Showing papers in "Research in Science Education in 2012"

College Students' Perceptions About the Plausibility of Human-Induced Climate Change

Abstract: Overcoming students’ misconceptions may be a challenge when teaching about phenomena such as climate change. Students tend to cite short-term weather effects as evidence to support or refute long-term climate transformations, which displays a fundamental misunderstanding about weather and climate distinctions. Confusion about weather and climate may also reflect student misunderstanding about deep time, a concept that spans several scientific content areas. This study examines the relationships between students’ understanding of deep time and their understandings of the distinctions between weather and climate, as well as how these understandings influence students’ perceptions about the plausibility of human-induced global climate change. Undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory science class on global climate change completed measures of their (a) understanding of distinctions between weather and climate, (b) knowledge of deep time, and (c) plausibility perceptions of human-induced climate change, both at the beginning and end of the course. The study includes comparison groups of similar students enrolled in introductory physical geography classes. Results revealed that greater knowledge of deep time and increased plausibility perceptions of human-induced climate change provide significant explanation of variance in students’ understanding of weather and climate distinctions. Furthermore, students achieve significantly increased understanding of weather and climate, even with brief instruction.

Students’ Research-Informed Socio-scientific Activism: Re/Visions for a Sustainable Future

Abstract: In many educational contexts throughout the world, increasing focus has been placed on socio-scientific issues; that is, disagreements about potential personal, social and/or environmental problems associated with fields of science and technology. Some suggest (as do we) that many of these potential problems, such as those associated with climate change, are so serious that education needs to be oriented towards encouraging and enabling students to become citizen activists, ready and willing to take personal and social actions to reduce risks associated with the issues. Towards this outcome, teachers we studied encouraged and enabled students to direct open-ended primary (e.g., correlational studies), as well as secondary (e.g., internet searches), research as sources of motivation and direction for their activist projects. In this paper, we concluded, based on constant comparative analyses of qualitative data, that school students’ tendencies towards socio-political activism appeared to depend on myriad, possibly interacting, factors. We focused, though, on curriculum policy statements, school culture, teacher characteristics and student-generated research findings. Our conclusions may be useful to those promoting education for sustainability, generally, and, more specifically, to those encouraging activism on such issues informed by student-led research.

The Challenges of Science Inquiry Teaching for Pre-Service Teachers in Elementary Classrooms: Difficulties on and under the Scene

Abstract: In the context of the emphasis on inquiry teaching in science education, this study looks into how pre-service elementary teachers understand and practise science inquiry teaching during field experience. By examining inquiry lesson preparation, practice, and reflections of pre-service elementary teachers, we attempt to understand the difficulties they encounter and what could result from those difficulties in their practice. A total of 16 seniors (fourth-year students) in an elementary teacher education program participated in this study. In our findings, we highlight three difficulties ‘on the lesson’ that are related to teaching practices that were missing in the classrooms: (1) developing children’s own ideas and curiosity, (2) guiding children in designing valid experiments for their hypotheses, (3) scaffolding children’s data interpretation and discussion and another three difficulties ‘under the lesson’ that are related to problems with the pre-service teachers’ conceptualization of the task: (4) tension between guided and open inquiry, (5) incomplete understanding of hypothesis, and (6) lack of confidence in science content knowledge. Based on these findings, we discuss how these difficulties are complexly related in the pre-service teachers’ understandings and action. Several suggestions for science teacher education for inquiry teaching, especially hypothesis-based inquiry teaching, are then explored.

