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Vincent N. Lunetta

Other affiliations: University of Iowa
Bio: Vincent N. Lunetta is an academic researcher from Pennsylvania State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Science education & Educational research. The author has an hindex of 13, co-authored 49 publications receiving 3430 citations. Previous affiliations of Vincent N. Lunetta include University of Iowa.

Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Hofstein and Lunetta as mentioned in this paper conducted a review of the research on the school science laboratory and found that the laboratory has a central and distinctive role in science education, and science educators have suggested that rich benefits in learning accrue from using laboratory activities.
Abstract: The laboratory has been given a central and distinctive role in science education, and science educators have suggested that rich benefits in learning accrue from using laboratory activities. Twenty years have been elapsed since we published a frequently cited, critical review of the research on the school science laboratory (Hofstein & Lunetta, Rev. Educ. Res.52(2), 201–217, 1982). Twenty years later, we are living in an era of dramatic new technology resources and new standards in science education in which learning by inquiry has been given renewed central status. Methodologies for research and assessment that have developed in the last 20 years can help researchers seeking to understand how science laboratory resources are used, how students' work in the laboratory is assessed, and how science laboratory activities can be used by teachers to enhance intended learning outcomes. In that context, we take another look at the school laboratory in the light of contemporary practices and scholarship. This analysis examines scholarship that has emerged in the past 20 years in the context of earlier scholarship, contemporary goals for science learning, current models of how students construct knowledge, and information about how teachers and students engage in science laboratory activities. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed88:28–54, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/.sce10106

2,084 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A review of the history, goals, and research findings regarding the laboratory as a medium of instruction in introductory science teaching is provided in this article, with suggestions for researchers who are working to clarify the role of the laboratory in science education.
Abstract: The laboratory has been given a central and distinctive role in science education, and science educators have suggested that there are rich benefits in learning from using laboratory activities. At this time, however, some educators have begun to question seriously the effectiveness and the role of laboratory work, and the case for laboratory teaching is not as self-evident as it once seemed. This paper provides perspectives on these issues through a review of the history, goals, and research findings regarding the laboratory as a medium of instruction in introductory science teaching. The analysis of research culminates with suggestions for researchers who are working to clarify the role of the laboratory in science education.

881 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a critical examination of democratic theory and its implications for the civic education roles and contributions of teachers, adult educators, community development practitioners, and community organizers is presented.
Abstract: Course Description In this course, we will explore the question of the actual and potential connections between democracy and education. Our focus of attention will be placed on a critical examination of democratic theory and its implications for the civic education roles and contributions of teachers, adult educators, community development practitioners, and community organizers. We will survey and deal critically with a range of competing conceptions of democracy, variously described as classical, republican, liberal, radical, marxist, neomarxist, pragmatist, feminist, populist, pluralist, postmodern, and/or participatory. Using narrative inquiry as a means for illuminating and interpreting contemporary practice, we will analyze the implications of different conceptions of democracy for the practical work of civic education.

4,931 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Project-based learning as discussed by the authors is a comprehensive approach to classroom teaching and learning that is designed to engage students in investigation of authentic problems, and it has the potential to help people learn.
Abstract: Project-based learning is a comprehensive approach to classroom teaching and learning that is designed to engage students in investigation of authentic problems. In this article, we present an argument for why projects have the potential to help people learn; indicate factors in project design that affect motivation and thought; examine difficulties that students and teachers may encounter with projects; and describe how technology can support students and teachers as they work on projects, so that motivation and thought are sustained.

2,962 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors presented an analysis of a conceptual change model for describing student learning by applying research on student motivation to the process of conceptual change and discussed the role of classroom contextual factors as moderators of the relations between student motivation and conceptual change.
Abstract: Conceptual change models of student learning are useful for explicating the role of prior knowledge in students’ learning and are very popular in the research on learning in the subject areas. This article presents an analysis of a conceptual change model for describing student learning by applying research on student motivation to the process of conceptual change. Four general motivational constructs (goals, values, self-efficacy, and control beliefs) are suggested as potential mediators of the process of conceptual change. In addition, there is a discussion of the role of classroom contextual factors as moderators of the relations between student motivation and conceptual change. The article highlights the theoretical difficulties of a cold, or overly rational, model of conceptual change that focuses only on student cognition without considering the ways in which students’ motivational beliefs about themselves as learners and the roles of individuals in a classroom learning community can facilitate or h...

2,125 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Hofstein and Lunetta as mentioned in this paper conducted a review of the research on the school science laboratory and found that the laboratory has a central and distinctive role in science education, and science educators have suggested that rich benefits in learning accrue from using laboratory activities.
Abstract: The laboratory has been given a central and distinctive role in science education, and science educators have suggested that rich benefits in learning accrue from using laboratory activities. Twenty years have been elapsed since we published a frequently cited, critical review of the research on the school science laboratory (Hofstein & Lunetta, Rev. Educ. Res.52(2), 201–217, 1982). Twenty years later, we are living in an era of dramatic new technology resources and new standards in science education in which learning by inquiry has been given renewed central status. Methodologies for research and assessment that have developed in the last 20 years can help researchers seeking to understand how science laboratory resources are used, how students' work in the laboratory is assessed, and how science laboratory activities can be used by teachers to enhance intended learning outcomes. In that context, we take another look at the school laboratory in the light of contemporary practices and scholarship. This analysis examines scholarship that has emerged in the past 20 years in the context of earlier scholarship, contemporary goals for science learning, current models of how students construct knowledge, and information about how teachers and students engage in science laboratory activities. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed88:28–54, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/.sce10106

2,084 citations

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 1999
TL;DR: The concept of pedagogical content knowledge as mentioned in this paper is used to describe the transformation of several types of knowledge for teaching (including subject matter knowledge), and as such it represents a unique domain of teacher knowledge.
Abstract: “What shall I do with my students to help them understand this science concept? What materials are there to help me? What are my students likely to already know and what will be difficult for them? How best shall I evaluate what my students have learned?" These questions are common for every teacher, and central to describing the knowledge that distinguishes a teacher from a subject matter specialist. In this paper, we argue that such knowledge is described by the concept known as pedagogical content knowledge, and that this concept is critical to understanding effective science teaching. We describe pedagogical content knowledge as the transformation of several types of knowledge for teaching (including subject matter knowledge), and that as such it represents a unique domain of teacher knowledge. This chapter presents our conceptualization of pedagogical content knowledge and illustrates how this concept applies to understanding science education from the perspective of the teacher, the science teacher educator, and the science education researcher.

1,554 citations