630 research outputs found
On the Importance of Engaging Students in Crafting Definitions
In this paper we describe an activity for engaging students in crafting definitions. We explore the strengths of this particular activity as well as the broader implications of engaging students in crafting definitions more generally
Physical Models Can Provide Superior Learning Opportunities Beyond the Benefits of Active Engagements
The essence of molecular biology education lies in understanding of gene expression, with subtopics including the central dogma processes, such as transcription and translation. While these concepts are core to the discipline, they are also notoriously difficult for students to learn, probably because they cannot be directly observed. While nearly all active learning strategies have been shown to improve learning compared with passive lectures, little has been done to compare different types of active learning. We hypothesized that physical models of central dogma processes would be especially helpful for learning, because they provide a resource that students can see, touch, and manipulate while trying to build their knowledge. For students enrolled in an entirely active-learning-based Cell & Molecular Biology course, we examined whether model-based activities were more effective than non-model based activities. To test their understanding at the beginning and end of the semester, we employed the multiple-select Central Dogma Concept Inventory (CDCI). Each student acted as their own control, as all students engaged in all lessons yet some questions related to model-based activities and some related to clicker questions, group problem-solving, and other non-model-based activities. While all students demonstrated learning gains on both types of question, they showed much higher learning gains on model-based questions. Examining their selected answers in detail showed that while higher performing students were prompted to refine their already-good mental models to be even better, lower performing students were able to construct new knowledge that was much more consistent with an expert\u27s understanding
Disciplinary authenticity and personal relevance in school science
Pursuing both disciplinary authenticity and personal relevance in the teaching and learning of science in school generates tensions that should be acknowledged and resolved. This paper problematizes and explores the conceptualizations of these tensions by considering personal relevance, disciplinary authenticity, and common school science as three perspectives that entail different educational goals. Based on an analysis of the literature, we identify five facets of the tensions: content fidelity, content coverage, language and discursive norms, epistemic structure and standards, and significance. We then explore the manifestations of these facets in two different examples of the instruction and learning of physics at the advanced high school level in Israel and Italy. Our analysis suggests that (1) the manifestations of these tensions and their resolution are highly contextual. (2) While maintaining personal relevance and disciplinary authenticity requires some negotiation, the main tension that needs to be resolved is between personal relevance and common school science. (3) Disciplinary authenticity, when considered in terms of its full depth and scope, can be equipped to resolve this tension within the discipline. (4) To achieve resolution, teachersâ expertise should include not only pedagogical expertise but also a deep and broad disciplinary understanding.Peer reviewe
Epistemological framing and novice elementary teachersâ approaches to learning and teaching engineering design
As engineering learning experiences increasingly begin in elementary school, elementary teacher preparation programs are an important site for the study of teacher development in engineering education. In this article, we argue that the stances that novice teachers adopt toward engineering learning and knowledge are consequential for the opportunities they create for students. We present a comparative case study examining the epistemological framing dynamics of two novice urban teachers, Ana and Ben, as they learned and taught engineering design during a fourâweek institute for new elementary teachers. Although the two teachers had very similar teacher preparation backgrounds, they interpreted the purposes of engineering design learning and teaching in meaningfully different ways. During her own engineering sessions, Ana took up the goal not only of meeting the needs of the client but also of making scientific sense of artifacts that might meet those needs. When facilitating studentsâ engineering, she prioritized their building knowledge collaboratively about how things work. By contrast, when Ben worked on his own engineering, he took up the goal of delivering a product. When teaching engineering to students, he offered them constrained prototyping tasks to serve as handsâon contexts for reviewing scientific explanations. These findings call for teacher educators to support teachersâ framing of engineering design as a knowledge building enterprise through explicit conversations about epistemology, apprenticeship in senseâmaking strategies, and tasks intentionally designed to encourage reasoning about design artifacts.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151339/1/tea21541_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151339/2/tea21541.pd
The effect of professional development on elementary science teachersâ understanding, confidence, and classroom implementation of reformâbased science instruction
Through a randomized controlled trial, this mixedâmethods study evaluated changes in elementary science teachersâ understandings, confidence, and classroom implementation of problemâbased learning (PBL), inquiry, and nature of science (NOS) instruction following participation in a professional development (PD) as well as the components of the PD that teachers perceived facilitated these changes. Results indicated that following the PD, treatment teacher (nâ=â139) understandings of and confidence for teaching inquiry, NOS, and PBL were significantly greater than control teachers (nâ=â98) after controlling for preunderstandings and confidence. The effect sizes were large. Treatment teachers also incorporated significantly more PBL, inquiry, and NOS into their instruction. Modeling, microteaching with feedback and reflection, and inâclassroom coaching facilitated teachersâ confidence, understanding, and intention to implement the reformâbased practices they learned. Implications for the understanding of the relationship between knowledge, confidence, and practice as well as elementary science teacher PD design are discussed
Forms of Science Capital Mobilized in Adolescentsâ Engineering Projects
The purpose of this multiple case study was to identify the forms of science capital that six groups of adolescents mobilized toward the realization of their self-selected engineering projects during after-school meetings. Research participants were high school students who self-identified as Hispanic, Latina, or Latino; who had received English as a Second Language (ESL) services; and whose parents or guardians had immigrated to the United States and held working class jobs. The research team used categories from Bourdieusian theories of capital to identify the forms of science capital mobilized by the participants. Data sources included transcripts from monthly interviews and from bi-monthly group meetings during which the group members worked on their engineering projects. Data analysis indicated that the groups activated science capital in the following categories: embodied capital in the form of formal scientific knowledge, literacy practices, and experiences with solving everyday problems; social capital in the form of connections with authorities, experts, and peers; objectified capital in the form of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and measuring tools; and institutional capital in the form of awards and titles. The participants co-mobilized multiple forms of science capital to advance their engineering projects, and some instances of co-mobilization enabled the future activation of subsequent forms of science capital. Engineering, as a vehicle for learning science, provided the youth with opportunities to draw from diverse community resources and from multilingual literacy practices, recasting these resources and skills as forms of science capital, which were mobilized toward the attainment of other high-status forms of science capital
A Systematic Review of Argumentation Related to the Engineering-Designed World
Background
Across academic disciplines, researchers have found that argumentationâbased pedagogies increase learners\u27 achievement and engagement. Engineering educational researchers and teachers of engineering may benefit from knowledge regarding how argumentation related to engineering has been practiced and studied. Purpose/Hypothesis
Drawing from terms and concepts used in national standards for Kâ12 education and accreditation requirements for undergraduate engineering education, this study was designed to identify how arguments and argumentation related to the engineeringâdesigned world were operationalized in relevant literature. Methodology
Specified search terms and inclusion criteria were used to identify 117 empirical studies related to engineering argumentation and educational research. A qualitative content analysis was used to identify trends across these studies. Findings
Overall, engineeringârelated argumentation was associated with a variety of positive learner outcomes. Across many studies, arguments were operationalized in practice as statements regarding whether an existing technology should be adopted in a given context, usually with a limited number of supports (e.g., costs and ethics) provided for each claim. Relatively few studies mentioned empirical practices, such as tests. Most studies did not name the race/ethnicity of participants nor report engineeringâspecific outcomes. Conclusions
Engineering educators in Kâ12 and undergraduate settings can create learning environments in which learners use a range of epistemic practices, including empirical practices, to support a range of claims. Researchers can study engineeringâspecific outcomes while specifying relevant demographics of their research participants
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