a social studies teacher might compose a paragraph about
World War II and have students identify and revise the incorrect
statements.

My Notes
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FACT 51

Representation Analysis

Description
Representations include pictures, graphs, animations, charts,
physical replicas, or diagrams that can help us understand key ideas
in science. Since they are not exactly like the real thing,
representations in science often have limitations that can sometimes
convey incorrect ideas. In this FACT, students analyze a scientific
representation by comparing it to the real thing and pointing out
flaws, inaccuracies, or limitations in the representation.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Representation Analysis is used to stimulate student thinking about a
key idea in science by comparing a representation to a real-life
object, situation, or process. Students use their own ideas to decide
whether the representation is an accurate depiction of the object,
situation, or process it is intended to convey. This FACT also helps
students become more aware of the limitations of scientific
representations. For example, Figure 4.44 shows a typical
representation of the Earth’s orbit around the sun, used to teach the
concept of seasons and why they change. Students can point out
several flaws in the representation, such as the Earth looking much
larger in relation to the sun; Earth’s highly elliptical orbit, which
makes it appear as if the Earth is much closer to the sun during parts
of its orbit; Earth’s relative distance from the sun in relation to its
orbital path; or the length of the orbit in comparison to the Earth’s
diameter. During discussions about the representation, students may
be confronted with errors or gaps in their own thinking about the
representation. As other students point out flaws or limitations in the
representation, some students may modify their own ideas as they
assimilate new knowledge.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This FACT provides an opportunity for teachers to determine
whether students may have a misconception that is reinforced by or
developed from a representation. It also reveals whether students
can use ideas developed through instruction to determine when a
representation of a scientific idea is flawed or limited. Representation
Analysis helps teachers recognize when particular representations
used during lessons or contained in students’ instructional materials
may contribute to misconceptions. When these inadequacies in
representations are further supported by students’ failure to
recognize the flaws or limitations, this is a signal to the teacher that
either the representation should not be used or its limiting features
need to be explicitly addressed when used with students.

Figure 4.44 Representation of the Seasons

 SOURCE: NASA.

Design and Administration

Representation Analysis is used after students have had an
opportunity to learn the scientific ideas depicted in the
representation. They use their knowledge to analyze the
representation. Select representations that match the content goals
of the lesson. Science textbooks and Internet sites often contain
flawed representations that can be used for this FACT. Provide the
representation and have students, individually or in groups, note
aspects of the representation that may lead to misunderstandings or
are incorrect. Students should be encouraged to justify their reasons
for why they think the representation is flawed or could be improved.
Have students note what could be done to improve the
representation.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Representation Analysis can be used with any of the core
disciplinary ideas that can be modeled visually. This FACT supports
the practice of developing and using models as a representation can
be considered a type of model. It also supports the practice of
obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information because
science requires the ability to not only read text but to also interpret
charts, graphs, diagrams, and other visual images.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Students’ drawings and other types of representations can also be
used for Representation Analysis. Help students be aware that many
flawed representations in textbooks and on the Internet go unnoticed
by teachers and students. Encourage students to find inaccuracies in
the representations they may encounter both in and outside school
and share them with the class.

Caveats
Make sure students understand that limitations are an inherent
characteristic of representations. It is not always possible to
represent all features accurately (e.g., simultaneously representing
scale size and distance in the universe in a textbook diagram).
However, when there are limitations such as scale, they should be
noted in the captioning.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT is specific to science.

My Notes
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FACT 52

RERUN

Description
RERUN is an acronym that stands for Recall, Explain, Results,
Uncertainties, and New knowledge. Students are asked to write one
or two sentences for each letter of the acronym, related to a
laboratory experience or other type of scientific investigation.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

RERUN is used to help students reflect on their scientific
investigations. It provides a structured opportunity for students to
reflect on what they did, how they did it, and what they learned from
it.

The science learning goals of laboratory experiences include

enhancing mastery of science subject matter, developing
scientific reasoning abilities, increasing understanding of the
complexity and ambiguity of empirical work, developing practical
skills, increasing understanding of the nature of science,
cultivating interest in science and science learning, and
improving teamwork abilities. Research suggests that laboratory
experiences will be more likely to achieve these learning goals if
they (1) are designed with clear learning outcomes in mind, (2)
are thoughtfully sequenced into the flow of classroom science
instruction, (3) integrate learning of science content and
process, and (4) incorporate ongoing student reflection and
discussion. (NRC, 2005, p. 75)

This FACT provides a way for students to share what they learned
from a lab for formative purposes rather than the typical, formal lab
report.
How This FACT Informs Instruction
This FACT provides an opportunity for the teacher to examine, from
the students’ perspective, what students gained from a scientific
investigation. RERUN helps the teacher determine how well the
learning goals that were targeted for the investigation matched what
students gained from it. Results can be used to modify investigations
and laboratory activities to make the learning goals more explicit and
achievable. The teacher can also use the students’ comments to
provide constructive feedback to students on their laboratory
experience for the purpose of helping them improve their ability to
conduct investigations and learn from them.

Design and Administration

Post a RERUN chart in the classroom. Figure 4.45 shows an
example of a RERUN wall chart that can be used in a middle or high
school science laboratory or classroom. Provide time after an
investigation for students to complete the RERUN while the
experience is still fresh in their minds. RERUN can be assigned
individually or completed collaboratively by lab groups. Teachers
may choose to have students share their reflections with others
using PVF or other FACTs that encourage shared reflection. For
example, a chemistry teacher might use RERUN to have students
summarize a lab on single replacement reactions using zinc and
copper sulfate.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
RERUN can be used with any of the core disciplinary ideas that are
developed through a laboratory experience or other type of scientific
investigation. This FACT supports the practice of planning and
carrying out investigations by describing the investigation, the
results, and what was learned from it.

Figure 4.45 RERUN Chart

General Implementation Attributes
Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Teachers can choose to focus on just one part of the RERUN chart
for reflection after each lab or investigation. “New” can be modified to
ask for a new question that resulted from the investigation.

Caveats
RERUN should be used for formative purposes. Avoid using it in
place of a formal lab report and assigning a grade to it.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT is specific to inquiry-based science.

My Notes
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FACT 53

Scientists’ Ideas Comparison

Description
Scientists’ Ideas Comparison is a comparison FACT in which
students compare their thinking about a science concept to the way
a scientist would describe it. They look for similarities and differences
as well as ideas they had not considered.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Scientists’ Ideas Comparison is used to help students make
connections between their way of thinking about a concept or
phenomenon and the way a scientist or someone with an
understanding of the science would explain it. It provides a
metacognitive opportunity for students to examine their thinking to
see how closely their ideas match the scientific ideas. This FACT can
also be used as a self-assessment and reflection activity.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This FACT can be used to compare students’ initial ideas before
instruction to the formal ideas they develop (or will develop) through
instruction. It can also be used after students have had an
opportunity to formally develop scientific ideas to compare their
scientific understanding to the ideas of someone with expert
knowledge of the science. The teacher analyzes students’
comparisons or orchestrates class discussion, noting differences and
similarities between students’ ideas and the scientific ideas. If there
is a wide gap between the students’ ideas and the scientific ideas,
this is a signal to the teacher that additional instructional
opportunities are necessary to develop conceptual understanding.

Design and Administration

Select a formative assessment probe or other scientific question that
will uncover students’ ideas. Identify a text passage or video that
provides scientific information about the concept or phenomenon or
prepare a summary list of the scientific ideas or compose a
paragraph as an example of how a scientist would describe the
concept or phenomenon. Use a valid reference source, teacher
background information from instructional materials, or explanations
from the teacher notes in the assessment probes described in the
Appendix, or consult with a scientist or science-content specialist to
develop the scientists’ ideas. The scientists’ ideas are a formal,
scientific explanation of the concept or phenomenon, preferably
presented in a way that students can understand at their grade level.

Figure 4.46 Example of a Formative Assessment Probe Used With

the Scientists’ Ideas Comparison FACT
 SOURCE: Keeley, P., Eberle, F., & Tugel, J. (2007). Uncovering
student ideas in science: 25 more formative assessment probes
(Vol. 2). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Used with permission.

Ask students to list their ideas about the concept or phenomenon

before giving them the scientists’ ideas. Encourage students to list
ideas that were developed during their discussions or class activities,
citing where their ideas came from, or discuss their ideas in
response to an assessment probe, such as the one in Figure 4.46.
Alternatively, keep a record of the class ideas noted throughout the
instructional sequence, including class discussions, and provide
students with this list. After students’ thinking has been recorded,
provide students with the scientists’ ideas. Have students discuss in
pairs or small groups how close they think their own ideas are to the
scientists’ ideas. Have them identify ideas they had that were similar
to and ideas that were different from the scientists.’ Have them
identify ideas in the scientists’ explanation that they had not
considered. Engage students in a discussion about what they think it
would take to help them move more toward the scientists’ ideas.
Figure 4.47 shows an example of the comparison between students’
initial ideas about food for plants as they discussed their thinking in
response to the formative assessment probe in Figure 4.46 and how
a scientist would explain food for a plant. For example, initially these
students thought anything taken in by the plant was considered food.
The scientist described how sugar is the only food a plant makes and
uses. Nutrients are used by a plant, but not all nutrients are
considered food in a biological sense. Use the feedback to design
targeted learning opportunities that will move students closer to the
scientific view or would improve opportunities to learn the next time
the same lessons are used. A template for this FACT can be
downloaded from www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates.

Figure 4.47 Scientists’ Ideas Comparison of Food for Plants

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Scientists’ Ideas Comparison can be used with any of the core
disciplinary ideas. This FACT supports the practice of constructing
explanations and obtaining, evaluating, and communicating
information. As students make their claims and list their ideas to
share their thinking, they are drawing on prior knowledge and
evidence to explain their reasoning. When presented with the
scientists’ ideas, students are obtaining new information and
analyzing the scientists’ ideas to compare how they are similar to or
different from their ideas (the students’).

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Instead of a comprehensive list, use only one or two ideas with
younger students. A Venn diagram, with two overlapping circles
—“Our Ideas” and “Scientists’ Ideas”—can be used as a graphic
organizer to compare students’ ideas with scientists’ ideas. In the
intersection of the two circles, students record ideas they had that
were similar to the scientists’ ideas. In the Scientists’ Ideas circle,
they record ideas that they did not consider that were the ideas of
the scientists. In the Our Ideas circle, they record their own ideas
that were not listed in the scientists’ ideas. Or provide students with a
three- or four-column chart.

Caveats
Make sure the terminology and descriptions of the scientific ideas
are not too technical for the grade level in which you use this FACT.
If a scientist helps develop the list of scientists’ ideas, you may need
to serve as a translator to make sure it is developmentally
appropriate.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT is specific to science.

My Notes
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FACT 54

Sequencing Cards

Description
Sequencing Cards is used to examine students’ ideas about the
sequence of events or stages that happen during a natural
occurrence or investigation. This FACT involves taking a set of
statements, pictures, ideas, or a combination of all three and
arranging them in a logical order (Naylor et al., 2004).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

The act of thinking about and describing the order of stages or
events activates student thinking. Sequencing Cards can also be
used as an elicitation to help students make predictions about what
they think will happen during a scientific investigation or event. The
FACT provides a focal point for students to discuss what they
anticipate they will observe or learn when they begin an activity,
conduct research into a topic, or design and carry out an
investigation. Revisiting the initial sequences arranged by students
after they have had an opportunity to investigate and develop their
ideas can help students reflect on their learning experience.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Sequencing Cards allows the teacher to examine how students
string together a natural or laboratory-initiated series of events,
changes, processes, or stages and whether students view these as
discrete, disconnected occurrences. The information can be used to
provide real or vicarious experiences that will help students improve
their understanding of a phenomenon that occurs over time. When
used collaboratively, this FACT encourages students to talk about
each of the words, pictures, or statements on the sequence cards.
Teachers carefully listen for any misconceptions, uncertainties, and
prior experiences that surface. The information is used by the
teacher to plan for instruction or modify lessons that target students’
thinking about the sequence of events.

Design and Administration

Select a sequence that will be developed or revealed through a
series of lessons or investigations. Place statements, words, or
pictures on cards that represent the sequence of events, changes,
processes, or stages that occur during a natural process or
laboratory activity. The cards allow students to arrange their ideas as
they think through the sequence. Provide an opportunity for students
to justify why they placed their cards in a particular sequence. When
a group of students reaches consensus on their sequence, have
them glue the cards down or sketch their sequence. These can then
be revisited and revised after students have had an opportunity to
experience or learn about the events, changes, processes, or
stages. Some examples that can be used for sequencing include life
cycles of different types of organisms, a type of physical or chemical
change, decomposition of an object in the environment, cell division,
weathering and erosion, astronomical events such as phases of the
moon or day/night cycle, life processes such as what happens to
food after it is eaten, changes in states of matter, life cycle of a star,
the water cycle, ecological succession of a forest, and energy
transformations. Figure 4.48 is an example of Sequencing Cards
used to describe the motion of a skateboarder. The teacher draws a
picture of a skateboarder standing with his skateboard at the top of
the hill. The skateboarder goes down the hill, then back up again,
and then rides on a straight track. The students are told that friction
is negligible. They sort the Sequencing Cards into a sequence that
describes the motion of the skateboarder and matches them up to
intervals on the skateboarder’s track. Students explain how each
card describes the motion at each interval.
Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
Sequencing Cards can be used with any of the core disciplinary
ideas. This FACT supports the practice of constructing explanations
as students use the sequences to explain the phenomenon, event, or
process.

Figure 4.48 Sequencing Cards for Skateboard Motion

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Use pictures with younger children and limit the number of cards to
no more than four or five. You can modify the cards by leaving out
one of the sequences and inserting a blank card. Have students
come up with the missing part of the sequence and write or draw it
on the card.

Caveats
Don’t use sequences for events, stages, processes, or abstract
changes about which students may not have any prior knowledge or
experience. Make sure students are familiar with the pictures or
words on the cards. The number of steps or stages in the sequence
should depend on the topic and the developmental level of the
students.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in social studies, language arts, health,
and visual and performing arts. For example, in language arts,
students can sequence the events that happen in a story or novel.

My Notes
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FACT 55

Sticky Bars

Description
Sticky Bars help students recognize that there is often a range of
ideas in a class and not every student thinks the same way. Students
are presented with a question that has multiple answer choices. The
answer is anonymously recorded on a sticky note and collected. The
teacher or a student arranges the notes on the wall, whiteboard, or
an easel chart as a bar graph, representing the different student
responses.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Sticky Bars make students’ ideas public. It shows how ideas vary
among students in a class. It helps students understand and accept
that ideas may differ and that science learning involves the process
of working together to develop a common understanding. It is a safe
way for students to share their thinking since the answer choices are
displayed anonymously. It also heightens engagement in the content
by creating interest in wanting to find out the best answer. The
question or probe can be revisited while students gather more
evidence and information through class activities and investigation.
Since this FACT involves displaying data in the form of a bar graph, it
also engages students in examining data.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Sticky Bars can be used as an elicitation to publicly share students’
ideas prior to engaging in instructional activities. Sticky Bars provide
a quick way to identify the range of ideas held by the class, including
the percentage of students who may have a common misconception.
The teacher can use this information to plan targeted learning
experiences. The Sticky Bars can be revisited at any time during
instruction to identify the extent to which students have changed their
original ideas as a result of their learning experiences.

