Showing papers in "Journal of Research in Science Teaching in 2012"

Framing for scientific argumentation

Abstract: In recent years, research on students' scientific argumentation has progressed to a recognition of nascent resources: Students can and do argue when they experience the need and possibility of persuading others who may hold competing views. Our purpose in this article is to contribute to this progress by applying the perspective of framing to the question of when and how a class forms and maintains a sense of their activity as argumentative. In particular, we examine three snippets from a sixth-grade class with respect to how the students—and the teacher—experience, or frame, what is taking place. We argue that they show dynamics of framing for individuals and for the class as a whole that affect and are affected by students' engagement in argumentation. We close the article with implications of this perspective for research, teaching, and instructional design. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 68–94, 2012

Mapping out the Integration of the Components of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK): Examples from High School Biology Classrooms.

Abstract: This study explored the nature of the integration of the five components of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK): (a) Orientations toward Teaching Science, (b) Knowledge of Student Understanding, (c) Knowledge of Instructional Strategies and Representations, (d) Knowledge of Science Curriculum, and (e) Knowledge of Assessment of Science Learning. Given the topic and context specificity of PCK, this investigation was conducted in the context of the photosynthesis and heredity instruction of four teachers who were working at the same high school with the same curricular materials. Data sources included classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, lesson plans, instructional materials, and students' work samples. Data were analyzed through three different approaches: (a) in-depth analysis of explicit PCK, (b) enumerative approach, and (c) the constant comparative method. Data analysis indicated five salient features of the integration of the PCK components: (a) the integration of the components was idiosyncratic and topic-specific; (b) Knowledge of Student Understanding and Knowledge of Instructional Strategies and Representations were central in the integration; (c) Knowledge of Science Curriculum and Knowledge of Assessment of Science Learning had most limited connection with other components; (d) Knowledge of Assessment of Science Learning was more often connected with Knowledge of Student Understanding and Knowledge of Instructional Strategies and Representations than with the other components; and (e) Didactic Orientations toward Teaching Science directed Knowledge of Instructional Strategies and Representations inhibiting its connection with other components. This study highlights that the quality of PCK depends on the coherence among the components as well as the strength of individual components. From a methodological perspective, this study demonstrates the possibility to make PCK more visible and accessible by using a PCK Map, a pictorial representation of the interactions of the PCK components. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 922–941, 2012

Activity matters: Understanding student interest in school science

Abstract: A genuine interest in science is an important part of scientific literacy, and thus a critical goal for science education. Recent studies, however, have found that school science has not been effective in meeting this goal, an important reason for which is the lack of knowledge about what makes science interesting (or not) to the students. Using instructional episodes as the unit of analysis, this study investigated the effects of learning environment elements (content topic, activity, and learning goal) on student interest in science. The findings indicated that when judging the interestingness of an instructional episode, students focused primarily on the form of activity rather than content topic and learning goal. Activities that were “hands-on” in nature and allowed for engagement with technology elicited higher interest. This study highlights the need to place more emphasis on the role of activity in constructing interesting learning environments, and in the mean time, suggests that student science interest could be improved by making changes to relatively easy-to-manipulate aspects of learning environments, such as those examined in the study. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 515–537, 2012

The impact of an integrated approach to science and literacy in elementary school classrooms

Abstract: This study investigates the efficacy of an integrated science and literacy approach at the upper-elementary level Teachers in 94 fourth grade classrooms in one Southern state participated Half of the teachers taught the treatment unit, an integrated science–literacy unit on light and energy designed using a curriculum model that engages students in reading text, writing notes and reports, conducting firsthand investigations, and frequent discussion of key concepts and processes to acquire inquiry skills and knowledge about science concepts, while the other half of the teachers taught a content-comparable science-only unit on light and energy (using materials provided by their districts) and provided their regular literacy instruction Students in the treatment group made significantly greater gains on measures of science understanding, science vocabulary, and science writing Students in both groups made comparable gains in science reading comprehension © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc J Res Sci Teach 49: 631–658, 2012

A learning progression for water in socio‐ecological systems

Abstract: This article reports on our work of developing a learning progression focusing on K-12 students' performances of using energy concept in their accounts of carbon-transforming processes in socio-ecological systems. Carbon-transforming processes—the ecological carbon cycle and the combustion of biomass and fossil fuels—provide all of the energy for living systems and almost 90% of the energy for human economic activities. Energy, as a crosscutting concept across major disciplines, is a tool for analysis that uses the principle of energy conservation to constrain and connect accounts of processes and systems. Drawing on ideas from cognitive linguistics, the history of science, and research on students' energy conceptions, we identify two crucial practices that both scientists and students engage in when accounting for carbon-transforming processes: association and tracing. Using association and tracing as progress variables, we analyzed student accounts of carbon-transforming processes in 48 clinical interviews and 3,903 written tests administered to students from fourth grade through high school. Based on our analysis we developed a Learning Progression Framework that describes a progression from accounts that use energy as an ephemeral “force” that enables actors to make events happen to energy as a scientific tool for analysis. Successful students developed a sense of necessity with respect to accounts of carbon-transforming processes—a sense that energy MUST be conserved and degraded in every individual process and in the system as a whole. This level of success was achieved by <3% of the students in our sample. Implications for science standards, curriculum, and instruction are discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1149–1180, 2012

