For Primary-Level Science, the MOE states:

Assessment measures the extent to which desired knowledge, skills and attitudes are attained by students. As it serves many purposes, it is important to match the type of assessment to the specific purpose for which it is intended. Before making an assessment about a certain aspect of students’ performance, the teacher should ensure that the assessment mode used will generate information that reflect accurately the particular aspect of performance the teacher intends to assess.

In an inquiry-based classroom, the assessment can take many forms. In addition to the written tests, teachers can also conduct performance-based assessment using the following modes:

• Practicals
• Projects
• Teacher observations
• Checklists
• Reflections / Journals

Model-making

• Posters
• Games and quizzes
• Debates
• Drama / Show and Tell
• Learning Trails

Teachers can also assess students through the use of portfolio. It is a systematic collection of students’ work and provides a comprehensive picture of their achievement. The work collected provides a continuous record of the students’ development and progress in the acquisition of knowledge, understanding of scientific concepts, application of process skills, and development of attitudes. It also provides opportunity for the students to have self-evaluation and reflections by revisiting their own portfolio.

The assessment modes listed above are by no means exhaustive.  Adopting a variety of assessment modes enables the teachers to assess different aspects of teaching and learning.

For Secondary-Level Science, the MOE states:

SCIENCE CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK

The Science Curriculum Framework is derived from the Policy Framework for the Teaching and Learning of Science. It encapsulates the thrust of science education in Singapore to prepare our students to be sufficiently adept as effective citizens, able to function in and contribute to an increasingly technologically-driven world.

Central to the curriculum framework is the inculcation of the spirit of scientific inquiry. The conduct of inquiry is founded on three integral domains of (a) Knowledge, Understanding and Application, (b) Skills and Processes and (c) Ethics and Attitudes. These domains are essential to the practice of science. The curriculum design seeks to enable students to view the pursuit of science as meaningful and useful. Inquiry is thus grounded in knowledge, issues and questions that relate to the roles played by science in daily life, society and the environment.

The science curriculum seeks to nurture the student as an inquirer. The starting point is that children are curious about and want to explore the things around them. The science curriculum leverages on and seeks to fuel this spirit of curiosity. The end goal is students who enjoy science and value science as an important tool in helping them explore their natural and physical world.

The teacher is the leader of inquiry in the science classroom. Teachers of science impart the excitement and value of science to their students. They are facilitators and role models of the inquiry process in the classrooms. The teacher creates a learning environment that will encourage and challenge students to develop their sense of inquiry. Teaching and learning approaches centre around the student as an inquirer.

Scientific Literacy

Science education for the future involves teaching students more than just the basic concepts of science. Students need to be equipped with the skills to be able to use scientific knowledge to identify questions, and to draw evidence-based conclusions in order to understand and make decisions about the natural world and the changes made to it through human activity.

They also need to understand the characteristic features of science as a form of human knowledge and inquiry, and be aware of how science and technology shape our material, intellectual and cultural environments. Lastly, they need to be equipped with ethics and attitudes to engage in science-related issues as a reflective citizen.

A strong foundation in scientific knowledge and methodologies will include the development of reasoning and analytical skills, decision and problem solving skills, flexibility to respond to different contexts and possessing an open and inquiring mind that is willing to explore new territories and learn new things. These are skills and habits of mind that are aligned to the desired 21st century competencies.