Design and Administration

Develop a selected response question that elicits students’ thinking
beyond factual recall. Familiar Phenomenon Probes, Friendly Talk
Probes, and P-E-O Probes developed by the teacher or provided in
the Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series described in the
Appendix can be used for this FACT. Remind students to record their
own answer, regardless of whether they think it might be right or
wrong. Keep the sticky notes anonymous. Collect and quickly sort
them into like responses (use a student assistant if needed). Create
a bar graph by placing each similar response atop the other. Figure
4.49 shows an example of a formative assessment probe that was
used with the Sticky Bars strategy. The students committed to a
prediction, anonymously recorded the letter of the answer choice that
matched their prediction on a sticky note, and a bar graph (Figure
4.50) was constructed and displayed to show student results. After
seeing the data, the students discussed the reasons behind their
predictions and planned an investigation so that they could test their
predictions and use their observations to determine what the best
answer choice should be. The teacher listened for evidence of
conceptual change during the investigation and discussion of
observations that followed.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Sticky Bars can be used with any of the core disciplinary ideas. This
FACT supports the practice of planning and carrying out
investigations when the strategy is combined with a P-E-O Probe.
Students launch into an investigation to test their ideas and
determine the best answer choice. It also supports the practice of
obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information because
students obtain more information to revisit their answer choices and
use new information to solidify or change their answer choice and
explanation.

Figure 4.49 Solids and Holes Formative Assessment Probe Used

With Sticky Bars
 SOURCE: Keeley, P., Eberle, F., & Tugel, J. (2007). Uncovering
student ideas in science: 25 more formative assessment probes
(Vol. 2). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Used with permission.

Figure 4.50 Sticky Bars

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low
Cognitive Demand: Depends on the question used

Modifications
For teachers with more than one class, consider using a different
color for each class and making a combined histogram of responses
from all classes. Compare differences or similarities across classes.
A high-tech version of Sticky Bars involves the use of personal
response systems commonly referred to as clickers. If sticky notes
are not available, mark each student response with an X on a wall
graph. Add an “other” option on the X-axis for students who may
have an answer different from the choices provided.

Caveats
Avoid questions that produce data that are difficult or time-
consuming to categorize, such as answers that involve long
descriptions or sentences. Sticky Bars work best with data from
selected response questions that can easily be categorized. Be
aware that this FACT reveals students’ claims (answer choice) but
does not include an explanation for their claim.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and performing arts. For
example, in a health class, students select an answer that describes
how they think AIDS is transmitted.

My Notes
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FACT 56

STIP—Scientific Terminology Inventory Probe

Description
STIP is a short, simple questionnaire that reveals students’ familiarity
with the scientific terminology they will encounter in a curricular unit.
Students select a response based on their level of familiarity. If
students claim to be familiar with the terminology, they are asked to
provide a description to reveal the extent to which they have a
conceptual understanding of the term.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

This FACT provides a metacognitive opportunity for students to
determine how familiar they are with the scientific terminology used
in a curricular unit or their instructional materials. Students may recall
a scientific term but have minimal conceptual understanding of its
meaning. Conversely, some students may realize they not only recall
a term from prior experiences but understand it well enough to
explain it to another student.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

STIP is used at the beginning of a sequence of lessons to determine
the extent of familiarity of the scientific terminology students will
encounter through instruction. The results are used to consider ways
to effectively introduce terminology into an instructional unit so that
students can both define a term and understand it conceptually.

Design and Administration

Select no more than twelve words from the key scientific terminology
that students will learn and use during the topic of instruction or that
they will encounter in their instructional materials. Figure 4.51 shows
an example of a STIP for an Earth science unit on plate tectonics.
Leave plenty of space for students who know the term to be able to
describe it, using formal or operational definitions, descriptions, or
examples. Collect and save student responses if you are planning to
administer the STIP again as a postassessment, providing an
opportunity for students to reflect on their pre- and postfamiliarity
with scientific terminology and conceptual understanding of the
terminology used during the unit of instruction. A template for this
FACT can be downloaded from
www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates.

Figure 4.51 STIP for a Plate Tectonics Unit

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
STIP can be used with any of the core disciplinary ideas. This FACT
supports the practice of obtaining, evaluating, and communicating
information because students must be familiar with the scientific
terminology used in text and other materials they use to obtain
scientific information.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Low/Medium

Modifications
For the third selected response (some idea what it means), consider
leaving a blank space to have students describe their preconceived
ideas about the term. With younger students, consider using only a
few key scientific terms, providing an opportunity for them to explain
their understanding of the word orally or in drawings.

Caveats
Be aware that students can memorize definitions without conceptual
understanding. STIPs are used to gauge familiarity with terminology,
not assess for deep conceptual understanding.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used with terminology encountered in
mathematics, social studies, language arts, health, foreign
languages, and visual and performing arts. Change the S to the letter
of the subject area. For example, some MTIP terms for a
trigonometry unit might include: opposite leg, adjacent leg,
hypotenuse, secant, cosecant, right triangle, tangent, cosine, and
sine.

My Notes
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FACT 57

Student Evaluation of Learning Gains

Description
The Student Evaluation of Learning Gains is a teacher-designed
instrument used to gather feedback on students’ perceptions of how
well a unit of instruction helped them learn. It consists of statements,
on a 3- to 5-point scale, about the “degree of gain” in areas such as
skills, content knowledge, attitudes, and dispositions toward science.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Use of a student evaluation instrument provides an opportunity for
students to reflect on their own learning processes and to become
aware of what they think supports or impedes their learning. It
provides an opportunity for students to self-assess the extent to
which they feel they gained new knowledge, skills, attitudes, or
dispositions. It increases engagement in learning and student
motivation when students see that their teachers take the feedback
seriously to improve their teaching for the benefit of their students.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

A formal student evaluation instrument of a unit of instruction can
spotlight teaching strategies and components of an instructional unit
that are seen by students as best supporting student learning and
those that need improvement. The FACT provides an opportunity for
teachers to analyze their instruction through the eyes of their
students. The feedback allows teachers to effectively adjust their
teaching strategies and activities to better meet student learning
needs.

Design and Administration

Translate your instructional unit into evaluation statements that
reflect the content, instructional strategies, and activities that
occurred during the sequence of instruction. Use the example in
Figure 4.52 as a guide. For middle and high school students, see the
Appendix for a link to a website that will help you create an online
learning gains survey that students can complete online, or you can
use web-based survey software that your school may have available
and post the survey online for students. For each item, keep in mind
that you are trying to get feedback on students’ personal learning
gains for each component of the instructional unit that you deem
important. Check the questions to ensure that they are clear,
unambiguous, and do not ask about more than one thing. Explain to
students how to fill out the form and when it is due. You might
consider giving it as a homework assignment to provide enough time
for students to thoughtfully complete it online or as a paper-and-
pencil survey. Emphasize the importance and usefulness of the
feedback the students provide for you and the seriousness with
which their responses and comments are taken. After responses are
analyzed, consider sharing with students what you learned from their
comments and how they will be used with them as well as with future
classes.

A template for the form in Figure 4.52 can be downloaded from

www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Student Evaluation of Learning Gains can be used for feedback on
the effectiveness of instruction related to any of the disciplinary core
ideas, crosscutting concepts, or scientific practices.
General Implementation Attributes
Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
The evaluation form may also be used partway through a unit of
instruction to make midcourse corrections to the instructional
methods or activities used. You may consider other data to be
correlated with learning gains, such as gender, grade level (e.g.,
multigrade classes in high school), class (if not self-contained), and
so on.

Caveats
To ensure meaningful results, student responses should be
anonymous. Beware of changing the emphasis of the instrument on
student “gains” to other purposes such as asking students what they
“liked” about the unit. The purpose of this FACT should stay focused
on student achievement by emphasizing what students perceive as a
gain in their learning.

Figure 4.52 Student Evaluation of Learning Gains for an Elementary

Force and Motion Unit
Use With Other Disciplines
This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in an elementary mathematics unit on Data
Analysis, some survey items might include: the How Many of Each
activity, computer simulations, reading graphs from newspapers, the
What If? investigation, and the Card Sorts activity.

My Notes
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FACT 58

Synectics

Description
The word Synectics is derived from a Greek term meaning the fitting
together of different and apparently irrelevant elements. This FACT
uses analogies to connect students’ ideas with a concept or topic.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Synectics provides a metacognitive opportunity for students to
examine what they know about a concept or topic using a conceptual
analogy. It can be used to jump-start their learning and engage
students in a creative way to link prior knowledge to new information.
Exchanging Synectics examples with their peers helps students
make new connections, solidify understandings, and improve
retention of information.
How This FACT Informs Instruction
Analogies are a type of conceptual model (American Association for
the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 1988) that can give teachers a
glimpse into student thinking. The use of analogies in Synectics
provides an opportunity for the teacher to examine the connections
students bring to their learning. It surfaces difficulties students have
in thinking about a concept or topic as well as misconceptions and
inaccuracies related to the content they are learning. It also reveals
the depth of thinking students have about an abstract concept. The
information is used to modify teaching or plan for additional
opportunities to develop conceptual understanding.

Design and Administration

Students are provided with a chart containing four to six boxes. They
are given a category, seemingly unrelated to the identified concept,
and asked to fill in the four squares with an item from that category.
They are then given a concept or topic to use in creating an analogy
for each of the items in the boxes. For example, in Figure 4.53
students are given the category “things at a fast-food restaurant.” A
student might record french fries, burgers, drive-thru window, and
milk shakes. The students are then given a scientific concept or topic
to relate each of the items to using the following completion
sentence: A __________ is like __________ because __________.
If the concept given was “mixture,” a student might fill in the milk
shake box with, “A mixture is like a milk shake because milk and ice
cream are combined to make something that together is different
from the individual ingredients.” After students have filled in their
Synectics chart, have pairs of students share their analogies with
each other and then with the class. The teacher and/or class can
provide feedback on the aptness of the analogies to further guide
students’ learning. For example, one student might give feedback on
the milk shake analogy that might include mention that the individual
ingredients in the milk shake are not combined chemically; they still
retain their own character and can be physically separated. A
template for this FACT can be downloaded from
www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Synectics can be used with concepts or topics related to any of the
disciplinary core ideas or crosscutting concepts. It can be used with
the scientific practices if the categories represent actions or
processes. For example, students can be asked to list things you do
when you plan for and go on a vacation. They can then create
analogies using any of the practices or select one practice to focus
on, such as planning and carrying out an investigation.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low/Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
Instead of having students list the items, consider choosing unrelated
items that would lend themselves to the concept or topic being
described. For example, a four-box Synectics developed by the
teacher to create analogies on the topic of cell structure and function
might include dumpster, hard drive, gate, and train. Synectics can be
assigned as a brainstorming activity in small groups, with the
students filling in as many completions as they can in an allotted time
(Lipton & Wellman, 1998). Each group then chooses the example to
share with the class. For younger students, consider using Visual
Synectics. Give students a set of picture cards and ask them how a
_____ is like the picture on the card.

Figure 4.53 Four-Square Synectics for Mixtures

Caveats
Analogies are a type of model. Recognizing when an analogy is not
apt is a critical skill in critiquing the usefulness of models (AAAS,
1993). Make sure that students understand the usefulness of
analogies but recognize that the similarity between a concept or topic
and the analogy is not always completely accurate.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. In language arts, students can be asked to list parts of clothing
and create analogies for the topic parts of speech.

My Notes
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FACT 59

Ten-Two

Description
Ten-Two is a reflection strategy originally developed by Dr. Mary
Budd Rowe. It is especially useful for lecture or watching a video.
After 10 minutes of instruction that involves a large amount of
information, students take 2 minutes to reflect on and summarize
what they have learned thus far.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Ten-Two provides a metacognitive opportunity for students to
frequently summarize and reflect on their learning, particularly when
large amounts of information, difficult and abstract ideas, or new
information is presented either by the teacher or through a guest
lecture, or video, audio, or other media.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Ten-Two is primarily used as a metacognitive instructional technique.
When linking it to formative assessment for the purpose of informing
instruction, the teacher asks if the students are ready to move on
after they have had an opportunity to summarize; or when the
teacher circulates throughout the classroom and examines students’
summary notes or discussions with a partner, it may reveal that
students are struggling with some ideas and are not ready to
proceed further without additional instruction. It is also useful when
the teacher is giving lengthy instructions on procedures, practices, or
processes that students are expected to use. Student feedback on
use of this strategy may reinforce the critical need to build in short
periods of reflection time throughout any lesson.
Design and Administration
Explain the purpose of the Ten-Two to the students. After 10 minutes
of instruction, give students 2 minutes of time to quietly think,
summarize, look at their notes, jot down key points or learnings, or
discuss what they have learned so far with a partner.

Combine this FACT with Fist to Five to determine whether students

feel they are ready to proceed or need more time to discuss their
ideas with the class. Resume instruction and repeat again after 10
minutes if needed. Debrief the usefulness of this FACT with students
the first time it is used to get their feedback on whether it was helpful
to them.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Ten-Two can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas or
crosscutting concepts. It can be used with any of the scientific
practices when students are learning about the practice or given
instructions that include use of the practices.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Use any time interval: 5–1, 7–2, 10–3, 15–5, and so on. With
younger students, combine this with the commonly used turn and
talk routine. For example, an elementary teacher might use 5–2 with
a 15-minute video explaining how groups of animals depend on each
other for survival. At 5-minute intervals she stops the video and has
the students turn and talk to their partner to summarize what they
learned from the video. Before the teacher moves on to the next part
of the video, she checks in with the class to see if they are ready to
move to the next part of the video. She asks if any questions came
up during their pair talk that need to be addressed before they
resume watching the video.

Caveats
Break for summarizing only when the flow of the lesson is not
compromised. Breaking at 10-minute intervals without considering
how the concepts are unfolding may contribute to incoherency. It is
also important to recognize the difference between recall and
conceptual understanding. Often the latter takes much longer to
develop, although recall can provide a starting point to build off of
with students’ own ideas.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in a dance class, the teacher stops at certain
intervals to give students time to summarize and practice the steps
with each other.

My Notes
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FACT 60

Thinking Log

Description
Thinking Logs are a type of writing journal used during inquiry-based
science and conceptual-change instruction in which students react to
a series of sentence stems as thinking starters. The purpose is to
prompt metacognition during students’ investigative and concept
development learning experiences (Flick & Tomlinson, 2006).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Thinking Logs promote metacognition and help students see how
their prior knowledge, readings, and classroom experiences relate to
their science investigations and the development of concept
knowledge. Using this FACT helps students become more aware of
their own learning and what they can do to self-direct it.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Thinking Logs help the teacher identify areas where the students are
aware of their own learning successes or challenges. The
information can be used to provide help for individual or groups of
students as well as match students with peers who may provide
learning support. Thinking Logs may also indicate instances where
the class as a whole is having difficulty with an investigation or other
type of learning experience. It then serves as a signal to the teacher
to modify or redirect the experience to meet the learning needs of the
class. For example, students were observing mealworms to collect
and analyze data about their life cycle. Some examples from
students’ mealworm investigation Thinking Logs are:

I didn’t expect the mealworm to look like a mummy when it

turned into a pupa.
What puzzled me the most is how it looks so different from the
beetles.
I think the best part was when we found the beetles in the
oatmeal.
I was really surprised when the pupa wiggled. I thought it was
dead.
I feel really good about the way I drew the stages. My drawings
were good. They showed the legs and everything.
I’m not sure where the mealworms came from because we didn’t
have any eggs.

Design and Administration

Thinking Logs can be constructed for an individual unit of instruction
from five to six sheets of paper folded and center stapled. Students
personalize the cover of their Thinking Log. Inside the cover of the
Thinking Log, print, paste, or attach a sticker with the thinking stems
you would like students to use. Examples of thinking stems are
shown in Figure 4.54.

Composition or spiral notebooks can also be used for Thinking Logs

that are used throughout the year rather than for individual units. Use
impromptu moments during a learning experience or at the end of a
lesson for students to record in their Thinking Logs. Students choose
the thinking stem that would best describe their thinking at that
moment. Provide a few minutes for students to write down their
thoughts using the stem. If the purpose of using the Thinking Log is
to promote student metacognition, there is no need to collect the
logs. However, there are times when it is helpful to collect the logs
and analyze them to gather information to inform instruction.
Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
Thinking Logs can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas or
crosscutting concepts. The FACT can be used with any of the
scientific practices when students are learning about or using the
practice. It is especially useful in having students reflect on three-
dimensional learning that connects the disciplinary core ideas,
crosscutting concepts, and scientific practices.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
As students become used to using the Thinking Logs, ask them to
generate additional thinking stems. With younger students, it may be
helpful to begin by choosing a common thinking stem that everyone
responds to, giving examples of how to fill in the stem the first time it
is used. Thinking Logs can also be incorporated into the Scientists’
Notebook strategy used by elementary and middle school teachers
to combine science and language literacy (Campbell & Fulton, 2003;
Rupp, 2007).