Differential effects of three professional development models on teacher knowledge and student achievement in elementary science

Abstract: To identify links among professional development, teacher knowledge, practice, and student achievement, researchers have called for study designs that allow causal inferences and that examine relationships among features of interventions and multiple outcomes. In a randomized experiment implemented in six states with over 270 elementary teachers and 7,000 students, this project compared three related but systematically varied teacher interventions—Teaching Cases, Looking at Student Work, and Metacognitive Analysis—along with no-treatment controls. The three courses contained identical science content components, but differed in the ways they incorporated analysis of learner thinking and of teaching, making it possible to measure effects of these features on teacher and student outcomes. Interventions were delivered by staff developers trained to lead the teacher courses in their regions. Each course improved teachers' and students' scores on selected-response science tests well beyond those of controls, and effects were maintained a year later. Student achievement also improved significantly for English language learners in both the study year and follow-up, and treatment effects did not differ based on sex or race/ethnicity. However, only Teaching Cases and Looking at Student Work courses improved the accuracy and completeness of students' written justifications of test answers in the follow-up, and only Teaching Cases had sustained effects on teachers' written justifications. Thus, the content component in common across the three courses had powerful effects on teachers' and students' ability to choose correct test answers, but their ability to explain why answers were correct only improved when the professional development incorporated analysis of student conceptual understandings and implications for instruction; metacognitive analysis of teachers' own learning did not improve student justifications either year. Findings suggest investing in professional development that integrates content learning with analysis of student learning and teaching rather than advanced content or teacher metacognition alone. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 333–362, 2012

Science teachers and scientific argumentation: Trends in views and practice

Abstract: Current research indicates that student engagement in scientific argumentation can foster a better understanding of the concepts and the processes of science. Yet opportunities for students to participate in authentic argumentation inside the science classroom are rare. There also is little known about science teachers' understandings of argumentation, their ability to participate in this complex practice, or their views about using argumentation as part of the teaching and learning of science. In this study, the researchers used a cognitive appraisal interview to examine how 30 secondary science teachers evaluate alternative explanations, generate an argument to support a specific explanation, and investigate their views about engaging students in argumentation. The analysis of the teachers' comments and actions during the interview indicates that these teachers relied primarily on their prior content knowledge to evaluate the validity of an explanation rather than using available data. Although some of the teachers included data and reasoning in their arguments, most of the teachers crafted an argument that simply expanded on a chosen explanation but provided no real support for it. The teachers also mentioned multiple barriers to the integration of argumentation into the teaching and learning of science, primarily related to their perceptions of students' ability levels, even though all of these teachers viewed argumentation as a way to help students understand science. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1122–1148, 2012

Exploring the relationship between self-efficacy and retention in introductory physics

Abstract: The quantitative results of Sources of Self-Efficacy in Science Courses-Physics (SOSESC-P) are presented as a logistic regression predicting the passing of students in introductory Physics with Calculus I, overall as well as disaggregated by gender. Self-efficacy as a theory to explain human behavior change [Bandura [1977] Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215] has become a focus of education researchers. Zeldin and Pajares [Zeldin & Pajares [2000] American Educational Research Journal, 37(1), 215] and Zeldin, Britner, and Pajares [2008] Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45(9), 1036–1058] found evidence that men and women draw on different sources for evaluation of their self-efficacy in science fields. Further, self-efficacy is one of the primary dimensions of students' overall science identity and contributes to their persistence in physics [Hazari, Sonnert, Sadler, & Shanahan, 2010Journal of Research in Science Teaching 47(8), 978–1003]. At Florida International University we have examined the self-efficacy of students in the introductory physics classes from the perspective of gender theory, with the intention of understanding the subtleties in how sources of self-efficacy provide a mechanism for understanding retention in physics. Using a sequential logistic regression analysis we uncover subtle distinctions in the predictive ability of the sources of self-efficacy. Predicting the probability of passing for women relies primarily on the vicarious learning experiences source, with no significant contribution from the social persuasion experiences, while predicting the probability of passing for men requires only the mastery experiences source. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1096–1121, 2012