Urban High School Students’ Critical Science Agency: Conceptual Understandings and Environmental Actions Around Climate Change

Abstract: This study investigates how the enactment of a climate change curriculum supports students’ development of critical science agency, which includes students developing deep understandings of science concepts and the ability to take action at the individual and community levels. We examined the impact of a four to six week urban ecology curriculum on students from three different urban high schools in the USA. Data collection included pre and posttest written assessments from all students (n = 75) and pre and post interviews from focal students (n = 22) to examine how students’ conceptual understandings, beliefs and environmental actions changed. Our analyses showed that at the beginning of the curriculum, the majority of students believed that climate change was occurring; yet, they had limited conceptual understandings about climate change and were engaged in limited environmental actions. By the end of the curriculum, students had a significant increase in their understanding of climate change and the majority of students reported they were now engaged in actions to limit their personal impact on climate change. These findings suggest that believing a scientific theory (e.g. climate change) is not sufficient for critical science agency; rather, conceptual understandings and understandings of personal actions impact students’ choices. We recommend that future climate change curriculum focus on supporting students’ development of critical science agency by addressing common student misconceptions and by focusing on how students’ actions can have significant impacts on the environment.

Which Type of Inquiry Project Do High School Biology Students Prefer: Open or Guided?

Abstract: In teaching inquiry to high school students, educators differ on which method of teaching inquiry is more effective: Guided or open inquiry? This paper examines the influence of these two different inquiry learning approaches on the attitudes of Israeli high school biology students toward their inquiry project. The results showed significant differences between the two groups: Open inquiry students were more satisfied and felt they gained benefits from implementing the project to a greater extent than guided inquiry students. On the other hand, regarding documentation throughout the project, guided inquiry students believed that they conducted more documentation, as compared to their open inquiry peers. No significant differences were found regarding ‘the investment of time’, but significant differences were found in the time invested and difficulties which arose concerning the different stages of the inquiry process: Open inquiry students believed they spent more time in the first stages of the project, while guided inquiry students believed they spent more time in writing the final paper. In addition, other differences were found: Open inquiry students felt more involved in their project, and felt a greater sense of cooperation with others, in comparison to guided inquiry students. These findings may help teachers who hesitate to teach open inquiry to implement this method of inquiry; or at least provide their students with the opportunity to be more involved in inquiry projects, and ultimately provide their students with more autonomy, high-order thinking, and a deeper understanding in performing science.

Science Teachers’ Views on CoRes and PaP-eRs as a Framework for Articulating and Developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge

Abstract: This paper reports on a study which was designed to examine how CoRes (Content Representations) and PaP-eRs (Pedagogical and Professional-experience Repertoires) might impact the practice of science teachers by considering how they might value (or not) pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) as part of their professional knowledge. The paper is based on a 2 year longitudinal study that used CoRes and PaP-eRs as a form of intervention with a group of teachers (n = 6) to determine how they interpreted, used and developed their understanding of PCK over time. The study concluded that the participating teachers developed rich understandings of their professional knowledge of science teaching and were of the view that CoRes and PaP-eRs were significant in shaping that development. As a consequence, the study also validates the use of CoRes and PaP-eRs as a meaningful methodology for examining science teachers’ PCK.

Science Teachers’ Use of Mass Media to Address Socio-Scientific and Sustainability Issues

Abstract: The currency, relevancy and changing nature of science makes it a natural topic of focus for mass media outlets. Science teachers and students can capitalize on this wealth of scientific information to explore socio-scientific and sustainability issues; however, without a lens on how those media are created and how representations of science are constructed through media, the use of mass media in the science classroom may be risky. Limited research has explored how science teachers naturally use mass media to explore scientific issues in the classroom or how mass media is used to address potential overlaps between socio-scientific-issue based instruction and education for sustainability. This naturalistic study investigated the reported and actual classroom uses of mass media by secondary science teachers’ to explore socio-scientific and sustainability issues as well as the extent to which their instructional approaches did or did not overlap with frameworks for SSI-based instruction, education for sustainability, and media literacy education. The results of this study suggest that secondary science teachers use mass media to explore socio-scientific and sustainability issues, but their use of frameworks aligned with SSI-based, education for sustainability, and media literacy education was limited. This paper provides suggestions for how we, as science educators and researchers, can advance a teaching and learning agenda for encouraging instruction that more fully utilizes the potential of mass media to explore socio-scientific issues in line with perspectives from education for sustainability.

