This is the new updated edition of the first book in the bestselling Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series. Like the first edition of volume 1, this book helps pinpoint what your students know (or think they know) so you can monitor their learning and adjust your teaching accordingly. Loaded with classroom-friendly features you can use immediately, the book includes 25 “ probes” — brief, easily administered formative assessments designed to understand your students’ thinking about 60 core science concepts. All probes in this new edition are provided in both Spanish and English.
The detailed Teacher Notes that accompany each probe have been updated to include current research summaries, connections to A Framework for K– 12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards, new instructional suggestions, and related NSTA resources. These teacher materials also explain science content, present developmental considerations, and suggest instructional approaches for elementary, middle, and high school students. Other books may discuss students’ general misconceptions about scientific ideas. Only this one provides single, reproducible sheets you can use to determine students’ thinking about, for example, Moon phases, conservation of matter, reflection, chemical change, and cells. All probes have been field-tested with hundreds of students across multiple grade levels, so they’ re proven effective for helping your students reveal, reexamine, and further develop their understanding of science concepts.

Page Keeley is an internationally known leader in science education. She is the developer and primary author of the award-winning Uncovering Student Ideas in Science series and the Formative Assessment- Practical Strategies Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning series (the "FACTs books"). Her interest in teaching for conceptual understanding and understanding students’ thinking began in 1992 after reading the seminal article, Teaching for Conceptual Change- Confronting Children's Experience by Bruce Watson and Dick Konicek. Her very first assessment probe, The Mitten Problem, was based on that article. Her assessment probes and FACTs (formative assessment classroom techniques) are widely used by K-12 teachers, university professors, professional developers, and science specialists throughout the U.S. and internationally.