Practical work: Its effectiveness in primary and secondary schools in England

Abstract: We report here on the first of two evaluations of a national project (Getting Practical: Improving Practical Work in Science – IPWiS) designed to improve the effectiveness of practical work in both primary and secondary schools in England. This first baseline evaluation of the effectiveness of practical work is based on a study of a diverse range of 30 practical lessons undertaken in non-selective primary (n = 10) and secondary (n = 20) schools prior to the teachers undertaking a training intervention designed to improve their effective use of practical work. A multi-site case study approach employing a condensed fieldwork strategy was used in which data were collected, using audiotape-recorded discussions, interviews and observational field notes. The analysis, based on work by Millar et al. and Tiberghien, considers what students do and think relative to what their teacher intended them to do and think. In both primary and secondary schools the widespread use of highly structured ‘recipe’ style tasks meant that practical work was highly effective in enabling students (n = 857) to do what the teacher intended. Whilst tasks in primary schools tended to be shorter than in secondary schools, with more time devoted to helping students understand the meaning of new scientific words, neither primary nor secondary teachers’ lesson plans incorporated explicit strategies to assist students in making links between their observations and scientific ideas. As such, tasks were less effective in enabling students to use the intended scientific ideas to understand their actions and reflect upon the data they collected. These findings suggest that practical work might be made more effective, in terms of developing students’ conceptual understanding – an aim of the IPWiS project – if teachers adopted a more ‘hands-on’ and ‘minds-on’ approach and explicitly planned how students were to link these two essential components of practical work.

Linking a Learning Progression for Natural Selection to Teachers' Enactment of Formative Assessment.

Abstract: Learning progressions, or representations of how student ideas develop in a domain, hold promise as tools to support teachers' formative assessment practices. The ideas represented in a learning progression might help teachers to identify and make inferences about evidence collected of student thinking, necessary precursors to modifying instruction to help students advance in their learning. The study reported in this article took the novel approach of using a learning progression for natural selection to support teachers' enactment of formative assessment. Sources of data include interviews and videotapes of six high school biology teachers leading assessment conversations around the same formative assessment questions. Results indicate that while teachers picked out and made inferences about student ideas related to the learning progression during assessment conversations, they did not use all parts of the learning progression in the same way. Furthermore, several of the teachers seemed to use the learning progressions simply as catalogs of misconceptions to be “squashed” rather than drawing upon the developmental affordances offered by a learning progression. Results are framed in terms of the utility of learning progressions as supports for classroom practice. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1181–1210, 2012

Cognitive foundations for science assessment design: Knowing what students know about evolution

Abstract: To improve assessments of academic achievement, test developers have been urged to use an “assessment triangle” that starts with research-based models of cognition and learning [NRC (2001) Knowing what students know: The science and design of educational assessment. Washington, DC: National Academy Press]. This approach has been successful in designing high-quality reading and math assessments, but less progress has been made for assessments in content-rich sciences such as biology. To rectify this situation, we applied the “assessment triangle” to design and evaluate new items for an instrument (ACORNS, Assessing Contextual Reasoning about Natural Selection) that had been proposed to assess students' use of natural selection to explain evolutionary change. Design and scoring of items was explicitly guided by a cognitive model that reflected four psychological principles: with development of expertise, (1) core concepts facilitate long-term recall, (2) causally-central features become weighted more strongly in explaining phenomena, (3) normative ideas co-exist but increasingly outcompete naive ideas in reasoning, and (4) knowledge becomes more abstract and less specific to the learning situation. We conducted an evaluation study with 320 students to examine whether scores from our new ACORNS items could detect gradations of expertise, provide insight into thinking about evolutionary change, and predict teachers' assessments of student achievement. Findings were consistent with our cognitive model, and ACORNS was revealing about undergraduates' thinking about evolutionary change. Results indicated that (1) causally-central concepts of evolution by natural selection typically co-existed and competed with the presence of naive ideas in all students' explanations, with naive ideas being especially prevalent in low-performers' explanations; (2) causally-central concepts were elicited most frequently when students were asked to explain evolution of animals and familiar plants, with influence of superficial features being strongest for low-performers; and (3) ACORNS scores accurately predicted students' later achievement in a college-level evolution course. Together, findings illustrate usefulness of cognitive models in designing instruments intended to capture students' developing expertise. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 744–777, 2012