Figure 4.54 Thinking Log Stems

Caveats
If you are collecting Thinking Logs for analysis, be sure to let
students know that the reason you are reading their responses is to
help you adjust instruction to meet their needs. Otherwise, students
may feel their entries are being read to pass judgment on their
abilities or performance, which might change the reflective nature of
their entries.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in mathematics, students use Thinking Logs to
reflect on a problem-solving activity.

My Notes
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FACT 61

Think-Pair-Share

Description
Think-Pair-Share combines thinking with communication. The
teacher poses a question and gives individual students time to think
about the question. Students then pair up with a partner to discuss
their ideas. After pairs discuss, students share their ideas in a small
group or whole-class discussion.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Think-Pair-Share begins by providing students with an opportunity to
activate their own thinking before sharing with others. Because this is
a silent phase that includes wait time, all students are able to think
without some students answering the teacher’s question and then
the teacher moves on. The pairing strategy allows students to safely
share their ideas and modify them or construct new knowledge as
they interact with their peers. By talking in pairs, students who are
reluctant to share their thinking in a whole-group discussion are able
to “go public” for discussion and feedback with at least one student.
When students are asked to share ideas with a larger group, they
are more willing to respond after they have had a chance to discuss
their ideas with another student. As a result, the quality of their
responses improves. This FACT also contributes to students’ verbal
communication skills as they discuss their ideas with one another.
Think-Pair-Share can also be used as an end-of-unit reflection by
asking students to think about and discuss their response to a
reflective prompt given by the teacher. Because this FACT structures
the discussion, student responses are much richer.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

As students share ideas from their paired discussions, the teacher
notes inaccurate ideas or flaws in reasoning that may need to be
addressed in targeted instruction. The “share” part of this FACT
provides an opportunity for the teacher to probe deeper after
students have had an opportunity to surface their ideas with a
partner. The whole-class discussion also provides an opportunity for
the teacher and class to give feedback on students’ ideas. When
used as an end-of-unit reflection, the teacher can glean useful
information about what students felt was most effective for their
learning and use that information the next time the unit is taught or in
subsequent units that employ or can employ similar strategies and
approaches.

Design and Administration

This FACT can be used during any stage of instruction. It begins by
posing an open-ended question and giving students “think time” to
activate their own ideas. For example, before beginning a lesson on
predictable motions of the sun, Earth, and moon, students might be
asked, “How would you describe where the sun is at different times
of the day? Draw a picture to help you explain your thinking.”
Students are then paired up and share their thinking with a partner.
During the pair sharing, students are encouraged to give feedback to
each other. After pair talk, students transition to a whole-class
discussion. The teacher can, round robin style, ask each pair to
share something they talked about, choose students at random to
share their thinking, or ask for volunteers. Ideas should be recorded
for the class to consider, evaluate, and give feedback after the class
has had an opportunity to share all ideas. The teacher makes note of
any misconceptions, inaccuracies, ideas students are struggling with,
and terminology students use or need to learn. This FACT can also
be administered as a Think-Ink-Pair-Share where students are asked
to write down their ideas before sharing with a partner. Following
“think time,” students pair up with a learning partner to share,
discuss, clarify, and challenge each other’s ideas. The pair then
shares their thinking with a larger group.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Think-Pair-Share can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas
or crosscutting concepts to support content learning as well as be
combined with any of the scientific practices. It can also be used to
introduce and discuss how the practices are used. For example, a
Think-Pair-Share might be used to discuss how a scientific argument
is different from an everyday argument with family or friends.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
The “share” part of this FACT can be combined with Partner Speaks.
Not limited to pairs, it can also be used in a triad. The FACT can be
modified as a Think-Pair-Do-Share in an inquiry-based context.
Students think about their own predictions in regard to an
investigation, pair up to share their reasons for their prediction,
perform the investigation or research, and then share their findings
with a larger group, including how their results or findings matched
their original prediction.

Caveats
Use different pairing strategies to ensure students have the
opportunity to form pairs with students other than their friends or the
students who sit next to them to avoid having students always
interact with the same group of peers.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and performing arts. For
example, this FACT is often used in language arts to help readers
make sense of text and is especially helpful in supporting struggling
readers.

My Notes
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FACT 62

Thought Experiments

Description
A Thought Experiment involves a prediction about what would
happen in a situation that could not be easily carried out as a real
experiment. Students provide an explanation to support their
prediction. Thought Experiments are impossible to carry out in a
classroom or other real setting but are useful as novel situations for
stimulating deep thinking that draws on students’ ideas. Thought
Experiments have been used throughout history to construct
understanding. For example, Einstein used a Thought Experiment
when he imagined himself running to catch up with a beam of light.
He imagined that running at the front of the beam might be like
running from the end of a pier toward the shore alongside an
incoming wave. He figured that if he ran at the same speed as the
wave, the wave wouldn’t appear to be moving. This thought
experiment led to the development of his theory of relativity
(Marzano, 2011).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Thought Experiments provide an engaging way for students to
activate their thinking and apply their ideas in a novel situation. It
generates interest in “finding out” by wanting to learn more about the
content related to the hypothetical question. As a group activity,
Thought Experiments promote interesting debate and scientific
argument. They can also spark inquiry and connections to other
ideas as students think about ways they can test predictions in
related contexts or with models. As a natural part of human cognition
when we strive to understand something we cannot directly
manipulate, Thought Experiments in science involve the
manipulation of mental images. Students first visualize the
phenomenon or event, mentally manipulate the tested variable in
their heads, and use scientific reasoning to predict the outcome.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Students’ predictions about the outcome of a Thought Experiment
provide a glimpse into students’ thinking and how they draw on a
network of ideas to construct an explanation. This is particularly
helpful in abstract situations where it is not possible to design and
carry out a hands-on investigation. As students explain their ideas
and provide reasons for their prediction, the teacher gains
information about student thinking that can be used to design and
monitor subsequent learning experiences that alternate between the
imaginary scenario and actual experimentation. Thought
Experiments also provide an opportunity to determine the extent to
which students can transfer conceptual understanding to a novel,
imaginary context.

Design and Administration

Thought Experiments can be designed to address students’
commonly held ideas. They can be presented through stories,
pictures, text, discussion, or any combination of these. They can be
used as an individual or group activity. Present students with the
Thought Experiment and provide time for them to imagine and
discuss their predictions. Encourage the students to form mental
images of the situation that they can manipulate in their heads and to
draw their models to share and describe their thinking. Use the
students’ ideas to plan instruction that will provide opportunities for
them to manipulate simulations or other models and obtain
information from text or other sources that they can use to develop
their explanations. Revisit the Thought Experiment after students
have had opportunities to develop their ideas and revise their initial
predictions and explanations to gather evidence of conceptual
change or deeper understanding. Figure 4.55 is an example of a
Thought Experiment used to elicit students’ ideas about gravity.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Thought Experiments can be used with disciplinary core ideas or
crosscutting concepts, especially cause and effect. The FACT
supports the practice of developing and using models since Thought
Experiments involve the manipulation of mental images. It also
supports the practices of constructing scientific explanations and
engaging in argument from evidence because students develop an
explanation to support their prediction and use their explanations to
engage in argumentation. The initial use of a Thought Experiment is
followed by the practice of obtaining, evaluating, and communicating
information because students seek information that will help them
understand the situation and use this information to revise their initial
predictions and explanations.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium

Cognitive Demand: High

Figure 4.55 Thought Experiment

 SOURCE: Keeley, P., & Sneider, C. (2012). Uncovering student
ideas in astronomy: 45 new formative assessment probes.
Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. Used with permission.

Modifications
Have students come up with ideas for Thought Experiments. Use
situations that are less abstract for younger students.

Caveats
Thought Experiments often use hypothetical situations that may not
be realistic or involve multiple variables. For example, the ball
dropped through the center of Earth would encounter intense heat
that would cause it to burn up. In this situation, you would ask
students to imagine that the ball does not burn up or melt. Be sure
students understand the imaginary nature of the context in order not
to convey misconceptions by the context used.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, language arts, and
social studies, especially in thinking about causal events. For
example, in a social studies class, students might think about how
the course of history may have been different if Adolf Hitler had not
been rejected by the art school he had applied to in Vienna, Austria.

My Notes
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FACT 63

Three-Minute Pause

Description
The Three-Minute Pause provides a break during a block of
instruction to provide time for students to summarize, clarify, and
reflect on their understanding through discussion with a partner or
small group. A Three-Minute Pause is especially helpful when large
amounts of information need to be processed for understanding.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

This FACT provides a short, metacognitive break during a hands-on
activity, video, lecture, reading assignment, or other activity so that
students can think about what they are doing and learning before
proceeding to the next phase of instruction. By breaking up an
information-heavy lesson or complex activity, students are better
able to process and retain the important conceptual understandings
from the learning experience. The discussion that occurs between
pairs or triads provides an opportunity for students to help resolve
difficulties they may be experiencing in understanding the concept,
skill, or procedure targeted in the lesson.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Since this FACT requires students to monitor their understanding
and work together to clarify any difficulties they are having at a given
point in time, it allows the teacher to move ahead with instruction
without significantly interrupting the flow of instruction. The
responsibility for making sense of the lesson is initially put on the
students. The final 3-minute pause provides an opportunity for
students to list any lingering questions or ideas they are having
difficulty understanding that were not resolved in their peer
discussions. This information can then be used by the teacher to
clarify parts of the lesson or to design additional experiences to
support student understanding.

Design and Administration

Decide when it is a good time to logically break during a lesson or
activity. Provide pairs or triads of students with 3-minute sand egg
timers (these can be purchased inexpensively at a kitchen supply
store) or use another timing device. Everyone starts their timers at
the same time on cue. Groups discuss the ideas from the lesson or
activity for 3 minutes, helping each other process their thoughts and
clarify misunderstandings. When 3 minutes are up, students stop
talking and direct their attention once again to the teacher, video,
lesson, or reading they are engaged in, and the lesson resumes
seamlessly. It is remarkable how much students can say in 3
minutes! Anything left unresolved is recorded after the time runs out
and saved for the final 3-minute pause at the end. The teacher
continues with the lesson rather than interrupting the flow with
questions because sometimes these questions are resolved further
on during the lesson. At the end of the lesson or sequence of
instruction, students have 3 minutes to discuss and resolve any
lingering questions. Unresolved questions are then shared with the
teacher or the whole class for clarification. The teacher may also
choose to collect written lingering questions to address at the
beginning of the next lesson.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Three-Minute Pause can be used with any of the disciplinary core
ideas or crosscutting concepts to support content learning as well as
be combined with any of the scientific practices, especially when
students are learning how to use the practice in the context of the
content they are learning.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
For difficult topics, it may be necessary to extend the time for
discussion or take time to clarify unresolved questions before
resuming. For example, a high school might break up a lesson on
how genes code for proteins.

Caveats
Use this strategy only when there is a need to process large
amounts of information; otherwise, it becomes a trivial exercise that
can interrupt the flow of learning.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in social studies, a teacher might use the 3-minute
pause while students watch a video on the women’s suffrage
movement to understand how women got the right to vote.

My Notes
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FACT 64

Three-Two-One

Description
Three-Two-One provides a structured way for students to reflect on
their learning. Students respond in writing to three reflective prompts,
providing six responses (three of the first, two of the second, and one
final reflection) that describe what they learned from a lesson or
instructional sequence.

How This FACT Promotes Learning

Three-Two-One is a technique that scaffolds students’ reflections.
The scaffold activates thinking about key learnings (Lipton &
Wellman, 1998). This FACT provides students with an opportunity to
share their success in learning difficult or new concepts as well as
recognize what was challenging for them.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Three-Two-One provides feedback to the teacher about what
students learned from a lesson or sequence of lessons. The
feedback reveals how well the goals of a lesson were met by the
intended lesson or activity, the extent to which students feel they
understood the content of the lesson, ideas which may require
additional instruction, and ways to address individual learning needs.
The FACT can also be used to individualize further instruction to
target individual students’ learning needs.

Design and Administration

This strategy is best used with difficult concepts or during an
instructional sequence when students have learned something new.
Figure 4.56 shows an example of a Three-Two-One reflection sheet.
A template for this FACT can be downloaded from
www.uncoveringstudentideas.org/templates. Provide students with a
copy of the reflection sheet and time to complete their reflection. The
feedback should be used immediately to plan for the next day’s
lesson. Share the feedback with students before beginning the next
lesson so that they know that their feedback was valued and used by
the teacher to address their learning needs.

For example, after completing a lesson on conservation of matter

during a chemical reaction when a gas is produced, students list the
three things they learned from the lab activity, two things they are still
struggling with, and one thing that will help them the next day. In
examining the three things students learned, the teacher looks for
evidence that students understood that mass was conserved, ideas
they are still struggling with, and suggestions for improving their
opportunity to learn.

Figure 4.56 Example of a Three-Two-One Reflection Sheet

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
Three-Two-One can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas
or crosscutting concepts to support content learning as well as be
combined with any of the scientific practices, especially when
students are learning how to use the practice in the context of the
content they are learning.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
Three-Two-One can also be customized to gather evidence of how
students are learning to use the scientific practices. For example, the
following can be used with elementary students who are learning
how to design their own experiment so that it is a “fair test”: three
things I learned about designing my own experiment, two things I am
still wondering about, and one thing that would help me the next time
I design an experiment. If more information is desired for a particular
instructional situation, consider a Five-Three-One.

Caveats
Don’t use this FACT unless the reflective feedback can be used the
next day to improve students’ opportunity to learn.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, a Three-Two-One in an art class may be used to
reflect on how well students feel they have been able to use a
particular technique.

My Notes
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FACT 65

Traffic Light Cards

Description
Traffic Light Cards are a variation on the popular “traffic lighting”
instant feedback strategy originated in the United Kingdom (Black et
al., 2003). The traffic light icons—red-, yellow-, and green-colored
“lights”—are used to visually represent levels of student
understanding so that teachers can monitor student learning at a
quick glance. Students are given three different colored cards used
to self-assess their understanding. Students hold up the colored card
that best matches their level understanding.
How This FACT Promotes Student Learning
Traffic Light Cards promote metacognition by helping students think
about what they do or do not understand while helping them develop
self-assessment skills (Black & Harrison, 2004). Students use the
cards to indicate to the teacher when they need support for their
learning.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Traffic Light Cards are a monitoring strategy that can be used at any
time during instruction to help the teacher gauge the extent of
student understanding, which in turn informs the pace of instruction.
The colors indicate whether students have full, partial, or limited or
no understanding. When students are asked to hold up the card that
best represents where they are in their current understanding, the
teacher can get a quick snapshot of the class as well as individual
students’ level of understanding. If the majority of students hold up
red, this is a clear indication to the teacher that instruction needs to
be modified to accommodate the needs of the class. Conversely, a
majority of greens indicates that most of the class is ready to move
on. A mixture of colors indicates the need to provide peer and
teacher support before moving on. For example, the yellow card
students can be matched up with green card students to help them
address difficulties in their understanding. This frees up time for the
teacher to work with the red card students who may have more
serious learning difficulties. Because this FACT is so visual, the
teacher can get instant feedback from students.

