Estados de resultados

10:15am – 11:45am, Room 308

Presider: Mary M. Atwater, The University of Georgia

Conceptual Demand of Science Curricula: Studying Practical Work in High School Biology and Geology Sílvia Ferreira, University of Lisbon, Portugal, [email protected]

Ana M. Morais, University of Lisbon, Portugal

ABSTRACT: The paper addresses the issue of the level of complexity of practical work in science curricula and is focused on the discipline of Biology and Geology for high school. It is part of a broader study which analyzes the Ministry of Education and Science (MES) guidelines with respect to practical work in this discipline and their recontextualizing processes in terms of teachers’ conceptions and practices. It is psychologically and sociologically grounded, particularly on Bernstein’s theory of pedagogic discourse. The study used a mixed methodology. Results depart from the MES broad intentions by indicating that practical work is poorly represented in the curriculum, particularly in the case of the laboratorial work with an investigative character. This is compounded by the fact that practical work has a low level of conceptual demand as given by the complexity of scientific knowledge and of cognitive skills and also by weak intra-disciplinary relations. These results are discussed and their consequences in terms of scientific learning are explored. The mode of analysis used in the study has the potential of highlighting the level of a science curriculum, in terms of specific aspects of the what and the how of learning related to practical work.

A Framework of Active Learning by Concept Mapping

Wang-Kun Chen, Jinwen Univweersity of Science and Technology, [email protected] Ping Wang, Ching Yun University

ABSTRACT: This study presents a student-centered teaching model based on concept mapping and problem solving. The model apply the idea of concept map and use it as a tool for teaching. The curriculum was developed by way of concept mapping, and the evaluation method was also constructed by the skill too. A case-base teaching on the subject of building energy conservation was conducted in this study. The results of this case study, which includes text of teaching case, teaching plan, evaluation tool, and auxiliary software, were shown in this article. A Case for Reconceptualizing Coherence in Science Curricula

Tiffany-Rose Sikorski, University of Maryland, College Park, [email protected]

ABSTRACT: To establish curriculum coherence, researchers often rely on their own understandings of the discipline to arrange topics in an order that appears logical to them. The hope is that by presenting topics in this order, students will construct understandings that have this same form of coherence; historically, however, these efforts have demonstrated only limited success. We suggest that one limiting aspect of such work is the

conceptualization of coherence as something that exists in the sequences of, and relationships between, concepts in a curriculum. We explore weaknesses and inherent contradictions in this perspective. Finally, we suggest an alternative conceptualization of coherence as something that exists within the dialogue, thinking, and activity of the students, rather than in the structure of the discipline or curriculum.

Connecting Curriculum Materials and Teachers: Elementary Science Teachers' Enactment of a Reform-based Curricular Unit

Amber M. Schultz, University of Michigan, [email protected] Anna Maria Arias, University of Michigan

Elizabeth A. Davis, University of Michigan Annemarie S. Palincsar, University of Michigan

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to characterize teachers’ enactment of curriculum materials with regard to educative supports for teachers and content learning opportunities within the unit for both teachers and students. This study was prompted by previous research on curriculum materials as tools that teachers interact with to foster student learning, and the call to use these tools to educate teachers, as well as students. To analyze how teachers use and adapt the curriculum materials, two teachers in the same school were observed and interviewed regarding their enactment of a reform-based, inquiry curriculum. Findings revealed the teachers’ challenges with enacting segments of lessons related to scientific practices, specifically those with limited educative supports in the curriculum. During interviews, teachers demonstrated difficulty understanding the rationale for various scientific practices and how to enact them. Since teachers had difficulty enacting the scientific practices, the students’ learning opportunities—represented by student pre- and post-assessments of science content--were also affected. These findings have implications for curriculum developers and teacher educators by identifying the need for more educative supports in curriculum that provide teachers with rationales and

adaptation guidance about scientific practices to better support both teacher and student learning.

