Energy and matter are fundamental, yet challenging concepts in middle school chemistry due to their abstract, unobservable nature. Although it is important for science teachers to elicit a range of students’ ideas to design and revise their instruction, capturing such varied ideas using traditional assessments consisting of multiple-choice items can be difficult. In particular, the linguistic complexity of these items may hinder English learners (ELs) who speak English as a second language from understanding and representing their ideas. This study explores how multi-modal assessments using different types of open-ended items can document ELs’ and English-dominant students’ (EDSs) understanding of energy and matter in chemistry. 38 eighth-grade, linguistically diverse students taught by one teacher at a low-income middle school completed an assessment designed to elicit their ideas about properties of matter and chemical reactions through arguing from evidence, writing explanations, and developing models of chemical phenomena. The results show that the three types of assessment items captured different correct and alternative ideas that ELs and EDSs held. In particular, modeling appears promising as a tool to assess what ELs know about properties of matter and chemical reactions in middle school chemistry, compared to other written items. The findings of this study provide insights into how different types of assessment items can be used to better understand the range of ideas held by linguistically diverse students.

中文翻译：

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探索不同类型的评估项目，以衡量不同语言的学生对化学中能量和物质的理解

能量和物质由于其抽象的，不可观察的性质而成为中学化学中最基本但又具有挑战性的概念。尽管理科教师要引起学生的各种想法来设计和修改他们的指导很重要，但是使用由多项选择项组成的传统评估来捕获这样的各种想法可能是困难的。特别是，这些项目的语言复杂性可能会阻碍以英语为第二语言的英语学习者（EL）理解和表达他们的想法。这项研究探讨了使用不同类型的开放式项目进行的多模式评估如何记录EL和英语为主的学生（EDS）对化学中能量和物质的理解。38年级 由一名低收入中学的一位老师教过的语言各异的学生完成了一项评估，旨在通过论证，撰写解释和开发化学现象的模型来激发他们对物质和化学反应性质的看法。结果表明，这三种类型的评估项目反映了EL和EDS持有的不同正确和替代想法。尤其是，与其他书面项目相比，建模似乎很有希望作为一种工具，用于评估EL对中学化学中物质和化学反应性质的了解。这项研究的发现提供了关于如何使用不同类型的评估项目来更好地理解不同语言学生所持观点范围的见解。