Educational Configurations for Teaching Environmental Socioscientific Issues Within The Perspective of Sustainability

Abstract: Education for Sustainability has become an institutional requirement in many countries. It takes many forms that can integrate the teaching of environmental Socioscientific Issues (SSIs). In this context, we present the French notion of Socially Acute Questions (SAQs). We develop a theoretical frame to analyse educational configurations applied to the teaching of SAQs within the perspective of sustainability. This frame is built with a reference to a matrix integrating attributes of knowledge (universal, plural, engaged or contextualised), teachers’ epistemological postures (scientism, utilitarianism, skepticsm or relativism) and various didactic strategies (doctrinal, problematizing, critical or pragmatic). To illustrate this frame, three situations of teaching-learning are compared.

Fostering a Sense of Wonder in the Science Classroom

Abstract: This paper reports on a study undertaken with the primary aim of investigating the role of wonder in the learning process. The study was carried out by a 9th grade science teacher in collaboration with a university professor. The teacher taught two classrooms of 27 and 30 students respectively, by trying to evoke a sense of wonder only in one of them. To this end the teacher identified ideas and phenomena as potential sources of wonder and initiated the instruction through these ideas and phenomena. Observation and especially student optional journals were the main instruments of the research. A quantitative analysis of journal entries made by the students of both classrooms, provided evidence for higher involvement for the students—both males and females—of the classroom where the teacher evoked a sense of wonder. Also an analysis of students’ comments provided evidence that wonder, experienced as astonishment and a shock of awareness can help students change their outlook on natural phenomena. Moreover two paper-and-pencil tests administered at the end of the school year provided additional evidence that wonder had an effect on students’ ability to remember “wonder-full” ideas and also an effect on better understanding, of at least, three phenomena. This empirical evidence of better retention and understanding is evidence of the role of wonder as an attention catcher and generally of the role of affective factors in the learning process.

Developing Students’ Futures Thinking in Science Education

Abstract: Futures thinking involves a structured exploration into how society and its physical and cultural environment could be shaped in the future. In science education, an exploration of socio-scientific issues offers significant scope for including such futures thinking. Arguments for doing so include increasing student engagement, developing students’ values discourse, fostering students’ analytical and critical thinking skills, and empowering individuals and communities to envisage, value, and work towards alternative futures. This paper develops a conceptual framework to support teachers’ planning and students’ futures thinking in the context of socio-scientific issues. The key components of the framework include understanding the current situation, analysing relevant trends, identifying drivers, exploring possible and probable futures, and selecting preferable futures. Each component is explored at a personal, local, national, and global level. The framework was implemented and evaluated in three classrooms across Years 4–12 (8 to 16-year olds) and findings suggest it has the potential to support teachers in designing engaging science programmes in which futures thinking skills can be developed.

An Explanation for the Difficulty of Leading Conceptual Change Using a Counterintuitive Demonstration: The Relationship Between Cognitive Conflict and Responses

Abstract: Bringing successful teaching approaches for stimulating conceptual change to normal classrooms has been a major challenge not only for teachers but also for researchers. In this study, we focused on the relationship between cognitive conflict and responses to anomalous data when students are confronted with a counterintuitive demonstration in the form of a discrepant event. The participants in this study were 96 secondary school students (9th grade) from S. Korea. We investigated students’ preconceptions of motion by administering a written test. After the exam, we presented a demonstration that may have conflicted with the ideas held by students. We then investigated the relationship between students’ cognitive conflict and responses to anomalous data by using a Cognitive Conflict Level Test (CCLT). Results showed that cognitive conflict initiated the first step in the process of conceptual change. Anxiety was an especially crucial component of cognitive conflict, affecting the relationship between cognitive conflict and students’ responses. In addition, superficial conceptual change was found to be the most common response.

