STUDENT PERFORMANCE ON BIOLOGY ESSAY … · A Seminar Paper Submitted in Partial ... Student Performance on Biology Essay Questions Using Rubrics 3 ... A rubric can take many forms

Student Performance on Biology Essay Questions Using Rubrics 1 Heather Schilling

STUDENT PERFORMANCE ON BIOLOGY ESSAY QUESTIONS THROUGH THE USE OF RUBRICS AND STUDENT-MADE QUESTIONS

Heather J. Schilling

A Seminar Paper Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

for the Degree of

Master of Science in Education Curriculum and Instruction

University of Wisconsin Oshkosh Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901

December 2007

Approval First Reader: __________________________________________ Date: _____________ Judith Hankes, Ph. D. Second Reader: ________________________________________ Date: _____________ Julie Mosher, Assistant Principal OWHS


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract 3 Study Sequence 4 Statement of the Problem 5 Situating the Problem 5 Review of Literature 7 Assessment in Science Rubrics in Science

Methodology 10 Participants Duration Data Sources Intervention Data Analysis and Findings 15 Pretest/Posttest Student Opinion Survey Conclusion 18 Future Plans 21 References 23 Appendix A 24 Appendix B 25 Appendix C 26


Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the implementation of

teacher-made rubrics for assessing essay test questions helped biology students improve

their essay test scores and as well as whether the rubrics helped the instructor in assessing

student responses more accurately. The study also investigated whether students

performed better on essay tests if they participated in the development of test questions and

if they were given the opportunity to study examples of essay questions prior to the test.

Three biology short answer/essay tests were used to assess the effect of the

interventions described above on student learning. Each test was given at the end of a 1.5

week biology unit. All biology units were similar in structure and knowledge. The first

test served as the pretest where the students were not involved in the test question writing

and no rubric was used. For the second test, students were shown the rubric being used to

grade the essay questions and the essay questions were discussed briefly. Finally for the

third test, students helped in the essay question construction and were shown the rubric

being used to grade such questions.

The findings of this study indicate that when a rubric is discussed prior to the essay

exam and when it is provided to students ahead of time, student test scores increase. This

study also indicated that students will perform better on essay tests when they are given the

opportunity to help with the development of test questions. A combination of using

rubrics, showing examples of test questions, and allowing students to help with the

question making process impacts positively on student achievement as assessed by short

answer and essay test questions.


Study Sequence

September • Investigated classroom problems • Investigated potential research topics • Identified the classroom problem: essay questions • Developed Statement of the Problem • Began researching related literature • Wrote Situating the Problem

October

• Finalized Statement of the Problem • Continued researching related literature • Wrote Literature Review • Began writing Methodology: Participants, Duration, and Data Sources • Began biology unit 1 • Designed unit 1 test and student opinion survey • Gave unit 1 test and student opinion survey to students • Graded unit 1 test and analyzed student opinion survey • Discussed survey results with students • Began biology unit 2 • Discussed unit 2 test questions and teacher-made rubric with students • Gave unit 2 test • Graded unit 2 test • Began biology unit 3 • Students helped to construct essay test questions for unit 3 test

November

• Finished writing Methodology: Data Sources and Intervention • Began writing Data Analysis and Findings • Students were shown rubric for unit 3 test and essay test questions were

discussed • Gave unit 3 test and student opinion survey • Graded unit 3 test and analyzed student opinion survey • Compiled data from all three unit tests and from student opinion survey • Analyzed data from all three unit tests and from student opinion survey • Completed Data Analysis and Findings • Completed Conclusion and Future Plans • Second reader, Julie Mosher, read and revised final paper • Sent paper via e-mail to Judith Hankes for final revision/made revisions upon

response December

• Finalized and prepared paper to be turned in December 11, 2007


Statement of the Problem

Rubrics have made it easier for many science teachers, including myself, to grade

assignments such as projects, lab reports, and presentations. Although I find rubrics useful

for grading these types of assignments, I use them less frequently for grading essay tests

and quizzes. Essay and short answer questions can be difficult to grade without bias and

without a standard assessment measurement. Not only are they hard to grade, students

often have difficulty answering them with confidence. Recognizing this as a problem, I

conducted the study reported in this paper to determine whether implementation of teacher-

made rubrics for assessing essay test questions would help my biology students improve

their essay test scores and will help me assess their responses more accurately. I also

conducted the study reported in this paper to determine if students will perform better on

essay tests if they take part in the question making process and if they are shown examples

of essay questions prior to the test.

