Sample Alternative Assessments For

Sample Alternative Assessments for

Forensic Science: Fundamentals and Investigations

Patricia Nolan Bertino May 9, 2013

Giving one unit exam does not always assess the student’s knowledge nor does it help in modifying the instruction if students do not understand. Not all students can demonstrate mastery of a topic in one written exam given at the end of the unit and taken within a limited amount of time. To be an effective teacher, assessments should be frequent, varied, on-going and continuous. Assessments can be used to reinforce learning and to motivate and inspire students to succeed. The following approach is suggested:

1. Pretest: assess previous learning, identify misconceptions

Ex. What do you know? What do you want to know? (surveys)

Ex. Carousel Brainstorming of the topic prior to any discussions

2. Assessments should be done during the learning to monitor how well students are grasping the information. When students are assessed and demonstrate a lack of understanding, it’s important for the instructor to take a different approach and modify the instruction. A single assessment at the conclusion of a topic does not allow time to make modifications in instruction.

One way to ensure comprehension throughout the unit of study is to use the extended objectives found on the Instructor’s Resource CD (IRCD). These are single concept testable objectives written from the most basic to the more complex concepts. The extended objectives should be distributed to each student at the beginning of the unit not at the end. Students are able to see the “whole picture” of what they should be able to do by the end of the topic of discussion before the topic has begun.

Throughout the unit, students are arranged in pre-arranged heterogeneous cooperative learning groups. All students are actively engaged as they review the objectives of the concepts already identified in class. Higher achieving students, who might otherwise be bored during a question and answer period, are teaching. The student who never studies at home is getting the benefit of the review. Because of the small group collaboration, students tend to feel more comfortable and are more likely to contribute by either asking questions or answering questions. When someone attempts to explain something to another person, they realize that they too need further clarification and understanding. As a result, all students are actively engaged in the review process. During this time, the teacher is free to move from group to group assessing the comprehension levels and clarifying misconceptions.

3. Post Assessments should be done to determine how well students have mastered the topic and to measure the effectiveness of the instruction. Most teachers think the post assessment is a full period written exam. However, by having the students choose an alternative form of assessment, the assessment itself can be used to reinforce learning and it can be done in a format that students enjoy. Students who have been unsuccessful in preparing and taking a written test may be highly successful when using a different format. Alternative assessments allow for differential learning for individual students. It encourages students to demonstrate their individual skills and aptitudes. Instead of the assessment being a source of failure and discouragement, alternative assessments activities increase the learning and give the student a sense of accomplishment and pride that encourages future learning rather than discourages future learning.

The following descriptions provide alternative assessment ideas that can be used with the Bertino high school forensic textbook entitled: Forensic Science: Fundamentals and Investigations. Because most high school forensic science classes are mixed and consist of AP (Advanced Placement) students and students with difficulty in reading, it’s important to provide a variety of assessment opportunities that allow for differential learning. Alternative assessments provide an opportunity to improve understanding and increase learning for all ability levels; it can provide the added challenge for the AP students to go further while offering the less motivated or the more academically challenged students the opportunity to succeed and learn new skills. References have been made to specific labs, activities or concepts that lend themselves to each of the different forms of alternative assessments.

Forensic Alternative Assessments

1. Autobiography

2. Scrap booking

3. Expert Witness Testimony

4. Three Dimensional Models

5. Oral Presentations with demonstrations

6. Video, Power Point Presentations, Photography- Technology 1

7. Comparison Microscope, Probes, Apps-Technology 2

8. Podcasts-Technology 3

9. Kinesthetic Learning

10. Creativity: Music, Art, Dance, Writing, Photography

11. Forensic Book Reports

12. Mini Poster Sessions

13. Debate

14. Mentoring by CSI, police

1. Autobiography

Students can write “autobiographies” that provide descriptions and explanations of scientific phenomenon while allowing the student to incorporate some imagination. Information must be scientifically correct. The creative writing component adds an element of fun while at the same time enabling the student to demonstrate knowledge of a topic.

Example 1 Activity 11-3. Insect Study pages 331-333, description pg. 333

Write an autobiography from the viewpoint of the fly as it develops from an egg into adulthood. Include in your autobiography:

· Physical description of the insect at different stages of development

· Physical description of the insect’s habitat and surroundings

· Description of the insect’s food at different stages of development

· Description of the how the insect ingests and digests its food at different stages of development

· Description of any movements or migrations during development

· Digital photos taken as the insect progresses from one stage to another

Example 2 Chapter 17 Ballistics

Write an autobiography from the viewpoint of a bullet describing:

· Anatomy of the bullet

· Size (caliber) of the bullet and cartridge

· Type of bullet

· Markings on the bullet: When, why and how are they formed

· Role of the primer

· Amount and role of gunpowder in the bullet

· The amount of energy yielded as the gunpowder is ignited

· Trajectory path of the bullet as the gun is fired and the bullet travels out of the gun barrel through the air and ultimately into the target

· Description of the various forces affecting the pathway of the bullet

· Distance traveled by the bullet and how it can be calculated

· Discussion of what happens to the bullet upon impact

· Recovery of the fired bullet

· Comparison of a fired bullet recovered from the victim or environment with a bullet fired by the suspect’s gun

Other autobiographies could be written from the viewpoint of different types of physical evidence. Students should be given guidance on the type of descriptions that would pertain to different types of physical evidence.

Ex. Pollen, sand, bone, fractured glass, DNA, blood spatter, drugs

2. Scrap Booking

Compiling a “scrap book” of the students’ own digital photos or photos from images taken from reliable sources along with descriptions of the photos provides a visual and written comparison of evidence. The photos should be arranged in a logical sequence and progression. Scrap booking encourages students to use technology in their presentations, a skill that can be applied in all of their courses

If students are presenting evidence from a crime scene and are trying to link that evidence to a particular suspect, then the student should provide:

· A description of how the evidence is recovered, documented, collected and stored.

