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A Better way of Revealing Student Thinking in STEM

As students learn scientific concepts, they often have a mix of scientific and non-scientific ideas that they struggle to integrate. Constructed response questions – in which students must explain phenomena in their own words – provide students an opportunity to demonstrate their proficiency and also can reveal their mixed ideas.

Over years of research and development, the Automated Analysis of Constructed Response (AACR) collaboration has applied computerized analysis techniques, like machine learning, to evaluate student constructed responses. From this research, we've built tools like the Constructed Response Classifier (or CRC tool). These tools are freely accessible at this website, making it possible for you to easily evaluate your students' responses.

How You Use the CRC Tool

How Automated Analysis Works

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Why Use Constructed Response?

Requires students to demonstrate proficiency in their own words
Reveals complex student thinking, which can be a mix of scientific and non-scientific ideas
Is an authentic, scientific practice
Constructing is a different cognitive task than forced selection
Allows rich formative assessment practice
Our developed items are aligned with foundational concepts in STEM disciplines

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Question of the Day

Part A Auxin is a plant hormone that diffuses out of plant cells through PIN proteins. A scientist measures the concentration of auxin inside and outside of two different plant cells. Both plant cells have the same number of PIN proteins on their cell membranes for auxin to diffuse through. Which plant cell has the greatest diffusion rate of auxin out of the cell (µmol/s)?

Forced Choice:

Plant cell 1

Plant cell 2

They will have the same rate of diffusion

Explain the reasoning for your choice about which plant cell has the greatest diffusion rate of auxin out of the cell.

Part B The scientist takes new measurements of auxin concentrations in a different pair of cells. These two plant cells also have the same number of PIN proteins for auxin to diffuse through. Which plant cell has the greatest diffusion rate of auxin out of the cell (µmol/s)?

Forced Choice

Plant cell 3

Plant cell 4

They will have the same rate of diffusion

Explain the reasoning for your choice about which plant cell has the greatest diffusion rate of auxin out of the cell.

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Why register for an account?

There is no charge to use this website but you must register for an account. We require registration in order to allow instructors to upload and analyze their data.

Registered users have individualized homepages and access to our free CRC tool that automatically score student constructed responses!

Coming Soon! We're working on building a BMC user dashboard to give you quick access to custom tools and information. Visit your dashboard whenever you're ready to jump back into previous reports or get started on setting up new questions. From your dashboard you can perform a variety of actions, like uploading new data, creating a new course, or reviewing previous reports. Follow discussion threads for topics you care about and connect with a large community of BMC users.

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How do I get insight into student thinking?

When you use our automated tools to score student responses in your course, results are returned to you as an interactive report. These interactive, course reports are designed to reveal key insights into student learning in STEM. These insights can help educators pinpoint areas of success and areas to target for improvement. Each interactive report provides a high-level class overview of your students' understanding of course material. Explore the complex mix of ideas displayed by your students' and identify key STEM concepts in their writing.