The impact of performance assessment on science education at primary school

The new curriculum in Sweden for the primary and secondary school contains more distinct educational targets. Further, assessment is linked to the usage of knowledge in a specific subject not only in a specific subject but also in other contexts rather than remembering facts. Science education at school now has to be linked to the students own experience and shall develop critical thinking of the student. This is supposed to the ability to review arguments and to develop their ability to argue in situations where knowledge of science is of big importance. The performance assessment according to the curriculum shall be used to evaluate if the student have achieved the capacity to use knowledge in discussions within scientific contexts. The student’s practical investigations and documentation of these are important parts in science education. To achieve the required knowledge, students have to train abilities or skills before the assessment. In order to assess the required knowledge and to view the development of a student, the teacher has to accomplish several practical assessments and training occasions. The new curriculum expects the teacher to design learning situations where the students get the possibility to have relevant training before the performance assessment. The earlier Swedish curricula had a stronger emphasis on theoretical knowledge whereas the new curriculum highlights the ability to use knowledge. The presentation will briefly describe how science teaching is performed according to the new curriculum and to what extent it is applied to the new required knowledge. We will also discuss how the new curricula changed the way of teaching science at school.Strand 10