Students’ Views About Secondary School Science Lessons: The Role of Practical Work

Abstract: This paper reports an interpretive study that sought students' views about the role that practical work plays in their school science lessons. Twenty-nine students aged between 13 and 16 years were selected from three secondary schools in England. Data were collected from initial lesson observations and in-depth interviews in order to explore students’ views about practical work. The findings suggest that students have three main reasons why practical work is important in their school science lessons: for interest and activity, including social and personal features such as participation and autonomy; as an alternative to other forms of science teaching involving a pedagogy of transmission, and as a way of learning, including memorizing and recall. The findings are discussed in the context of a critical view of previous work on the role of practical work, work on attitudes to science and on the student voice. The paper concludes that practical work is seen to provide opportunities for students to engage with and influence their own learning but that learning with practical work remains a complex issue that needs further research and evaluation about its use, effectiveness and of the role of scientific inquiry as a component of practical activity.

Socio-Scientific Issues, Sustainability and Science Education

Abstract: Thepapersinthisspecialissueprovideavariety ofperspectivesonSSIandsustainabilitylinkedto science education. Indeed, if one were looking for some indication of convergence in thisgrowing area of research interest one would not find a clear indication of it here. However, thepapers are interesting for this very reason of the ir diversity, since they represent a number ofstrands of thinking relating sustainability and SSIs, and school science. While the papers allrelatecentrallytoSSIasanapproachto teachin gandlearning,theyfocustoavaryingdegreeonsustainability, and on science. In this commentary, I will first attempt an overview of the issuesthey raise and attempt to situate them with respect to some common strands of thinking, beforeresponding to the key implications I see in the pa pers for the school science curriculum. I willjustifydoingthisonthreegrounds.First,allthepapersinsomemeasurehavethingstosayaboutpedagogy, structure and epistemology of school science, and they say this in interestinglydifferent ways. Second, whatever the historical approach in environmental education/ESDresearch, often involving an antagonistic stance to the traditional science curriculum and itscompanion epistemology (an issue raised by Robottom and echoed to some degree in a numberof the other papers), these papers as a set demons trate clearly the important role that the schoolscience curriculum could, and sometimes does, pla y in student learning about sustainability. Infact, on my reading, the ‘pointy end’ of the issues raised in the papers relates to this issue of thenatureandstatusofscienceknowledgeinthecurri culumanditsappropriaterole.Third,Ihavealongstandinginterestinreforminscienceeducation,andtheissuesraisedinthesepapersprovidesomepowerfulcommentariesonthewaysthatscienceeducationmightbe,andshouldbeframedif it is to engage students in a science that is relevant and powerful for them as future citizens.The papers have much to say on a number of important curriculum dimensions:1. the structures of teaching and learning about SSI related to the science curriculum area2. the pedagogies evident in the models of SSI teaching and learning3. the broader purposes that frame the interventions4. the epistemological stances evident in the interventions described, particularlyconcerning the status and setting of scientific knowledge

Students’ Experience of Working with Socioscientific Issues - a Quantitative Study in Secondary School

Abstract: This research project aims to investigate how students in lower secondary school experience work with socioscientific issues (SSI). The six socioscientific cases developed and used in this project are relevant according to characteristics of SSI and to the national curriculum. Approximately 1,500 students in Sweden have worked with one SSI case chosen by the teachers. A questionnaire-based instrument was used to measure the affective domain of students’ attitudes towards and interest in science before starting to work with the case and a second questionnaire after finishing a case. The second student questionnaire, measured the situational characteristics of the SSI work and perceived cognitive and affective outcomes. According to the students’ self-reported experience, all cases were interesting and related to a current issue. Most cases were equally interesting to boys and girls, the only exception was You are what you eat, which girls found more interesting than boys did. Almost all students claim that they learnt new facts, learnt to argue for their standpoint and to search and evaluate information during the work with the cases. The girls’ average scores were higher on several aspects of learning outcomes. Furthermore the students, especially the girls, perceived that the outcome of working with SSI had relevance for their future, with some cases more relevant than others. The more interesting the student found the case, the more they claimed they learnt. The students do not, however, claim that they learnt more science than during ordinary lessons.

