From Familiar Analogs to Higher Order Thinking: Effects of Training Scientists in the Use of Teaching Analogies

The pedagogical training of science graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) could be a key element of change in the teaching practices of university STEM courses over time. Our course, Teaching Science at University (TSAU), focuses on university science pedagogies and centers assignment work around consideration of student prior knowledge and interests. Here we use qualitative content analysis to evaluate 75 course participants’ assignments on analogy design, specifically their choice of science concept and analog and their reflections on the analogy’s learning impact. We found the majority constructed analogies mapping suitably abstract, complex science concepts to familiar, every day, experience-based analogs. Some analogs, though familiar, were nevertheless problematic as they required a technical understanding (e.g. how a copy machine works) before mapping to the science concept (e.g. polymerase chain reaction) could be fruitful. Mapping of the mismatches, where the analogy no longer works, was a new teaching concept for participants and one they saw as valuable. To assess their students’ learning with analogies, two thirds of participants focused on lower-level cognitive tasks like recalling or summarizing scientific content and the rest focused on higher-level thinking such as using the analogy in a new setting or creating an improved version of the analogy. Analogies’ facilitation of greater student critical thinking by the latter group is interesting in the light of research showing most assessment in university science courses focuses on lower cognitive levels such as recall of information. Overall, we found that specific instruction in planned and thorough use of analogies is fruitful, and a structured guide to analogy construction works well for a university audience

Den Klimawandel verstehen : eine didaktische Rekonstruktion der globalen Erwärmung

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Nachhaltigkeitsdilemmata – eine Einführung: Ausreden, alte Fehler und neue Aufbrüche

Wenn es um nachhaltige Entwicklung geht, wird es schnell verzwickt. Denn die Entscheidung für eine Problemlösung wirkt sich häufig nachteilig auf andere Bereiche aus. Viele der beklagten Dilemmata sind aber eigentlich Ausreden fürs Nichtstun, Ablenkungen, Verkürzungen, Folgen falscher politischer Steuerungen oder eines veralteten Nachhaltigkeitsverständnisses

Perspectives on education for sustainability in chemistry teaching

The media landscape and the public debate are full of reports about the threats caused by unsustainable lifestyles by large parts of the global society today. Climate is changing, water is polluted more and more, natural resources are progressively exploited, inequalities are increasing. It is under constant debate whether and how far humans can continue affecting our planet until these developments lead to irreversible changes in the environment and human life. Regardless of exactly how these changes come to place and what they cause in the end, the political answer is the demand for more sustainability. Sustainable development asks for a way of life that does not permanently damage our planet, so that future generations can still live on earth and meet their needs without being too restricted by both today’s contamination of the environment and consumption of resources. It is clearly suggested that this task applies to all school subjects, including chemistry. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of selected concepts in the context of sustainability and refers them to education in general, and chemistry teaching in particular

Instructional guidelines based on conceptions of students and scientists about economic and population growth within planetary boundaries

The burden placed by human activities on Earth is ever-increasing. Global environmental changes have profoundly affected the Earth’s core systems and processes, thus, risking their stability. These core systems and processes are described in the planetary boundary framework. The drastic rate of environmental change over the last 200 years, which is also known as the Great Acceleration, has been depicted graphically by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program. This study is aimed to (1) examine the conceptions of students and scientists regarding socioeconomic growth within planetary boundaries, and (2) develop instructional guidelines based on the comparison of their conceptions. Accordingly, relevant conceptions of 22 junior and 20 senior secondary school students were analyzed. Scientists’ conceptions were extracted by thoroughly analyzing nine publications, which were selected by systematic literature search. Student statements and scientific inferences were coded following established protocols. Our results indicated that junior and senior secondary school students considered global population growth to be the primary cause of global environmental changes. On the contrary, the scientists considered the quantity of natural resources consumed by rich countries in their economic pursuits as the most critical factor in environmental degradation. Based on our findings, we proposed instructional guidelines for planning lessons on changing current socioeconomic systems to enable humans to live within planetary boundaries

Improving university life science instruction with analogies: insights from a course for graduate teaching assistants

Abstract concepts dominate university science teaching, and much of this content is taught without sufficient connection to students’ prior knowledge or everyday experienc- es. As this can be problematic for students, the aim of this research was to determine the utility and effectiveness of a professional development module on using analogies to make these important connections for learning. We conducted qualitative content analysis of analogies in teaching plans designed by 75 graduate teaching assistants who participated in the module between 2018 and 2021. The module is part of a course on Teaching Science at University (TSU) and pairs cognitive science with a structured analogy design tool, orig- inally developed for K–12 education. Most course participants used the tool systematically and developed analogies linking abstract science target concepts with students’ everyday experiences; however, some analogies contained a high cognitive load or unaddressed anthropomorphic logic that might negatively impact learning. Participants’ reflections on their learning in the module suggested a new awareness of the need for planning and for active student discussion of analogies, particularly where they break down. This research has shown that TSU’s stepwise guidance using a structured pedagogical tool for planning and teaching with analogies is highly suitable for higher education

