ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses a number of questions related to assessment: What are the relationships between teaching, learning and assessment? How can assessment be used most effectively to improve teaching and learning? How can assessment information be gathered and used to meet feedback and reporting requirements?. Students are provided with a handout on which there is a set of drawings depicting the various stages of the life cycle of a bean plant organised in random order. Students are also provided with an A3 sheet of paper, scissors and glue sticks. Diagnostic assessment is conducted at the beginning of a unit or the beginning of a lesson. It is used to determine students’ existing knowledge about the topic to be taught, and to identify students’ alternative frameworks so that lessons can be planned to build on their prior knowledge and to challenge their alternative conceptions.