Indigenous Elementary Students’ Science Instruction in Taiwan: Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science

Abstract: This preliminary ethnographic investigation focused on how Indigenous traditional wisdom can be incorporated into school science and what students learned as a result. Participants included community elders and knowledge keepers, as well as 4th grade (10-year-old) students, all of Amis ancestry, an Indigenous tribe in Taiwan. The students’ non-Indigenous teacher played a central role in developing a science module ‘Measuring Time’ that combined Amis knowledge and Western science knowledge. The study identified two cultural worldview perspectives on time; for example, the place-based cyclical time held by the Amis, and the universal rectilinear time presupposed by scientists. Students’ pre-instructional fragmented concepts from both knowledge systems became more informed and refined through their engagement in ‘Measuring Time’. Students’ increased interest and pride in their Amis culture were noted.

Teaching Environmental Education through PBL: Evaluation of a Teaching Intervention Program

Abstract: If our chosen aim in science education is to be inclusive and to improve students’ learning achievements, then we must identify teaching methodologies that are appropriate for teaching and learning specific knowledge. Karagiorgi and Symeo (2005) remind us that instructional designers are thus challenged to translate the philosophy of constructivism into current practice. Thus, research in science education must focus on evaluating intervention programs which ensure the effective construction of knowledge and development of competencies. The present study reports the elaboration, application and evaluation of a problem-based learning (PBL) program with the aim of examining its effectiveness with students learning Environmental Education. Prior research on both PBL and Environmental Education (EE) was conducted within the context of science education so as to elaborate and construct the intervention program. Findings from these studies indicated both the PBL methodology and EE as helpful for teachers and students. PBL methodology has been adopted in this study since it is logically incorporated in a constructivism philosophy application (Hendry et al. 1999) and it was expected that this approach would assist students towards achieving a specific set of competencies (Engel 1997). On the other hand, EE has evolved at a rapid pace within many countries in the new millennium (Hart 2007), unlike any other educational area. However, many authors still appear to believe that schools are failing to prepare students adequately in EE (Walsche 2008; Winter 2007). The following section describes the research that was conducted in both areas so as to devise the intervention program.

Using "Slowmation" to enable preservice primary teachers to create multimodal representations of science concepts

Abstract: Research has identified the value of students constructing their own representations of science concepts using modes such as writing, diagrams, 2-D and 3-D models, images or speech to communicate meaning. “Slowmation” (abbreviated from “Slow Animation”) is a simplified way for students, such as preservice teachers, to make a narrated animation using a combination of modes. In this study, 13 preservice primary teachers learned how to create a slowmation during a two-hour class in a science methods course and then created one about an allocated science topic as an assignment. The research question that guided this study was, “What are the preservice teachers’ perceptions of making a slowmation and how was the science concept represented in the animation?” Data included pre and post individual interviews, concept maps constructed during the interviews and the animations as artifacts. Three case studies provide a window into the perceptions of preservice teachers making a slowmation and show how they represented their concept. Slowmation is a new form of student-generated representation which enables them to use their own technology to construct a narrated animation as a multimodal representation to explain a science concept.

Primary Connections: Simulating the Classroom in Initial Teacher Education

Abstract: The challenge of preparing novice primary teachers for teaching in an educational environment, where science education has low status and many teachers have limited science content knowledge and lack the confidence to teach science, is great. This paper reports on an innovation involving a sustained simulation in an undergraduate science education course as a mediational tool to connect two communities of practice—initial teacher education and expert primary science teaching. The course lecturer and student teachers role-played the expert classroom teacher and primary students (Years 7/8) respectively in an attempt to gain insights into teaching and learning through authentic activity that models good practice in primary science teaching and learning. Activity theory was used to help frame and analyse the data. Findings from the first trial indicate that the simulation was very effective in initiating science pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) development of primary student teachers.

