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1.

Recent reforms in science education have supported the inclusion of engineering and their practices in K-12 curricula. To this end, many classrooms have incorporated engineering units that include design challenges. Design is an integral part of engineering and can help students think in creative and interdisciplinary ways. In this study, we examined students’ conceptions of design during and after participation in a design-based science curriculum unit. Our study was guided by the following research question: What are students’ views of design after participation in an engineering design-based science curriculum unit and how are these views reflected in their enactment throughout the unit? Using a qualitative approach, we examined students’ conversations throughout the enactment of the curriculum and interviews conducted after the completion of the unit. We found that students had complex and diverse views of design, and these views were reflected in their group discussions throughout the curriculum and design challenge. Students most frequently expressed design as learning and as a process of integration into a coherent whole. These aspects of design were also frequently observed in students’ conversations during the unit. Interestingly, we found evidence of students demonstrating several aspects of design throughout the curriculum that were not explicitly expressed during the student interviews. Taken together, these findings support the complex nature of design as seen at the middle school level.

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2.
The new science education reform documents call for integration of engineering into K-12 science classes. Engineering design and practices are new to most science teachers, meaning that implementing effective engineering instruction is likely to be challenging. This quasi-experimental study explored the influence of teacher-developed, engineering design-based science curriculum units on learning and achievement among grade 4–8 students of different races, gender, special education status, and limited English proficiency (LEP) status. Treatment and control students (n = 4450) completed pretest and posttest assessments in science, engineering, and mathematics as well as a state-mandated mathematics test. Single-level regression results for science outcomes favored the treatment for one science assessment (physical science, heat transfer), but multilevel analyses showed no significant treatment effect. We also found that engineering integration had different effects across race and gender and that teacher gender can reduce or exacerbate the gap in engineering achievement for student subgroups depending on the outcome. Other teacher factors such as the quality of engineering-focused science units and engineering instruction were predictive of student achievement in engineering. Implications for practice are discussed.  相似文献   

3.
Infusing engineering design projects in K-12 settings can promote interest and attract a wide range of students to engineering careers. However, the current climate of high-stakes testing and accountability to standards leaves little room to incorporate engineering design into K-12 classrooms. We argue that design-based learning, the combination of scientific inquiry and engineering design, is an approach that can be used to meet both K-12 educators’ and engineering advocates’ goals. This paper describes an 8-week high school curriculum unit, the Heating/Cooling System, in which engineering design is used to teach students central and difficult chemistry concepts such as atomic interactions, reactions, and energy changes in reactions. The goals of the paper are to (1) describe this successful design-based unit, (2) provide guidelines for incorporating design-based learning into other science topics, and (3) provide some evidence of its value for teaching difficult chemistry concepts and increasing interest in engineering careers.  相似文献   

4.
New reform documents underscore the importance of integrating science practices into the learning of science. This integration requires sophisticated teaching that does not often happen. Educative curriculum materials – materials explicitly designed to support teacher and student learning – have been posited as a way to support teachers to achieve these ambitious goals, yet little is known about how elementary teachers actually use educative curriculum materials to support student engagement in science practices. To address this gap, this study investigated how five upper elementary teachers supported students to engage in science practices during an enactment of two curriculum units. Three of the teachers had units enhanced with educative features, informed by current research and reforms, while two of the teachers had units without these features. The teachers varied in how they supported students in the science practices of justifying predictions, constructing evidence-based claims, recording observations, and planning investigations. For example, some of the teachers with the educative features supported students in constructing evidence-based claims and justifying predictions in ways called for by the educative features. Implications for curriculum developers and teacher educators are discussed based on the patterns found in the teachers’ use of the educative curriculum materials.  相似文献   

5.
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6.
The purpose of this study was to examine the association of middle school student science achievement and attitudes toward science with student-reported frequency of using computers to learn science and other classroom practices. Baseline comparison data were collected on the frequency of student-centred teaching practices (e.g. the use of group experiments during science class) and traditional teaching practices (e.g. having students copy notes during science class) to learn science. The student sample was composed of 294 seventh-grade students enrolled in middle school science. Multiple regression was used to investigate the association of attitudes toward science, student-centred teaching practices, computer usage, and traditional teaching practices with science achievement. Both attitudes toward science and student-centred teaching practices were positively associated with science achievement, and student-centred teaching practice was positively associated with attitude toward science. Computer usage was found to have a negative association with student achievement, which was moderated by traditional teaching practices.  相似文献   

