DEVELOPING THE EARTH SYSTEM CONCEPT INVENTORY
The test is based on content specifically identified in the High School Content Expectations (HSCEs) for the State of Michigan. The preliminary questions were written by a team of undergraduate and graduate students. These questions were then reviewed by professional geoscientists and refined in order to ensure content validity. Then, to ensure construct validity, the questions were individually pilot tested through one-on-one face-to-face administration to earth science high-school teachers..
The revised questions are organized according to content so that those who wish to use the test items can select the content-areas that best correlate with their instructional goals and administer tests consisting only of appropriate questions. This approach increases the potential for the test to identify an effect (gain in content-area knowledge), that may be present. Each test item is written as two different versions of equal difficulty.
During the summer of 2012, a complete test was pilot-tested through administration to teachers participating in the Michigan Teacher Excellence Program (MiTEP). MiTEP teachers attended a two-week long field-based institute taught in the Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsula by faculty from Michigan Tech, Grand Valley State University, and Western Michigan University. In contrast to other instruments employed in prior years, pre-intervention administration of the ESCI resulted in a range of scores. Instruments utilized in previous years suffered from ceiling effects in which pre-intervention scores were so high that potential gains were highly impacted by regression toward the mean in the post-intervention tests. At the present time the test items are undergoing continuing review and refinement. Our goal is to make the test items available to the entire earth science community during 2013.