Positive emotional responses to hybridised writing about a socio-scientific issue

Abstract: In order to understand better the role of affect in learning about socio-scientific issues (SSI), this study investigated Year 12 students’ emotional arousal as they participated in an online writing-to-learn science project about the socio-scientific issue of biosecurity. Students wrote a series of hybridised scientific narratives, or BioStories, that integrate scientific information about biosecurity with narrative storylines, and uploaded these to a dedicated website. Throughout their participation in the project, students recorded their emotional responses to the various activities (N = 50). Four case students were also video recorded during selected science lessons as they researched, composed and uploaded their BioStories for peer review. Analysis of these data, as well as interview data obtained from the case students, revealed that pride, strength, determination, interest and alertness were among the positive emotions most strongly elicited by the project. These emotions reflected students’ interest in learning about a new socio-scientific issue, and their enhanced feelings of self-efficacy in successfully writing hybridised scientific narratives in science. The results of this study suggest that the elicitation of positive emotional responses as students engage in hybridised writing about SSI with strong links to environmental education, such as biosecurity, can be valuable in engaging students in education for sustainability.

Project Clarion: Three Years of Science Instruction in Title I Schools among K-Third Grade Students

Abstract: The purpose of the study was to measure the effects of higher level, inquiry- based science curricula on students at primary level in Title I schools. Approximately 3,300 K-3 students from six schools were assigned to experimental or control classes (N=115 total) on a random basis according to class. Experimental students were exposed to concept- based science curriculum that emphasized 'deep learning' though concept mastery and investigation, whereas control classes learned science from traditional school-based curricula. Two ability measures, the Bracken Basic Concept Scale-Revised (BBCS-R, Bracken 1998) and the Naglieri Nonverbal Intelligence Test (NNAT, Naglieri 1991), were used for baseline information. Additionally, a standardized measure of student achievement in science (the MAT-8 science subtest), a standardized measure of critical thinking, and a measure for observing teachers' classroom behaviors were used to assess learning outcomes. Results indicated that all ability groups of students benefited from the science inquiry-based approach to learning that emphasized science concepts, and that there was a positive achievement effect for low socio-economic young children who were exposed to such a curriculum.

Describing Changes in Undergraduate Students' Preconceptions of Research Activities

Abstract: Research has shown that students bring naive scientific conceptions to learning situations which are often incongruous with accepted scientific explanations. These preconceptions are frequently determined to be misconceptions; consequentially instructors spend time to remedy these beliefs and bring students' understanding of scientific concepts to acceptable levels. It is reasonable to assume that students also maintain preconceptions about the processes of authentic scientific research and its associated activities. This study describes the most commonly held preconceptions of authentic research activities among students with little or no previous research experience. Seventeen undergraduate science majors who participated in a ten week research program discussed, at various times during the program, their preconceptions of research and how these ideas changed as a result of direct participation in authentic research activities. The preconceptions included the belief that authentic research is a solitary activity which most closely resembles the type of activity associated with laboratory courses in the undergraduate curriculum. Participants' views showed slight maturation over the research program; they came to understand that authentic research is a detail-oriented activity which is rarely successfully completed alone. These findings and their implications for the teaching and research communities are discussed in the article.

Alien or alike? How the perceived similarity between the typical science teacher and a student's self-image correlates with choosing science at school.

Abstract: By applying the self-to-prototype matching theory to students’ academic choices, this study links the unpopularity of science in many industrialized countries with the perceived gap between typical persons representing science (e.g. physics teachers) on the one hand and students’ self-image on the other. A sample of N = 308 Dutch and German students described both themselves and typical teachers representing different school subjects using 65 trait adjectives. The following hypotheses were tested: The typical hard sciences teacher and the typical languages teacher will be perceived as differing in their personal characteristics. The typical physics teachers will be perceived as being less similar to students' own self-image than teachers representing languages. Actual choices students make during secondary school should correlate with the perceived fit between students’ self-image and the prototype of teachers representing different school subjects, especially in the less frequent and less popular choices of a math or physics major/profile. The findings supported these hypotheses. The discussion stresses that students acquire not only knowledge about science but also about science culture (sensu Aikenhead) in their science classes and that students’ image of science teachers can influence their academic choices.