Key Term:

Rubric: Criterion-referenced evaluation and feedback tool where the student is graded

according to a set of criteria. A rubric can take many forms ranging from a checklist

appearance where students are given a check mark for the criteria they address to a table-

like appearance where students are rated on a numerical scale for each criteria.

Situating the Problem

This study was conducted during my seventh year teaching freshman level physical

science and biology at Oshkosh West High School. Oshkosh West High School is one of

two high schools located in a city of 60,000 people and has around 2000 students enrolled.

Enrollment in my three physical science classes consisted of 69 freshmen and four


sophomores whereas my two biology classes consisted of 44 freshmen, ten sophomores,

one junior, and one senior. The year this study was conducted, I chose to incorporate essay

questions in my biology assessment and to implement the usage of rubrics for scoring

these assessments. In choosing to use essay questions to evaluate my students, I was

hoping to gain a better understanding of their science knowledge. By using rubrics, I was

also hoping my students would become better writers in science.

During my sixth year of teaching, I started to reevaluate the way I assess my

science students. I taught physical science and biology to mostly ninth grade students and

I wanted to integrate the use of essay test questions into my curriculum. For my biology

curriculum, I created a couple of short quizzes that were solely based on essay questions.

By using essay questions I had hoped to gain a better understanding of my students’

learning. Although I could separate those students who understood the topic from those

who didn’t, I had a difficult time separating the “A” student from the “B” student and so

on. I found myself going back and forth between student answers trying to find the “A”

answer to compare with a “B” answer to compare with a “C” answer. Although I did an

adequate job with grading the quizzes, I truly felt like there were gaps in my assessment of

my biology students.

Not only did I feel unsure about the grades I handed out for these biology quizzes,

some of my students seemed to have difficulty answering the questions with confidence. I

had many students approach me during these particular quizzes wondering what I was

looking for in an answer. This was not the first time I ran into this problem. With many

essay type questions, some students are unsure of what the answer should look like.


Because of these two problems I chose to implement the usage of scoring rubrics for

grading essay tests and quizzes.

Literature Review

Over the last few years rubrics have become a standard assessment tool in many

classrooms, including science classrooms. Rubrics have opened the doors for teachers to

truly gauge the performance and knowledge of their students by giving them a set of

criteria to grade. Some rubrics are created by the individual teacher whereas some have

been created by institutions such as National Communication Association which created a

rubric called The Competent Speaker (Denbar, Brooks, & Kubicka-Miller, 2006). The

Competent Speaker is a rubric used to assess communication disciplines at the college

level (Denbar, Brooks, & Kubicka-Miller, 2006). Although The Competent Speaker

assesses college level students taking communication courses, the idea of using a rubric

such as this one can be stretched across all curriculums. In science courses for example,

rubrics can be used for grading laboratory reports, science projects, reports, and

presentations. The Competent Speaker could be revised and used in a science course to

evaluate students on their communication skills during laboratory discussions and

presentations. Although the use of rubrics for grading science matter such as reports and

projects is relatively common, using a rubric for grading tests and quizzes is not. Oshkosh

biology teachers came together during the 2005-2006 school year to address this problem.

Because of the need to address student science knowledge across the entire city of

Oshkosh, biology teachers at Oshkosh West and North High School created a common

assessment that uses a rubric for scoring purposes. This assessment gauged students’

knowledge of genetics and included 4 short answer/essay questions. The teacher-made


rubric addressed each question on a four point scale. This particular rubric was extremely

helpful in separating the students into the “A” category, the “B” category, and so on. The

use of rubrics for assessing essay questions is slowly making its way into the Oshkosh high

school science curriculum.

Assessment in Science

Using rubrics as part of an assessment tool can help both the teacher and students

with answering test questions such as essay questions, but the essay question itself can

pose both advantageous and disadvantageous issues. Although essay questions are not a

new phenomenon, assessment of science knowledge over the last few decades has typically

included multiple choice, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank questions. These objective

questions don’t necessarily give the teacher a definitive outlook on how their students are

learning or how much their students are learning. A study done by Sundberg in 2006 has

outlined the importance of essay questions in high school curriculums. Sundberg (2006)

“compared the learning outcomes in sections of a course in which only objective questions

were used, with the learning outcomes in sections of the same course that used essay

questions on all exams” (p. 61). Both sections were given the same pretest and posttest.

