Report On "Action Research: Overcoming the Sports Mentality Approach to Assessment/Evaluation"

TCE

The Chemical Educator

ISSN: 1430-4171 (electronic version)

Table of Contents

Abstract Volume 3 Issue 1 (1998), S1430-4171(98)01163-9

Report On "Action Research: Overcoming the Sports Mentality Approach to Assessment/Evaluation"

Nancy S. Goroff

Department of Chemistry, State University of New York at Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY 11794

Published online: 2 February 1998

Abstract. In this workshop, George Bodner contrasted evaluation with assessment, and presented Action Research as a method for evaluating curriculum changes. He emphasized that any major change in teaching will have some effect; if test scores or other analyses do not reflect this effect, then one must use other tools to uncover it. Bodner defined Action Research as qualitative information-gathering and analysis from all available sources, including reflective journals, comments from students, and personal interviews. In the past few decades, such qualitative research has given way to more quantitative studies, such as analysis of test scores. Bodner argued in his presentation that these quantitative measures are more precise, but less accurate, than Action Research’s subjective, informal methods of evaluation.

Key Words: Of Special Interest; symposium; education reform; curriculum change

(*) Corresponding author. (E-mail: ngoroff@notes.cc.sunysb.edu)

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