Design and Administration

Cut red, yellow, and green squares out of card stock. Provide
students with a set to keep in their desk, the inside flap of their
notebook, or an other accessible area. When the teacher knows the
traffic cards will be used in a lesson, students are asked to put them
on their desk. When the teacher decides on the right moment to get
feedback from students on their understanding, students are asked
to hold up the card that represents how well they feel they
understand what they have been doing or learning thus far. For
example, elementary students may be asked to hold up cards to
indicate the extent to which they feel they can use a model to show
why we have day and night on Earth. A traffic light graphic posted in
the front of the room can be used to remind students what the colors
represent. Small party plates can also be used and are durable
enough to use throughout the school year. Keep a stack of red,
yellow, and green party plates and distribute to students to use when
you plan on using traffic lighting during a lesson, or distribute to
students to keep throughout the year.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Traffic Light Cards can be used with any of the disciplinary core
ideas or crosscutting concepts to support content learning as well as
be combined with any of the scientific practices, especially when
students are learning how to use the practice in the context of the
content they are learning.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Low

Modifications
Traffic Light Cards can also be used with assessment probes to
indicate students’ confidence level in their commitment to an idea.
For example, a green card represents confidence, yellow represents
some confidence, and red represents no confidence or a guess. Flip
cards for readiness can also be made by gluing a red card to a green
card. Students hold up the side that represents how ready they are
to proceed with the lesson or next step in a procedure. The green
side indicates readiness, and the red side indicates that students are
not yet ready.

Caveats
Make sure the green card students who are matched up to help the
yellow card students have an accurate grasp of the content or skill
targeted by the lesson so that adequate peer support can be
provided. Choose students carefully for peer assistance.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in mathematics, it can be used to monitor whether
students are able to perform a computation.

My Notes
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FACT 66
Traffic Light Cups

Description
Traffic Light Cups signal to the teacher when groups need help or
feedback during investigations or other group work. Red, yellow, and
green stackable party cups placed in the center of a group’s table or
lab station represent whether members of a group are able to
proceed on their own, have a question for the teacher or need some
assistance, or are stuck and cannot proceed without help.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Traffic Light Cups support self-monitoring by using an indicator signal
that students can proceed with a task without assistance or require
help or feedback from the teacher.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

During investigations and other group activities, the teacher is
constantly monitoring groups that need assistance. Traffic Light Cups
provide a visual signal to the teacher about when a group may need
assistance. It allows the teacher to use time more efficiently to work
with groups that have the greatest needs. Traffic Light Cups signal to
the teacher when a group is proceeding successfully without the
need for assistance (green), when members of a group might like
feedback or assistance from the teacher to continue with their work
yet are still able to proceed while they wait for the teacher (yellow),
or when a group is stuck and can’t go any further without assistance
from the teacher (red). For example, during an activity when groups
are building electric circuits, one group thinks they may have a
defective light bulb as they have tried every configuration and cannot
get their bulb to light. They put the red cup on the outside so that the
teacher can check their bulb and replace it if necessary.

Design and Administration

Obtain green, yellow, and red stackable party cups of the same size
from a party store. Give each group a set of cups and ask them to
stack them, one inside the other, with every group starting with the
green cup on the outside. The stack of cups is placed in the center of
their work area where it can be seen by the teacher.

All groups should start with green on the outside. As their needs for
instructional support from the teacher increase, students change the
outer color to yellow or red. As the teacher scans the room, students
with red cups on the outside receive assistance first, followed by
yellow cups.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Traffic Light Cups can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas
or crosscutting concepts to support content learning. It can also be
used with the scientific practices that involve mathematics, modeling,
and investigation.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Low

Modifications
Traffic Light Cups can also be used for individual tasks. They can
also be used to signal time on task. Green means the group
members feel they have plenty of time and will finish on schedule.
Yellow signifies the group may need more time but, overall, is close
to being on target to finish. Red signifies that they are behind and will
need more time to finish.

Caveats
When this strategy is new, students need to be frequently reminded
to change their outer cup when their learning needs change. The
teacher should check in occasionally with the green cups to keep
informed of the groups’ progress.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in mathematics, students use traffic cups during a
group problem-solving activity.

My Notes
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FACT 67

Traffic Light Dots

Description
Traffic Light Dots are used by students to self-assess their work and
get feedback from peers or the teacher. Small peel-off colored dots
that come in sheets from office supply stores serve as traffic signal
icons. Students place the dots in the margins of their work to indicate
areas where they feel they successfully completed the task (green),
areas where they aren’t sure about their work and would like
feedback (yellow), and areas where they feel they didn’t understand
or perform well on the task and need help (red).

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Traffic Light Dots provide a way for students to self-assess areas of
their work and seek feedback to improve. When providing feedback,
this FACT promotes learning. When students exchange a traffic-light-
dotted paper with another student, it encourages them to think about
the concepts and ideas to provide useful and accurate feedback to
other students.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Student work submitted to the teacher for feedback that has been
traffic-light-dotted saves considerable time on the part of the teacher
by enabling the teacher to focus on the yellow areas for feedback
and the red areas to provide help to students who are having
difficulty understanding a concept or procedure. A quick scan of a
collection of student work from the class that contains a lot of red
dots signifies to the teacher that students may not have been ready
for the assignment or task and require an adjustment in instruction to
help students develop the understanding needed to complete the
task. Conversely, papers that have a lot of green dots signify that
students were generally able to use their understanding to complete
the task. A mixture of dots may indicate the need to have students
work in groups to help each other. For example, a student who put a
green dot in an area of his or her work may help a student with
yellow or red in the same area.
For example, this FACT might be used when students revisit their
initial explanation to a formative assessment probe, after they have
had opportunities to learn about the concept. The probe asks
students what they think would happen to the temperature reading
on a thermometer if it is placed inside a mitten for 5 minutes. Initially,
most of the students thought the temperature would increase. After
testing their predictions, they observed that it stayed the same.
During the sense-making discussion, the teacher introduced the
concept of transfer of energy with heat moving from warmer to cooler
areas. She explained that the reason we wear mittens in the winter
time is to slow down the transfer of heat from our bodies. The
students came up with the concept of the mitten as something that
traps the body heat and slows down the flow of energy to the
external environment. The teacher introduces the word insulator for
the mitten. The students’ task now is to use their data and what they
learned to revise their initial explanation by writing a scientific
explanation that includes a claim, evidence, and reasoning. The
students are asked to dot the three areas of their scientific
explanation. The student places green dots by the claim and
evidence but is unsure whether she used the scientific principle
correctly in her reasoning. She places a yellow dot by the reasoning.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Traffic Light Dots can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas
or crosscutting concepts to support content learning. It can also be
used with any of the scientific practices that are used in the task.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
Students can also traffic-light-dot other students’ papers as a form of
peer assessment. Green means the work is acceptable, yellow is
partially acceptable but may need some revision, and red means a
need for major revision. If peel-and-stick dots are not available,
students can create their own colored circles with red, yellow, and
green markers, crayons, or colored pencils.

Caveats
Feedback should be given soon after students have submitted their
work for the feedback to be useful. Avoid assigning grades to traffic-
dotted papers to support the use of feedback as a way to improve
learning. Studies have shown that students will pay more attention to
feedback if it is not accompanied by a grade (Black et al., 2003).

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in language arts, this FACT is useful in giving and
getting feedback on a writing passage.

My Notes
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FACT 68

Two-Minute Paper

Description
The Two-Minute Paper is a quick and simple way to collect feedback
from students about their learning at the end of an activity, field trip,
lecture, video, or other type of learning experience. Students are
given 2 minutes to respond to a predetermined prompt in writing.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

The Two-Minute Paper requires students to use more than recall in
responding to questions about a learning experience. Students must
first think about what they have been learning and describe how well
they feel they learned the concept or skill. The FACT also
demonstrates to the students the teacher’s respect for their
feedback, particularly when they see how it is used by the teacher to
improve their learning experiences.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

The Two-Minute Paper allows the teacher to collect feedback on
student learning with minimal effort and time. Student responses are
read, sorted, and analyzed to determine how to make adjustments to
the lesson the next day.

Design and Administration

Provide a half sheet of paper to students during the last 3 to 5
minutes of a lesson. Write two questions on the board or on a chart
that you want students to respond to. For example, use some
variation of the following:

What was the most important thing you learned today?

What did you learn today that was new for you?
How did your understanding change as a result of today’s
lesson?
What stands out for you as the best part of today’s lesson?
What would you like me to know about your learning experience
today?
What are you still wondering about or struggling with?
What was the most useful thing you did today?
What do you feel was a success for you today?
What did you think was the purpose of today’s lesson?
Do you think today’s lesson met its purpose?
What would you like to do that you didn’t get a chance to do
today?
What would help you learn better tomorrow?
Did any ideas change for you today? What changed your
thinking?
What was most interesting to you today and why?
What was least interesting to you today and why?
What was the most convincing argument in today’s class?
What unanswered questions do you have after today’s lesson?
Based on what happened during today’s lesson, what would you
like to see happen tomorrow?

Give students 2 minutes to write and then collect their papers. After
their responses have been analyzed, share the results with students
the next day, letting them know how you are going to use the
feedback they shared with you.

For example, a teacher asked students to write a Two-Minute Paper

following a lesson on animal coloration and adaptation. The students
experienced an activity where colored M&M’s were scattered on the
grass and students had to pick up as many M&M’s as they could in a
given time period. The questions for their quick write were: (1) Do
you think today’s lesson met its purpose? and (2) What are you still
wondering about or struggling with?

The students passed their papers in as an exit ticket, and the teacher
read their responses. She was pleased to see that the lesson met its
purpose because most of the students described how it was hard to
find the green M&M’s, which meant that the green insects were less
apt to be spotted by predators. She was surprised to see that many
students wondered why some organisms are brightly colored and do
not blend in to their environment. They described how easy it was to
find the yellow, orange, and red M&M’s. If they are so easy to find,
then how do bright colored organisms that do not blend in with their
surroundings survive? She decided she would address this question
in the next lesson by introducing other adaptations such as bright
coloration that signals “do not eat me, I am toxic.”

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Two-Minute Paper can be used with any of the disciplinary core
ideas or crosscutting concepts to support content learning. It can
also be used with any of the scientific practices that students used in
the day’s lesson.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Low/Medium

Modifications
The Two-Minute Paper can also be used at the beginning of a day’s
lesson to reflect on the previous day’s lesson. It can also be used
after completing homework or a class assignment. This technique
has also been used as a One-Minute Paper with older students
(Angelo & Cross, 1993). Extend the time allowed for younger
students or students who have difficulty writing in the English
language into a Three- or Four-Minute Paper.

Caveats
Adjust the time according to students’ writing ability so that slower
writers feel they have had adequate opportunity to give feedback.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, a social studies teacher might use it to have
students reflect on a class debate.

My Notes
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FACT 69
Two or Three Before Me

Description
Two or Three Before Me provides an opportunity for more students
to share their ideas during class discussions or argumentation
sessions. It prevents individual students from dominating the
responses to the teacher’s or other students’ questions. The rule is
that at least two or three students must have an opportunity to talk
before the same person can speak again.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

This FACT provides opportunities for a greater number of students in
a class to share their thinking, particularly when there are dominant
voices in a class. It also provides an opportunity for students who
tend to be overly responsive to teacher questioning to listen to the
ideas of their peers. Taking the time to listen to the ideas of others
before voicing their own ideas helps dominant students reconsider
their own ideas in light of what others think. It is particularly useful in
helping students learn to use the scientific practice of argumentation.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Two or Three Before Me provides a classroom norm that helps the
teacher ensure that more students in a class have an opportunity for
their ideas to be heard. When more student voices are heard, the
teacher is better able to determine the extent of understanding and
range of ideas in the class that can be used to inform instruction.

For example, in a discussion about the types of evidence that

supports the biological theory of evolution, the use of this strategy
allowed several students to share their ideas so that more voices
within the class could be heard.

Design and Administration

Explain the strategy to students, including the purpose of Two or
Three Before Me, and practice using it during a class discussion.
Eventually students will adopt it as a discussion norm.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Two or Three Before Me can be used with any of the disciplinary
core ideas or crosscutting concepts to support content learning. It is
especially useful in supporting the scientific practice of engaging in
argument from evidence because it allows more students to share
their arguments and prevents one or two students from dominating
the discussion.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Low

Modifications
The strategy can be changed to any number of students such as
One or Two Before Me or Three or Four Before Me. This FACT can
also be applied in reverse to the teacher by encouraging two or three
students to speak before the teacher will speak again. It can be used
by small groups of four to six students to monitor participation within
a group.

Caveats
Make sure to accompany this technique with Wait Time strategies.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in a dance class, two or three students can
demonstrate their moves before the same student can perform
again.

My Notes
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FACT 70

Two Stars and a Wish

Description
Two Stars and a Wish is a feedback technique used in “comments-
only marking.” It is a way to balance positive comments with the
need for improvement when providing students with feedback on
their work (Black & Harrison, 2004). The first sentence describes two
good features of the section of the students’ work. The second
sentence encourages revision or further improvement.
How This FACT Promotes Student Learning
Specific comments, whether positive or comments that indicate the
need for improvement, provide students with a better understanding
of where their strengths and weaknesses are and how to improve
their work. These comments provide the student with better insight
into ways to improve their work than comments such as great job!,
nice explanation, needs revision, or unclear. The balance and tone
used with Two Stars and a Wish encourages students to take action
on their work for the purpose of improving their learning. Providing
two positive comments for every area of improvement raises the
confidence and self-esteem of students who typically feel
discouraged and give up when papers are marked wrong and/or are
given low grades accompanied by comments that only mention what
needs to be improved. Because it does not pass judgment by
grading and includes positive feedback as well as a suggestion for
improvement, students feel success while acknowledging they can
do better. This approach is particularly helpful with lower-achieving
students in improving their desire and ability to succeed. It is also
helpful to high-achieving students to indicate that there is always
room for improvement.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Teachers who use this strategy support the culture needed in a
classroom to focus on success and the belief that all students can
achieve when given feedback that focuses on the learning target.
The comments from Two Stars and a Wish also provide a stimulus
for the student to discuss his or her work with the teacher so that the
teacher can individualize improvements for each student.

Design and Administration

Use with tasks that provide an opportunity for students to
demonstrate their conceptual understanding through writing and
drawing such as essays, open-ended questions, problem solving,
explanations, written arguments, and laboratory reports. Instead of
marking students’ work right or wrong, look for areas throughout the
work where you can identify two good features of the students’ work
and one area for improvement. Place comments on a sticky note or
in the margin of their work. The following are examples of feedback
given using Two Stars and a Wish:

Feedback on a middle school student’s lab report: You

organized the data nicely in a table and your graph clearly
displays the data. Now you need to explain in more detail the
motion the graph shows.
Feedback on the description accompanying a model of the cell:
You included all the major cell organelles and your description of
the materials you chose to represent the structures showed that
you recognize the structural differences between the parts of the
cell. However, you need to provide more description of how your
model is used to understand the relationship between the
structure of the cell parts and their function.
Feedback on an elementary student’s experimental design: You
posed a good question that can be answered through your
investigation. You described the procedure in a way that
someone else would be able to follow. You should check your
materials. Do you think a ruler is the best tool to use to measure
the width around an inflated and uninflated balloon? What will
you use to find out what the balloon weighs before and after you
fill it up with air?

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Two Stars and a Wish can be used with any of the disciplinary core
ideas or crosscutting concepts to provide feedback on content
learning. It can also be used to provide feedback on students’ use of
the scientific practices that are connected to the content students are
learning.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
This FACT can also be used by students to self-assess their work or
peer-assess the work of other students. Students provide two
positive statements about their work or the work of their peers and
indicate one area that can be improved.

Caveats
This is a comments-only FACT. Research indicates less of a positive
effect on student learning when grades are given in addition to
comments (Black & Harrison, 2004). Because this strategy reinforces
the notion that the teacher wants students to improve their work and
that their improvement is being monitored by the teacher, time
should be provided in class for students to read and react to the
comments. If possible, provide time in class for students to work on
their revisions.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. The following is a Two Stars and a Wish mathematics example:
You identified the relevant and nonrelevant information from the
problem and your answer is clearly labeled. However, you left one
piece of relevant information out of your solution steps. Please
review what you had labeled as relevant and determine what is
missing from your solution.

