Learning science with an interactive simulator: negotiating the practice-theory barrier

This article investigates how interactive representations can be used to enhance conceptual learning. It is a naturalistic study of 14 students in four groups aged 16–17 years working with an interactive simulator. The article is based on qualitative data to enable analyses of the students’ processes of conceptual learning as interactive sense-making, as discussions, verbalisation and use. The activities of the learners are studied in detail from a socio-constructive perspective with regard to how they relate previous knowledge and experiences to theory, investigating the progress of conceptual learning inspired by the notion of a coordination class (diSessa, A. A., &; Sherin, B. L. [1998]. What changes in conceptual change? International Journal of Science Education, 20(10), 1155–1191. doi:10.1080/0950069980201002). This process brings design issues related to conceptual learning to the fore. The study points towards a revised inquiry approach in which a digital representation can be used to negotiate a meeting point between theory, previous experience and knowledge, and be instrumental in conceptual sense-making.     

An investigation into the role that school-based interactive science centres may play in the education of primary-aged children

The recent development of interactive science centres throughout Britain has provided schools with a potential resource to help provide the science curriculum. This paper explores the role that a schoolbased 'mini-museum', designed to mimic an interactive science centre, may play in young children's science education. The research investigates children's interactions with exhibits and each other in such a 'centre', and suggests that although children did appear to make some gains in their learning of scientific knowledge and scientific skills and processes, the largest gains were made in the development of positive attitudes towards science. This positive attitude towards science provides the classroom teacher with opportunities to build upon the children's new-found enthusiasm and to ensure that they make lasting gains from their interactive experience.     

Towards an interactive agricultural science

Abstract

In all, a constructivist epistemology leads to a completely different approach that includes the conventional one, but ultimately leads to very different choices. I call this approach “interactive agricultural science”. Box 2 sums up its main features.

Interactive agricultural science is internally consistent. Just as the conventional paradigm, it embraces a whole range of mutually related elements at various levels of abstraction, from epistemology to the practical points of departure for rewarding desired scientific work and for training students.

The challenge to agricultural science is together to further construct and operationalise this paradigm. That, as I hope to have made clear, is a condition for achieving our new mission: to contribute to a change in direction which saves us from becoming Norsemen in Greenland.     

Reconstructing the interactive science pedagogy: Experiences of beginning teachers implementing the interactive science pedagogy

Six beginning primary school teachers pioneering the Interactive Teaching approach to science were studied in their first year of teaching. Interviews with the beginning teachers revcaled that they faced several obstacles to the implementation of the interactive teaching of science. These included lack of collegial support, lack of feedback on their teaching, difficulty assessing the learning of their pupils, and the differences between the culture of learning of the alternative science pedagogy and that of their pupils. By the end of the year, teachers had reconstructed the alternative science pedagogy in ways that reduced these difficulties. The interviews also provided evidence that ongoing support by teachers and teacher-educators versed in the alternative pedagogy can make beginning teacher's implementation of the Interactive Teaching of science less difficult. Specializations: physics education, beginning teachers. Specializations: misconceptions, assessment.     

Learning science through talking science in elementary classroom

Elementary students in grade two make sense of science ideas and knowledge through their contextual experiences. Mattis Lundin and Britt Jakobson find in their research that early grade students have sophisticated understandings of human anatomy and physiology. In order to understand what students’ know about human body and various systems, both drawings and spoken responses provide rich evidence of their understanding of the connections between science drawings and verbal explanations. In this forum contribution, we present several theoretical connections between everyday language and science communication and argue that building communication skills in science are essential. We also discuss how young participants should be valued and supported in research. Finally we discuss the need for multimodal research methods when the research participants are young.     

The interactive whiteboard in primary school science and interaction

The findings of the research literature about the necessity and contribution of Interactive Whiteboards (IWB) are not unequivocal and are sometimes contradictory. The study aimed to examine the interactive attributes in lessons with an IWB and the students’ attitudes. Methodical structured observations of 26 science lessons were conducted in elementary schools in Israel. The results showed that the teachers frequently used the diverse IWB tools, but most of the learning took place in frontal, whole class learning. Most of the interaction was under the teacher’s control and the dialogic interaction was limited. The attitudes of 62 pupils showed that despite already studying with an IWB for five years, their enthusiasm did not wane. They even claimed, in contrast to the observation findings, that the IWB contributed to active learning and interaction in the class. The research findings raise fundamental questions regarding the place of the IWB in promoting interaction in the class and on the necessity to promote the teacher’s pedagogic concept in order to increase class interaction.     

Learning style and program design in interactive multimedia

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of variations in the design and delivery of interactive multimedia (IMM) on the learning and attitudes of elementary education majors. A multivariate analysis of variance was conducted with three independent variables—small group or individualized format, inductive or deductive design of instruction, and match of learner style to instruction—and four dependent variables—content scores, observation skill scores, overall satisfaction, and attitude toward learner control of instruction. Scores on the observation skills evaluation were significantly higher when the student's learning style was matched with the design of instruction. Satisfaction and attitude outcomes were significantly different for format: students in the small group were more satisfied, while those using the individual learning station were more strongly agreed that they controlled the pace and sequence of their own instruction. Content scores were not significantly different. In the future, the use of interactive multimedia with various formats and designs may serve to meet the needs of students with differing learning styles and at different developmental levels.     