Strand 11: Cultural, Social, and Gender Issues

Urban Children and Science: Identity, Representation, and Implications for Science Education 10:15am – 11:45am, Room 107

Presider: Gale A. Seiler, McGill University

Language, Identity, & Cognition: Disaggregating Science Instruction for Urban Students Bryan A. Brown, Stanford University, [email protected]

ABSTRACT: Learning the language of science can prove to be one of the most difficult aspects of students’ science learning. In an effort to address this challenge, we explored the potential of using students’ everyday ‘science’ discourse as a way of improving students’ learning. Two teachers alternated their teaching practices using an aggregate approach and a disaggregate approach in each class. The results revealed that students in the

disaggregate (treatment) condition experience a learning gain of 34.80% compared to the 29.92 percent learning gain experienced by the aggregate instruction (control). The results of this preliminary study indicated that

students taught using everyday language first improved the science understanding. The results have implication for urban teaching practices with diverse student populations.

The Electricity Went Out and My Teacher Said,

Bhaskar Upadhyay, University of Minnesota, [email protected] Nancy Albrecht, University of Minnesota

Kristina Maruyama Tank, University of Minnesota Geoffrey Maruyama, University of Minnesota Martin Adams, University of Minnesota Timothy Sheldon, University of Minnesota Brian Fortney, University of Texas at Austin

ABSTRACT: This study examins how students from non-dominant groups in an inner city poor urabn elementary school setting import their cultural, social, and contextual experiences in doing and learning science. The study uses interpretive case study design to investigate the question. We draw from the theories of socio-cultural nature of learning (Gutierrez & Rogoff, 2003) to analyze our data and understand why and how culture and

experiences influenced what they wanted to learn and what the purposes of learning science were for our

students. We found that students not only saw science very closely related to their experiences and useful to them but they also saw direct link of sicence to larger gloabal issues of food shelf life, food transportation, and food choices and habits. This study makes a major contribution in helping science teachers and educators

understand the importance of socio-cultural experiences in teaching and learning science.

Recognition in the Classroom: Examining the Physics Identity Development of Marginalized Students through Case Studies

Carrie E. Beattie, Clemson University, [email protected] Zahra Hazari, Clemson University

Cheryl A.P. Cass, North Carolina State University

ABSTRACT: Prior research has noted the relationship between a student’s formation of a “science identity,” which heavily depends on recognition by others, and their likelihood of engaging and persisting in science. This study focuses on examining the ways in which students, particularly underrepresented groups such as females and minorities, are recognized in the physics classrooms of four exceptional teachers who were purposefully sampled (from a national study) because they had been successful in helping students identify with physics. To document these enactments of recognition, we conducted one-week observations and selected a diverse range of students (n=29, 7-8 per teacher) for interviews. Multiple themes emerged from the data, including various forms of explicit and implicit recognition which were categorized according to likeness into two overarching groups labeled “recognition as a good physics student” and “recognition through playing expert.” The findings, which are

consistent with existing work, are presented to facilitate the adoption of these recognition-enhancing strategies by physics teachers so that more students, especially females and minorities, may feel recognized and can begin forming a “physics identity.”

Students Awareness and Varied Use of Classroom as Social Construct Adriane M. Slaton,[email protected]

ABSTRACT: Using a sociocultural lens, this ethnographic study considers the role of talk and social interaction amongst teacher and students in an urban science classroom. While this research has investigated the social nature of classrooms, it is not well understood how students understand the social nature of learning and how they contribute to it. Using grounded theory, several themes emerged from the data and are presented in two parts. In Part One, the researcher describes the context of the study and analyzes how teacher and students contribute to the social nature of the floor. In Part Two of the study, two claims are presented: 1) talk and social interaction influence learning as demonstrated through mapping the evolution of participant thinking to analyze who and what influenced the changes in their thinking; and 2) participants are aware of their roles in the social construction of the classroom and use this meta-knowledge in varied ways.

