Alternative Final Assessment (One-Page)
Made an alternate Final assessment that is a one-page topic summary. Includes topic list, example, and rubric. Feel free to use, edit, redistribute. Modified from Cassandra Wallace’s one-page. Embedded below.
Made an alternate Final assessment that is a one-page topic summary. Includes topic list, example, and rubric. Feel free to use, edit, redistribute. Modified from Cassandra Wallace’s one-page. Embedded below.
Randomly assign students 1 of 4 neurological scans (PET, EEG/MEG, fMRI, CT).
Using docs & science notebook, students follow question prompts to evaluate their neurological scan for use in criminal sentencing hearings and the use of scans generally.
Document-Based Question: Use of Neurological Scans in Criminal Sentencing Hearings
Use: summative assessment for nervous system
Class: HS elective Physiology (11/12)
Resources & Scaffolds: open notebook, student worksheets from activities, annotated source documents labeled w/ specific relevant questions
Student examples: DM me if you're a teacher and would like to see ~70 student responses from a heterogeneous urban public high school.
Nervous about posting this because I worry I’m overstepping, but I want to build something better, so I’m sharing a final exam essay my physiology students said they enjoyed taking because they felt like they’d learned a new aspect of applying what they’d learned, and because it affected something ongoing in their lives and in the lives of their peers. This is my clumsy attempt at a summative assessment that asks they apply our investigations into the nervous system and cognitive neuroscience to a real question about US criminal sentencing outcomes.
I based it on a MacArthur conference I attended w/ neuroscientists & jurists. Some of my Ss have been in detention or have relatives who are incarcerated, and stated they appreciated applying and learning about this element of how we use science & what we need to bridge the gaps. Credit to Francis X. Shen whose work inspired me to create this prompt.
Please carefully frame the realities of the social justice implications, invite Ss to Wellness to decompress, & check in advance for triggers. I blanked-out nonrelevant portions but provide the entire annotated pdfs here for any teacher who needs background.
I was in science and law before entering teaching, and my nervous system unit frequently integrates modern neuroscience research/fads with student metacognition, so your results may vary. You’ll notice the final mentions influential cognition experiments and also expects students to have reviewed and evaluated the discussed neurological scans already in a previous lesson.
Reading A: Jones & Shen. 2012. INTERNATIONAL NEUROLAW: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS, p. 349, T.M. Spranger, ed., Springer-Verlag, 2012 Vanderbilt Public Law Research Paper No. 1-5.
Reading B: Jones et al. 2013. LAW AND NEUROSCIENCE. The Journal of Neuroscience, November 6, 2013, 33(45):17624-17630. DOI:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3254-13.2013
Reading C: Mclatchie et al. ‘IMAGINED GUILT’ VERSUS ‘RECOLLECTED GUILT’: IMPLICATIONS FOR FMRI.
Reading D: Jones et al. 2009. BRAIN IMAGING FOR LEGAL THINKERS: A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED. 2009 STAN.TECH.L.REV.5. SSRN ID: 1563612. Available at http://stlr.stanford.edu/pdf/jones-brain-imaging.pdf
Summary sheets for Ss missing papers: Reviews neurological scans, limitations, etc. Various sources.
useful: writing out details means it’s directly connected to what’s in the presentation, not just BS
graded on completion-only: the point is to help the presenter, so making it a letter grade is stressful & might affect grading
faster: don’t have to waste time pondering a number grade, just say what you noticed
less biased: can’t grade based on relationships or friendships
relevant: simulates giving detailed feedback to coworkers
anonymously returned to student so you can be honest
Feel free to edit, copy, print, and share!
Features
8 graphs
Coming Soon: example posters by students
Context: Whenever a school-wide walkout happens where teachers stay in the classrooms, I present a data FRQ about the theme of the walkout. The poster becomes extra credit for students who complete and present it. Choose your own minimum of graphs used.