Student-generated reading questions: diagnosing student thinking with diverse formative assessments

Area of Science:

• Science Education
• Higher Education Pedagogy
• Biochemistry Education

Background:

• Formative assessment is crucial for conceptual development in science.
• University instructors need diverse tools to diagnose diverse student thinking.
• Identifying student understanding beyond vocal participation is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To illustrate the effectiveness of reading question assignments as a formative assessment tool.
• To demonstrate how student-generated reading questions provide high-quality evidence of student thinking.
• To exemplify the utility of these prompts in diagnosing student learning in science.

Main Methods:

• Utilized reading question assignments as a formative assessment prompt.
• Collected and analyzed student-generated reading questions as evidence of thinking.
• Characterized student assessment data using three distinct analytic frames.
• Examined diagnostic effectiveness in relation to specific learning outcomes.

Main Results:

• Reading question assignments yield high-quality evidence of student thinking.
• Student-generated questions effectively reveal understanding and misconceptions.
• The analytic frames successfully diagnosed student learning in relation to sample outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Reading question assignments offer a valuable alternative for uncovering and diagnosing student understanding.
• This formative assessment strategy supports conceptual development in science.
• The approach is particularly relevant for university faculty teaching biochemistry and related courses.