Strand 12: Educational Technology

Games, Simulations, Virtual Environments, & GIS 10:15am – 11:45am, Room 101

Presider: Karen E. Irving, The Ohio State University

Investigating Students' Ideas about Buoyancy and the Influence of Haptic Feedback James Minogue, North Carolina State University, [email protected] David Borland, Universitat de Barcelona and IDIBAPS Barcelona, Spain

ABSTRACT: Relatively recent advances in technology have made the addition of “touch” to computer-generated virtual environments possible. While haptics (simulated touch) represents a potential breakthrough technology for science teaching and learning, there is little research to guide instructional designers. The proposed poster session describes the testing of a haptically-enhanced simulation for learning about buoyancy and adds to the burgeoning research base on haptics in education. Despite a lifetime full of everyday experiences, a scientifically sound

explanation of buoyancy remains difficult to construct for many. It requires the integration of domain-specific knowledge regarding density, fluid, force, gravity, mass, weight, and buoyancy. Prior studies suggest that novices often focus on only one dimension of the sinking and floating phenomenon. Our simulation was designed to promote the integration of the subconcepts of density and buoyant forces and stresses the relationship between the object itself and the surrounding fluid. The study employed a randomized pre-test-post-test control group research design and a suite of measures including an open-ended Why Things Sink and Float (WTSF) prompt, a concept mapping task, and objective content questions to provide insights into the influence of haptic feedback on undergraduate students’ thinking about buoyancy.

Integrating Geographic Information Systems in a Science Methods Course-Preservice Teachers Examining STS Issues Josephine Shireen Desouza, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, [email protected]

ABSTRACT: This poster presentation is relevant to the NARST theme of reimagining research for the 21st century as it attempts to study the process of integrating GIS technology in the teacher preparation curriculum. Through hands-on projects preservice teachers experience decision making about real world data is a key component to finding solutions to societal issues and that GIS technology can be used as an analytical tool requiring students and teachers to use problem solving and critical thinking skills. This project provides preservice teachers an insight into designing projects of their own and the understanding of the capability of GIS technology in integrating data from science and other disciplines to display the results in a spatial form.

Immersing Preservice Science Teachers in Serious Educational Games Leonard A. Annetta, George Mason University, [email protected] Richard L. Lamb, George Mason University

James Minogue, North Carolina State University Rebecca Cheng, George Mason University David B. Vallett, George Mason University Shawn Y. Holmes, North Carolina State University

Elizabeth Folta, College of Environmental Science & Forestry

ABSTRACT: Built using next generation Web technologies (Web 2.0) a three-dimensional Serious Educational Gaming application that provides learning materials and strategies to engage science teachers in real world classroom issues was constructed. This game advances science teacher preparation and development by creating modules that immerse the teacher in scenarios once deliverable only through hypothetical case study. This project examines emerging forms of game play interaction taking place in the STIMULATE (Science Training Immersive Modules for University Learning Around Teacher Education) Serious Educational Game world to determine how to effectively engage learners in order to deepen their understandings of the pedagogy of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), as well as stimulating interest in invention and discovery. We augment and enrich the teacher experiences as they engage in technology-enhanced environments using a “guided inquiry” approach. A STIMULATE game guide directs users to examine and monitor their own thinking, gain new knowledge, and revise existing schemata with the aid of cognitive scaffolds.

Virtual Learning Environment Preference, Perception of Helpfulness, and Achievement in Taiwanese Earth Science Students

Ming-Chao Lin, National Taiwan Normal University, [email protected] Shane Tutwiler, Harvard University

Chun-Yen Chang, National Taiwan Normal University

ABSTRACT: Using 3D simulation software, 82 tenth grade senior high school students in central Taiwan took a virtual field trip to the Hsiaoyukeng Walking Area at Yangmingshan National Park in Taiwan. 40 of the students watched a teacher guide them through the environment, and 42 students explored the environment in teams of 4. Pre and post intervention content knowledge was assessed, as were affective traits. Based on pilot studies, the assessments results were used to fit a linear multiple regression model. We found that 90% of the students thought that the intervention was helpful and that 87% preferred the student team-based treatment. In addition,

we found that the type of treatment the pre-test score, type of treatment preferred, and degree to which the student found the intervention helpful were all statistically significant predictors of post-test variability.