The results of the study indicated that essay questions had a positive effect on student

learning (Sundberg 2006). Students who took the essay exam scored higher on the posttest

than students who took the objective exam. Even though this study was conducted in a

history classroom, the idea can be taken across all curriculums.

Although objective test questions are important for students to experience due to

the format of high stakes testing, essay questions should not be ignored. Many high school

science teachers are choosing this alternative form of assessment. Essay questions are


useful for the teacher to get a glimpse of what their students really know and understand

about science. Sadler and Good (2006) found the following:

Items that measure sophisticated understandings require longer, more

complex student responses. When given the opportunity, students write

extensively, draw diagrams, create graphs, and provide examples from real

life experiences in their tests and quizzes. In turn, responses that are more

open-ended call for more time and effort on the teacher’s part to read,

correct, provide feedback, and grade fairly. (p. 2)

As Sadler and Good point out, essay questions are useful for measuring student knowledge

but the effort a teacher has to put in to grading those assessments can be time consuming.

Rubrics in Science

Rubrics can be a useful tool for teachers to raise their standards of essay test

answers and to cut down on the time utilized for grading such tests. Not only do rubrics

cut down on time used for grading test questions, students also benefit from receiving the

rubric ahead of time. For a rubric to be most useful, a student must have a copy of it prior

to the project, report, or test. In doing so, the student is aware of how he or she will be

graded on a particular assessment and it increases the chances that students will produce

quality work (Montgomery, 2000). Not only is it helpful to the student to receive the

rubric ahead of time, it is particularly helpful if the student is able to take part in the essay

and rubric making process. In the Sundberg (2006) study outlined above, students were

given sample essay questions ahead of time in hopes to encourage students to analyze

information they learned in class.


Although rubrics can be useful to both the student and teacher, there are some

disadvantages when using them in the classroom. Rubrics can be lengthy and detailed

making it difficult for students to understand and/or read (Rutherford, 2007). Many

teachers have made the mistake of using “teacher language” when creating a rubric.

Depending on the age of the student, they may not be able to understand what the teacher

is looking for. Not only do teachers use this type of language in their rubrics, some tend to

make the rubrics quite lengthy. When students are given a lengthy rubric to read over,

more often than not, they ignore the rubric entirely. To avoid these problems teachers have

made rubrics more “student friendly” by using terms familiar with students and by keeping

the rubric relatively short (Rutherford, 2007).

Methodology

Review of problems: 1) Does the implementation of teacher-made rubrics for

assessing essay test questions help biology students improve their essay test scores? 2)

Does allowing students to view essay questions prior to the test improve their essay test

scores? 3) Does allowing student to create their own essay questions improve their essay

test scores? 4) Does the implementation of teacher-made rubrics help the instructor assess

their responses more accurately?

Participants

Fifty-six high school biology students, 27 females and 29 males, participated in this

study. Forty-four of these students were “fast track” freshmen. These freshmen took an

accelerated science course their eighth grade year in order to test out of the ninth grade

physical science course. Typically, these students have a 3.0 GPA or better and will

qualify to take chemistry and other advanced science courses their sophomore, junior, and


senior years. Along with the 44 freshmen, ten sophomores, one junior, and one senior also

participated in this study.

Duration

This study was conducted during the 2007-2008 school year from October to

November and took approximately five weeks. Three biology units were discussed and

three essay tests were given to the biology students over the span of the five weeks. Each

test took approximately 20-30 minutes. Two student opinion surveys were also given; one

in the beginning of the intervention and one at the end of the intervention.

Data Sources

Two quantitative approaches were used to determine the answers to the above

problems. One quantitative approach involved giving a series of three similar tests to the

students. This approach was used to gather data on how student scores may change over

the course of the intervention. The other approach involved surveying the students’

opinions in the beginning of the intervention and at the end of the intervention.

The pretest/posttest approach taken to gather student scores involved first giving

the students an essay test (pretest) where there was no student preparation from the teacher.

The students went into this pretest unknowing about how the test questions were written

and how the teacher would grade the test questions. The next two essay tests (posttests)

given were discussed as a class and involved the use of a rubric, student/teacher

questioning, and student preparation. Table 1.0 outlines the pretest/posttest approach taken

in this study. See appendixes A – C for test samples.