High School Student Participation in Scientific Research Apprenticeships: Variation in and Relationships Among Student Experiences and Outcomes

Abstract: Research apprenticeships for secondary students provide authentic contexts for learning science in which students engage in scientific investigations with practicing scientists in working laboratory groups. Student experiences in these research apprenticeships vary depending on the individual nature of the laboratory in which students have been placed. This study explores potential relationships among student experiences in apprenticeship contexts and desired student outcomes (e.g. science content knowledge, understandings of nature of science, and aspirations for science oriented career plans). The following two research questions guided the study: How do participant experiences in and outcomes resulting from an authentic research program for high school students vary? How does variation in participant experiences in an authentic research program relate to participant outcomes? Primary data sources were student and mentor interviews in addition to student generated concept maps. Results indicated that the greatest variance in student experiences existed in the categories of collaboration, epistemic involvement, and understandings of the significance of research results. The greatest variation in desired student outcomes was observed in student understandings of nature of science and in students’ future science plans. Results suggested that collaboration and interest in the project were experience aspects most likely to be related to desired outcomes. Implications for the design of research apprenticeships for secondary students are discussed.

Knowing Inquiry as Practice and Theory: Developing a Pedagogical Framework with Elementary School Teachers

Abstract: In this paper, we characterize the inquiry practices of four elementary school teachers by means of a pedagogical framework. Our study revealed core components of inquiry found in theoretically-driven models as well as practices that were regarded as integral to the success of day-to-day science teaching in Singapore. This approach towards describing actual science inquiry practices—a surprisingly neglected area—uncovered nuances in teacher instructions that can impact inquiry-based lessons as well as contribute to a practice-oriented perspective of science teaching. In particular, we found that these teachers attached importance to (a) preparing students for investigations, both cognitively and procedurally; (b) iterating pedagogical components where helping students understand and construct concepts did not follow a planned linear path but involved continuous monitoring of learning; and (c) synthesizing concepts in a consolidation phase. Our findings underscore the dialectical relationship between practice-oriented knowledge and theoretical conceptions of teaching/learning thereby helping educators better appreciate how teachers adapt inquiry science for different contexts.

Language in Science Classrooms: An Analysis of Physics Teachers’ Use of and Beliefs About Language

Abstract: The world over, secondary school science is viewed mainly as a practical subject. This may be one reason why effectiveness of teaching approaches in science education has often been judged on the kinds of practical activity with which teachers and students engage. In addition to practical work, language—often written (as in science texts) or oral (as in the form of teacher and student talk)—is unavoidable in effective teaching and learning of science. Generally however, the role of (instructional) language in quality of learning of school science has remained out of focus in science education research. This has been in spite of findings in empirical research on difficulties science students encounter with words of the instructional language used in science. The findings have suggested that use of (instructional) language in science texts and classrooms can be a major influence on the level of students’ understandings and retention of science concepts. This article reports and discusses findings in an investigation of physics teachers’ approaches to use of and their beliefs about classroom instructional language. Direct classroom observations of, interviews with, as well as content analyses of the participant teachers’ verbatim classroom talk, were used as the methods of data collection. Evidence is presented of participant physics teachers’ lack of explicit awareness of the difficulty, nature, and functional value of different categories of words in the instructional language. In conclusion, the implications of this lack of explicit awareness on the general education (initial and in-service) of school physics teachers are considered.

Connecting Urban Youth with their Environment: The Impact of an Urban Ecology Course on Student Content Knowledge, Environmental Attitudes and Responsible Behaviors

Abstract: This study explores the impact of an urban ecology program on participating middle school students’ understanding of science and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. We gathered pre and post survey data from four classes and found significant gains in scientific knowledge, but no significant changes in student beliefs regarding the environment. We interviewed 12 students to better understand their beliefs. Although student responses showed they had learned discrete content knowledge, they lacked any ecological understanding of the environment and had mixed perceptions of the course’s relevance in their lives. Students reported doing pro-environmental behaviors, but overwhelmingly contributed such actions to influences other than the urban ecology course. Analyses indicated a disconnect between the course, the environment, and the impact on the students’ lives. Consequently, this suggests the importance of recognizing the implications of context, culture, and identity development of urban youth. Perhaps by providing explicit connections and skills in urban environmental programs through engaging students in environmental scientific investigations that stem from their own issues and questions can increase student engagement, motivation, and self-efficacy of environmental issues.

