Universal Journal of Educational Research Vol. 4(6), pp. 1406 - 1417
DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2016.040618
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Informal Assessment of Competences in the Context of Science Standards in Austria


Iris Schiffl *
School of Education, University of Salzburg, Austria

ABSTRACT

Science standards have been a topic in educational research in Austria for about ten years now. Starting in 2005, competency structure models have been developed for junior and senior classes of different school types. After evaluating these models, prototypic tasks were created to point out the meaning of the models to teachers. At the moment, instruments for informal competency diagnosis are developed. The term "informal competency diagnosis" is used to distinguish this kind of diagnosis, which is carried out by the teachers themselves, from nationwide formal competency tests. One of these instruments for informal diagnosis is the IKM (instrument for informal competency measurement). It is developed for the informal diagnosis of science competences in junior classes. This article deals with the question if the underlying construct of the IKM can be supported through empirical data. Therefore the situation of science standards in Austria is described first to illustrate the context in which the development of the IKM took place. Then, the underlying theoretical construct is introduced and detailed information about the diagnosis tool is given. Later, the empirical evaluation of the theoretical construct gets depicted and discussed.

KEYWORDS
Science Standards, Competences, Informal Diagnosis, Diagnosis Instruments

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Iris Schiffl , "Informal Assessment of Competences in the Context of Science Standards in Austria," Universal Journal of Educational Research, Vol. 4, No. 6, pp. 1406 - 1417, 2016. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2016.040618.

(b). APA Format:
Iris Schiffl (2016). Informal Assessment of Competences in the Context of Science Standards in Austria. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 4(6), 1406 - 1417. DOI: 10.13189/ujer.2016.040618.