· A section in the scrapbook where students describe what characteristics of the evidence make it distinctive.

· A bibliography to substantiate their descriptions or arguments.

Example 1 Hair Activity 3-1 Trace Evidence: Hair, pg 66-69.

Students determine if one of the hairs taken from the four different suspects is consistent with the hair evidence found at the crime scene. The scrapbook approach could include digital photos taken from the students’ microscope of the suspect’s hairs and the evidence hair.

Other photos or images should include a general description of hair and the various characteristics of hair that would be used to distinguish one hair sample from another. Through the photos and annotated descriptions under each photo, students describe the variations found in the hair’s color, texture, thickness, medulla, cuticle, cortex, medullar index and the measurement of the hair’s diameter.

After the characteristics of hair are described, the student will demonstrate through their photos and their analysis of the suspects’ hair samples if any of the suspect’s hair is consistent or non-consistent with the evidence hair.

The pre-writing questions in Activity 3-3 Hair Testimony Essay on page 75 help the student organize the information in a scrapbook (or written report).

Examples 2: Scrapbooking can be used when comparing other forms of physical evidence such as fiber, sand, pollen, dental impressions, skid mark impressions, fingerprinting. Students describe what traits are being studied, describe distinguishing characteristics of the evidence and then demonstrate how the evidence from the crime scene is consistent or non-consistent with the evidence found on a suspect. (Chapters 4,5,6,12,15)

Example 3 Activity 11-3, Insect Study, pages 331-333. (Time of Death using Entomology) A variation of scrap booking for insect development is the “Baby Book Scrapbook” that shows growth and development of flies. This activity helps students understand the progression from egg, through 3 different larval stages, pupa and adult insects. Once students understand the basic biology behind insect development, then they are better able to understand how to apply this information when using forensic entomology to help establish the time of death.

3. Expert Witness Testimony

This type of alternative assessment utilizes many different presentation methods depending on the interests and aptitudes of the student. The primary purpose of this assessment is to determine if the student can effectively select and present an evidentiary link a particular suspect to a crime.

The “expert witness” testimony is an excellent example of how forensic science helps to meet the goals of the

Common Core State Standards for Writing

1. Write or verbalize arguments to support claims using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence.

2. Write or verbalize explanatory texts to convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through effective selection, organization and analysis

3. Write or verbalize narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using well-chosen details and well-structures sequences

Common Core Writing Standards for Literacy in Science:

1. Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content: Introduction of precise, knowledgeable claim(s) that establish the significance of the claim(s) from alternative or opposing claims and create an organization that logically sequences the claim(s), counterclaims, reasons and evidence.

2. Develop claim(s) and counterclaims fairly and thoroughly, supplying the most relevant data and evidence for each while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both claim(s) and counterclaims in a discipline-appropriate form that anticipates the audiences’ knowledge level, concerns, values, and possible biases.

The initial part of an expert witness testimony presentation requires that the student first convince the listeners (jurors) that he or she is an expert in the field by providing scientifically correct background information regarding the type of evidence being examined and by describing how that evidence was collected, stored and handled. Evidence improperly handled and tested cannot be considered in a trial.

In the second part of an expert witness testimony, it is important to convince the audience that the evidence collected from the crime scene does indeed link a suspect to the crime scene. The expert witness should explain how the evidence was analyzed describing any procedures, lab investigations and technology used to evaluate the evidence.

Finally the expert witness should be prepared to answer any questions from the audience or jury regarding the evidence. Common questions would include:

a. How relevant is the evidence?

b. How reliable is the evidence and evidence testing?

1. Is the evidence class or individual evidence?

2. Statistically, what are the odds that the evidence would have been from the suspect or from someone else within the population?

3. Was the evidence testing performed by a reliable lab?

4. Was the evidence tested more than once?

5. Was the evidence tested by more than one person?

c. Is the evidence adequate to link a suspect to a crime scene or is that evidence not consistent with linking a suspect to the crime scene?

Example 1 Activity 10-2 Analysis of Ransom Note and Expert Witness Testimony, page 297-299. In this activity, students are provided with instructions that help them organize and compose their written expert witness report (pages 298-299) by:

· Providing students with an outline or pre-writing format

· Providing instructions on how to modify their presentation because their target audience consists of individuals with various educational backgrounds

· Addressing evidence reliability and relevance

· Encouraging students to write a rough draft.

· Using small group collaboration: Upon completion of the rough draft, the “expert witness” would meet with another student to help with proofreading and editing.

Example 2 Activity 3-3 Hair Testimony Essay, page 75, includes pre-writing questions to assist students with the testimony

Example 3 Activity 4-4 Textile Identification, pg 101-102, question 3 with pre-writing questions to assist with the testimony.

4. Construction of three- dimensional models

It’s important to try to utilize the various skills, talents and interests of your students. If students prefer working with their hands rather than taking a written test, try offering them the option to demonstrate their knowledge by building a model and use that model to demonstrate a concept in forensics. In addition to the model, students refer to an actual case study that shows how the information they are demonstrating was applied and used to help solve a case.

Example 1 Activity 16-1, Tool Marks: Screwdrivers and Chisels, pages 481-483. Students create models of tool mark impressions from screwdrivers and/or chisels using the description in this activity. The models could be constructed in plaster, clay, or in a soft wood such as pine.

In addition to preparing the tool mark impressions from known screwdrivers and chisels, students can use one of the tools to pry open an old door jam or window sill. The student compares the evidence of the pried open door jam with the tool mark impressions made from known assorted screwdrivers and chisels. Students take digital photos of the tool mark impressions and measure each impression as another means of comparison.