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= __**Introduction**__ = // An Exploratory Case Study of the Use of Assessment-Centered Instruction to Teach Earth Science //

My name is Maggie Haberny, and this is my second year teaching at South Lenoir High School in Deep Run, North Carolina. I teach Biology and Earth Science, along with coaching cheerleading and participating in the North Carolina Science Teachers Association as the District II Director. South Lenoir is a school of about 850 students in a very rural community outside of Kinston, NC. The school is in a close knit community, and support comes from staff, administration, and parents consistently. My approach to science teaching includes high energy, hands on and minds on lessons that provoke the students into thinking about science concepts in new and different ways. I employ inquiry-based learning into as many lessons as I possibly can, but find that at times, high-stakes testing gets in the way of true scientific inquiry.

Because of the role of high-stakes testing in Biology, I decided to use my Earth Science class for Action Research this semester. I was hoping that through experimentation with a class that does not have an EOC, I would be able to learn how to realistically engage in inquiry-based teaching in my classroom throughout the curriculum. The class is a standard Earth Science class, with 26 students ranging from Freshmen to Seniors. I hoped to engage each and every student in inquiry-based education while still grasping important scientific concepts.



The Action Research Project is outlined by the links at the left hand side of your page. Under Project Plan, you will be able to access the four interventions developed, implemented, and assessed during my project. Additionally, sample lesson plans and outlines of the types of assessments developed can be found here. Under Data Collection, you can find different artifacts from each case study, along with the implications of each of these artifacts and how they proved (or disproved) student learning had occurred. Finally, the Results section reveals the final outcomes of the case study, and provides implications for future teaching.

Please feel free to contact me with any further information you need about assessment-based teaching by clicking on the Contact tab at the left hand side of the screen.