The evaluation on the context of the science Practical Work Assessment (PEKA) at the lower secondary level

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the context of the assessment of science practical work (PEKA) at the lower secondary level which comprises Form 1, Form 2 and Form 3 Science Curriculum. This study is using qualitative approach by analysing the official documents on the science curriculum and official documents on the PEKA PMR assessment. The scientific skills stated in both documents are compared analytically in terms of their congruency and whether the assessment document really follows the exact curriculum specification. The finding shows that, out of 18 scientific skills stated in the two official documents, 11 of them are congruent, 5 are partially congruent, and 2 of them are not congruent. There are 3 scientific skills (observing,communicating and scientific attitude and noble values) that can be asses in all the suggested scientific activities in Form 1, Form 2 and Form 3. An open-ended item was used to identify the problem faced by teachers in the PEKA assessment. The main problem faced by the teachers are to comprehend and to implement the performance indicator and the scoring scheme. There are too many elements in the performance indicators and some are confusing to the teachers. Based on the findings in the context, input and process of PEKA assessment, this study would like to suggest some improvements in the construct of the skills assessed, the criteria of the performance indicator, scoring rubrics and the report form to make them more comprehensive and simple. This study discovered some redundancy in the performance indicator between the scientific skills assessed and due to these facts, would like to propose to reduce the constructs assessed from 18 to 8. Some rubrics are also not relevant with the performance indicators, very analytical and complex. This study would like to suggest one holistic rubric that is applicable to all the constructs assessed in PEKA PMR. This study is also suggesting formative assessment to be implemented to the scientific skills and noble values instead of the present summative grading. This study also claim the abolishment of the Master Grade Form (MGF) because this form contributes no value added to the PEKA assessment. The PEKA certificate issued by the schools should also be abolished, nevertheless the PEKA result should be included in the PMR certificate borne by the Malaysian Examination Syndicate instead.