My Notes
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FACT 71

Two-Thirds Testing

Description
Summative end-of-unit tests often cover a lot of information. This
FACT provides an opportunity for students to take an ungraded
“practice test” two thirds of the way through a unit (Wiliam, 2005).
Students are then provided time to get feedback from their peers and
the teacher on their responses, gaps in understanding, or difficulties
in arriving at their answers.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Two-Thirds Testing provides a metacognitive opportunity for students
to identify areas of difficulty or misunderstanding two thirds of the
way through an instructional unit so that feedback and support can
be provided to help them learn and be prepared for a final
summative assessment. It alleviates the pressure of trying to recall
all the concepts, ideas, and scientific practices encountered in an
instructional unit by providing an opportunity to use and show what
they learned in a nonjudgmental way two thirds of the way through
an instructional unit. In addition, collaboratively working on the two-
thirds test with a partner or in a small group further develops and
solidifies conceptual understanding because peers discuss each of
the questions and the answers. For example, a high school
chemistry teacher uses Two-Thirds Testing in a nuclear chemistry
unit. The class covered topics like structure of the atom, nuclides,
radioactive decay, radiation and radioactivity, half-life, alpha and beta
particles, gamma rays, and unstable atoms. The teacher gave a
practice test on these concepts and ideas before finishing the unit
with fission and fusion reactions and radiation and radioactivity
connections to real-life problems and issues.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

Examining students’ cumulative knowledge and understanding two
thirds of the way through a unit may indicate areas of difficulty for
individual students or the class as a whole. The information can be
used to differentiate for individuals or revisit difficult concepts with the
entire class. This FACT indicates to the teacher whether instruction
is on pace in preparation for readiness to take an upcoming
summative assessment. It provides an opportunity to give students
feedback in the areas that target their learning needs.

Design and Administration

Select an alternative version of a test that will be given at the end of
a unit or create a similar test. Use questions that were addressed by
students’ learning experiences two thirds of the way through the
instructional unit. Have students work individually or in pairs on the
test items. Use the results for differentiated feedback or a review
through class discussion about items students have difficulty with or
need further clarification on. For example, when the teacher realized
some students were still struggling with half-life and radioactive
decay, she provided links to several animations and simulations
students could access on their iPads to further develop their
conceptual understanding.
Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education (NRC, 2012)
Two-Thirds Testing can be used with any of the disciplinary core
ideas or crosscutting concepts to gather and provide feedback on
content learning. It can also be used to provide feedback on
students’ use of the scientific practices that are connected to the
content students are learning.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Medium/High

Cognitive Demand: Depends on type of questions

Modifications
Depending on the unit of study, this FACT can be modified as a One-
Third Testing, One-Half Testing, Two-Thirds Testing, Three-Quarters
Testing, and so on. It can also be used as a One-Half or Two-Thirds
Testing for midterm, semester, or year-end final exams.

Caveats
The use of summative tests with this technique is for formative
purposes only. Thus, use comments-only marking, not grades.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, in language arts, a Two-Thirds Test is given two
thirds of the way through a novel to help students understand what
they have been reading thus far and to help the teacher identify
areas that may be less understood in the novel.
My Notes
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FACT 72

Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong!

Description
Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong! describes a technique that changes the
nature of the question-and-answer interaction pattern in the
classroom from a back-and-forth teacher-to-student exchange to one
of teacher to Student A to Student B to Student C, D, or so on . . .
then back to the teacher. The ping-pong metaphor represents the
typical rapid-fire, back-and-forth cycle of questions and responses
that typically take place between the teacher and students. The
volleyball metaphor represents the teacher asking a question, a
student responding, and other students building off the response
until the teacher “serves” another question.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Good questioning techniques that involve all students provide an
opportunity for deeper engagement with ideas in science and richer
responses to questions. “Volleyball” questioning and responding
helps students link, apply, and give reasons for their ideas. It
motivates students to consider the ideas of others as they think
about how their own ideas may enhance, extend, or challenge other
students’ thinking. Encouraging several students to put their ideas
forth in the public arena of the classroom rather than accepting one
answer and moving on enhances the opportunity for sustained,
thoughtful discussions that promote student learning.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This FACT encourages teachers to change their questioning
techniques from simple recall questions that can be answered by
one student to more open-ended questions that elicit thoughtful,
more detailed responses. A consequence of using this technique is
that teachers have a greater opportunity to listen to their students to
learn more about their understandings, gaps, or misconceptions. The
information is used to inform the teachers’ next instructional moves
that will address their students’ ideas and needs.

Design and Administration

Share the volleyball and ping-pong metaphor with students before
using this strategy. Practice “serving” a question and having several
students respond as if they were setting up the ball for the next
student and hitting it over the net. When the question becomes
exhausted, the “ball” goes back to the teacher for a new “serve.” This
type of questioning and response takes practice the first few times it
is used. It may help to have students sit where they can see each
other, such as in a circle, the first time it is used. Encourage students
not to look at the teacher when they reply since they are putting their
ideas forth to the class, not just to the teacher. They should look at
their classmates when they respond. Students should also be
encouraged to ask new questions that build off the responses of
others that can sustain the volleyball. The following is an example of
a Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong! elementary student discussion about
solids:

Kara: “My claim is that wood is a solid. My evidence is that a block of

wood keeps its shape, and if you measure the amount it stays the
same.”

Max: “But you can change its shape by cutting it.”

Kara: “Yes, but whatever shape you cut it in, it holds that shape. It
doesn’t spread out or anything.”

Freddie: “Yeah, solids are hard, and wood is hard, so I agree with
the claim.”

Teacher: “Does anyone want to add to or disagree with Kara’s

claim?”

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong! can be used with any of the disciplinary
core ideas or crosscutting concepts to provide feedback on content
learning. It can also be used to support the practice in engaging in
argument from evidence because students use this technique to
build on arguments or add a rebuttal.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: Medium Time Demand: Low/Medium

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Consider setting a minimum number of times the question and
responses must go back and forth among students before the next
question is asked or a comment is made by the teacher. The first
time the strategy is used, it may be helpful to use a physical prop,
such as a volleyball, beach ball, or other soft ball, that can be passed
from student to student.

Caveats
This strategy also involves the use of Wait Time Variations. It may
appear that students are not going to respond when, in fact, they are
using Wait Time to think and formulate their comments. Be patient
and don’t throw out a new question too soon!

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used with questions in mathematics, social
studies, language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and
performing arts.

My Notes
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FACT 73
Wait Time Variations

Description
Wait Time, also called the “miracle pause,” has an extensive body of
research behind it (Walsh & Sattes, 2005). Mary Budd Rowe,
formerly a science education researcher at the University of Florida
and Past President of the National Science Teachers Association,
discovered the value of silence as she conducted research on
interactions in K–12 classrooms. Her research found that teachers
tend to leave no more than 1 second of silence before addressing an
unanswered question or asking someone to answer it. Wait Time is
the interval between the time a question is posed and the time either
a student or teacher responds to the question. When teachers
increase their Wait Time to at least 3 seconds, class participation
increases, answers are more detailed, complex thinking increases,
and science achievement scores increase significantly (Rowe, 1974).
Wait Time 2 involves the interval between when a student answers a
question and the teacher responds.

How This FACT Supports Student Learning

Complex questions require time for students to formulate an answer.
Wait Time provides the opportunity students need to think. When
Wait Time of 3 to 5 seconds is deliberately practiced, research has
found a plethora of different kinds of benefits to students (Rowe,
1986; Walsh & Sattes, 2005):

Students give longer, more detailed responses.

Students give evidence for their ideas and conclusions.
Students speculate and hypothesize.
Students ask more questions.
Students talk more to other students.
There are fewer “I don’t knows.”
Discipline problems decrease as students become more
engaged in the lesson.
More students participate in responding.
 Students answer with more confidence.
Achievement improves on cognitively complex items.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

In addition to dramatically increasing the participation of students in a
class discussion, this FACT also provides information to the teacher
about students’ understanding and ways of thinking. Since Wait Time
encourages longer, richer answers, the teacher gains a better sense
of what a student knows or the reasoning students use to formulate
their ideas. Furthermore, practicing Wait Time increases the sample
of students from which teachers can gain information about the
progress of learning in the class. This information is then used by the
teacher to monitor student learning experiences, differentiate for
individual students, and adjust instruction accordingly to meet the
learning needs of the class. In addition to promoting student thinking
and informing instruction, Wait Time has been shown to have the
following effects on teacher practice:

Teacher responses are more thoughtful and tend to keep the

discussion focused and ongoing.
The quality of teacher feedback improves.
Teachers ask fewer questions. The questions they do ask
increase in cognitive level.
Teachers expect more from previously nonparticipating students.

Design and Administration

Students are used to rapid-fire questions and answers. Discuss with
students what Wait Time is and why it is used so they will understand
the reason for your long pause. Establish Wait Time as a classroom
norm practiced by both teachers and students. Practice Wait Time by
silently counting to at least 3 seconds (one, one thousand, two, one
thousand, three, one thousand) before calling on a student. Continue
to use a 3- to 5-second Wait Time after a student answers and
before you respond to the student’s answer so that the student who
replied and the class have time to think about the response. Use
lead-ins that encourage the overeager students to wait, such as “I
want everyone to think carefully about their own ideas before we
tackle this question” or “I’m going to wait until everyone has had a
chance to think before I ask you to share your ideas.” Teachers can
also try deliberately pausing, indicating thinking time, and then
asking for no hands to be raised until the teacher gives a signal.
Sometimes it helps to give students a chance to jot their own ideas
down on paper first before asking for responses. Another way is to
have students discuss the proposed question with a partner, using
FACTs such as Think-Pair-Share before taking responses from the
whole class.

The following example shows how Wait Time can be used:

“In order to determine the factors that affect the strength of an

electromagnet, you will need to identify and control variables.
Who can remember why it is important to identify and control
variables in a scientific experiment?” Teacher silently counts to 3
seconds before selecting a student to respond. Kerry responds
with, “It would be impossible to know what affects the strength if
you didn’t test just one thing at a time.” Teacher uses a 3-second
Wait Time before responding to the student and calling on
another student. “Kerry pointed out the need to test just one
thing at a time to know what affects the strength of an
electromagnet. Who wants to add to what Kerry said?” Teacher
practices Wait Time and then calls on Oscar. “Well, it’s like if you
used a longer nail and wrapped the wire around the nail more
times, you wouldn’t know if it was the number of wraps around
the nail or the length of the nail that made it stronger.”

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Wait Time Variations can be used with any of the disciplinary core
ideas or crosscutting concepts to improve questioning and
responses. It can also be used to support the scientific practices that
are used with the disciplinary core ideas during questioning. Wait
Time should be encouraged when students are engaging in
argumentation.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
Wait Time between students can also be encouraged and practiced
with a variety of FACTs where students interact in pairs or small
groups. Remind students to practice pausing before responding to
another student or building on someone else’s response so that
everyone has a chance to think and process their ideas. Consider
using a chart such as the one in Figure 4.57 to help students practice
Wait Time. See the Appendix for more details on using Wait Time
and the timeless research that supports it.

Caveats
Three to 5 seconds of silence can seem agonizingly long! Don’t
succumb to the silence or students’ strategy of waiting out the
teacher. Students have learned in the past that if they wait long
enough, the teacher will answer his or her own question. Don’t give
up, and if there are no takers, use the No-Hands Questioning
strategy. Keep quiet and don’t interject comments during Wait Time
such as “Think about it” that distract student thinking.

Figure 4.57 Wait Time Classroom Poster

 SOURCE: Adapted from Walsh, J., & Sattes, B. (2005). Quality
questioning: Research-based practice to engage every learner.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used with questioning and responses in
mathematics, social studies, language arts, health, foreign
languages, and visual and performing arts.

My Notes
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FACT 74

What Are You Doing and Why?

Description
If a visitor walked into your classroom and asked students what they
were doing and why they were doing it, you would hope all students
could answer. This FACT helps teachers find out if their students
know the purpose of an activity-based science lesson, including
knowing what the goals for learning are.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

What Are You Doing and Why? activates students’ thinking about the
purpose of the activity they are engaged in. It asks students to
describe what the purpose of the activity is and what they are
learning from it. Research has shown that students are more
engaged in their learning when they understand the learning goal
and purpose of a learning experience (Wiliam, 2011).

How This FACT Informs Instruction

This short, simple monitoring strategy can be quite an eye-opener to
teachers, especially if students are highly engaged in an activity yet
show they do not know what the purpose of the activity is or how it
will help them learn. It encourages teachers to be clear and explicit
about the learning targets for the activity and explain to the students
how the activity will help them develop skills or understandings.
When this question is used as a spot check during an activity,
teachers can get a quick read from the class on whether the purpose
of the activity is understood by students. If not, teachers can readjust
to make sure the activity’s purpose and goals are clearly
communicated to the students and understood by all.

This FACT helps avoid “activitymania” in science where teachers use

hands-on activities that are fun and engaging yet students have no
understanding of the purpose of the activity and what they will learn
from it. As a result, there are no or minimal learning gains. For
example, students make a substance out of cornstarch and water
called Oobleck. The material is fascinating and students are having a
lot of fun with their Oobleck. When the teacher stops to ask them
what they are doing and why they are doing it, some students
respond simply with “making Oobleck so we can learn what happens
when you mix stuff together.” The students missed that the purpose
of the activity was to see that sometimes materials have observable
properties of both solids and liquids.

The FACT may help teachers realize how “cookbook” labs and
activities tend to be more procedural than conceptual. As a result,
teachers may see the need to modify the activity or lab so that there
is greater student ownership in knowing what they are doing and
why.

Design and Administration

At any point partway into an activity, the teacher gets the class’s
attention and asks a “What are you doing and why are you doing it?”
The teacher encourages students to describe what they think is the
purpose of the activity and what they are expected to learn from it.
Responses can be shared with the class, discussed between
partners, or recorded in writing as a One-Minute Paper to be passed
in to the teacher. The data are analyzed by the teacher to determine
if the class understands the purpose of the activity or if students are
simply engaged in “hands-on” without the “minds-on.”

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
What Are You Doing and Why? can be used with any of the
disciplinary core ideas or crosscutting concepts to determine if
students know what they are intended to learn from an activity. It is
especially useful when students are engaged in activities that involve
making and using models or planning, carrying out investigations, or
analyzing data.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Low

Cognitive Demand: Medium

Modifications
This FACT can also be used with non-hands-on learning experiences
such as assigned readings, homework, video, Internet searches, and
so on. Any instructional task a student is asked to engage in should
be clear about the purpose and intended outcomes.

Caveats
Do not substitute this FACT for explicitly addressing the purpose and
outcome of a learning activity. Make sure the purpose and learning
outcome are addressed before students start the activity. Many
schools mandate the posting of learning objectives before a lesson
begins. Be aware that this often turns into a token routine and does
not ensure that students know the purpose of the science activity
they are involved in unless it is explicitly linked to the learning
objective and explained to students before they begin the activity.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics, social studies,
language arts, health, foreign languages, and visual and performing
arts. For example, What Are You Doing and Why? can be used when
students are using manipulatives in mathematics to determine
whether students know what the purpose of the activity is and how it
connects to the learning intention.

My Notes
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FACT 75

Whiteboarding

Description
Whiteboarding is used in small groups to encourage students to pool
their individual thinking and come to a group consensus on how to
explain their thinking with the support of visuals or list their ideas.
The use of whiteboards supports a classroom environment that
encourages student-generated ideas. Researchers have found that
when students use whiteboards, their discussions are more
animated, on task, and draw on higher-level thinking (Henry, Henry,
& Riddoch, 2006). The technique involves using portable 24-by-32-
inch large whiteboards and dry erase markers. Students work
collaboratively, gathered around the whiteboard to draw and record
their ideas in response to a prompt given by the teacher. Students
use the whiteboard during class discourse to communicate their
ideas to their peers and the teacher, thus modeling an essential
feature of scientific inquiry—communication supported by evidence
and reasoning.

