Current assessment of practical work in England


1. In England practical work is often seen as central both to the appeal and effectiveness
of science education and to the development of practical skills that will be of use in
Higher Education and/or the workplace. Indeed, The House of Commons Science and
Technology Committee (2002) reported that:

In our view, practical work, including fieldwork, is a vital part of science
education. It helps students to develop their understanding of science,
appreciate that science is based on evidence and acquire hands-on skills that are
essential if students are to progress in science.
(para. 40)

2. By ‘practical skills’ we mean those skills the mastery of which increases a student’s
competence to undertake any type of science learning activity in which they are
involved in manipulating and/or observing real objects and materials.

3. In a report on the testing of practical skills in science for ages 11, 13 and 15, Welford,
Harlen and Schofield (1985) suggested, that “the assessment of practical skills may
be possible from pupils’ reports or write-ups – provided that they have actually
carried out the practical or investigation prior to putting pen to paper” (p. 51).
However, it is our opinion that practical skills are, in some cases, best assessed
directly. For example, whilst a conceptual understanding of the topology of knots
and manifolds might well be assessed by a written task the most effective means of
assessing whether a student is competent in tying their shoe laces is, we would
argue, to watch them as they attempt to tie them.

4. As such, we feel that a useful distinction can be made between what we refer to as
direct assessment of practical skills (DAPS) and indirect assessment of skills (IAPS)1
.
The former, DAPS, refers to any form of assessment that requires students, through
the manipulation of real objects, to directly demonstrate a specific or generic skill in
a manner that can be used to determine their level of competence in that skill. An
example of this would be if a student was assessed on their skill in using an ammeter
and this was determined by requiring them to manipulate a real ammeter and use it
within a circuit to take readings and for these readings to need to be within an
acceptable range for the student to be credited.

5. In contrast, IAPS relates to any form of assessment in which a student’s level of
competency, again in terms of a specific or generic skill, is inferred from their data
and/or reports of the practical work that they undertook; for example, when a
student writes up an account of the reaction between hydrochloric acid and calcium
carbonate chips in a way that the marker would not be certain if the student is
faithfully writing what they have just done or simply remembering what they have
previously done or been told about this reaction.

6. A common example of the use of both DAPS and IAPS to assess practical skill and 

conceptual understanding respectively, and one that we consider provides a useful 

analogy, is the UK Driving Test. In this example not only does the candidate have to 

demonstrate a sufficient level of competency in terms of practical driving skills out 

on the road (DAPS) but they must also pass an on-line test to assess their 

understanding of how to drive a car safely and competently (IAPS). Table 1 shows a 

comparison between DAPS and IAPS.

Improving the assessment of practical work in school science 

Professor Michael Reiss 

Institute of Education, University of London 

Dr Ian Abrahams 

Department of Education, University of York 

Rachael Sharpe 

Department of Education, University of York 

 October 2012 

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