Adolescents' declining motivation to learn science: A follow-up study

Abstract: This is a mix methods follow-up study in which we reconfirm the findings from an earlier study [Vedder-Weiss & Fortus [2011] Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 48(2), 199–216]. The findings indicate that adolescents' declining motivation to learn science, which was found in many previous studies [Galton [2009] Moving to secondary school: Initial encounters and their effects. Perspectives on Education, 2(Primary-secondary Transfer in Science), 5–21. Retrieved from www.wellcome.ac.uk/perspectives; Osborne, Simon, & Collins, [2003] International Journal of Science Education 25(9), 1049–1079], is not an inevitable phenomenon since it appears not to occur in Israeli democratic schools. In addition to reinforcing previous results in a different sample, new results show that the differences between the two school types are also apparent in terms of students' self-efficacy in science learning, students' perceptions of their teachers' goals emphases, and students' perception of their peers' goals orientation. Quantitative results are accompanied by rich verbal examples of ways in which students view and articulate their own and their teachers' goal emphases. Content analysis of students' interviews showed that students in traditional schools are directed more towards goals that are external and related to the outcome of learning in comparison to democratic school students who are motivated more by goals that are internal and related to the process of learning. Structure analysis of these interviews suggests that democratic school students experience a greater sense of autonomy in their science learning than traditional school students do. Implications for research on students' motivation are discussed, such as considering not only the teacher and the classroom but also the school culture. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1057–1095, 2012

Science Assessments for All: Integrating Science Simulations into Balanced State Science Assessment Systems.

Abstract: This article reports on the collaboration of six states to study how simulation-based science assessments can become transformative components of multi-level, balanced state science assessment systems. The project studied the psychometric quality, feasibility, and utility of simulation-based science assessments designed to serve formative purposes during a unit and to provide summative evidence of end-of-unit proficiencies. The frameworks of evidence-centered assessment design and model-based learning shaped the specifications for the assessments. The simulations provided the three most common forms of accommodations in state testing programs: audio recording of text, screen magnification, and support for extended time. The SimScientists program at WestEd developed simulation-based, curriculum-embedded, and unit benchmark assessments for two middle school topics, Ecosystems and Force & Motion. These were field-tested in three states. Data included student characteristics, responses to the assessments, cognitive labs, classroom observations, and teacher surveys and interviews. UCLA CRESST conducted an evaluation of the implementation. Feasibility and utility were examined in classroom observations, teacher surveys and interviews, and by the six-state Design Panel. Technical quality data included AAAS reviews of the items' alignment with standards and quality of the science, cognitive labs, and assessment data. Student data were analyzed using multidimensional Item Response Theory (IRT) methods. IRT analyses demonstrated the high psychometric quality (reliability and validity) of the assessments and their discrimination between content knowledge and inquiry practices. Students performed better on the interactive, simulation-based assessments than on the static, conventional items in the posttest. Importantly, gaps between performance of the general population and English language learners and students with disabilities were considerably smaller on the simulation-based assessments than on the posttests. The Design Panel participated in development of two models for integrating science simulations into a balanced state science assessment system. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 363–393, 2012

The Effect of an Instructional Intervention on Middle School English Learners' Science and English Reading Achievement

Abstract: This study examined the effect of a quasi-experimental project on fifth grade English learners' achievement in state-mandated standards-based science and English reading assessment. A total of 166 treatment students and 80 comparison students from four randomized intermediate schools participated in the current project. The intervention consisted of on-going professional development and specific instructional science lessons with inquiry-based learning, direct and explicit vocabulary instruction, integration of reading and writing, and enrichment components including integration of technology, take-home science activities, and university scientists mentoring. Results suggested a significant and positive intervention effect in favor of the treatment students as reflected in higher performance in district-wide curriculum-based tests of science and reading and standardized tests of oral reading fluency. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 987–1011, 2012

Large‐scale science education intervention research we can use

Abstract: This article develops an argument that the type of intervention research most useful for improving science teaching and learning and leading to scalable interventions includes both research to develop and gather evidence of the efficacy of innovations and a different kind of research, design-based implementation research (DBIR). DBIR in education focuses on what is required to bring interventions and knowledge about learning to all students, wherever they might engage in science learning. This research focuses on implementation, both in the development and initial testing of interventions and in the scaling up process. In contrast to traditional intervention research that focuses principally on one level of educational systems, DBIR designs and tests interventions that cross levels and settings of learning, with the aim of investigating and improving the effective implementation of interventions. The article concludes by outlining four areas of DBIR that may improve the likelihood that new standards for science education will achieve their intended purpose of establishing an effective, equitable, and coherent system of opportunities for science learning in the United States. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 281–304, 2012

Relationship between Nature of Science Understandings and Argumentation Skills: A Role for Counterargument and Contextual Factors.