Table 1.0 Test 1 Test 2 Test 3

Duration Approximately 25 minutes

Approximately 25 minutes

Approximately 25 minutes

(approximately 1.5 - 2 weeks of instruction was given in between each test) Type of Test 22 point biology test

with one essay question and two short answer questions

22 point biology test with two essay questions

22 point biology test with two essay questions

Type of Rubric No rubric was used A teacher-made rubric was shown prior to the test

A teacher-made rubric was shown prior to the test

Test Questions Teacher-made test questions were not reviewed

Teacher-made test questions were reviewed 3 days prior to the test

Student-made test questions were created and reviewed 4 days prior to the test

The student opinion survey was utilized to gather the thoughts of the students after

the pretest and again after the second posttest. This survey was anonymous and included

the following questions:

1. How much did you study for today’s test?

0 hours 0-1 hour 1-2 hours 3 or more hours

2. If you studied, how did you study for today’s test?

3. How comfortable did you feel with preparing for today’s test?

1 2 3 4 not comfortable somewhat comfortable very comfortable at all comfortable

4. How confident did you feel with answering the essay and short answer questions?

1 2 3 4 not confident somewhat confident very confident at all confident

5. What would help you when preparing for the next essay and short answer test?

6. Other than using your notes, what might help you while taking future tests?


Intervention

The three units covered in the biology class over the course of this intervention

included the following:

• Unit 1: plant cells, plant organelles (structure and function), and photosynthesis

• Unit 2: animal cells and animal organelles (structure and function)

• Unit 3: organelle called mitochondria, food compounds, and cellular respiration

These three units were chosen due to the similarities among them and the similar kinds of

questions that could be created for each of the three tests. Although the units are

structurally similar, unit 3 tends to be more difficult for the students due to unfamiliar

terms and processes. Each unit took approximately 1.5 – 2 weeks for instruction,

activities, and labs.

Unit 1: Unit 1 was delivered to the students in the beginning of the intervention and

was supplemented by notes, activities, and labs. Students were told three days before the

test that they would have to study for a short answer/essay test. They were informed that

the test would be short (20 – 25 points) and would include at least one essay question. The

test was not discussed in any more detail. On the day of the test students were asked to

clear their tables and take out a pencil. The test was handed out and students were given

approximately 25 minutes to finish. Once finished, students brought the test to the teacher

and picked up a student opinion survey. Students were told to answer the opinion survey

honestly and anonymously. They brought the opinion survey to the teacher when

completed and data from these surveys was collected. Approximately 1 – 2 minutes was

used to grade each test and all tests were graded in two days. The graded tests were


handed out and student opinions were discussed. They were told their suggestions would

play a role in the next unit.

Unit 2: This unit on animal cells and organelles was delivered to the students in the

same way as unit 1 and took approximately 1.5 – 2 weeks. Students were told of the

animal cell test three days prior to the assessment being given. Students were also shown

the teacher-made rubric that would be used to grade the test. Due to the nature of the

rubric, students were also made aware of the two essay test questions. The rubric on the

actual test document was shown via the computer and classroom projector. Students asked

clarifying questions for about seven minutes. On the day of the test students were asked to

clear their tables and to take out a pencil. The test was handed out and students were given

approximately 25 minutes to finish. Once finished, students brought the test to the teacher.

A student opinion survey was not used at this time. Approximately one minute was used

to grade each test and all tests were graded in two days.

Unit 3: Although this unit is typically a harder unit for students, it was delivered in

the same way as unit 1 and unit 2, and was supplemented by notes, activities, and labs.

Unit 3 took approximately 1.5 – 2 weeks to complete and the students were given four

days notice before the test. Four days into unit 3, students were given the opportunity to

look over their notes and create one essay question. Students were put into groups of four

and were told that this essay question could possibly be used on the future test. Five

minutes was given to construct the essay question and all questions were collected by the

teacher. Out of 14 essay questions two were chosen as possible test questions. Four days

prior to the test these two questions were shown to the students via the computer and

classroom projector. Not only did students view and write down these questions, they also


had the opportunity to create four more essay questions using their notes. These four

additional questions were constructed by the class and were typed onto the computer by a

volunteer student. Six essay questions in all were discussed and edited by the class.

Students were informed that these questions could be used on the test and may require

editing by the teacher. Even though editing did occur the overall question did not change.

One day prior to the unit 3 test students were also shown the teacher-made rubric

that would be used for grading the essay questions. The rubric was discussed for

approximately seven minutes. On the day of the test the students were asked to clear their

tables and take out a pencil. The test was handed out to each student and they were told to

bring the test to the teacher when completed. Once completed the students also filled out

the student opinion survey; the same survey that was given in the beginning of this

intervention. Students were asked to remain anonymous and to be honest with answering

the opinion survey questions. Each test took approximately one minute to grade and all

tests were graded in two days. Data from student opinion surveys was collected as well.