How This FACT Promotes Student Learning

Whiteboarding can be used at the beginning of an instructional unit
or throughout a sequence of instruction to elicit students’ prior
knowledge and current ideas. It activates their thinking and
constructing of new understandings through interaction with their
peers. As students collaborate on getting their ideas down on a
whiteboard and sharing them with the class, they expose their own
thinking. They accept, discard, or modify their own ideas based on
considering the alternative ideas of others. Unlike writing on chart
paper, being able to erase the whiteboards allows students to easily
modify their work as new ideas emerge through discussion. The
nonpermanent nature of the writing surface encourages students to
draw or write something that they may not be sure of, since they
know it can be easily changed or modified. Whiteboarding can also
be used to help students design their investigations as well as
analyze data and draw conclusions from investigations.

How This FACT Informs Instruction

The size of the whiteboards allows teachers to quickly see and
examine a group’s thinking, providing students with feedback when
necessary. As students are working on the whiteboards, the teacher
is able to circulate through the class, asking questions, probing
deeper, and encouraging students to make their thinking visible. The
teacher can observe their drawings, writing, and discussions to note
areas where additional instructional supports might be needed. As
students present their whiteboards to the class, the teacher can help
students clarify and solidify their understandings. In addition, the
whiteboard presentations provide an opportunity for teachers to give
feedback to students on their communication skills such as how to
share ideas so that others can understand their reasoning, how to
listen carefully to critique others’ ideas, how to look for
commonalities in thinking, and how to engage in scientific
argumentation in a constructive way, including coming to consensus
when there are differences in ideas.

Design and Administration

Whiteboards can be purchased from suppliers, but they are less
expensive and a more suitable size when cut from 4-by-8-foot sheets
of white economy tile board, available from home building supply
stores. Many of these stores will custom cut them for teachers,
including cutting handles into the top and rounding off the edges. You
will also need low-odor dry erase markers (four colors, preferably
black, red, green, and blue), an eraser, and cleaners for dry-erase
surfaces. Inexpensive tube socks can be used as erasers and also
provide a handy storage receptacle for the markers. Provide
students with a prompt that encourages them to work together in
pairs or a group of three to four, huddled around the whiteboard, to
draw and write about their ideas so that they can use the whiteboard
to present their thinking to the class. For example, a prompt for a
fourth-grade electricity unit might be as follows:

In my hand I have a battery, a flashlight bulb, and a piece of

wire. Draw as many ways as you can that show how a battery
can light a bulb using one piece of wire.

Encourage students to use different colors to differentiate parts of

their drawing. When groups have finished with their boards, use
them to facilitate a whole-class discussion, revealing the variety of
ideas in the class. Sometimes it is helpful to line up the whiteboards
and allow students an opportunity to do a “walk through” first, silently
walking around to look at other groups’ work. During whole-class
discussion with the whiteboards, it is important to allow the student
group to be the center of attention, with other students’ eyes on them
and their whiteboard. Position students so that everyone can see the
whiteboard that is being presented. Encourage the students to
interact and exchange ideas, using strategies such as Volleyball—
Not Ping-Pong! so that the conversation is between the students,
with the teacher as listener. After students have had an opportunity
to take turns describing and discussing their boards, the teacher may
choose to photograph each board for a digital record of students’
thinking. If possible, have students test their ideas as drawn on the
whiteboard. For example, students can be given a battery, flashlight
bulb, and a piece of wire to test their idea and modify their drawing
based on their findings.

Connection to A Framework for K–12 Science

Education (NRC, 2012)
Whiteboarding can be used with any of the disciplinary core ideas or
crosscutting concepts to explain phenomena or list ideas. It supports
the practice of developing and using models and constructing
explanations as students draw their models and use them to explain
their thinking. Whiteboards can be used to plan the steps in an
investigation. This FACT also supports the practice of analyzing and
interpreting data as students use their whiteboards to graph their
data or display it in other ways so they can share their interpretation
with the class. It supports the practice of engaging in argument from
evidence as students use their whiteboards to present and defend
their argument to the class.

General Implementation Attributes

Ease of Use: High Time Demand: Medium/High

Cognitive Demand: Medium/High

Modifications
Smaller individual whiteboards can be used but are not as effective
for promoting group thinking as the larger sizes. If whiteboards are
not available, shiny-sided freezer paper also works with dry-erase
markers and allows the teacher to keep a record of the group’s
ideas. Depending on the prompt and size of the whiteboard, it can
also be divided into four sections, having each student in a group
contribute to one of the four sections. Small whiteboards can be
used individually with students to quickly show an answer, picture,
number, and so on that can then be held up for the teacher to get a
quick read on the class thinking.

Caveats
As with any new technique, students should be introduced to the use
of Whiteboarding by modeling it for them the first time it is used for
group work and presentation, including ways to use features such as
bullets, diagrams, arrows, color, and text size. Make sure there is
enough room to accommodate the larger whiteboards either on a
table or on the floor, including room for three to four students to
simultaneously work on the board together.

Use With Other Disciplines

This FACT can also be used in mathematics when students are
engaged in problem solving. The whiteboards are used to show
students’ solutions and the steps they went through.

My Notes
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Appendix

Annotated Resources for Science

Formative Assessment
The following resources provide sources of
supplementary material to use in designing or
informing your use of the FACTs.

Annenberg Videos.

Several of the Annenberg video series show

examples of students being interviewed about their
ideas in science. These videos are available online
as streaming videos at www.learner.org. Enter the
title of the video series in the search bar. The Private
Universe videos show examples of individual
students participating in a structured interview as well
as informal interviews of college graduates. The
Essential Science series contains video interviews of
individual students as well as groups of students in a
lab setting (FACT 25).

Assessment for Learning.

These two books provide an excellent description of

the rationale for formative assessment, the research
that supports it, and information on specific
techniques teachers have used.

Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., &

Wiliam, D. (2003). Assessment for learning.
Berkshire, UK: Open University Press.

Wiliam, D. (2011). Embedded formative assessment.

Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Concept Cartoons.

The Concept Cartoon website at

www.conceptcartoons.com gives examples of
concept cartoons and ordering information. The
cartoons can be ordered as a book or on a CD.
There are also posters and big books that use the
concept cartoon format to stimulate discussion. The
site also contains selected research studies done in
the United Kingdom to examine the impact of
concept cartoons on student learning (FACT 9).

Culture for Formative Assessment.

The Seattle Pacific University Physics Department

has a set of excellent tools for helping teachers
define and assess the extent to which they support a
culture of formative assessment by describing criteria
for diagnostic learning environments. Their research
and tools are available at
https://spu.edu/depts/physics/tcp/overview.asp.

Data Sets.

The Maine Data Literacy Project developed tools and

resources to help teachers acquire skills and
language for making sense of data and graphs to
support reasoning, which are available at
http://www.participatoryscience.org/project/maine-
data-literacy-project. There are several canned data
sets on their website that can be used for Data Match
(FACT 10).

Explanations in Science.

Two highly recommended resources are:

Zembal-Saul, C., K. McNeill, & K. Hershberger.

(2012). What’s your evidence? Engaging K–5
students in constructing explanations in science.
Boston, MA: Pearson.

McNeil, K., & Krajcik, J. (2012). Supporting grades

5–8 students in constructing explanations in science.
Boston, MA: Pearson.

The K–5 version has a nice description of using the

KLEW chart in place of K-W-L (FACTs 12 and 32).
Formative Assessment Probes From the
Uncovering Student Ideas in Science Series.

This multivolume series (10 books to date) contains

ready-to-use formative assessment probes that can
be adapted for use with several of the FACTs
described in this book. Each book contains
collections of K–12 probes along with extensive
teacher background notes. The first volume includes
an introduction to formative assessment. Volume 2
describes instructional strategies that can be used
with the probes. Volume 3 describes ways teachers
can use probes for professional development and
support professional learning communities. Volume 4
describes the link between formative and summative
assessment. The other volumes are K–12 discipline
specific (life science, physical science, Earth and
environmental science, and astronomy) and there is
a K–2 version for primary science. The books are
available through NSTA Press at
www.nsta.org/publications/press, www.corwin.com,
or through amazon.com. Books are described at
http://uncoveringstudentideas.org/books. This
resource is referenced in FACTs 4, 7, 9, 14, 16, 19,
21, 24, 29, 30, 43, 53, 55, and 62.

Keeley, P. (2011). Uncovering student ideas in life

science: 25 formative assessment probes. Arlington,
VA: NSTA Press.
Keeley, P. (2013). Uncovering student ideas in
primary science: 25 K–2 formative assessment
probes. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.

Keeley, P., & Harrington, R. (2010). Uncovering

student ideas in physical science, Vol. 1: 45 force
and motion formative assessment probes. Arlington,
VA: NSTA Press.

Keeley, P., & Harrington, R. (2014). Uncovering

student ideas in physical science, Vol. 2: 39
electricity and magnetism formative assessment
probes. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press

Keeley, P., & Sneider, C. (2012). Uncovering student

ideas in astronomy: 45 new formative assessment
probes. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.

Keeley, P., & Tucker, L. (In Press). Uncovering

student ideas in earth and environmental science: 35
new formative assessment probes. Arlington, VA:
NSTA Press.

Keeley, P., & Tugel, J. (2009). Uncovering student

ideas in science: 25 new formative assessment
probes (Vol. 4). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.

Keeley, P., Eberle, F., & Dorsey, C. (2008).

Uncovering student ideas in science: Another 25
formative assessment probes (Vol. 3). Arlington, VA:
NSTA Press.

Keeley, P., Eberle, F., & Farrin, L. (2005). Uncovering

student ideas in science: 25 formative assessment
probes (Vol. 1). Arlington, VA: NSTA Press.

Keeley, P., Eberle, F., & Tugel, J. (2007). Uncovering

student ideas in science: 25 more formative
assessment probes (Vol. 2). Arlington, VA: NSTA
Press.

Inquiry Project.

The TERC Inquiry Project at

http://inquiryproject.terc.edu/ has a variety of tools
and professional development resources for teaching
science with a focus on student thinking and
investigation. A section of this website provides
information on how to use Annotated Student
Drawings (FACT 3) to help students visually
communicate explanations. The Talk Science
Project, which is also on this site, has excellent tools
for supporting science talk.

Instructional Models, Strategies, and Formative

Assessment Framework.
For more information on instructional models,
including the ones described in Chapter 2, strategies
for teaching for conceptual understanding, and a
framework that links instruction, assessment, and
learning, check out Teaching for Conceptual
Understanding in Science by Richard Konicek-Moran
and Page Keeley. This book contains a wealth of
information and resources on what it really means to
teach for conceptual understanding, including
Chapter 9: How Does Linking Assessment,
Instruction, and Learning Support Conceptual
Understanding? This chapter contains a framework
for integrating assessment, which can be used with
the FACTs. This book is available through NSTA at
http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?
id=10.2505/9781938946103.

K–2 Formative Assessment Probes.

Primary grade students’ formative assessments must

be geared toward their developmental and reading
capacity stages. Probes that are specifically
designed for K–2 students, using a science talk
format, are available in Keeley, P. (2013). Uncovering
student ideas in primary science: 25 K–2 formative
assessment probes. Arlington, VA: NSTA Press. This
book won the 2014 Association of American
Publishers Distinguished Award in Assessment. It is
available through NSTA Press at
http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?
id=10.2505/9781936959518 or through Corwin at
www.corwin.com.

Mathematics Formative Assessment.

A mathematics version of this book, Mathematics

Formative Assessment: 75 Practical Strategies for
Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning by
Page Keeley and Cheryl Rose-Tobey, is available
through Corwin.

Misconception Research.

Teacher notes in the Uncovering Student Ideas in

Science series include summaries of the related
research on commonly held ideas and alternative
conceptions in science. In addition, timeless research
from past research is summarized in Driver, R.,
Squires, A., Rushworth, P., & Wood-Robinson, V.
(1994). Making sense of secondary science. New
York, NY: Routledge.

Mystery Stories.

The Everyday Science Mysteries series is an

excellent resource to use with several of the FACTs.
In addition, these books provide extensive
background information on students’ alternative
ideas and ways of thinking. These books are
available through NSTA Press (nsta.org) or Corwin
(www.corwin.com).

P-O-E.

Predict-Observe-Explain activities can be modified to

fit the P-E-O Probe FACT. An excellent source of P-
O-E activities is available in Haysom, J., & Bowen,
M. (2010). Predict, observe, explain: Activities
enhancing science understanding. Arlington, VA:
NSTA Press. More information on this book is
available at
http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?
id=10.2505/9781935155232.

Phenomena and Representations for Instruction

of Science in Middle Schools (PRISMS).

This website (http://prisms.mmsa.org), a project of

the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance, was
directed by Page Keeley and supported by funding
from the National Science Foundation. The site is
included in the National Science Digital Library. It
features a collection of reviewed phenomena and
representations aligned to learning goals that can be
used in science instruction. Criteria are included and
explained that describe the instructional quality of the
phenomena and representations, along with
descriptions of common misconceptions. NSTA’s
NGSS website (http://ngss.nsta.org) also includes
vetted resources that contain relevant phenomena
(FACTs 15 and 51).

Quality Questioning.

This book provides a wealth of information on asking

good questions. In addition to the FACTs described in
Chapter 4, this book provides additional techniques
for asking questions, prompting students’ responses,
and ways to generate, prepare, and process
questions (FACTs 37 and 73).

Walsh, J., & Sattes, B. (2005). Quality questioning:

Research-based practice to engage every learner.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

SALG—Student Assessment of Learning Gains.

This website (http://www.salgsite.org) was developed

with funding from the National Science Foundation to
help college course instructors evaluate their courses
regarding how well their students think the course
components advanced their learning. The site, which
can be also used by middle and high school
teachers, has an online instrument where teachers
can develop their own survey and provide access to
students to take the survey online. This resource is
referenced in FACT 57.

Science Curriculum Topic Study—Bridging the

Gap Between Standards and Practice.

This book was funded by a grant from the National

Science Foundation awarded to the Maine
Mathematics and Science Alliance for the project
Curriculum Topic Study—A Systematic Approach to
Utilizing National Standards and Cognitive Research.
It provides a process to use national standards and
cognitive research to deeply examine K–12 teaching
and learning in 147 science topics. The vetted
readings included in the curriculum topic study (CTS)
study guides point out areas of the cognitive
research where teachers can learn more about
students’ misconceptions. Chapter 4 includes a
process for developing formative assessment probes
similar to the ones described in several of the FACTs.
The book is available through Corwin
(www.corwin.com) and the NSTA Press (nsta.org).
An updated, second edition of this book will be
available in 2016.

Keeley, P. (2005). Science curriculum topic study:

Bridging the gap between standards and practice.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Science Talk.

Many of the FACTs are used in a discussion format.

The Talk Science Project has excellent tools for
supporting science talk. The link to Talk Science is on
the TERC Inquiry Project site at
http://inquiryproject.terc.edu/.

Teaching Conceptual Understanding in Science.

This resource, authored by Richard Konicek-Moran

and Page Keeley, is an excellent companion to using
the FACTs. It focuses on what it really means to
teach for conceptual understanding, a primary
purpose of formative assessment in science! A
description of this book can be found and is available
through NSTA at
http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?
id=10.2505/9781938946103.

Twitter.

Periodic updates and information on science

formative assessment are tweeted by Page Keeley.
You can follow here on Twitter at @CTSKeeley.

Uncovering Student Ideas Website.

This website (www.uncoveringstudentideas.org)
includes several shared resources and information
related to the FACTs and formative assessment
probes.

Wait Time.

The classic Mary Budd Rowe research paper on wait

time is available through SAGE at
http://www.sagepub.com/eis2study/articles/Budd%20
Rowe.pdf.

