RDST, n°27/2023

The question of evaluation is particularly present and lively in educational systems. Yet, paradoxically, it does not appear to be a subject of primary importance in science and technology education research. This issue of RDST attempts to take stock of what this research has to say on this subject. Based on a review of the English and French literature, the editorial points out what has characterised the development of studies on assessment, their recent focus on the notion of competence when more complex forms of science teaching or opening up of disciplinary teaching have become important, and the influence of international assessments (PISA and TIMSS). Three articles show how assessment is now being questioned. The first article echoes the fact that it is not easy to adapt assessment to more complex forms of biology teaching, in terms of the teacher's intentions and point of view. The second article is set in the context of learning in the medical and social sciences. The evaluation process is discussed in relation to the relationship to error and the teacher's handling of it. The third article examines the results of French 8th grade students in the TIMSS 2019 international assessment. Through a criterion-referenced analysis of all the items in the survey, it highlights what makes them perform or underperform.