As a fan of Page Keeley’s formative assessment probes for uncovering student ideas in science, I often create my own versions of probes to use with teachers, pre-service teachers, and K-12 students. I’m currently working on a probe about technology titled- Is it Technology? This is a Justified List flavor of probe and it is intended to uncover preconceptions about what things are considered technology. I have used the definition and thinking about technology and engineering in the Next Generation Science Standards as a foundation for the probe.
Click link to the right to download the is it technology FA probe
This formative assessment probe is very drafty and I’m looking for some individuals who might provide some feedback on the draft. Key targets for feedback:
– The existing choices (What might be removed? modified? What might be added?)
– The Facilitation Guide (What could be more clear?)
– The explanation section (How do you feel about the Explanation provided? Suggestions for improvement)
– Try it out on some students/teachers- How did leaners define technology? What items did they struggle with?
– Other feedback…
Thanks for considering and for helping me to be able to keep offering FREE tools and resources on Science for All
Science for All 
We tried your probe at 5th grade. It was interesting with my students that they only thought things that were electrical in nature were technology. Our discussion then went into the careers that were tied to some of these pieces of technology. I liked your list of items to choose from. I thought your explanations were right on for 5th graders to understand. Thanks for sharing this just in time for the MSP so we could practice.