Abstract: The study investigated the relationship of high school students' understandings about nature of science (NOS) aspects and their argumentation skills in relation to two controversial socioscientific issues. The study was conducted in five schools selected from different geographical areas in Beirut, Lebanon. Participants were 219 grade 11 students. Students in all the schools were administered a survey that consisted of two scenarios that addressed the controversial socioscientific issues about genetically modified food and water fluoridation. The two scenarios were followed by questions relating to argumentation and NOS. The study used a mixed methods approach where quantitative and qualitative measures were employed. Analysis involved participants' views of the target NOS aspects (subjective, tentative, and empirical) and their argumentation components (argument, counterargument, and rebuttal). The Pearson analyses showed strong correlations between the counterargument, compared to argument and rebuttal, and the three NOS aspects. Further, the chi-square analyses showed significant differences in participants' argumentation skills and NOS understandings between the two scenarios. Qualitative data from questionnaires and interviews further confirmed these findings. Two central implications for the teaching of NOS and argumentation skills were discussed in terms of highlighting the role of counterarguments and considering contextual factors that involve issue exposure and familiarity, prior content knowledge, and personal relevance. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 489–514, 2012

Investigating the effectiveness of computer simulations for chemistry learning

Abstract: Are well-designed computer simulations an effective tool to support student understanding of complex concepts in chemistry when integrated into high school science classrooms? We investigated scaling up the use of a sequence of simulations of kinetic molecular theory and associated topics of diffusion, gas laws, and phase change, which we designed and experimentally tested In the two effectiveness studies reported, one in a rural and the other in an urban context, chemistry teachers implemented two alternate versions of a curricular unit—an experimental version, incorporating simulations, and a control version, using text-based materials covering the same content Participants were 718 high school students (357 rural and 361 urban), in a total of 25 classrooms The implementation of the simulations was explored using criteria associated with fidelity of implementation (FOI) Each context provided insights into the role of FOI in affecting the effectiveness of the interventions when working with groups of teachers Results supported the effectiveness of this sequence of simulations as a teaching tool in a classroom context, and confirmed the importance of FOI factors such as adherence and exposure in determining the specific environments in which these materials were most effective © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc J Res Sci Teach 49: 394–419, 2012

Pedagogical content knowledge as reflected in teacher–student interactions: Analysis of two video cases

Abstract: Despite the theorized centrality of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching, we have little evidence of the relationship between PCK and students' learning and know relatively little about how to help teachers to develop PCK. This study is a preliminary attempt to address these gaps in our knowledge of PCK through exploration of two German physics teachers' classroom instruction in consecutive lessons on optics. We show how video analysis can be used to gather evidence for one aspect of teachers' PCK: their use of content knowledge in interactions with students. We identify three potentially important characteristics of this aspect of PCK: flexibility, richness, and learner-centeredness. By contrasting teachers with high and low gains in student knowledge and interest, we explore potential mechanisms by which this aspect of PCK might affect student outcomes. Because German teacher preparation programs emphasize content more than pedagogical knowledge, these cases contribute to our understanding of the support that teachers with strong content knowledge may need in translating this knowledge into a form useful for teaching.Fachdidaktisches Wissen ist aus theoretischer Sicht besonders zentral fur das Unterrichten. Aus empirischer Sicht gibt es bislang allerdings noch wenig Evidenz fur den Einsatz fachdidaktischen Wissens wahrend des Unterrichtens und seine Bedeutung fur das Lernen von Schulerinnen und Schulern. Auserdem wissen wir wenig daruber, wie Lehrpersonen uber die Zeit fachdidaktisches Wissen entwickeln. Diese Studie ist ein Versuch, diese Wissenslucken zum fachdidaktischen Wissen von Lehrpersonen zu bearbeiten. Dabei wird exemplarisch der Unterricht von zwei deutschen Physiklehrern in aufeinanderfolgenden Stunden zum Thema Optik untersucht. Die Studie zeigt wie Videoanalysen genutzt werden konnen, um Belege fur einen Aspekt des fachdidaktischen Wissens der Lehrpersonen zu sammeln: Ihre Nutzung von inhaltlichem Wissen in der Interaktion mit den Schulerinnen und Schulern. In dieser Studie werden drei potentiell wichtige Charakteristika dieses Aspekts des fachdidaktischen Wissens identifiziert: Flexibilitat, Reichhaltigkeit und Schulerorientierung. Durch die Gegenuberstellung von Lehrpersonen mit hohem und niedrigem Wissens- und Interessenzuwachs wurden potentielle Mechanismen untersucht, durch die dieser Aspekt des fachdidaktischen Wissens die Lernergebnisse von Schulerinnen und Schulern beeinflussen kann. Die Lehrerausbildung in Deutschland betont das inhaltliche Wissen starker als das fachdidaktische Wissen. Die ausgewahlten Falle beschreiben, welche Unterstutzung Lehrpersonen mit einem hohen fachlichen Wissen benotigen, um dieses Wissen so zu verandern, dass es fur das Unterrichten genutzt werden kann. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1211–1239, 2012

Third grade African American students' views of the nature of science

Abstract: This study examined the nature of science (NOS) views of lower elementary grade level students, including their views of scientists. Participants were 23 third-grade African American students from two Midwest urban settings. A multiple instrument approach using an open-ended questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, a modified version of the traditional Draw-A-Scientist Test (DAST), and a simple photo eliciting activity, was employed. The study sought to capture not only the students' views of science and scientists, but also their views of themselves as users and producers of science. The findings suggest that the young African American children in this study hold very distinct and often unique views of what science is and how it operates. Included are traditional stereotypical views of scientists consistent with previous research. Additionally, participants expressed excitement and self-efficacy in describing their own relationship with science, in and outside of their formal classrooms. Implications for teaching and learning NOS as it relates to young children and children of color are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1–37, 2012

Guiding Explanation Construction by Children at the Entry Points of Learning Progressions.

