Problem Solving Ability Assessment Based on Design for Secondary School Students

Abstract

This study aimed to develop and implement the Problem Solving Ability (PSA) test and PSA rubric score based on design. The PSA test and PSA rubric score were developed to assess students’ ability in identifying and defining a problem, creating a design solution by applying science to a problem, and giving reasoning to support the design solution. The PSA test consisted of ‘two-stepped’ open-ended questions on four daily-energy-problem situations. It was implemented in a science classroom of 41 tenth-grade students at a large public secondary school of a small town in Western Thailand. The students’ responses were analysed based on the patterns of design solutions and reasoning to support the design solutions using the PSA rubric score. The validity of open-encoding was 82.86%. The PSA test expressed students’ problem solving in three core abilities through the integration between drawing and writing reasons supporting a design sketch. The results demonstrated more clearly the students’ problem solving ability and application of scientific knowledge and understanding that were implicitly embedded in the procedures, products, and reasoning they used in solving the problems. The PSA rubric score also supported the judgment of the PSA to have more reliable scoring of PSA assessment.