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Book part
Publication date: 26 November 2015

Deborah Corrigan and Kathy Smith

This chapter explores the nature of science and different values that underpin science as a way of thinking and acting. While teachers and learners can interpret values…

Abstract

This chapter explores the nature of science and different values that underpin science as a way of thinking and acting. While teachers and learners can interpret values differently, the focus of this chapter will be on:

  • Building a shared understanding of values and how they may manifest in the science classroom;

  • How such a shared understanding can be developed in teachers through professional learning opportunities;

  • How professional learning involves experiencing reaching consensus from positions of difference and looks at the role this plays in new scientific knowledge being accepted;

  • How values might be embedded in teaching and learning of science and the implications of this for teaching a diversity of students. Teacher reflections captured in the form of cases provide various examples which identify what inclusive practices might look like in primary and secondary classrooms.

Building a shared understanding of values and how they may manifest in the science classroom;

How such a shared understanding can be developed in teachers through professional learning opportunities;

How professional learning involves experiencing reaching consensus from positions of difference and looks at the role this plays in new scientific knowledge being accepted;

How values might be embedded in teaching and learning of science and the implications of this for teaching a diversity of students. Teacher reflections captured in the form of cases provide various examples which identify what inclusive practices might look like in primary and secondary classrooms.

Details

Inclusive Pedagogy Across the Curriculum
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-647-8

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 26 August 2019

H. Emily Hayden

Purpose – This chapter explores the work of one expert seventh-grade science teacher, Ann, as she used the gradual release of responsibility (GRR) to develop students’ knowledge…

Abstract

Purpose – This chapter explores the work of one expert seventh-grade science teacher, Ann, as she used the gradual release of responsibility (GRR) to develop students’ knowledge and use of science language and conceptual knowledge. Ann’s use of scaffolds such as thoughtful definition, classroom discussion, and writing frameworks is explored, as well as her methods of incorporating language into science inquiry, and the evidence she gathered as proof of learning. Her instructional decision-making and specific instructional actions are analyzed to describe the ways she gradually guided students from heavily scaffolded learning opportunities, through guided practice with extensive modeling, and ultimately to independent and accurate use of science language and conceptual knowledge in spoken and written discourse.

Design/methodology/approach – In a researcher/teacher partnership modeled on the practice embedded educational research (PEER) framework (Snow, 2015) the author worked with Ann over four school years, collecting data that included interviews, Ann’s teaching journal, student artifacts, and vocabulary pre/post-assessments. The initial task of the partnership was review of science standards and curricular documents and analysis of disciplinary language in seventh-grade science in order to construct a classroom science vocabulary assessment that incorporated a scaffolded format to build incremental knowledge of science words. Results of 126 students’ pre/post scores on the vocabulary assessment were analyzed using quantitative methods, and interviews and the teaching journal were analyzed using qualitative techniques. Student artifacts support and triangulate the quantitative and qualitative analyses.

Findings – Analysis of students’ pre/post-scores on the vocabulary assessment supported the incremental nature of vocabulary learning and the value of a scaffolded assessment. Improvement in ability to choose a one-word definition and choose a sentence-length definition had significant and positive effect on students’ ability to write a sentence using a focus science word correctly to demonstrate science conceptual knowledge. Female students performed just as well as male students: a finding that differs from other vocabulary intervention research. Additionally, Ann’s use of scaffolded, collaborative methods during classroom discussion and writing led to improved student knowledge of science language and the concepts it labels, as evident in students’ responses during discussion and their writing in science inquiry reports and science journals.

Research limitations – These data were collected from students in one science teacher’s classroom, limiting generalization. However, the expertise of this teacher renders her judgments useful to other teachers and teacher trainers, despite the limited context of this research.

Practical implicationsScience knowledge is enhanced when language and science inquiry coexist, but the language of science often presents a barrier to learning science, and there are significant student achievement gaps in science learning across race, ethnicity, and gender. Researchers have described ways to make explicit connections between science language, concepts, and knowledge, transcending the gaps and leveling the playing field for all students. Analysis of Ann’s teaching practice, drawn from four years of teacher and student data, provides specific and practical ways of doing this in a real science classroom. Scaffolding, modeling, and co-construction of learning are key.

Originality/value of paper – This chapter details the methods one expert teacher used to make her own learning the object of inquiry, simultaneously developing the insights and the strategies she needed to mentor students. It describes how Ann infused the GRR into planning and instruction to create learning experiences that insured student success, even if only at incremental levels. Ann’s methods can thus become a model for other teachers who wish to enhance their students’ learning of science language and concepts through infusion of literacy activity.