Data Analysis and Findings

The three unit tests were graded by the teacher and the students overall score on the

tests was collected. The raw scores for each unit test and for each student are listed in

table 2.0. Once the raw scores were recorded the student letter grades (A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s,

and F’s) were also grouped and percentages were calculated. See table 2.1 for the

individual letter grades and the percentage breakdown of letter grades. Finally, the change

in letter grade percentages between the three unit tests was calculated. See table 2.2 for

letter grade percentage increase/decrease between the unit tests.


Table 2.0 Biology Student Test Scores

Unit 1 Test: Raw Score out of 22 points

(56 test scores)


(56 test scores)


(54 test scores)* 22 22, 22, 22, 22, 22, 22 22, 22, 22, 22, 22 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21,

21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21, 21

20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20 20, 20, 20, 20, 20, 20 19, 19 19, 19, 19 19, 19, 19, 19 18, 18, 18, 18, 18 18, 18, 18, 18, 18 18, 18, 18, 18, 18, 18, 18 17, 17 17, 17, 17, 17, 17, 17, 17 17, 17 16, 16, 16 16, 16 16, 16 15 15, 15, 15, 15 15, 15, 15, 15 14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14, 14 14 13, 13, 13 13 12 11, 11, 11, 11, 11 11 11, 11 10, 10, 9, 9, 9, 7, 6, 5, 5, 3, 2, 0 10, 9, 6 9, 9, 8, 8, 8, 7, 6, 5 * Unit 3 test: 9 students absent for review day prior to test and 11 sophomores absent the day of the test due to WKCE testing Table 2.1

Student Letter Grades: Number of A’s, B’s, C’s, D’s, and F’s Letter Grades Unit 1 Test

22 points possible Unit 2 Test

22 points possible Unit 3 Test

22 points possible A = 90% - 100% Score of 20/22 - 22/22

15 A’s = 26.8% 30 A’s = 53.6% 24 A’s = 44.4%

B = 80% - 89.9% Score of 18/22 - 19/22

7 B’s = 12.5% 8 B’s = 14.3% 11 B’s = 20.4%

C = 70% - 79.9% Score of 16/22 - 17/22

5 C’s = 8.9% 9 C’s = 16.1% 4 C’s = 7.4%

D = 60% - 69.9% Score of 14/22 - 15/22

8 D’s = 14.3% 5 D’s = 8.9% 4 D’s = 7.4%

F = 0% - 59.9% Score of 0/22 - 13/22

20 F’s = 35.7% 4 F’s = 7.1% 11 F’s = 20.4%

Average Test Percentage

Table 2.2

Test Percent Changes Percent Change from Unit Test

1 to Unit Test 2 Percent Change from Unit Test

1 to Unit Test 3 Percent Change from Unit Test

2 to Unit Test 3 A’s = + 26.8% A’s = + 17.6% A’s = - 9.2% B’s = + 1.8% B’s = + 7.9% B’s = + 6.1% C’s = + 7.2% C’s = - 1.5% C’s = - 8.7% D’s = - 5.4% D’s = - 6.9 % D’s = - 1.5% F’s = - 28.6% F’s = - 15.3% F’s = + 13.3%


Data from student opinion surveys was also collected and analyzed. The pretest

survey was given after the unit 1 test and the posttest survey was given after the unit 3 test.

See table 3.0 for the raw data collected and the percent analysis from the two opinion

surveys.

Table 3.0 Raw Data and Percent Analysis of the Two Student Opinion Surveys

1. Unit 1 Pretest Survey: 56 surveys completed 2. Unit 3 Posttest Survey: 53 surveys completed

Hours of Study 0 0 – 1 1 – 2 3 or more Pretest Survey 15: 26.8% 28: 50.0% 12: 21.4% 1: 1.7% Posttest Survey 8: 15.1% 27: 50.1% 17: 32.1% 1: 1.9%

Comfort in Preparation

1 Not comfortable at

all

2 Somewhat

comfortable

3 Comfortable

4 Very comfortable

Pretest Survey 14: 25.0% 20: 35.7% 19: 33.9% 3: 5.3% Posttest Survey 7: 13.2% 15: 28.3% 20: 37.7% 11: 20.8% Percent Change - 11.8% - 7.4% + 3.8% + 15.5%

Confidence with Answers

1 Not confident at all

2 Somewhat confident

3 Confident

4 Very confident

Pretest Survey 8: 14.3% 24: 42.9% 20: 35.7% 4: 7.1% Posttest Survey 7: 13.2% 19: 35.8% 14: 26.4% 13: 24.5% Percent Change - 1.1% - 7.1% - 9.3% + 17.4%

How the Student Studied

Looked over notes

Were “quizzed” by

parents

Flash Cards Did not study No response Practiced answering

essay questions

Pretest Survey: 63 responses

39 8 2 2 12 0

Posttest Survey: 60 responses

42 6 3 0 9 12

What would help the student prepare for future tests?

