ANALYSIS OF THE RELIABILITY OF TRADITIONAL PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY TESTS ACCORDING TO PRE-SERVICE SECONDARY SCHOOL TEACHERS

Background: Assessment is a key aspect of science education. Often, the rigidity and difficulty in implementing changes to the types of assessment tools used in science departments at secondary schools pose an obstacle to updating the teaching teaching methods. Aims: To demonstrate the low reliability of traditional science tests widely used in high schools. Methods: The study involves 70 pre-service Physics and Chemistry teachers from the University of Valencia. Two tools were used: a 9th-grade test with typical errors and a questionnaire to analyze error correction and perception. Results: Pre-service teachers identified procedural, calculation, and unit conversion errors as the most common student mistakes. The average score was 4.95. Discussion: Pre-service teachers ranked errors by importance; conceptual mistakes rated highest (35.38%). Future teachers would apply penalties between 20% and 100% of the question's value, averaging 64%. Conclusions: Different decisions were made regarding error weight and repetition during grading for the same test, suggesting the need for alternative assessment tools.