Abstract: Policy documents in science education suggest that even at the earliest years of formal schooling, students are capable of constructing scientific explanations about focal content. Nonetheless, few research studies provide insights into how to effectively provide scaffolds appropriate for late ele- mentary-age students' fruitful creation of scientific explanations. This article describes two research studies to address the question, what makes explanation construction difficult for elementary students? The studies were conducted in urban fourth, fifth, and sixth grade classrooms where students were learning science through curricular units that contained 8 weeks of scaffold-rich activities focused on explanation construction. The first study focused on the kind and amount of information scaffold-rich assessments provided about young students' abilities to construct explanations under a range of scaffold conditions. Results demonstrated that fifth and sixth grade tests provided strong information about a range of students' abilities to construct explanations under a range of supported conditions. On balance, the fourth grade test did not provide as much information, nor was this test curricular-sensitive. The second study provided information on pre-post test achievement relative to the amount of curricular intervention utilized over the 8-week time period with each cohort. Results demonstrated that when taking the amount of the intervention into account, there were strong learning gains in all three grade- level cohorts. In conjunction with the pre-post study, a type-of-error analysis was conducted to better understand the nature of errors among younger students. This analysis revealed that our youngest stu- dents generated the most incomplete responses and struggled in particular ways with generating valid evidence. Conclusions emphasize the synergistic value of research studies on scaffold-rich assessments, curricular scaffolds, and teacher guidance toward a more complete understanding of how to support young students' explanation construction. 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 141-165, 2012

Feeling of certainty: Uncovering a missing link between knowledge and acceptance of evolution

Abstract: We propose a new model of the factors influencing acceptance of evolutionary theory that highlights a novel variable unexplored in previous studies: the feeling of certainty (FOC). The model is grounded in an emerging understanding of brain function that acknowledges the contributions of intuitive cognitions in making decisions, such as whether or not to accept a particular theoretical explanation of events. Specifically, we examine the relationships among religious identity, level of edu- cation, level of knowledge, FOC, and level of evolutionary acceptance to test whether our proposed model accurately predicts hypothesized pathways. We employ widely used measures—the CINS, MATE, and ORI—in addition to new variables in multiple regression and path analyses in order to test the interrelationships among FOC and acceptance of evolutionary theory. We explore these relationships using a sample of 124 pre-service biology teachers found to display comparable knowledge and belief levels as reported in previous studies on this topic. All of our hypothesis tests corroborated the idea that FOC plays a moderating role in relationships among evolutionary knowledge and beliefs. Educational research into acceptance of evolutionary theory will likely benefit from increased attention to non-con- scious intuitive cognitions that give rise to feeling of knowing or certainty. 2011 Wiley Periodicals,

Can Dynamic Visualizations Improve Middle School Students' Understanding of Energy in Photosynthesis?

Abstract: Dynamic visualizations have the potential to make abstract scientific phenomena more accessible and visible to students, but they can also be confusing and difficult to comprehend. This research investigates how dynamic visualizations, compared to static illustrations, can support middle school students in developing an integrated understanding of energy in photosynthesis. Two hundred 7th-grade students were randomly assigned to either a dynamic or a static condition and completed a web-based inquiry unit that encourages students to make connections among energy concepts in photosynthesis. While working on the inquiry unit, students in the dynamic condition interacted with a dynamic visualization of energy transformation, whereas students in the static condition interacted with a series of static illustrations of the same concept. The results showed that students in both conditions added new, scientific ideas about energy transformation and developed a more coherent understanding of energy in photosynthesis. However, when comparing the two conditions, we found a significant ad- vantage of dynamic visualization over static illustrations. Students in the dynamic condition were signif- icantly more successful in articulating the process of energy transformation in the context of chemical reactions during photosynthesis. Students in the dynamic condition also demonstrated a more integrated understanding of energy in photosynthesis by linking their ideas about energy transformation to other energy ideas and observable phenomena of photosynthesis than those students in the static condition. This study, consistent with other research, shows that dynamic visualizations can more effectively improve students' understanding of abstract concepts of molecular processes than static illustrations. The results of this study also suggest that with appropriate instructional support, such as making predic- tions and distinguishing among ideas, both dynamic visualizations and static illustrations can benefit students. This study underscores the importance of curriculum design in ensuring that dynamic visual- izations add value to science instructional materials. 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 218-243, 2012

