Assessing students' understanding

By Niki Kaiser2018-12-17T12:08:00

A conceptual image showing poor performance

Source: ADragan / Getty Images

How to work out why they got the answer right

In a typical week, you’ll assess students multiple times, in a variety of ways. But how often do you dig below the surface to find out why they got things right or wrong? Does a wrong answer indicate that students didn’t understand the underlying science, or that they couldn’t interpret the question? And if they were correct, can you be sure they’ll get the same question right in the future, or in another context? This article helps students to make links between apparently different ideas.

Thanks for using Education in Chemistry. You can view one Education in Chemistry article per month as a visitor.

A photograph of a teacher standing in a white lab coat, speaking with a class of children in a laboratory, is superimposed on a colourful background. Text reads "Teach Chemistry means support for classroom and staff room".

Register for Teach Chemistry for free, unlimited access

Registration is open to all teachers and technicians at secondary schools, colleges and teacher training institutions in the UK and Ireland.

Get all this, plus much more:

unlimited access to resources, core practical videos and Education in Chemistry articles
teacher well-being toolkit, personal development resources and online assessments
applications for funding to support your lessons

Set up your Teach Chemistry account

Already a Teach Chemistry member? Sign in now.

Not eligible for Teach Chemistry? Sign up for a personal account instead, or you can also access all our resources with Royal Society of Chemistry membership.