Reasoning skills of determining causality and proportional reasoning with graphical
representation were also included in an extension to this unit.
The Reaction Rates Unit was trialled by teachers in four countries; Table56.2
summarises the inquiry skills focussed on in each of the four case studies, all
emphasising a focus on planning and carrying out investigations. In these case
studies, the teachers also collected evidence of their students’learning showing
different assessment methods, for example gathering individual input to group work
using placemats (Murdoch and Wilson 2014 ), examining peer feedback to student
generated plans for investigations, using student’s drawing artefacts to monitor their
design of an experiment, and using assessment rubrics. Teachers also identified
areas in the lesson where unexpected behaviours occurred, e.g. one teacher indi-
cated that the students were more unsure about their content knowledge in the
inquiry lesson than she expected them to be. Likewise, other teachers indicated that
students were eager and motivated by the inquiry activities. Recognising the range
of assessment opportunities within a lesson was important in building teacher
confidence in the wider use of assessment, particularly for formative-assessment
purposes.
56.2.1 Impact of Collaboration for Developing IBSEA
Resources
The development process for thefinal SAILS Units allowed for input and collab-
oration across all the partner countries and between teachers and educators. Initial
discussions on the nature of the inquiry process and of its assessment required all of
the project team to develop their understanding of inquiry and assessment within
different contexts and national constraints.
Having diverse expert teachers, who were familiar with inquiry practices and
who trialled units with their class groups, provided the project team with a very rich
and fruitful resource for further discussion and clarification of ideas. An important
part of combining the case study narratives was the discussion between the project
team of similarities and differences between the narratives in each country. The
mutual respect within the project team on the narratives presented and also the
discussion of the cultural differences, language differences, etc., provided all par-
ticipants the opportunity to share their understanding and develop their knowledge
of different views of inquiry and its assessment.
Table 56.2 Inquiry Skills assessed in the four case studies (CS1–CS4) of Reaction Rates Unit
CS1 Critique experimental design, Experimental problem-solving
CS2 Planning, Critiquing experimental method
CS3 Planning investigation, Working collaboratively, Data interpretation
CS4 Planning and implementing investigation, Graphical representation, Cause–effect
relation, Coherent arguments from evidence830 O.E. Finlayson and E. McLoughlin