Pretest Survey:

62 responses Posttest

Survey: 65 responses

Study more for the test 21 19 Review/repetition in class 20 10 Study guide 6 7 Knowing what’s on the test 6 0 More reminders 3 0 More time to study 2 0 Shorter tests 1 0 Satisfied with everything done in class 0 13 Practice writing the answers to the essay questions 0 3 No response 3 4 Missed the review day prior to Unit 3 test 0 9


Conclusion and Future Plans

In review, this study was conducted to answer the following questions: 1) Does the

implementation of teacher-made rubrics for assessing essay test questions help biology

students improve their essay test scores? 2) Does allowing students to view essay

questions prior to the test improve their essay test scores? 3) Does allowing student to

create their own essay questions improve their essay test scores? 4) Does the

implementation of teacher-made rubrics help the instructor assess their responses more

accurately? The data analysis from the three unit tests and the student opinion surveys

indicated a possible solution to the above problems. The following four sections will

analyze and draw conclusions for each of the four problems.

Does the implementation of teacher-made rubrics for assessing essay test questions

help biology students improve their essay test scores? A teacher made rubric was used on

the unit 2 and unit 3 test and was shown to the students prior to the test. See appendix B

and C for the rubric examples. These two rubrics gave a clear explanation to the students

as to what was expected of them when answering the essay questions. As Mongomery

(2000) points out in her article, Classroom Rubrics: Systematizing What Teachers Do

Naturally, rubrics are most beneficial when shown to the students ahead of time. Data

seen in Table 2.1 also shows this beneficial aspect. Unit 2 and unit 3 test scores showed

significantly higher amounts of A’s than the unit 1 test in which no rubric was used. In

addition to higher amounts of A’s, unit 2 and unit 3 test scores also showed a lower

amount of F’s. According to Table 2.2 the most significant gain was seen between the unit

1 test and the unit 2 test where the amount of A’s rose 26.8%. B and C grades were also

up slightly, D grades were down slightly, and F grades were down significantly (-28.6%).


This data suggests that when shown a rubric ahead of time, students are better prepared for

the test and will improve their test scores.

In comparing test grades between unit 1 and unit 3, A’s and B’s were up slightly

and C’s, D’s, and F’s were down slightly. Unit 3 is typically a more difficult topic for

students to grasp and therefore the percent gains and percent losses were not quite as

drastic as percent changes between unit 1 and unit 2. Another factor that may have played

a role in the lower grades for unit 3 is the fact that nine students were absent for the review

prior to the test and eleven sophomores were absent the day of the test because of WKCE

testing. Again, student test grades improved with the use of a rubric.

Does allowing students to view essay questions prior to the test improve their essay

test scores? Although the actual essay questions were not shown for the unit 2 test, they

were implicated in the rubric. Because the rubric was shown prior to the unit 2 test,

students had a somewhat clear idea of what the essay questions would look like. For the

unit 3 test, students were not only shown the rubric, they were also shown the actual essay

questions. Again the data shown in Table 2.1 and 2.2 clearly shows an increase in test

scores on these two posttests when compared to the unit 1 pretest. It is unclear that the use

of a rubric or the showing of test questions prior to the test caused the test score increases,

but a combination of the two interventions probably played a role in the test score

increases.

Does allowing student to create their own essay questions improve their essay test

scores? As was reported above, test scores generally increased as students were more and

more aware of the test questions. For the unit 3 test, students were given the opportunity to

create and edit their own essay test questions. Two of these student-created essay


questions were used on the test and a teacher-made rubric was also used. As test scores

did increase from the unit 1 pretest to the unit 3 posttest, it is still unclear whether or not it

was the use of a rubric or the student-created test questions that lead to this increase.

Again, a combination of the two interventions probably led to the increased test scores.

