ABSTRACT
Interviewing is a technique that researchers in science education use to find out what students are thinking. Interviewing can also be used by teachers as a part of their teaching and assessing to find out what students are thinking. By means of interviews, we can find out the ideas, beliefs, experiences, and feelings the students bring with them to a lesson. This assessment before teaching can be called diagnostic assessment. We may find out during a lesson the understandings the students are constructing from the teaching and learning activities. Assessment during learning can be called formative assessment. And we may find out at the end of a teaching episode what the students have learned. Assessment after learning can be called summative assessment. In summary, one way to access and assess the thinking of students is to attend to their talking in an interview situation.