What Are They Thinking? Promoting Elementary

Learning Through Formative Assessment.

This award-winning book describes what formative

assessment really looks like in K–5 classrooms.
Each chapter describes how a formative assessment
probe is used and often combined with a FACT. Each
chapter also includes questions for professional
learning groups that can be used in book studies or
other professional development formats. A
description of this book is available at
http://www.nsta.org/store/product_detail.aspx?
id=10.2505/9781938946257. A list of chapters,
topics, and probes can be downloaded from
http://uncoveringstudentideas.org/science_tools. This
book received the 2015 REVERE Award from the
Association of American Publishers.
Whiteboarding.

A nice description of this strategy is available at

http://modeling.asu.edu/modeling/Whiteboarding_Do
nYost03.pdf.

Workshops and Professional Development on

Formative Assessment.

Page Keeley and her colleagues provide professional

development on formative assessment and the
FACTs described in this book to schools, school
districts, organizations, math-science partnership
projects, and curriculum developers. Workshops
range from half to full-day sessions, 2- to 3-day
workshops and conferences, and weeklong
leadership institutes. For information on our
professional development components or to arrange
for speakers or professional development related to
formative assessment visit
http://uncoveringstudentideas.org/professional-
development/consulting.
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Index

Acrostics, 135–139
Administration and design. See Design and
administration
A&D Statements, 3, 75–78
Agreement Circles, 79–82
Analogies, 285–287
Animals
and air concept cartoon, 110 (figure)
sort example for Card Sorts, 90 (figure)
Annenberg videos, 343
Annotated Student Drawings, 83–87
Apple in the Dark, 236 (figure)
Arts, visual, 223–225
Assessment. See FACTs (formative assessment
classroom techniques); Formative assessment
Assessment for Learning, 9, 343
Atkin, J. Myron, 29

Balloon movement, 102 (figure)

Biology, learning goals inventory for, 205 (figure)
Black, P., 93, 343
Bowen, M., 237
Bransford, J., 8, 9
Brown, A., 8, 9
Bubbles, 134 (figure)
Cards
Sequencing, 271–273
Traffic Light, 308–310
Card Sorts, 1, 88–92
Cartoons, Concept, 109–114, 238, 343
Caveats
A&D Statements, 78
Agreement Circles, 81
Annotated Student Drawings, 86
Card Sorts, 92
CCC—Collaborative Clued Corrections, 95
Chain Notes, 100
Commit and Toss, 104
Concept Card Mapping, 107–108
Concept Cartoons, 113
Data Match, 117–118
Directed Paraphrasing, 121
Explanation Analysis, 126–127
Fact First Questioning, 130
Familiar Phenomenon Probes, 133
First Word–Last Word, 138–139
Fishbowl Think Aloud, 142
Fist to Five, 146
Focused Listing, 149
Four Corners, 152
Frayer Model, 156–157
Friendly Talk Probes, 160–161
Give Me Five, 163
Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning, 166–
168
Human Scattergraph, 172
Informal Student Interviews, 175–176
Interest Scale, 179
I Think–We Think, 181
I Used to Think... But Now I Know, 185
Juicy Questions, 190
Justified List, 195
Justified True or False Statements, 198
K-W-L Variations, 202
Learning Goals Inventory, 206
Look Back, 208
Missed Conception, 212
Muddiest Point, 215–216
No-Hands Questioning, 219
Odd One Out, 222
Paint the Picture, 225
Partner Speaks, 227
Pass the Question, 231
P-E-O Probes, 238
Picture Tells a Thousand Words, A, 234
POMS—Point of Most Significance, 241
Popsicle Stick Questioning, 243
Prefacing, 246
PVF—Paired Verbal Fluency, 249
Question Generating, 253
Recognizing Exceptions, 257
 Refutations, 260
Representation Analysis, 263
RERUN, 266
Scientists’ Ideas Comparison, 270
Sequencing Cards, 273
Sticky Bars, 277
STIP—Scientific Terminology Inventory Probe,
280
Student Evaluation of Learning Gains, 282
Synectics, 287
Ten-Two, 289
Thinking Log, 294
Think-Pair-Share, 297
Thought Experiments, 301
Three-Minute Pause, 303
Three-Two-One, 307
Traffic Light Cards, 309
Traffic Light Cups, 312
Traffic Light Dots, 315
Two-Minute Paper, 319
Two or Three Before Me, 321
Two Stars and a Wish, 324
Two-Thirds Testing, 326
Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong!, 330
Wait Time Variations, 333
What Are You Doing and Why?, 336–337
Whiteboarding, 340
CCC—Collaborative Clued Corrections, 93–96
Chain Notes, 97–100
Checking on content understanding example with
Fist to Five, 145 (figure)
Chicken eggs, 188–189, 188 (figure)
Circles, Agreement, 79–82
Classrooms
culture of ideas, not right answers, 37
environments that support formative
assessment, 10–11
making shift to formative assessment-
centered, 16–20
poster, Wait Time, 334 (figure)
Clouds, 111 (figure)
Cocking, R., 8, 9
Commit and Toss, 53, 101–104, 152, 159
Common Core State Standards, 20–23
Community-centered environment, 11
Comparison, Scientists’ Ideas, 2, 267–270
Concept and skill
development, 33 (figure), 35
transfer, 33 (figure), 35–36
Concept Card Mapping, 105–108
Concept Cartoons, 109–114, 238, 343
Conceptual change model (CCM), 30, 31 (figure)
Core disciplinary content, 43–44
Cox-Peterson, A., 25–26
Criteria for providing feedback on scientific
explanations, 124 (figure)
Curriculum Topic Study—A Systematic Approach
to Utilizing National Standards and Cognitive
Research, 347

Data from FACTs, 63–65, 66–69 (figure)

Data Match, 115–118, 344
Design and administration
A&D Statements, 77
Agreement Circles, 80–81
Annotated Student Drawings, 84–85
Card Sorts, 89–90, 91 (figure)
CCC—Collaborative Clued Corrections, 94–
95
Chain Notes, 98–99
Commit and Toss, 102–103
Concept Card Mapping, 106
Concept Cartoons, 111–112
Data Match, 116
Directed Paraphrasing, 120
Explanation Analysis, 123–125
Fact First Questioning, 128–129
Familiar Phenomenon Probes, 132
First Word–Last Word, 136–138
Fishbowl Think Aloud, 141
Fist to Five, 144–145
Focused Listing, 147–148
Four Corners, 150–152
Frayer Model, 154–156
Friendly Talk Probes, 159
Give Me Five, 162–163
Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning, 165–
166
Human Scattergraph, 170, 170–171 (figure)
Informal Student Interviews, 173–175
Interest Scale, 177–178
I Think–We Think, 180–181
I Used to Think... But Now I Know, 184–185
Juicy Questions, 187–189
Justified List, 192–193
Justified True or False Statements, 196–197
K-W-L Variations, 199–201
Learning Goals Inventory, 204, 205 (figure)
Look Back, 207, 208 (figure)
Missed Conception, 211
Muddiest Point, 214–215
No-Hands Questioning, 217–218
Odd One Out, 220–221
Paint the Picture, 224
Partner Speaks, 226–227
Pass the Question, 229–230
P-E-O Probes, 237
Picture Tells a Thousand Words, A, 233
POMS—Point of Most Significance, 240
Popsicle Stick Questioning, 242–243
Prefacing, 245–246
PVF—Paired Verbal Fluency, 248–249
Question Generating, 252
Recognizing Exceptions, 255–256
Refutations, 259
Representation Analysis, 262
RERUN, 265
Scientists’ Ideas Comparison, 267–269
Sequencing Cards, 271–272
Sticky Bars, 274–275
STIP—Scientific Terminology Inventory Probe,
278–279
Student Evaluation of Learning Gains, 281–
282
Synectics, 285–286
Ten-Two, 288–289
Thinking Log, 292
Think-Pair-Share, 296
Thought Experiments, 299
Three-Minute Pause, 302–303
Three-Two-One, 305–306
Traffic Light Cards, 308–309
Traffic Light Cups, 311–312
Two-Minute Paper, 317–318
Two or Three Before Me, 320
Two Stars and a Wish, 322–323
Two-Thirds Testing, 326
Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong!, 328–329
Wait Time Variations, 332–333
What Are You Doing and Why?, 336
 Whiteboarding, 339–340
Directed Paraphrasing, 119–121
Discourse communities, 37
Discovery and explanation, 32 (figure), 34–35
Dorsey, C., 345
Drawings
Annoted Student, 83–87
Concept Cartoons, 109–114, 238, 343
Driver, R., 346

Eberle, F., 345

ELA Common Core, 20–23
Electric charge, 151 (figure)
Electric circuits, 203 (figure)
Elementary Force and Motion, 283 (figure)
Eliciting prior knowledge, 32 (figure), 34
Engagement and readiness, 30–34, 32 (figure)
Environments, classroom, 10–11
Everyday Science Mysteries, 346
Exceptions, Recognizing, 255–257
Experiments, Thought, 298–301
Explanation Analysis, 53, 122–127
Explicit thinking, 36–37
Exploration and discovery, 32 (figure), 34–35

Fact First Questioning, 128–130

FACTs (formative assessment classroom
techniques)
-centered classrooms, 1–3
 classroom environments that support, 10–11
connecting teaching and learning, 11–13
connections to standards, 20–23
core disciplinary content and, 43–44
critical importance of classroom context in
selecting, 55–56
integrating assessment and instruction, 25–26
linked to A Framework for K–12 Science
Education, 45–48 (table)
linked to Next Generation Science Standards,
49–52 (table)
maintaining and extending implementation of,
59–61
making shift to, 16–20
planning to use and implement, 56–58
promoting thinking and learning, 26–28
research support for use of, 8–9
scientific and engineering practices and, 44
selected to match learning goals and
standards, 41–53
selected to match teaching goals, 53–55
starting off with small steps in using, 58–59
strengthening the link between assessment,
instruction, and learning, 36–39
using data from, 63–65, 66–69 (figure)
why use, 3–7
Falling Through the Earth, 300 (figure)
Familiar Phenomenon Probes, 2, 131–134
Farrin, L., 345
First Word–Last Word, 135–139
Fishbowl Think Aloud, 140–143
Fist to Five, 53, 144–146, 288
5E model, 30, 31 (figure)
Flavel, John, 9
Focused Listing, 147–149
Foothold ideas, 150
Formative assessment
-centered environment, 11
classroom environments that support, 10–11
culture for, 343–344
integrating instruction and, 25–26
interactive formative, 57
linking instruction, learning, and, 28–30, 36–
39
planned formative, 57
that promotes thinking and learning, 26–28
types, 4–5
ways to lead learning about, 61–63
See also FACTs (formative assessment
classroom techniques)
Four Corners, 150–153, 159
Framework for K–12 Science Education, A, 2, 17,
20–23, 42, 44, 45
A&D Statements, 77
Agreement Circles, 81
Annotated Student Drawings, 86
Card Sorts, 91
CCC—Collaborative Clued Corrections, 95
Chain Notes, 99
Commit and Toss, 103
Concept Card Mapping, 106–107
Concept Cartoons, 112–113
Data Match, 116
Directed Paraphrasing, 120
Explanation Analysis, 126
Fact First Questioning, 129
FACTs linked to, 45–48 (table)
Familiar Phenomenon Probes, 132–133
First Word–Last Word, 138
Fishbowl Think Aloud, 141–142
Fist to Five, 145
Focused Listing, 148–149
Four Corners, 152
Frayer Model, 156
Friendly Talk Probes, 159
Give Me Five, 163
Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning, 166
Human Scattergraph, 170
Informal Student Interviews, 175
Interest Scale, 178
I Think–We Think, 181
I Used to Think... But Now I Know, 185
Juicy Questions, 189–190
Justified List, 193
Justified True or False Statements, 197
K-W-L Variations, 201
Learning Goals Inventory, 206
Look Back, 208
Missed Conception, 212
Muddiest Point, 215
No-Hands Questioning, 218
Odd One Out, 222
Paint the Picture, 224–225
Partner Speaks, 227
Pass the Question, 230–231
P-E-O Probes, 237–238
Picture Tells a Thousand Words, A, 233
POMS—Point of Most Significance, 241
Popsicle Stick Questioning, 243
Prefacing, 246
PVF—Paired Verbal Fluency, 249
Question Generating, 252
Recognizing Exceptions, 256
Refutations, 259
Representation Analysis, 262
RERUN, 265
Scientists’ Ideas Comparison, 269–270
Sequencing Cards, 272
Sticky Bars, 275–276
STIP—Scientific Terminology Inventory Probe,
280
Student Evaluation of Learning Gains, 282
 Synectics, 286
Ten-Two, 289
Thinking Log, 292
Think-Pair-Share, 296
Thought Experiments, 299
Three-Minute Pause, 303
Three-Two-One, 307
Traffic Light Cards, 309
Traffic Light Cups, 312
Traffic Light Dots, 315
Two-Minute Paper, 318
Two or Three Before Me, 321
Two Stars and a Wish, 323
Two-Thirds Testing, 326
Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong!, 329
Wait Time Variations, 333
What Are You Doing and Why?, 336
Whiteboarding, 340
Frayer, Dorothy, 154
Frayer Model, 154–157
Friendly Talk Probes, 158–161

Give Me Five, 162–164

Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning, 165–168

Harrington, R., 344

Harrison, C., 343
Harvard Project Zero, 183
Haysom, J., 237
Hershberger, K., 122, 344
Hines-Hale, Y., 122
How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and
School, 8, 9, 10
Human Scattergraphs, 2, 159, 169–172

Ice cube melt, 117 (figure)