Details

The Gradual Release of Responsibility in Literacy Research and Practice
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-447-7

Keywords

Abstract

Purpose

This paper describes studies of the ICAN Intervention and their implications.

Design/methodology/approach

We adapted the ICAN intervention to support the science interest and learning of at-risk, middle-school-age youth, who were participants in entry-level, out-of-school, inquiry-informed, science workshops. The intervention is a brief ungraded writing assignment that is integrated into science activities on a daily basis in order to encourage workshop participants to reflect on science: what participants understand, the skills they have acquired, and what they still want to figure out.

Findings

Findings indicate that the use of the ICAN Intervention in science inquiry supports the development of science interest and science problem solving that is sustained 5 weeks following the workshop. Moreover, participants who write more responses to the ICAN probes are more likely to evidence changes in science learning, regardless of their initial level of interest in science. Participants with less-developed and with more-developed science interest at the beginning of the workshop all progress. The findings further suggest that when the intervention is coupled with an inquiry-informed integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (iSTEM) curriculum, it provides an additional boost for the development of science interest and learning.

Originality/value

The ICAN Intervention as adapted provides a solution to questions raised about whether inquiry-based instruction can promote learning. Our findings indicate that it can. Our findings also demonstrate that when undertaken in a concept and idea-rich environment, the structure of a motivation-based intervention is open-ended enough that all participants will progress, continuing to develop their interest and their learning of disciplinary content.

Details

Motivational Interventions
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78350-555-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 January 2023

Anna Rissanen, John G. Hoang and Michelle Spila

The goals of this research study included evaluating the outcomes of Interdisciplinary Science Threshold Experience (InSciTE) on student experience of science discipline, level of…

Abstract

Purpose

The goals of this research study included evaluating the outcomes of Interdisciplinary Science Threshold Experience (InSciTE) on student experience of science discipline, level of sense belongingness to a large Faculty of Science (FoS), outcomes in learning science literacy skills and whether a student's background played a role in the differences of effects of the high-impact teaching practices. InSciTE was designed to facilitate the transition from high school to a large research-intensive university, and specifically to a FoS with over 6,000 undergraduate students.

Design/methodology/approach

The FoS in a Canadian university engaged in the development of a *9 credit program bundling foundational statistics and chemistry courses with integration of aspects of mathematics and biology or physics to create a new first-year, academic interdisciplinary experience called InSciTE. This project-based curriculum emphasized teamwork and leadership, and presented complex interdisciplinary challenges facing today's world. A team-teaching environment consisting of instructors, a lab coordinator and teaching assistants was instrumental for the core InSciTE courses. In addition, the authors utilized a variety of learning practices with interdisciplinary themes to meet the learning outcomes. Course activities included field experience and tours, blended learning and flipped lectures, guest speakers, discovery-based lab activities, group discussions and projects, a capstone research project, and a combination of formative and summative assessments. The authors proposed two hypotheses for the evaluative study; first that the high-impact practices (HIP) will improve students’ experiences and belongingness to science faculty, and second that InSciTE facilitates learning of scientific literacy skills. To assess the effectiveness of InSciTE, the authors used two surveys, the first being the Test of Scientific Literacy Skills (TOSLS), which measures skills related to major aspects of scientific literacy: recognizing and analysing the use of methods of inquiry that lead to scientific knowledge and the ability to organize, analyse, and interpret quantitative data and scientific information. The second survey examined student belongingness, motivation and autonomous learning, combined with demographic data questions.

Findings

The results suggest that InSciTE students reported higher feelings of relatedness, group membership, and career aspirations and performed better on the TOSLS compared to students in other science courses.

Originality/value

As a leader in interdisciplinary science, the FoS at a Canadian university developed a full-year course bundling foundational statistics and chemistry courses with integration of some aspects of mathematics and biology or physics to create a new first-year, academic interdisciplinary experience called InSciTE. This project-based curriculum emphasized teamwork and leadership, and presented complex interdisciplinary challenges facing today's world aiming to facilitate transition from high school to a research-intensive university.

Details

Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, vol. 15 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2050-7003

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 December 2021

Lindsay Portnoy and Talia Lemberger

Approaches to learning have the ability to influence knowledge acquisition, comprehension, retention and even motivation to learn. Previous work indicates that despite age…

Abstract

Purpose

Approaches to learning have the ability to influence knowledge acquisition, comprehension, retention and even motivation to learn. Previous work indicates that despite age, experience, or prior knowledge, students have a tendency to approach learning differently as a function of the presented content. The purpose of this study is to explore how context influences student approaches to learning science.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors adopt a question-asking methodology to evaluate if approaches to learning the same science content vary when presented within the context of Pure Science or the History of Science.