Understanding the co‐construction of inquiry practices: A case study of a responsive teaching environment

Abstract: We set out to understand how different instantiations of inquiry emerged in two different years of one elementary teacher's classroom. Longitudinal observations from Mrs. Charles' 5th grade science classroom forced us to carefully and deliberately consider who exactly was responsible for the change in the class activities and norms. We provide empirical evidence to show how a focus on the teacher can easily overlook the complex dynamics of the classroom. The data reveal that students had a substantive and generative role in the class's arrival at the different instantiations of scientific inquiry—the nature and form of inquiry—that were constructed each year. We argue that, in an environment where a teacher carefully attends and responds to student thinking, the nascent resources students have for reasoning about phenomena can affect not only the conceptual ideas that emerge, but also influence what inquiry activities or practices become established as normative and productive over time. Our work with Mrs. Charles illuminates an important methodological concern with research on teacher development as well as the construct of teacher learning progressions; research accounts that focus primarily on the teacher may overlook the classroom norms that are negotiated between teacher and student, and thereby provide an incomplete portrayal of the teacher's activity within one classroom and the teacher's progress across multiple years. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 429–464, 2012

Some Assembly Required: How Scientific Explanations Are Constructed during Clinical Interviews.

Abstract: This article is concerned with commonsense science knowledge, the informally gained knowledge of the natural world that students possess prior to formal instruction in a scientific discipline. Although commonsense science has been the focus of substantial study for more than two decades, there are still profound disagreements about its nature and origin, and its role in science learning. What is the reason that it has been so difficult to reach consensus? We believe that the problems run deep; there are difficulties both with how the field has framed questions and the way that it has gone about seeking answers. In order to make progress, we believe it will be helpful to focus on one type of research instrument—the clinical interview—that is employed in the study of commonsense science. More specifically, we argue that we should seek to understand and model, on a moment-by-moment basis, student reasoning as it occurs in the interviews employed to study commonsense science. To illustrate and support this claim, we draw on a corpus of interviews with middle school students in which the students were asked questions pertaining to the seasons and climate phenomena. Our analysis of this corpus is based on what we call the mode-node framework. In this framework, student reasoning is seen as drawing on a set of knowledge elements we call nodes, and this set produces temporary explanatory structures we call dynamic mental constructs. Furthermore, the analysis of our corpus seeks to highlight certain patterns of student reasoning that occur during interviews, patterns in what we call conceptual dynamics. These include patterns in which students can be seen to search through available knowledge (nodes), in which they assemble nodes into an explanation, and in which they converge on and shift among alternative explanations. 2011 Wiley

From the contribution to the action approach: White teachers' experiences influencing the development of multicultural science curricula

Abstract: In this exploratory case study, we sought to understand teacher's integration of multicultural curricula in science curriculum units, and how personal experiences influenced the level of integration in light of Bank's typology of ethnic content integration into school curricula. Five research participants volunteered and were selected so as to be representative of the demographic of pre-service and in-service teachers in the southern United States. The aim was to explore teachers' personal experiences with cultural others that either facilitated or impeded their adoption of multicultural curricula strategies in science curricula units. Case narratives present and discuss interview data and assigned curricula projects. Findings suggest that participants who had transformative cultural experiences and who identified as the marginalized cultural other, transformed science curricula at higher levels of Bank's typology for curricula' multicultural approaches. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 1271–1295, 2012

Participating in Science at Home: Recognition Work and Learning in Biology.

Abstract: This article presents an analysis of the longitudinal consequences of out-of-school science learning with a conceptual framework that connects the intentions of youth to their participation in science. The focus is on one girl's science activities in her home and hobby pursuits from fourth to seventh grade to create an empirical account of how youth gain access to scientific knowledge and science practices in informal learning environments. The analysis uses fieldnotes, videotape recordings, and transcripts centered on the epistemic, social, and material resources related to learning in biology. The focal participant of the study, Penelope, engaged with animal activities in her home and hobby pursuits in ways that overlapped scientific practice. She (1) engaged in observational inquiry, (2) used media to understand animal behavior, (3) tinkered with feeding to keep her animals healthy, and (4) manipulated her animals and animal-related artifacts to create routines and safe indoor habitats. Penelope used these four competencies to gain access to new science learning situations in school and afterschool settings. Yet, as she participated in science practices around animals, she sought to be recognized as uninterested in science. Instead, she used her talk and activities to be recognized in animal caretaking roles in the settings that mattered to her. Penelope's behavior of distancing herself from science while still seeking out experiences to learn about animal biology shows that recognition work is a complex negotiation between aspects of one's self and of science. Implications to theories are drawn related to science education and recognition work. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 597–630, 2012

Developing a Construct-Based Assessment to Examine Students' Analogical Reasoning around Physical Models in Earth Science.

