Sharing and Reflection on MYP Biology Summative Assessment

At the beginning of April, BRFLS teachers used summative assessment instead of traditional evaluations for the first time. The students were asked to finish a task based on a certain context. The students actively reacted to this task and handed in some wonderful works. The Biology Department set an experimental task about plants to explore the interaction and influence between plants and other organisms and environments for Grade 7 students.

Student work

The students have designed a series of interesting experiments related to plants with what they have learned in the classroom and access to various materials. Some students designed an experiment about the growth and development of plants without human beings; some made a comparison between the photosynthesis rate of plants on earth and in space; some explored the influence of different minerals in water; some explored the ways to observe flytrap’s way of seeking food and digestion.

In order to enable the students to learn from each other and meanwhile reflect on their own research, Zhang Ying and Dai Ying, biological teachers of grade 7, gathered students of class 4 and 5 to display and share their works in groups. A Q&A session was enlisted to allow the students to learn from each other.

The assessment strategy is the highlight of MYP projects. In the initial stage of the unit plan, teachers design the inquiry statement that guides the entire plan, after which they design assessment tasks by choosing from a series of assessment strategies. The tasks make it very clear what the students should achieve according to the unit objectives. We should pay attention to the various assessment strategies used in the project, and use them together in order to observe the students’ achievements in a balanced way.