Findings

Results indicate that contextualizing the presentation of science content, shifts the approaches students take in attempting to learn science content as evidenced by the questions they ask to deepen their understanding. Additional variables of prior experience with each scientific concept, task persistence at a distractor task and later recall of the presented concepts were related to different inquiry strategies.

Research limitations/implications

Implications for instructional design and pedagogy are discussed.

Practical implications

The framework in which scientific information is presented may impact how students modify existing and create a new schema, impacting their beliefs about scientific knowledge and the way in which students question, hypothesize and engage within the domain of science.

Social implications

By studying the role of inquiry while students engage in science learning, the authors explore the role of context, content and knowledge retention.

Originality/value

The current study probes at the nature of student questioning and its reliance on the content, context and its relationship to outcome variables such as learning and, perhaps, even persistence as it relates to students’ prior knowledge within content areas which may, in turn, lead to varying levels of student self-efficacy.

Details

Information and Learning Sciences, vol. 123 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 August 2019

Annemaree Carroll, Robyn M. Gillies, Ross Cunnington, Molly McCarthy, Chase Sherwell, Kelsey Palghat, Felicia Goh, Bernard Baffour, Amanda Bourgeois, Mary Rafter and Tennille Seary

Student competency in science learning relies on students being able to interpret and use multimodal representations to communicate understandings. Moreover, collaborative learning

Abstract

Purpose

Student competency in science learning relies on students being able to interpret and use multimodal representations to communicate understandings. Moreover, collaborative learning, in which students may share physiological arousal, can positively affect group performance. This paper aims to observe changes in student attitudes and beliefs, physiology (electrodermal activity; EDA) and content knowledge before and after a multimodal, cooperative inquiry, science teaching intervention to determine associations with productive science learning and increased science knowledge.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 214 students with a mean age of 11 years 6 months from seven primary schools participated in a multimodal, cooperative inquiry, science teaching intervention for eight weeks during a science curriculum unit. Students completed a series of questionnaires pertaining to attitudes and beliefs about science learning and science knowledge before (Time 1) and after (Time 2) the teaching intervention. Empatica E3 wristbands were worn by students during 1 to 3 of their regularly scheduled class sessions both before and after the intervention.

Findings

Increases in EDA, science knowledge, self-efficacy and a growth mindset, and decreases in self-esteem, confidence, motivation and use of cognitive strategies, were recorded post-intervention for the cohort. EDA was positively correlated with science knowledge, but negatively correlated with self-efficacy, motivation and use of cognitive strategies. Cluster analysis suggested three main clusters of students with differing physiological and psychological profiles.

Practical implications

First, teachers need to be aware of the importance of helping students to consolidate their current learning strategies as they transition to new learning approaches to counter decreased confidence. Second, teachers need to know that an effective teaching multimodal science intervention can not only be associated with increases in science knowledge but also increases in self-efficacy and movement towards a growth mindset. Finally, while there is evidence that there are positive associations between physiological arousal and science knowledge, physiological arousal was also associated with reductions in self-efficacy, intrinsic motivation and the use of cognitive strategies. This mixed result warrants further investigation.

Originality/value

Overall, this study proposes a need for teachers to counter decreased confidence in students who are learning new strategies, with further research required on the utility of monitoring physiological markers.

Details

Information and Learning Sciences, vol. 120 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5348

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 November 2013

Anna Marie Johnson, Claudene Sproles and Robert Detmering

– The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to provide a selected bibliography of recent resources on library instruction and information literacy.

Design/methodology/approach

Introduces and annotates periodical articles, monographs, and audiovisual material examining library instruction and information literacy.

Findings

Provides information about each source, discusses the characteristics of current scholarship, and describes sources that contain unique scholarly contributions and quality reproductions.

Originality/value

The information may be used by librarians and interested parties as a quick reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 41 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 5 September 2016

Yeung Chung Lee, Kwok-chi Lau and Valerie Wing Yan Yip

The purpose of this paper is to report the design and evaluation of an inter-university collaborative project entitled “Blended learning for building student-teachers’ capacity to…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report the design and evaluation of an inter-university collaborative project entitled “Blended learning for building student-teachers’ capacity to learn and teach science-related interdisciplinary subjects.” The project is a response of the science education faculty of three Hong Kong tertiary institutes to the challenge of catering to the diversity of academic backgrounds among student-teachers.