Strand 13: History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Science

Strand Sponsored Session - Teaching and Assessment of Inquiry and Nature of Science with Early Childhood Students

10:15am – 11:45am, Room 102

Presider: Norman G. Lederman, Illinois Institute of Technology Presenters:

Valarie L. Akerson, Indiana University

Judith S. Lederman, Illinois Institute of technology Leon Walls, University of Vermont

Gayle A. Buck, Indiana University

Erin Peter Burton, George Mason University

ABSTRACT: Understandings of scientific inquiry (aka, science practices) and nature of science have been emphasized as important learning outcomes for K-12 students. The rationale for addressing these topics is their clear connection to the overall goal of scientific literacy. However, most research reported focuses on middle and secondary level students. When elementary level students are discussed, they are usually in grades 4-6. Early childhood students present a variety of "problems" with respect to the teaching and assessment of inquiry and nature of science. It is not clear what very young students can understand. In short, are understandings of scientific inquiry and nature of science to abstract and developmentally inappropriate for very young students? In addition, assessment of such students' understandings is difficult using the typical paper/pencil (both open and closed-ended)and interview instruments. Very young students do not necessarily have the writing, reading, and speaking skills needed for the typical assessments that do exist. This session will present a variety of research projects that illustrate how inquiry and nature of science can be taught to very young students, what very young students can understand, and how their understandings can be validly and reliably assessed.

Strand 14: Environmental Education

Science Teacher Education as a Context for Environmental Literacy Improvement 10:15am – 11:45am, Room 103

Presider: Bryan H. Nichols, University of South Florida

Conceptualizing In-service Secondary School Science Teachers' Knowledge Base for Climate Change Content Devarati Bhattacharya, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, [email protected]

Engin Karahan, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Younkyeong Nam, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Jeremy Wang, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Shiyu Liu, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

Benjamin Tierney, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis Keisha Varma, University of Minnesota

Gillian Roehrig, University of Minnesota

ABSTRACT: The NASA-funded Global Climate Change Education (GCCE) project, “CYCLES: Teachers Discovering Climate Change from a Native Perspective”, is a 3-year teacher professional development program designed to develop culturally-responsive approaches for teaching global climate change (GCC). It promotes the understanding of GCC in Native American populations using traditional and cultural knowledge, data simulation, and technology- enhanced tools. In this study, we assessed the changes in secondary teachers’ content knowledge about GCC. The content provided to the teachers during a week-long summer workshop was organized to reflect the similarities between Native American and scientific explanations of the natural world as an interconnected and cyclical

processes. The content was thematic, indigenous and focused on the five elements of the Native American medicine wheel-Earth, Fire, Air, Water, and Life (Figure 1). We used a phenomenographical approach to analyze data. Photo-elicitation techniques and concept mapping were used for a qualitative assessment of different ways in which the teachers conceptualized climate change. Our findings indicate that while teachers understand a diverse array of topics related to the science of global climate change, they have different perceptions about timescale, data projections using modeling and the level of uncertainty in the data. (Figures are included in the PDF document).

Pre-service Elementary Teachers' Outdoor Experiences: How Do These Translate into Beliefs on Taking Students Outdoors?

Erica N. Blatt, College of Staten Island, CUNY, [email protected]

ABSTRACT: In his recent book, Last Child in the Woods (2005), Richard Louv makes the argument that young people need to spend time in nature for various reasons, including identity development, emotional health, conservation behavior, and improved student educational outcomes. Louv (2005) also describes a phenomenon called “nature-deficit disorder,” which characterizes the generation of technology-savvy youth that is growing up today, often unexposed to the natural environment around them. In relation to teacher education, it is unclear if current pre-service elementary teachers have experienced the outdoors themselves or are part of this “nature- deficit” generation. This study investigates the outdoor experiences of undergraduate students in a pre-service elementary teacher program at an urban college in the Northeastern United States, and consequently their own beliefs about bringing their students outdoors. The participants include 60 pre-service teachers enrolled in a Methods of Teaching Elementary Science course. Utilizing a sociocultural approach, the study methods include written essay responses, interviews, and videotape of classroom dialogue. The study findings reveal a surprising