7.
We report on the construction and application on an instrument entitled the “Science Achievement Influences Survey” to assess combined effects of student attitudes about science, peer interaction, and home support, and the frequency of student‐centred and teacher‐centred instructional practices on student achievement. Controlling for pre‐test content knowledge, results indicated that student‐centred teaching practices have a positive association with student achievement (p < .01; i.e., group experiments) and a negative association with teacher‐centred teaching practices (p < .01; i.e., copying notes). Additionally, student attitudes about science were positively associated with student‐centred teaching practices (p < .01) and negatively associated with teacher‐centred teaching practices (p < .01). Most significantly, this study documents the predicted gains in science achievement associated with frequency of specific instructional practices used by middle‐school science teachers. Especially noteworthy and significant is the finding that near‐daily implementation of group experiments and reduction of extensive note‐copying during class yield the greatest positive impact on student achievement. Outside of school, peer interaction and home support were not significantly associated (p > .05) with student achievement. The student sample included 611 middle‐school science students with a wide range of socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.  相似文献   

8.
Using secondary analysis of a large database from a Statewide Systemic Initiative, we examined the effects of several types of environments on student outcomes. Over 3 years, nearly 7,000 students in 392 classes in 200 different schools responded to a questionnaire that assesses class, home, and peer environments as well as student attitudes. Students also completed an achievement measure that, developed by scientists, teachers, and science educators, was not aligned with any particular curriculum. Students were enrolled in middle‐school science and mathematics classes in schools that had participated in the Statewide Systemic Initiative. Rasch analyses allowed us to compare across student cohorts and across schools. Findings confirmed the importance of extending research on classroom learning environments to include the learning environments of the home and the peer group. Although all three environments accounted for statistically significant amounts of unique variance in student attitudes, only the class environment (defined in terms of the frequency of use of standards‐based teaching practices) accounted for statistically significant amounts of unique variance in student achievement scores. The findings are supported by other studies of systemic reform in the United States.  相似文献   

9.
The present study examined the perceptions of 140 parents and 323 teachers regarding career entry into science and engineering for students with learning disabilities. Parents' and teachers' perceptions were assessed on the following eight variables: (a) facility access, (b) expense of accommodations, (c) role models, (d) teacher understanding of students' academic needs, (e) length of learning time, (f) student aptitude and educational preparation, (g) career guidance, and (h) employer attitudes. Results revealed that parents, significantly more than teachers, feel that teachers do not make the necessary effort to accommodate students with learning disabilities and that employers in the science and engineering fields are reluctant to hire persons with learning disabilities. Implications of the results for rehabilitation counselors working with learning disabled students interested in science and engineering are offered.  相似文献   

10.
This professional development program was designed to prepare science teachers to be more student-centered and to implement newer goals for science instruction. These goals are to improve science teaching in ways that promote broader and longer-lasting learning. Secondary school science teachers in Korea are expected to follow a rigid national curriculum with large classes - often with more than 50 students. This study focuses on feedback and follow-up interaction with teacher participants who were enrolled in a month-long workshop in the U.S. before returning to Korea to implement the new ideas. Assistance was offered to help teachers develop teaching modules which were more constructivist while also assisting with assessment efforts that provided further evidence of use of the new teaching practices and their effect on student learning. Student mastery of concepts and improvement in student creativity were two aspects of the summer workshop experiences and these were evaluated to illustrate workshop effects on teacher participants in their actual classrooms. An erratum to this article is available at .  相似文献   