Design/methodology/approach

E-learning modules have been produced covering four content domains of science. These modules are designed based on the 5E learning model and are delivered to students using the learning management system provided by Moodle. The design of the modules is iterative, based on the evaluation of three consecutive rounds of trials through student surveys, and focus group interviews with students and course lecturers.

Findings

The evaluation findings indicate positive outcomes for certain attributes such as conceptual understanding, eagerness and confidence in learning science, and metacognitive reflection on students’ own learning. There are challenges to be met in relation to instructional design to cater for the diversity of student abilities, and enhance motivation in self-directed learning.

Practical implications

The project indicates the ways to develop students’ basic science knowledge in a mixed-ability setting through the design of self-directed e-learning modules blended with their major courses and possible measures to address the limitations of such design.

Originality/value

The study represents a conscious effort for the science teacher education faculty of different universities to pull together to tackle a perennial teaching and learning problem. The findings provide important insights into possible ways to blend e-learning with face-to-face learning approaches to better cater to the needs of science learners with mixed abilities to prepare them for interdisciplinary teaching.

Details

Asian Association of Open Universities Journal, vol. 11 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1858-3431

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 9 February 2022

Pernilla Nilsson and Jesper Lund

This study aims to investigate how primary teachers, when taking part in digital didactic design (D3) workshops at the Digital Laboratory Centre at the university, develop their…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how primary teachers, when taking part in digital didactic design (D3) workshops at the Digital Laboratory Centre at the university, develop their insights about how digital tools can be designed and further used in their teaching of science. The research question addresses how D3 can be used to develop primary teachers’ knowledge about teaching science with digital technologies.

Design/methodology/approach

During two semesters, 14 primary science teachers from three different schools participated in an in-service course at the university. Five D3 workshops lasting 4 h each were conducted with the aim to analyze, design and implement digital tools based on the needs of teachers and students. This includes discussions about the technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) framework and further recommendations about how to choose, design, implement and evaluate digital tools for different teaching and learning situations. In between the workshops, the teachers were told to reflect on their experiences with colleagues and students and share their ideas and reflections to support collegial learning.

Findings

The results indicate that D3 has an opportunity to promote deep learning experiences with a framework that encourages teachers and researchers to study, explore and analyze the applied designs-in-practice, where teachers take part in the design process. This study further indicates that having teachers explicitly articulates their reasoning about designing digital applications to engage students’ learning that seems important for exploring the types of knowledge used in these design practices and reflecting on aspects of their teaching with digital technologies likely to influence their TPACK.

Research limitations/implications

This research indicates that the increasing prevalence of information communication technology offers challenges and opportunities to the teaching and learning of science and to the scientific practice teachers might encounter. It offers solutions by investigating how primary teachers can design their own digital technology to meet students’ science learning needs. One limitation might be that the group of 14 teachers cannot be generalized to represent all teachers. However, this study gives implications for how to work with and for teachers to develop their knowledge of digital technologies in teaching.

Practical implications

As this project shows teachers can take an active part in the digital school development and as such become producer of knowledge and ideas and not only become consumers in the jungle of technical applications that are implemented on a school level. Therefore, it might well be argued that in science teaching, paying more careful attention to how teachers and researchers work together in collaborative settings, offers one way of better valuing science teachers’ professional knowledge of practice. As such, an implication is that digital applications are not made “for” teachers but instead “with” and “by” teachers.

Social implications

The society puts high demands om teachers’ knowledge and competencies to integrate digital technologies into their daily practices. Building on teachers’ own needs and concerns, this project addresses the challenge for teachers as a community to be better prepared for and meet the societal challenge that digitalization means for schools.

Originality/value

Across the field of science education, knowledge about the relation between teachers’ use of digital technology and how it might (or might not) promote students’ learning offers access to ideas of how to design and implement teacher professional development programs. This offers enhanced communication opportunities between schools and universities regarding school facilities and expectations of technology to improve teachers’ experiences with integrating technology into their learning and teaching. This pragmatic approach to research creates theory and interventions that serve school practice but also produces challenges for design-based researchers.

Details

Interactive Technology and Smart Education, vol. 20 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1741-5659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 October 2020

Tessa Withorn, Joanna Messer Kimmitt, Carolyn Caffrey, Anthony Andora, Cristina Springfield, Dana Ospina, Maggie Clarke, George Martinez, Amalia Castañeda, Aric Haas and Wendolyn Vermeer

This paper aims to present recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy, providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography…

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy, providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering various library types, study populations and research contexts.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations, reports and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2019.

Findings

The paper provides a brief description of all 370 sources and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.

Originality/value

The information may be used by librarians, researchers and anyone interested as a quick and comprehensive reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 48 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

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