Along with test score increases, it appears that when given more open-ended test

questions, students could show what they know and understand about a particular biology

topic. Sadler and Good (2006) point out that, “Items that measure sophisticated

understandings require longer, more complex student responses. When given the

opportunity, students write extensively, draw diagrams, create graph, and provide

examples from real life experiences in their tests and quizzes” (p. 2). This was seen in

many of the essay responses throughout this study. Many students wrote long, complex

responses and included examples and diagrams from class. It was clear that these students

truly had an understanding of the biology topics in units 1, 2, and 3.

Does the implementation of teacher-made rubrics help the instructor assess their

responses more accurately? Grading essay responses can be time consuming and can

create an inequality in grading (Sadler & Good, 2006). As a rubric was used on the unit 2

and unit 3 tests, time spent on grading each test dropped at least 30 seconds for each test.

Not only did the time spent on grading each test go down, the simplicity of grading each

essay response was also realized. The rubrics broke down the essays into smaller segments

where each segment was graded on a numerical value between 1 and 3. This made it

extremely helpful in choosing the right numerical value for each segment of the essay

responses. The rubrics also included key terms that the student was to write about. This


also made it very easy to grade the essay responses and to grade them fairly because

certain key terms must have been addressed in the responses to get a high score.

Although student test scores played a significant role in answering the four

questions in this study, student opinion survey also gave a clear answer to the use of

rubrics and student-made essay questions. Student reported that their comfort in preparing

for essay tests went up as they were more informed about the rubric and essay test

questions. Not only did their comfort level go up, their confidence in answering essay

questions also rose. Students’ response to being “very confident” rose 17.4% from the unit

1 pretest to the unit 3 posttest. Another report to mention is the way students studied for

the pretest and posttest. Twelve students reported that they practiced answering the essay

questions for the unit 3 posttest, whereas no students reported this on the pretest survey.

This way of studying further supports the fact that students who see the essay questions

ahead of time will not only prepare better for the test, but will be more successful as well.

Another response to report relates to the survey question, “What would help you prepare

for future tests?” Zero students reported that they were fully satisfied with what was done

in class on the pretest survey, whereas on the posttest survey, 13 students said they were

satisfied with everything done in class. This also supports the use of time spent in class to

go over rubrics and essay test questions.

In conclusion it is clear that when students are given the opportunity to view and

use a rubric on essay questions, their test scores improve. Often students are intimidated

and have low confidence when faced with essay questions. Giving students the

opportunity to play a bigger role in the question making process and showing them how

they will be graded on such questions plays a big role in their success at taking essay tests.


Future plans would include developing more essay questions to be used on biology

and physical science tests. When creating these tests, class time will be well spent on

rubric and essay question development. An increase in student test scores and positive

responses on the unit 3 posttest student opinion surveys clearly indicate a need for the use

of essay questions and a need for class time preparing these questions. Not only will

rubrics for essay questions become more common in class, but student-created rubrics for

projects and lab reports may also be utilized.


References

Dunbar, N. E., Brooks, C. F., & Kubicka-Miller, T. (2006). Oral Communication Skills in Higher Education: Using a Performance-Based Evaluation Rubric to Assess Communication Skills. Innovative Higher Education, 31, 115-128.

Montgomery, K. (2000). Classroom Rubrics: Systematizing What Teachers Do Naturally.

The Clearing House, 73, 324-328. Rutherford, S. (2007). Using a Laboratory Conclusion Rubric. Science Activities, 43, 9-14. Sadler, P. M., Good, E. (2006). The Impact of Self- and Peer-Grading on Student

Learning. Educational Assessment, 11, 1-31. Sundberg, S. B., (2006). An Investigation of the Effects of Exam Essay Questions On

Student Learning in United States History Survey Classes. The History Teacher, 40, 59-68.


Appendix A

CELL INTRODUCTION/PLANT CELL TEST: 22 pts

(Page 1)Cell Introduction:

1. 1 pt: ___________________ was the first to observe nonliving cells and coined the word “cell”.

2. 2 pts: Cells are organized into ______________________, which are organized into organs, which are organized into _____________________, which are organized in the organism.

3. 1 pt: List the following cells from smallest to biggest: animal cells, plant cell, bacteria cells

4. 5 pts: In the following diagram list 2 characteristics of each type of cell and 1 characteristic that

is similar between them.

Prokaryotes Eukaryotes

Both (Page 2)Plant Cell Organelles/Photosynthesis: With any answer you may use words or drawings.

1. 6 pts: What three organelles found in plant cells are not found in animal cells? Describe the

function and structure of each plant organelle. 2. 5 pts: Photosynthesis takes place in the organelle called the ___________________________.

a. Write the photosynthesis equation below.

b. Describe the equation in words. For example, what do plants need…what do plants make?

