Resumen de The assessment of practical skills

Ian Abrahams, Michael J. Reiss

• Major changes are currently afoot as to how practical work will be assessed in highstatus examinations (GCSEs for 16-year-olds and A-levels for 18-year-olds) in England. We explore here how practical skills might best be assessed in school science and introduce two terms:

  direct assessment of practical skills (DAPS) and indirect assessment of practical skills (IAPS). We conclude that both the direct and indirect assessment of practical skills have their place in effective assessment of school science and that too great a reliance on the indirect assessment of practical skills will lead to assessment that is less valid.