An Analysis of Characteristic and Factor about Middle School Science Descriptive Assessment Items

In 2005, descriptive assessment was introduced to increase students' higher mental ability like problem- solving ability and creativity. Every year the ratio of descriptive assessment increases and it is regarded as an alternative evaluation to a multiple-choice item which measures simplicity knowledge. Externally the descriptive assessment took a root in school, but we can't say definitely that it meets its original goal. In this paper, science descriptive assessment items of 5 middle schools in Gyeonggi-do were analysed; examiners was interviewed about how well they understood the characteristic of the assessment items. According to the analysis, characteristic of the items are. unequal distribution of unit,. difference of item's type by unit, and. disappearance of measuring higher mental ability. It is considered that there are several factors of these characteristic - the lack of teachers' ability to make assessment item; understanding of assessment instrument. These factors can be explained by the lack of assessment expertise. So the society's effort is needed to raise teacher's ability for the descriptive assessment.