ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Lisa -
You may be trying to compare two different things without a third thing
which sits between them.

In my personal view, what we try to stimulate at science museums is
(hopefully) higher-order inquiry skills. It is as much about process as
content. The content should, of course help to answer questions about
science, but if the the process is working, it (again in my personal
view) should generate questions. Science is all about pondering
questions and seeking answers. Sometimes it takes a lifetime or more to
answer the big questions, but they (such as general relativity) are
usually worth the wait. Then we ponder them some more and see them in
different contexts and perhaps change our collective minds and find a
different answer.

Standardized tests are intended to do only one thing: determine whether
a student can correctly answer the questions on the test. They may also
test memorization and calculating skills, but they are not intended, nor
are the appropriate to test inquiry and thinking skills.

So there is a disconnect between what test are for and what we do at
science museums. Perhaps there is some logical bridge to hammer out
question-answering skills from inquiry skills. But I'm inclined to think
our energies would be better spent in lobbying for teaching of inquiry
skills in schools to help scaffold what we do at science museums, rather
than trying to rationalize field trips to science museums by saying they
improve test scores. We should be promoting science museums to help
promote higher-order thinking in students: to make kids smarter human
beings, not to pass a written test designed by white American males for
white American students.

As I mentioned, this reflects my own view, not that of any particular
institution, but you will notice that we are not creating more Einsteins
by the recent trend in standardized testing.



Lisa Jo Rudy wrote:

> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
> *****************************************************************************
>
> Can anyone steer me in the right direction re research findings?  Here's my
> question:
>
> I know that there's plenty of research that says that kids learn from
> hands-on science experiences.  Is there any research that show that kids can
> translate what they learn in a hands-on setting into correct answers on a standard
> worksheet or test?
>
> For example -- a child learns from experience (by building with gumdrops and
> toothpicks) that a pyramid is stronger than a cube.  Two weeks later, he/she
> is presented with a formal in-school test in which a pyramid, cube and cylinder
> are pictured in two dimensions.  The question asks: which is strongest?  Can
> the child go back in his mind to the hands-on experience and translate the
> hands-on experience into an abstract test response?  And... is there any
> technique by which this kind of retention and translation can be facilitated?
>
> Thanks a million!!
>
> Lisa
> Lisa Jo Rudy, Writer/Consultant
> 625 Chelten Hills Drive
> Elkins Park, PA 19027
> www.lisarudy.com
> 215-635-9735
>
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--
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New York Hall of Science
Project Manager for Technology
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http://www.nyscience.org

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                                          - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

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