11.
Science curricula and teaching methods vary greatly, depending in part on which facets of science are emphasized, e.g., core disciplinary ideas or science practices and process skills, and perspectives differ considerably on desirable pedagogies. Given the multi-faceted nature of science and the variety of teaching methods found in practice, it is no simple task to determine what teaching approaches might be most effective and for what purposes. Research into relative efficacy faces considerable challenges, with confounding factors, ambiguities, conflations, and lack of controls being threats to validity. We provide a conceptual framework characterizing the many teaching strategies found in practice as being variants of two fundamental contrasting epistemic modes, and we disentangle conflations of terms and confusions of constructs in both teaching practice and research. Instructional units for two science topics were developed in parallel in the alternative epistemic modes, differing in concept learning paths but otherwise equivalent. We conducted a randomized controlled study of the comparative efficacy of the two modes for learning core disciplinary ideas, using operationally defined active-direct and guided-inquiry teaching methods. Five middle school teachers taught each unit in both modes over 4 years of classroom trials in an 8-day summer program for eighth grade students. Student understanding of core ideas was assessed using pre- and post-tests, and learning gains were analyzed by mode, teacher, topic, and trial year. Although routes to concept understanding were very different in the two modes, eventual student learning gains were similar, within statistical variation. Efficacy variations between and within teachers were greater than between modes, indicating the importance of teacher effects on student achievement. Findings suggest that teachers need not be bound to one mode throughout and can flexibly decide on the pedagogical approach for each concept and situation, on several grounds other than efficacy of core content acquisition alone.  相似文献   

12.
Reform based curriculum offer a promising avenue to support greater student achievement in science. Yet teachers frequently adapt innovative curriculum when they use them in their own classrooms. In this study, we examine how 19 teachers adapted an inquiry‐oriented middle school science curriculum. Specifically, we investigate how teachers' curricular adaptations (amount of time, level of completion, and activity structures), teacher self‐efficacy (teacher comfort and student understanding), and teacher experience enacting the unit influenced student learning. Data sources included curriculum surveys, videotape observations of focal teachers, and pre‐ and post‐tests from 1,234 students. Our analyses using hierarchical linear modeling found that 38% of the variance in student gain scores occurred between teachers. Two variables significantly predicted student learning: teacher experience and activity structure. Teachers who had previously taught the inquiry‐oriented curriculum had greater student gains. For activity structure, students who completed investigations themselves had greater learning gains compared to students in classrooms who observed their teacher completing the investigations as demonstrations. These findings suggest that it can take time for teachers to effectively use innovative science curriculum. Furthermore, this study provides evidence for the importance of having students actively engaging in inquiry investigations to develop understandings of key science concepts. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., J Res Sci Teach 48: 149–169, 2011  相似文献   

13.
This paper examines the impacts of technology (e.g., Chromebooks, Google Drive) on teacher learning and student activity in the development and implementation of a deeply digital high school biology unit. Using design-based implementation research, teachers co-designed with researchers and curriculum specialists a student-centered unit aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) that utilizes classroom technology. Qualitative and quantitative data were collected to understand the barriers that inhibit the implementation of a digital curriculum as well as the extent that teachers engage in the design process and begin to make shifts in their practice. We found that through the co-design process teachers began to shift their knowledge of NGSS, technology implementation, and adapted to tensions and barriers inherent in the process.  相似文献   

14.
The establishment of centralized curriculum standards and school-based teacher learning communities are presumably necessary to reform science teaching towards inquiry-based instruction in many countries. Drawing on interview, document, and unit plan data from two high school chemistry teachers in China, this study examines these assumptions. Findings indicated that both teachers developed different kinds of science teaching practices despite working under the centralized science curriculum and school-based teacher learning communities. Different teaching experiences of the two teachers and their school cultures of teaching interacted with the centralized curriculum and teacher teaching community to consequently shape their teaching practices in different ways.  相似文献   

15.
Inquiry-based curricula are an essential tool for reforming science education yet the role of the teacher is often overlooked in terms of the impact of the curriculum on student achievement. Our research focuses on 22 teachers’ use of a year-long high school urban ecology curriculum and how teachers’ self-efficacy, instructional practices, curricular enactments and previous experience impacted student learning. Data sources included teacher belief surveys, teacher enactment surveys, a student multiple-choice assessment focused on defining and identifying science concepts and a student open-ended assessment focused on scientific inquiry. Results from the two hierarchical linear models indicate that there was significant variation between teachers in terms of student achievement. For the multiple-choice assessment, teachers who spent a larger percentage of time on group work and a smaller percentage of time lecturing had greater student learning. For the open-ended assessment, teachers who reported a higher frequency of students engaging in argument and sharing ideas had greater student learning while teachers who adapted the curriculum more had lower student learning. These results suggest the importance of supporting the active role of students in instruction, emphasising argumentation, and considering the types of adaptations teachers make to curriculum.  相似文献   