3. 2 pts: Besides the photosynthetic plastid you listed above, what are two other plastids found in plant cells?


Appendix B

ANIMAL CELL TEST: 22 points

(Page 1)Fill in the blanks:

1. 1 pt: All cells have mini “organs” called __________________________ which carry out many functions within the cell.

2. 1 pt: All cells, including bacteria, plant, and animal, have a _________________________ which

gives the cell a shape and allows materials to enter and exit.

3. 1 pt: Most chemical reactions in the cell take place in the _________________________.

4. 1pt: ________________________ is the large molecule within the cell that controls all functions of the cell and is responsible for our genetics.

Fill in the chart: 6 pts: List the most obvious characteristic for each cell part and tell what it moves, makes, or stores.

Characteristics: Moves something Makes something Stores something

Cell Part Characteristic What does it move, make, or store? Mitochondria

Endoplasmic Reticulum

Nucleus

(Page 2)Essay Questions:

1. List 3 organelles that are present in both plant and animal cells. Explain the function of each organelle.

2. List 2 organelles that are present in animal cells but not in plant cells. Explain the function of each

organelle.

1 point 2 points 3 points 3 organelles are listed but functions are incorrect OR organelles are incorrect

3 organelles are listed but the functions are incorrect or unclear

3 organelles are listed and the functions are clearly defined

Essay Question 1

Student does not have a clear understanding of similarities between plant and animal cells

Student has a somewhat clear understanding of similarities between plant and animal cells

Student has a very clear understanding of similarities between plant and animal cells

2 organelles are listed but functions are incorrect OR organelles are incorrect

2 organelles are listed but the functions are incorrect or unclear

2 organelles are listed and the functions are clearly defined

Essay Question 2 Student does not have a clear

understanding of differences between plant and animal cells

Student has a somewhat clear understanding of differences between plant and animal cells

Student has a very clear understanding of differences between plant and animal cells


Appendix C

Carbon Compounds and Cellular Respiration Test: 22 points Schilling

(Page 1) Fill in the blanks (3 points):

1. A single large carbon molecule called a ______________________ can be put together with other _______________________ to create a larger carbon molecule called a polymer.

2. A monosaccharide can have these two ring shapes: _____________________ and

____________________. When two monosaccharides are put together we create a ____________________________.

3. The energy molecule found in all cells is called ______________________.

Diagrams:

1. (1 point) What does the diagram below represent? _______________________

2. (2 points) Using the above diagram, show how energy is created. Please explain your answer or diagram.

3. In the diagram below, fill in the four blanks.

____________ (Page 2) Essay Questions (12 points):

_______(food) enters cell

Glycolysis occurs in________________

Aerobic Respiration

Anaerobic Respiration ____

1. Aerobic respiration begins when glucose enters the cell. Explain the next few steps in aerobic

respiration. You may use diagrams to back up your answer.

a. Write the overall aerobic respiration equation. ______________ + ______________ _______________ + ______________ + ___________

2. List the two kinds of anaerobic respiration and write one similarity among them and one difference between them.

a. Write the overall anaerobic respiration equation. Pick one to write.

______________ + ______________ _______________ + ______________ + ___________


1 point 2 points 3 points Some terms are mentioned but not all are used correctly. The student does not have a clear idea of aerobic respiration.

Most terms are mentioned but not all are used correctly. The student has a somewhat clear idea of aerobic respiration.

The following terms are mentioned and used correctly: mitochondria, pyruvic acid, oxygen, ATP, carbon dioxide, water, cytoplasm, glycolysis

Essay Question 1

The equation is missing most parts and/or the parts are in the wrong spot

The equation is missing one or two parts and/or the parts are in the wrong spot

The equation has all parts and all are in the correct spot

The student does not have a clear idea of similarities and differences between the two anaerobic respirations

The student has a somewhat clear idea of similarities and/or differences between the two anaerobic respirations

The student has a very clear understanding of similarities and differences between the two anaerobic respirations

Essay Question 2

The equation is missing most parts and/or the parts are in the wrong spot

The equation is missing one or two parts and/or the parts are in the wrong spot

The equation has all parts and all are in the correct spot

Documents

STUDENT PERFORMANCE ON BIOLOGY ESSAY … · A Seminar Paper Submitted in Partial ... Student Performance on Biology Essay Questions Using Rubrics 3 ... A rubric can take many forms