Assessment

Rubrics of Assessment for Investigative Skills in Science (ISS) 2016

1. ISS forms part of the Science Curriculum in Secondary 2 in the following manner:

Period	Assessment	Topic	Marks	Percentage
Term 1	ISS Project	ISS Group Project	100	20%
Term 2	Common Test	Paper 1: ISS Individual Examination	60	10%
		Paper 2: Communication Science		10%
Term 3	Level Test 2	Environmental Science		10%
Term 4	End-of-year Exams	Paper 1: Communication Science		20%
		Paper 2: Environmental Science		20%
Others	Alternative Assessments	Task 1: Communication Science		5%
		Task 2: Environmental Science		5%
			TOTAL	100%

2. For the ISS Group Project, the total score is based upon 100 marks (converted to 20%) in the following sections:

Section	Type	Nature of question	Marks***	Section Marks	Submission Format	ICT tools used**
A*	Group Project Proposal		20	20	Email	Google doc; Mac Paintbrush
B*	Written  Report	Title, Abstract & Introduction	10	40	Email	Google doc; Mac Paintbrush; Blogger
		Methods	5
		Results	5
		Discussion & Conclusions	15
		References & Bibliography	5
C	Blog		5	30	Blog	Blogger
D	Poster		5		Poster	Pages
E	2 to 4-minute Video		10		Video	iMovie; Youtube
F	Research Log Book		10		Log Book	NA
G	Peer Appraisals & Insights and Reflections *****		10	10	Online assessment	Google Form
TOTAL			100	100

* Students will be given at least 1 feedback in hardcopy for Sections A and B so that there is room for reflection and improvement.

** Lessons will be delivered using the ISS Blog page (Content delivery) and Google Classroom (Announcement, Delivery of templates, Form filling).

*** Grading for ISS project is done on a scale from 0 to 4.

0: No entry.

1: Wrong entry.

2: Correct entry for at least once.

3: Correct entry for all except once.

4: Correct entry all the time.

Note: The detailed rubrics of assessment are found in Annex A to G.

3. For the ISS Individual Examination, the total score is based upon 60 marks (converted to 10%) in the following sections:

Sections	Nature of question	Marks	Remarks
1	Research Methods à Reliability of sources à Scientific Methods à Engineering Design Process	10
2	Comprehension of research articles à Type of Research à Project Title à Research Questions / Problem Statement à Hypothesis / Engineering Goals	10
3	Planning skills (given aim) à to identify variables and constants, à to develop hypothesis	10	SPA Skill 3.1
4	Planning skills (given aim, variables and hypothesis) à to write procedures, à to draw diagrams, à to identify equipment list, à to describe how to analyze data, à to identify safety considerations	10	SPA Skill 3.2
5	Data Analysis skills à to draw graphs, histograms or bar charts à to calculate values from given relationships	10	SPA Skill 2
6	References and Bibliography  à writing references, à citing references	10
	TOTAL	60

Inter-disciplinary Research Studies (IRS)

1.         IRS is integrated with ISS for Secondary 2.

2.         Students need to pass the ISS Group Project to be promoted to Secondary 3.

3.         Qualitative Assessment for IRS is as follows: 

(a)  Individual remarks based on the ISS Group Project (Observations in class, Proposals, Reports, Presentations, Peer Appraisals and Insights / Reflections)

(b)  Band grades (Accomplished, Competent, Developing, Needs Improvement) will be given individually for the following headings under IRS:

                  a. Research Proposals

                  b. Research Report

                  c. Research Presentations

                  d. Peer Appraisals / Individual Contributions

                  e. Insights / Reflections