#1250: Evidence-Centered Design for AI-Supported Assessment of Scientific Argumentation

This demo showcases an AI-supported, evidence-centered assessment design that scaffolds middle school students’ scientific argumentation in the context of ecosystems learning. Grounded in Evidence-Centered Design (ECD), the assessment links constructs of scientific reasoning and argumentation with AI-driven evidence detection and feedback generation. Students investigate ecosystem dynamics through a NetLogo simulation, construct Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) arguments, and receive adaptive feedback from an LLM-based chatbot. Participants will experience the task, explore reasoning analytics, and see how ECD structures both assessment and AI design. The demo highlights how ECD can ensure a valid, interpretable, and instructionally useful AI system that advances students’ reasoning and supports classroom instruction.