"It's funny that we don't see the similarities when that's what we're aiming for" : Visualizing and challenging teachers' stereotypes of gender and science

Abstract: This study illuminates teachers’ conceptions of gender and science and possibilities to challenge these conceptions. Since 2005, a group of teachers (K-6) inSwedenhave met approximately once a mont ...

I’d rather they did Experiments with us…. Than just Talking: Irish Children’s Views of Primary School Science

Abstract: This paper reports on a national study that explored primary pupils’ attitudes towards and experiences of school science in the Republic of Ireland. The study focussed on collecting data from children and in doing so recognises the importance of children’s views as an essential part of reviewing curriculum implementation. The findings of this large-scale study are based on an analysis of data gathered from observations of 15 primary classrooms, 1,149 children’s questionnaires and 11 group interviews. In this paper the findings regarding the extent to which the children appear to be engaging in ‘deductive’ (didactic) and ‘inductive’ (inquiry-based) approaches in their science classes, and their attitudes towards school science are presented. Encouragingly, evidence from all parts of the study revealed that in general Irish children are very positive towards learning science in school and are being provided with some opportunities to engage in hands-on inquiry in science, commonly via group work. However, there were also indications that, for some pupils, hands-on science experiences were infrequent, and for a few did not appear to be happening at all. It was not especially evident that pupils were being afforded opportunities to lead their own scientific investigations. Teacher explanation, teacher demonstration, reading and writing featured frequently in pupils’ responses and while the pupils expressed mixed feelings about these methodologies, one thing was apparent: hands-on inquiry based approaches to science had far greater appeal to the children. The significance of the findings of this study are considered in light of the findings and recommendations from recent national and international reports on inquiry-based approaches in science education.

Exploring Relations among Preservice Elementary Teachers' Ideas about Evolution, Understanding of Relevant Science Concepts, and College Science Coursework.

Abstract: This study investigated the relations among preservice elementary teachers’ ideas about evolution, their understanding of basic science concepts and college science coursework. Forty-two percent of 240 participants did not accept the theory of human evolution, but held inconsistent ideas about related topics, such as co-existence of humans and dinosaurs and plate tectonics. Accepting the theory of evolution was positively correlated with correctly answering the three other questions related to the age of Earth. Furthermore, participants who rejected evolution scored significantly lower on a test of basic science concepts than did participants who held accurate views on human evolution. Study results revealed no apparent association between completion of advanced college science courses and acceptance of evolutionary theory or understanding of science concepts. Implications for elementary science teacher education were discussed.

Teaching Mathematical Biology in High School Using Adapted Primary Literature

Abstract: The study compared the effect of two adaptations of a scientific article on students’ comprehension and use of scientific inquiry skills. One adaptation preserved as much as possible the canonical form of the original article (APL, Adapted Primary Literature) and the other was written in a more narrative mode typical of secondary literature (SL). Both adaptations contained the same content. Two hundred and eleven senior high school students in a Western Canadian school district participated. The numbers of males and females were approximately equal, and all students were registered in an introductory calculus course. All students were given a 90 min class by their teachers that introduced them to the basic mathematical concepts needed to read the articles. Students were randomly assigned to read either the APL or the SL and afterwards to complete a questionnaire, which was common to both groups. Major findings showed that the SL students better understood the article, that the APL students thought more critically about the article, that females understood the article better than males, and that students’ attitudes towards reading the articles, regardless of group, were positively associated with their comprehension and use of inquiry skills. The results coincide in important ways with those of similar studies in Israel, and show that asking students to read text that resembles scientific writing increases their use of critical thinking skills when reading.