Ice to Water, 259 (figure)
Implementation, FACTs, 56–58
maintaining and extending, 59–61
starting off with small steps in, 58–59
Informal Student Interviews, 173–176
Inqury Project, 345
Instruction
connection of learning and, 11–13
integrating assessment and, 25–26
linking assessment, learning, and, 28–30, 36–
39
selecting FACTs to match goals of, 53–55
Instruction applications
A&D Statements, 75–77
Agreement Circles, 79–80
Annotated Student Drawings, 83–84
Card Sorts, 88–89
CCC—Collaborative Clued Corrections, 93–
94
Chain Notes, 97, 98 (figure)
Commit and Toss, 101
Concept Card Mapping, 105–106
Concept Cartoons, 109–111
Data Match, 115–116
Directed Paraphrasing, 119
Explanation Analysis, 122–123
Fact First Questioning, 128
Familiar Phenomenon Probes, 131–132
First Word–Last Word, 135–136
Fishbowl Think Aloud, 140
Fist to Five, 144
Focused Listing, 147
Four Corners, 150
Frayer Model, 154
Friendly Talk Probes, 158–159
Give Me Five, 162
Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning, 165
Human Scattergraph, 169
Informal Student Interviews, 173
Interest Scale, 177
I Think–We Think, 180
I Used to Think... But Now I Know, 183
Juicy Questions, 187
Justified List, 191–192
Justified True or False Statements, 196
K-W-L Variations, 199
Learning Goals Inventory, 204
Look Back, 207
Missed Conception, 210–211
Muddiest Point, 214
No-Hands Questioning, 217
Odd One Out, 220
Paint the Picture, 223–224
Partner Speaks, 226
Pass the Question, 229
P-E-O Probes, 235–237
Picture Tells a Thousand Words, A, 232
POMS—Point of Most Significance, 240
Popsicle Stick Questioning, 242
Prefacing, 245
PVF—Paired Verbal Fluency, 248
Question Generating, 251
Recognizing Exceptions, 255
Refutations, 258–259
Representation Analysis, 261–262
RERUN, 264
Scientists’ Ideas Comparison, 267
Sequencing Cards, 271
Sticky Bars, 274
STIP—Scientific Terminology Inventory Probe,
278
Student Evaluation of Learning Gains, 281
Synectics, 285
Ten-Two, 288
Thinking Log, 291
Think-Pair-Share, 295
Thought Experiments, 298–299
 Three-Minute Pause, 302
Three-Two-One, 305
Traffic Light Cards, 308
Traffic Light Cups, 311
Traffic Light Dots, 314–315
Two-Minute Paper, 317
Two or Three Before Me, 320
Two Stars and a Wish, 322
Two-Thirds Testing, 325
Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong!, 328
Wait Time Variations, 332
What Are You Doing and Why?, 335–336
Whiteboarding, 338–339
Interactive formative assessment, 57
Interdisciplinary use
A&D Statements, 78
Agreement Circles, 82
Annotated Student Drawings, 87
Card Sorts, 92
CCC—Collaborative Clued Corrections, 96
Chain Notes, 100
Commit and Toss, 104
Concept Card Mapping, 108
Concept Cartoons, 113–114
Data Match, 118
Directed Paraphrasing, 121
Explanation Analysis, 127
Fact First Questioning, 130
Familiar Phenomenon Probes, 133
First Word–Last Word, 139
Fishbowl Think Aloud, 142–143
Fist to Five, 146
Focused Listing, 149
Four Corners, 153
Frayer Model, 157
Friendly Talk Probes, 161
Give Me Five, 164
Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning, 168
Human Scattergraph, 172
Informal Student Interviews, 176
Interest Scale, 179
I Think–We Think, 181
I Used to Think... But Now I Know, 186
Juicy Questions, 190
Justified List, 195
Justified True or False Statements, 198
K-W-L Variations, 202
Learning Goals Inventory, 206
Look Back, 209
Missed Conception, 213
Muddiest Point, 216
No-Hands Questioning, 219
Odd One Out, 222
Paint the Picture, 225
Partner Speaks, 228
Pass the Question, 231
P-E-O Probes, 238
Picture Tells a Thousand Words, A, 234
POMS—Point of Most Significance, 241
Popsicle Stick Questioning, 243
Prefacing, 247
PVF—Paired Verbal Fluency, 250
Question Generating, 254
Recognizing Exceptions, 257
Refutations, 260
Representation Analysis, 263
RERUN, 266
Scientists’ Ideas Comparison, 270
Sequencing Cards, 273
Sticky Bars, 277
STIP—Scientific Terminology Inventory Probe,
280
Student Evaluation of Learning Gains, 284
Synectics, 287
Ten-Two, 289
Thinking Log, 294
Think-Pair-Share, 297
Thought Experiments, 301
Three-Minute Pause, 303–304
Three-Two-One, 307
Traffic Light Cards, 310
Traffic Light Cups, 312
Traffic Light Dots, 316
Two-Minute Paper, 319
 Two or Three Before Me, 321
Two Stars and a Wish, 324
Two-Thirds Testing, 326–327
Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong!, 330
Wait Time Variations, 334
What Are You Doing and Why?, 337
Whiteboarding, 341
Interest Scale, 177–179
Interviews, Informal Student, 173–176
Is It Made of Parts?, 194 (figure)
I Think–We Think, 180–182
I Used to Think... But Now I Know, 2, 183–186

Journaling, 291–294
Juicy Questions, 187–190
Justified List, 20, 191–195
Justified True or False Statements, 196–198

Karplus, Robert, 29
Keeley, Page, 344–345, 346, 347
Knowledge-centered environment, 10
Konicek-Moran, Richard, 345, 347
Krajcik, J., 122, 344
K-W-L Variations, 199–203

Landforms, 197 (figure)

Learner-centered environment, 10
Learning
 about formative assessment, ways to lead,
61–63
connection of teaching and, 11–13
goals, FACTs selected to match, 41–53
Goals Inventory, 204–206
linking assessment, instruction, and, 28–30,
36–39
Student Evaluation of Learning Gains, 281–
284
See also Instruction; Student learning
promotion
Learning Goals Inventory (LGI), 204–206
Lee, C., 343
Light reflection, 148 (figure)
Listening skills, 38
Paired Verbal Fluency and, 248–250
Lists
Focused, 147–149
Justified, 20, 191–195
Log, Thinking, 291–294
Look Back, 207–209

Magnets and magnetism, 76 (figure)

Making Sense of Secondary Science, 346
Making Sound Justified List, 192 (figure)
Mapping, Concept Card, 105–108
Marshall, B., 343
Match, Data, 115–118, 344
Mathematics Formative Assessment: 75 Practical
Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction,
and Learning, 61, 346
Matter
properties of, 221 (figure)
states of, 107 (figure)
McNeill, K., 122, 344
Melting vs. dissolving, 182 (figure)
Meriweather, A., 122
Metacognition, 9, 27
Mirror on the Wall, 170–171 (figure)
Misconceptions in science, 13–16, 210–213, 346
Missed Conception, 210–213
Mixtures, 286 (figure)
Modifications
A&D Statements, 78
Agreement Circles, 81
Annotated Student Drawings, 86
Card Sorts, 92
CCC—Collaborative Clued Corrections, 95
Chain Notes, 99–100
Commit and Toss, 104
Concept Card Mapping, 107
Concept Cartoons, 113
Data Match, 116–117
Directed Paraphrasing, 120
Explanation Analysis, 126
Fact First Questioning, 130
Familiar Phenomenon Probes, 133
First Word–Last Word, 138
Fishbowl Think Aloud, 142
Fist to Five, 146
Focused Listing, 149
Four Corners, 152
Frayer Model, 156
Friendly Talk Probes, 160
Give Me Five, 163
Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning, 166
Human Scattergraph, 171–172
Informal Student Interviews, 175
Interest Scale, 179
I Think–We Think, 181, 182 (figure)
I Used to Think... But Now I Know, 185
Juicy Questions, 190
Justified List, 193–195
Justified True or False Statements, 198
K-W-L Variations, 201–202
Learning Goals Inventory, 206
Look Back, 208
Missed Conception, 212
Muddiest Point, 215
No-Hands Questioning, 219
Odd One Out, 222
Paint the Picture, 225
Partner Speaks, 227
Pass the Question, 231
P-E-O Probes, 238, 239 (figure)
Picture Tells a Thousand Words, A, 234
POMS—Point of Most Significance, 241
Popsicle Stick Questioning, 243
Prefacing, 246
PVF—Paired Verbal Fluency, 249
Question Generating, 252
Recognizing Exceptions, 257
Refutations, 260
Representation Analysis, 263
RERUN, 266
Scientists’ Ideas Comparison, 270
Sequencing Cards, 273
Sticky Bars, 277
STIP—Scientific Terminology Inventory Probe,
280
Student Evaluation of Learning Gains, 282
Synectics, 286–287
Ten-Two, 289
Thinking Log, 292
Think-Pair-Share, 296–297
Thought Experiments, 301
Three-Minute Pause, 303
Three-Two-One, 307
Traffic Light Cards, 309
Traffic Light Cups, 312
Traffic Light Dots, 315
Two-Minute Paper, 319
 Two or Three Before Me, 321
Two Stars and a Wish, 323
Two-Thirds Testing, 326
Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong!, 329
Wait Time Variations, 333
What Are You Doing and Why?, 336
Whiteboarding, 340
Moje, E. B., 122
Molecules in compressed syringe, 224 (figure)
Muddiest Point, 214–216

National Research Council, 2, 8

National Science Foundation, 347
National Science Teachers Association, 331
Newton’s Third Law of Motion, 90, 91 (figure)
Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), 2,
9, 17, 20–23, 42
FACTs linked to, 49–52 (table)
No-Hands Questioning, 217–219, 242, 333
No More Plants, 160 (figure)
Notes, Chain, 97–100

Odd One Out, 220–222

Olson, J., 25–26
One-Minute Paper, 336

Paint the Picture, 223–225

Paper, Two-Minute, 317–319
Paraphrasing, Directed, 119–121
Partner Speaks, 184, 226–228, 255
Pass the Question, 229–231
Pause, Three-Minute, 302–304
Peer assessment, 53, 122–127
Peer questioning, 165–168
P-E-O Probes (Predict, Explain, Observe), 1–2,
235–239, 276, 346
Phenomena and Representations for Instruction
of Science in Middle Schools (PRISMS), 346
Photographs, 232–234
Photosynthesis, 136 (figure), 137 (figure)
Picture Tells a Thousand Words, A, 232–234
Planned formative assessment, 57
Planning, FACTs, 56–58
See also Instruction planning
Plants, 160 (figure), 268 (figure), 269, 269 (figure)
Plate tectonics, 279 (figure)
POMS—Point of Most Significance, 240–241
Pond animals, 110 (figure)
Popsicle Stick Questioning, 242–244
Posters, classroom, 334 (figure)
Prefacing, 245–247
Prior knowledge, eliciting, 32 (figure), 34
Private Universe, 15
Professional learning communities (PLCs), 59–60
Properties of matter, 221 (figure)
PVF—Paired Verbal Fluency, 248–250
Quality Questioning: Research-Based Practice to
Engage Every Learner, 346
Question Generating, 251–254
Questions
Fact First, 128–130
Four Corners, 150–153
Friendly Talk Probes, 158–161
generating, 251–254
Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning, 165–
168
Juicy Questions, 187–190
No-Hands Questioning, 217–219, 333
Pass the Question, 229–231
Popsicle Stick Questioning, 242–244
quality, 346
Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong!, 328–330
What Are You Doing and Why?, 335–337

Rabi, Isidor Isaac, 251

Readiness and engagement, 30–34, 32 (figure)
Recognizing Exceptions, 255–257
Reflection
Give Me Five, 162–164
of Light focused list, 148 (figure)
Paired Verbal Fluency, 248–250
self-assessment and, 33 (figure), 36, 38–39
Ten-Two, 288–290
Three-Two-One, 305–308
Refutations, 258–260
Representation Analysis, 43, 261–263
RERUN, 264–266
Risk taking, 37–38
Rose-Tobey, Cheryl, 346
Rowe, Mary Budd, 288, 331, 348
Rubber Band Box, 239 (figure)
Rucker, S., 122
Rushworth, P., 346

Sadler, Philip, 15
SAIL (science assessment, instruction, and
learning) Cycle, 28–30
concept and skill development, 33 (figure), 35
concept and skill transfer, 33 (figure), 35–36
eliciting prior knowledge, 32 (figure), 34
engagement and readiness, 30–34, 32
(figure)
exploration and discovery, 32 (figure), 34–35
self-assessment and reflection, 33 (figure), 36
stages, 30–34
SALG—Student Assessment of Learning Gains,
347
Sarratt, P., 122
Sattes, B., 346
Science
curriculum topic study, 347
misconceptions in, 13–16, 210–213, 346
 talk, 345, 347
Science Curriculum Topic Study: Bridging the
Gap Between Standards and Practice, 347
Science Formative Assessment: 75 Practical
Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction,
and Learning, 22
Science Formative Assessment, Volume 2: 50
More Strategies for Linking Assessment,
Instruction, and Learning, 61
Scientists’ Ideas Comparison, 2, 267–270
Seasons, 211 (figure), 262 (figure)
Selection of FACTs
critical importance of classroom context in,
55–56
to match learning goals and standards, 41–53
to match teaching goals, 53–55
Self-assessment
Explanation Analysis, 53, 122–127
reflection and, 33 (figure), 36, 38–39
Traffic Light Dots, 314–316
Self-regulating learners, 28
Sequencing Cards, 271–273
Skateboard motion, 272 (figure)
Sneider, C., 345
Solids and holes, 275–276 (figure)
Sound making, 192 (figure)
Squires, A., 346
Standards
 connections of FACTs to, 20–23
selecting FACTs to match learning goals and,
41–53
States of matter, 107 (figure)
Sticky Bars, 2, 159, 274–277
STIP—Scientific Terminology Inventory Probe,
278–280
Student Evaluation of Learning Gains, 281–284
Student learning promotion
A&D Statements, 75
Agreement Circles, 79
Annotated Student Drawings, 83
Card Sorts, 88
CCC—Collaborative Clued Corrections, 93
Chain Notes, 97
Commit and Toss, 101
Concept Card Mapping, 105
Concept Cartoons, 109
Data Match, 115
Directed Paraphrasing, 119
Explanation Analysis, 122
Fact First Questioning, 128
Familiar Phenomenon Probes, 131
First Word–Last Word, 135
Fishbowl Think Aloud, 140
Fist to Five, 144
Focused Listing, 147
Four Corners, 150
Frayer Model, 154
Friendly Talk Probes, 158
Give Me Five, 162
Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning, 165
Human Scattergraph, 169
Informal Student Interviews, 173
Interest Scale, 177
I Think–We Think, 180
I Used to Think... But Now I Know, 183
Juicy Questions, 187
Justified List, 191
Justified True or False Statements, 196
K-W-L Variations, 199
Learning Goals Inventory, 204
Look Back, 207
Missed Conception, 210
Muddiest Point, 214
No-Hands Questioning, 217
Odd One Out, 220
Paint the Picture, 223
Partner Speaks, 226
Pass the Question, 229
P-E-O Probes, 235
Picture Tells a Thousand Words, A, 232
POMS—Point of Most Significance, 240
Popsicle Stick Questioning, 242
Prefacing, 245
PVF—Paired Verbal Fluency, 248
Question Generating, 251
Recognizing Exceptions, 255
Refutations, 258
Representation Analysis, 261
RERUN, 264
Scientists’ Ideas Comparison, 267
Sequencing Cards, 271
Sticky Bars, 274
STIP—Scientific Terminology Inventory Probe,
278
Student Evaluation of Learning Gains, 281
Synectics, 285
Ten-Two, 288
Thinking Log, 291
Think-Pair-Share, 295
Thought Experiments, 298
Three-Minute Pause, 302
Three-Two-One, 305
Traffic Light Cards, 308
Traffic Light Cups, 311
Traffic Light Dots, 314
Two-Minute Paper, 317
Two or Three Before Me, 320
Two Stars and a Wish, 322
Two-Thirds Testing, 325
Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong!, 328
Wait Time Variations, 331
What Are You Doing and Why?, 335
 Whiteboarding, 338
See also Learning
Sugar dissolved in water, annotated drawing of,
85 (figure)
Supporting Grades 5–8 Students in Constructing
Explanations in Science, 344
Sutherland, L. M., 122
Synectics, 285–287

Talk Science Project, 345, 347

Teaching. See Instruction
Teaching for Conceptual Understanding in
Science, 20, 63, 345
Ten-Two, 288–290
Terminology, scientific, 278–280
Testing, Two-Thirds, 325–327
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills, 204
Think Aloud, Fishbowl, 140–143
Thinking and learning, assessment that
promotes, 26–28
Thinking Log, 291–294
Think-Pair-Share, 184, 255, 295–297, 332
Thought Experiments, 298–301
Three-Minute Pause, 302–304
Three-Two-One, 305–308
To Kill a Mockingbird, 142–143
Traffic Light Cards, 308–310
Traffic Light Cups, 311–313
Traffic Light Dots, 314–316
Tucker, L., 345
Tugel, J., 345
Two-Minute Paper, 3, 317–319
Two or Three Before Me, 320–321
Two Stars and a Wish, 322–324
Two-Thirds Testing, 325–327

Uncovering Student Ideas in Primary Science: 25

K–2 Formative Assessment Probes, 345
Uncovering Student Ideas in Science, 141, 235,
237, 344, 346

Visual arts, 223–225

Volleyball—Not Ping-Pong!, 328–330, 339
Vygotsky, L., 37 (box)

Wait Time, 217, 348

variations, 331–334
Walsh, J., 346
Water, Ice to, 259 (figure)
What Are They Thinking?, 63, 348
What Are You Doing and Why?, 335–337
What’s Your Evidence? Engaging K–5 Students
in Constructing Explanations in Science, 344
Whiteboarding, 2, 338–341, 348
Wiliam, D., 93, 343
Wood-Robinson, V., 346
Writing journals, 291–294
Zembal-Saul, C., 122, 344
Zone of proximal development, 37 (box)