Den globalen Wandel verstehen: Vorstellungen zur Stabilität und Instabilität der Erdsysteme

Das Modell der planetaren Belastungsgrenzen ist der Versuch globale Umweltveränderungen wissenschaftsbasiert zu erfassen und zu bewerten. In dem Modell wurden neun planetare Belastungsgrenzen identifiziert, deren Überschreitung zur Destabilisation der jeweiligen Erdsysteme führen kann. Damit das Modell für die unterrichtliche Vermittlung genutzt werden kann, fragt dieser Beitrag danach, wie Wissenschaftler/innen und Schpler/innen die Stabilität und Instabilität verschiedener erdsystemarer Prozesse konzeptualisieren. Der Vergleich der wissenschaftlichen Vorstellungen und Vorstellungen der Schüler/innen zeigt, dass die beiden Gruppen in ihren Grundsätzen die Menschen als Ursache für die Instabilität der Erdsyseme sehen. Dennoch zeigen sich Unterschiede in den Vorstellungen bei der Definition von erdsystemarer Stabilität sowie den Folgen der Instabilität der Erdsysteme. Auch nehmen die Wissenschaftler/innen eine dezidiert anthropozentrische Sichtweise im Bezug zu den globalen Umweltveränderungen im Gegensatz zur ökologischen Sichtweise der Lernenden ein. Abstract The planetary boundary framework enables us to describe global environmental changes based on scientific evidence. Transgression of the planetary boundaries could lead to destabilization of the Earth System. In order to prepare the planetary boundary framework for teaching, this paper addresses the question how scientists and learners understand the stability and instability of global Earth System processes. The comparison of the conceptions shows that on the basis both students and scientists conceptualize humanity as cause of Earth System instability. Main differences in the conceptions between students and scientists are shown regarding their understanding of Earth System stability as well as the consequences of Earth System instability. Furthermore, the analysis reveals that scientists take a strong anthropocentric view towards global environmental changes in comparison to the rather ecological view of the students. &nbsp

Taking the lead into sustainability: decision makers’ competencies for a greener future

Many research articles describe competencies that people need in order to think, develop, and enact a sustainable future. Based on findings from the political economy, this paper argues that it is the macroscopic decisions in the public sphere that have an impact on society and the environment. Therefore, decision makers in the economy, politics, and civil society are important actors to enable a societal transformation towards sustainability by making macroscopic decisions. Based on these assumptions, this empirical research article analyzes the competencies decision makers such as ministers, CEOs, or union leaders need to contribute to a sustainable future in their professional life. We conducted interviews with 14 high-level decision makers and analyzed their competencies based on Wiek et al.’s framework on sustainability competencies. The findings show how they enact and organize the competencies needed for steering the sustainable transition. Linking all competencies is particularly important, especially at the intersection of different systems, to develop a macroscale, system-oriented decision. The authors suggest to consider systems and interpersonal thinking as extremely interdisciplinary competencies and to put a focus on public-sphere actions when educating future leaders. Moreover, the results indicate that dealing with uncertainty, following one’s own values, and building up resilience play a major role for decision makers

The (un)political perspective on climate change in education – a systematic review

Mitigating and adapting to climate change requires foundational changes in societies, politics, and economies. Greater effectiveness has been attributed to actions in the public sphere than to the actions of individuals. However, little is known about how climate literacy programs address the political aspects of mitigation and adaptation. The aim of this systematic literature review is to fill this gap and analyze how public-sphere actions on mitigation and adaptation are discussed in climate literacy programs in schools. Based on database searches following PRISMA guidelines we identified 75 empirical studies that met our inclusion criteria. We found that central aspects of climate policy such as the 1.5-degree limit, the IPCC reports, or climate justice are rarely addressed. Whilst responsibility for emissions is attributed to the public sphere, the debate about mitigation usually focuses on the private sphere. Climate change education does not, therefore, correspond to the climate research discourse. We show that effective mitigation and adaptation are based on public-sphere actions and thus conclude that effective climate education should discuss those public actions if it is to be effective. Hence, we propose that climate education should incorporate political literacy to educate climate-literate citizens