1,721,079 research outputs found
How Science Works: What is the nature of scientific reasoning and what do we know about students’ understanding?
No full textDeveloping effective methods of assessing ideas and evidence
No full textHow can ‘Ideas and Evidence’ – the processes and practices of science – be assessed effectively? How might the development of suitable assessment methods impact on teaching?
This article reports on research undertaken for QCA as part of ‘Keeping National Curriculum Science in step with the changing world of the 21st century’. Test and teacher assessment items for evaluating understanding of the Sc1 component ‘Ideas and Evidence’ were developed, trialled and evaluated. Most items have potential for use as assessment and in teaching, providing a starting point for further development work
The science classroom as a site of epistemic talk: a case study of a teacher's attempts to teach science based on argument
Full text linkCurrent science education research and policy highlight the need to conceptualize scientific disciplines not only based on a view of “science-as-knowledge” but also on a perspective of “science-as-practice,” placing an emphasis on practices such as explanation, argumentation, modeling, and communication. However, classroom discourse is not structured in a way that would normally provide to students the opportunity to engage in such “dialogic knowledge-building processes” (Duschl, 2008a) or epistemic discourse. This study argues that such a change in classroom discourse can be achieved through a focus on argumentation as an instructional approach, which aims to engage students in the epistemic practices of science. This study focuses on a qualitative case study of an experienced teacher's attempts to use argumentation over a school year as a way to identify elements of epistemic discourse that science teachers could be making part of their everyday science teaching. The analysis of classroom talk focused on (a) the teacher's discursive actions or epistemic operations, and (b) the ways in which these discursive actions presented or engaged students in the construction, justification, and evaluation of knowledge claims. The analysis revealed that the use of justificatory talk was consistent across the six lessons observed but the same consistency was not identified in attempts to engage students in evaluative practices. This discrepancy would suggest that evaluative practices were not as embedded in the teacher's classroom talk as the justification or construction of knowledge claims. Implications discussed include the need to reconsider pre-service and in-service teacher training and professional development so that science teachers do not only develop their skills of teaching science based on argument, but also of talking science based on argument
A comparison of epistemic features of student and teacher talk during argument-based instructio
No full textScience education reform efforts in the United States and Europe acknowledge the need of teaching the content and methods of science, as well as promoting an understanding of the nature of scientific practices and knowledge. Thus, science educators also need to address the epistemic practices of science. A way to present to students the epistemic practices of science is through the teaching of science as argument. During argumentation-based instruction, students use evidence to support their claims and evaluate other individuals’ claims and in this way they engage in ‘epistemic discourse’, which is argued as essential for the development of students’ understanding of the nature of scientific practices and knowledge. This study, through a qualitative case study design, compared the discursive practices of a science teacher and a group of Grade 8 students, observed over 6 argument-based lessons. The classroom talk was analyzed based on a framework of ‘epistemic operations’. The results indicate that the student talk modelled the teacher talk for the epistemic aspects of justification and evaluation of knowledge claims. Implications for specific discursive actions science teachers should focus on, and attempt to promote in their classrooms, as well as the context these discursive actions are presented in, are discussed
Epistemic features of science teachers’talk: comparing the discursive practices of two science teachers
No full textTeaching twenty first century science
No full textThis evaluation of a pilot GCSE course designed to enhance scientific literacy focuses on teaching ‘how science works’: how it relates to the ‘science explanations’ component and teachers’ and students’ reactions. A combination of research techniques (including observations, interviews and surveys) was used. The overall response was positive, but the findings suggest the need for more resources to promote inter-student collaboration; greater use of interactive techniques to elicit student contributions; and more explicit teaching of how to interpret texts. Professional development is needed through specific courses (e.g. on small group discussion) and collegial support by developing communities to share practice
Teaching pupils 'ideas-about-science': Case studies from the classroom
No full textIn this paper, we report work undertaken with a group of 11 teachers over a period of a year to teach aspects of the nature of science. The teachers, who taught science in a mix of elementary, junior high, and high schools, were asked to teach components of the nature of science for which consensus had been established using a Delphi study in the first phase of the project. Data were collected through field notes, videos, teachers’ reflective diaries, instruments that measured their understanding of the nature of science and the role of discussion in the classroom. In addition, data were collected of their pupils’ understanding of the nature of science, pre- and post-intervention, and that for a control. In this paper, drawing on a sample of the data we explore the factors that afforded or inhibited the teachers’ pedagogic performance in this domain. Using these data, we argue that there are 5 critical dimensions that distinguish and determine a teacher’s ability to teach effectively about science. Whilst these dimensions are neither mutually independent nor equally important, they serve as a valuable analytical tool for analysing and explaining the success, or otherwise, that individual teachers have when confronted with teaching components of the nature of science. In addition, we argue that they are an important means of identifying salient aspects of pedagogy for initial and in-service training of teachers for curricula that require the teaching of the nature of science
Teachers’ experiences of teaching ‘ideas-about-science’ and socio-scientific issues
No full textTeaching of socio-scientific issues encourages a focus on ‘ideas-about-science’ (the processes and practices of science) and consideration of scientific evidence and values. This paper reports an evaluation of teachers’ practice and views as they taught an innovative pilot course (Twenty First Century Science) to pupils in their last two years of compulsory schooling. Using classroom observation, questionnaires and interviews of teachers, the evaluation explored the extent to which teachers were successful in handling ‘ideas-about-science’ and how the two components of the course (‘ideas-about-science’ and science explanations) were interrelated and recognised in the teaching. Teachers saw the course as very interesting but very challenging to teach. Despite declaring some confidence in their understanding of ‘ideas-about-science’, science explanations dominated over ‘ideas-about-science’ in teachers’ perceptions of the focus of the course and in their teaching. There was gradual change in practice to incorporate more discursive pedagogies, suggesting that several cycles through the course are needed for teachers to appreciate its aims fully and support the teaching of socio-scientific issues effectively
Combined molecular and morphological phylogeny of Ephemerellinae (Ephemerellidae: Ephemeroptera), with remarks about classification
No full textOgden, T. Heath, Osborne, Jonathan T., Jacobus, Luke M., Whiting, Michael F. (2009): Combined molecular and morphological phylogeny of Ephemerellinae (Ephemerellidae: Ephemeroptera), with remarks about classification. Zootaxa 1991 (1): 28-42, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.1991.1.
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