UTILIZING EXERECISES TO ASSESS SCIENTIFIC COMPETENCE STUDENTS IN THE TOPIC OF HUMANS AND HEALTH, GRADE 4 SCIENCE

Utilizing exercises to assess scientific competencies meets the requirements of periodic and continuous assessment. However, limitations still exist in the design of competency-based assessment exercises by teachers in Science subject to meet curriculum reform and align with certain international programs. Therefore, this research developed two exercises to evaluate cognitive abilities in natural sciences, three exercises to explore the surrounding natural environment, and three exercises to apply knowledge and skills acquired in the “Humans and Health” topic within the Grade 4 Science curriculum (2018). These exercises were designed based on Bloom’s Taxonomy and aligned with competency evaluation standards from the Cambridge international program. The exercises were piloted at Mua Xuan Primary School in Binh Thanh District, revealing significant differences in the completion rates of assessment tasks between students in the experimental group and those in the control group after the teacher’s instructional interventions. In the experimental group, the teacher applied teaching methods that helped students apply knowledge from lessons to solve real-world problems. Results indicated that students in the experimental group performed better on situational tasks compared to the control group, particularly in explaining the relationship between diet and health care. These findings provide a solid foundation for teachers to design and implement scientific competency assessments, innovate teaching methods, meet the required standards of the Science curriculum, and align with international evaluation criteria.