16.
This study investigated how professional development featuring evidence‐based customization of technology‐enhanced curriculum projects can improve inquiry science teaching and student knowledge integration in earth science. Participants included three middle school sixth‐grade teachers and their classes of students (N = 787) for three consecutive years. Teachers used evidence from their student work to revise the curriculum projects and rethink their teaching strategies. Data were collected through teacher interviews, written reflections, classroom observations, curriculum artifacts, and student assessments. Results suggest that the detailed information about the learning activities of students provided by the assessments embedded in the online curriculum motivated curricular and pedagogical customizations that resulted in both teacher and student learning. Customizations initiated by teachers included revisions of embedded questions, additions of hands‐on investigations, and modifications of teaching strategies. Student performance improved across the three cohorts of students with each year of instructional customization. Coupling evidence from student work with revisions of curriculum and instruction has promise for strengthening professional development and improving science learning. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 1037–1063, 2010  相似文献   

17.
Building on a pedagogical model designed to support the teaching and learning of the language of science investigation practices with middle school emergent bilingual learners, we developed a series of soccer and science investigations to promote interest and engagement in science learning. We used assemblage theory to study how students engaged in and acted within this bilingual curriculum situated in an afterschool soccer practice context. We found that soccer, a passion for several Latino students, can be used as a cultural tool for science teachers to support the emerging bilingual students’ learning process. Implications for educators and researchers considering ways of integrating diverse students’ cultural practices and passions with culturally sustaining pedagogies for science teaching and learning are discussed.  相似文献   

18.
Use of different teaching materials and curriculum for the same subjects is always a confounding factor in studies investigating teacher characteristics and student achievement. The purpose of this study is to understand the effects of different teacher qualities on student achievement in high schools with a standards-based curriculum delivered over a blended learning environment. Utilizing quantitative research approach, this study investigates the effects of teacher characteristics and teaching practices in a course offered through Cisco Networking Academy, which has a standards-oriented curriculum delivered online. Participants in the study were 226 teachers and 3299 students from Networking Academies located in the USA. The findings suggest that certain teacher characteristics such as teaching experience, degree, and primary teaching field do not have effects on student achievement.  相似文献   

19.
This article explores pre-service and in-service science teachers’ perceptions on active learning, and examines the effectiveness of active learning by pre-service science teachers in the Irish second level classroom through a two-phase study. In the first phase, data on perceptions were gathered from final year pre-service teachers and in-service teachers in Irish post-primary schools. In the second phase, pre-service science teachers, working with teacher educators, designed a comparative test for students in lower secondary science classrooms. This tested achievement differences for students taught in traditional ways and students taught using active learning approaches. While the test results show a significant difference between traditional teaching and active learning, overall analysis indicates that the majority of teachers in the study were not convinced of the value of this way of teaching. The findings have implications for science teaching and the enactment of curriculum reform measures in compulsory education.  相似文献   

20.
While the purposes of design and science are often different, they share some key practices and processes. Design-based science learning, which combines the processes of engineering design with scientific inquiry, is one attempt to engage students in scientific reasoning via solving practical problems. Although research suggests that engaging students in design-based science learning can be effective for learning both science process and content, more research is needed to understand how to overcome what Vattam and Kolodner (Pragmatics and Cognition 16:406–437, 2008) called “the design–science gap.” This study, therefore, takes a first step at systematically delving into this issue of bridging the design–science gap by examining the problem-solving strategies that students are using when they solve a prototypical design task. Videotaped performance assessments of high and low performing teams were analyzed in depth. Results suggest that students use both science reasoning strategies (e.g., control of variables) and design–focused strategies (e.g., adaptive growth). However, the strategies commonly associated with success in science (e.g., control of variables) did not necessarily lead to success in design. In addition, while both science reasoning strategies and design–focused strategies led to content learning, the content learned was different.  相似文献   

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