Abstract: In recent years, science education has placed increasing importance on learners' mastery of scientific reasoning. This growing emphasis presents a challenge for both developers and users of assessments. We report on our effort around the conceptualization, development, and testing the validity of an assessment of students' ability to reason around physical dynamic models in Earth Science. Building from the research literature on analogical mapping and informed by the current perspectives on learning progressions, we present a three-tiered construct describing the increasing sophistication of students' analogical reasoning around the correspondences and non-correspondences between models and the Earth System: at the level of entities (Level 1), configurations in space or relative motion of entities (Level 2), and the mechanism or cause for observed phenomena (Level 3). Grounded in a construct-centered design approach, we describe our process for developing assessments in order to examine and validate this construct, including how we selected topics and models, designed items, and developed outcome spaces. We present the specific example of one assessment centered on moon phases, which was administered to 164 8th and 9th grade Earth Science students as a pre/postmeasure. Two hundred ninety-four responses were analyzed using a Rasch modeling approach. Item difficulties and student proficiency scores were calculated and analyzed regarding their relative performance with respect to the three levels of the construct. The analysis results provided initial evidence in support of the construct as conceived, with students displaying a range of analogical reasoning spanning all three construct levels. It also identified problematic items that merit further examination. Overall, the assessment has provided us the opportunity to better describe and frame the cognitive uses of models by students during learning situations in Earth Science. Implications for instruction and future directions for research in this area are discussed. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 713–743, 2012

“I never thought of it as freezing”: How students answer questions on large‐scale science tests and what they know about science

Abstract: Education policy in the U.S. in the last two decades has emphasized large-scale assessment of students, with growing consequences for schools, teachers, and students. Given the high stakes of such tests, it is important to understand the relationships between students' answers to test items and their knowledge and skills in the tested content area. Due to persistent test score gaps, students from historically non-dominant communities, and their teachers and schools, are differentially affected by the consequences of large-scale testing. As a result, it is particularly important to understand how students from historically non-dominant communities interact with test items on large-scale tests. We report on a study in which we interviewed 36 students about their responses to six multiple-choice science test items from the Massachusetts state science assessment for fifth grade. The 36 students included 12 students from low-income households, 12 English Language Learners, and 12 middle-class native English speakers. We found that for five of the six selected test items, students' descriptions of the science content knowledge they used to answer the test items frequently did not match the content knowledge targeted by the items. In addition, students from low-income households and English Language Learners were more likely than middle-class native English speakers to answer incorrectly despite demonstrating knowledge of the targeted science content for the items. We argue that such evidence challenges the expectation that students' answers to individual test items reflect their knowledge of the targeted science content, and that evidence of this kind should be included in investigations of the validity of large-scale tests. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 778–803, 2012

Should Great Lakes City Build a New Power Plant? How Youth Navigate Socioscientific Issues

Abstract: There is a growing consensus that simply learning enough science to decipher public debates on socioscientific issues will not make citizens better equipped to handle the complex and ill- structured problems these controversial issues present. This study highlights the interaction and complex interplay between youth authored and appropriated frames for making sense of socioscientific issues. To do so, we analyze how two middle-school aged youth, in an after-school program focused on green energy technologies, made sense of and took a stance on whether their city should build a new hybrid power plant over the course of a 13-week unit. Using critical sociocultural perspectives on learning and qualitative case study, we examined how the two youth navigated the issue and the resources, scientific and otherwise, they leveraged in defining the problem spaces involved in whether their city should build a new power plant. Our findings indicate that the scientific knowledge youth brought with them and acquired over the course of the investigation influenced how they made sense of the issue, but their knowledge was deeply connected to a range of personal and public discourses that influenced how they defined the issue and why it mattered to them. In particular, it was through how they framed their range of knowledge and experiences that they were able to recognize the multi-dimensional nature of the problem and propose complex solutions resonant with the science they understood. Our study offers conceptual tools for teaching and learning socioscientific issues. 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res

Assessment of Science Learning: Living in Interesting Times.

Abstract: Beginning with a reference to living in a time of both uncertainty and opportunity, this article presents a discussion of key areas where shared understanding is needed if we are to successfully realize the design and use of high quality, valid assessments of science. The key areas discussed are: (1) assessment purpose and use, (2) the nature of assessment and the importance of research on learning, (3) assessment design processes, (4) validity arguments, (5) measurement and statistical inference, (6) affordances of technology, and (7) systems of assessment. After introducing each vital area, the article discusses how each of the five articles in the special issue is connected to the areas. Concluding comments emphasize the reminder that despite the large amount of work to be done, we are well positioned to realize the high quality, valid science education assessments that we need for K-16 science education. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 831–841, 2012