Responses to an interactive science exhibit in a school setting

Unattended science and technology exhibits of both static and operational types have been an integral part of museum displays for many years. More recently interactive exhibits in which observers are encouraged to become part of the system of exhibits have become more common. A study was commenced to explore the impact and potential of low cost, unattended, interactive exhibitsset up singly in a normal school classroom without the distractions of a multiplicity of activities as is common in ‘science museums’. Three small groups of Grade 5/6 primary school children interacted with a ‘Falling Towers’ exhibit and their voluntary activities were recorded on videotape for later analysis. Children appeared to state the results of their activity in ways consistent with their expectations rather than with their most recent experience with the exhibit. The responses of girls, boys and mixed groups are reported. Specializations: primary mathematics and science education, teaching strategies. Specializations: science education, students' understandings of phenomena in science.     

Learning from group work in science

Abstract

This paper addresses itself to the question of how effective group work is in promoting ‘learning from others’. It follows an earlier report in which verbal interactions between pupils engaged in group work were analysed. The tasks attended to during the group work were all concerned with the planning of scientific investigations.

The findings obtained indicate that a significant amount of ‘learning from others’ occurs as the result of pupils being involved in group work: in the present case, about 40% of information points included in pupils’ independent written accounts had previously been contributed to the group discussion by other pupils. However, the accounts also contained information points that had not been mentioned during the preceding group discussions.

The extent of pupils’ achievement and ‘learning from others’ in group work appeared unrelated to their actual group behaviours, which suggests that even seemingly ‘inactive’ group members benefit from their involvement in group learning experiences.     

Learning scientific reasoning with the interactive computer

In this paper I report on a set of ten programs, the Scientific Reasoning Series. These programs take an area difficult to deal with in conventional science courses, the nature of scientific reasoning, and make it accessible to a much wider group of students. The aim of this material is to make improvements in scientific reasoning for all students over about 10 years old. The programs are highly interactive, adapting to the needs of the individual user. They are also motivationally strong, because of formative evaluation within public library environments. About 20 hours of student material is available. We argue that this material has important suggestions for the future of science education.     

Learning science by doing science: an authentic science process-learning model in postsecondary education

Research on understanding the full extent that an authentic science research experience engages students in how scientists think and act is sparse. ‘Learning-science-by-doing-science’ (LSDS) is an emerging self-guided process-learning model in postsecondary science education. It offers authentic science research opportunities that drive students to think and act like scientists. This study investigates the LSDS approach as a potential model for science learning at postsecondary level and aims to answer a main research inquiry – what are the students’ and teaching staff’s perceptions of students’ learning gains and the quality of their learning experiences in an authentic research environment within the LSDS model? To answer this question, data were collected from the students, alumni, instructors, teaching assistants and the program director via questionnaires, focus groups and interviews. Students’ and staff’s lived experiences and their perceptions on their authentic research experiences within the LSDS model were used to articulate the key attributes and stages of the LSDS model. The outcomes of this study can be used to help other science programs implement similar authentic research process learning approaches in their own contexts.     

Learning science through technological design

In the course of a decade of research on learning in technology‐centered classrooms, my research group has gained considerable understanding of why and how students learn science by designing technology. In this article I briefly review two dimensions in which science and technology share fundamental similarities: (a) the production and transformation of representations and (b∥ the action‐oriented language describing the two domains. Because it is fundamentally problematic to derive what ought to happen in science classrooms from other dimensions, I provide three episodes to illustrate what and how students know and learn science during technological design activities. Episodes and analyses embody the two dimensions previously outlined. Because these episodes are representative of the database established during an extensive research program, I suggest there is sufficient ground for using and investigating science‐through‐technology curricula. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 768–790, 2001     

Learning from analogy-enhanced science text

The present study examined the role that an elaborate analogy can play when middle school students learn a major concept from a science text. The elaborate analogy had both graphic and text components that integrated and mapped key features from an analog (a factory) to the target concept (an animal cell). The target features were the functions of the cell parts. In Experiment 1, eighth graders who studied an analogy-enhanced text had greater immediate and 2-week recall of cell-part functions than students who studied a control text. In Experiment 2, sixth graders who studied an analogy-enhanced text considered the target concept to be more understandable than students who studied a control text. The sixth graders who studied the analogy-enhanced text also had greater immediate and 2-week retention, as measured by both recall and recognition. In both experiments, the analogy was interpreted as acting as a mediator between the students' existing knowledge and the new knowledge in the text. The analogy mapped a familiar, concrete schema onto that of the target concept, making the target concept more understandable and memorable. Implications for the meaningful learning of science text are discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 1129–1149, 1998.     

Learning experimentation through science fairs

Experiments are essential for both doing science and learning science. The aim of the German youth science fair, Jugend forscht, is to encourage scientific thinking and inquiry methods such as experimentation. Based on 57 interviews with participants of the competition, this study summarises students’ conceptions and steps of learning about experimentation, taking into account age disparities. Five distinct subdomains of learning were identified in which learning processes may occur. These subdomains are procedure, purpose, material, control, and time. The three separate age groups used slightly different concepts but all the participants took the same or very similar steps of learning independent of their age. Two main reasons for conceptual developments could be detected: Firstly, the participating students had the opportunity to work using methodology similar to the commonly accepted scientific path of knowledge. Secondly, due to communication processes during the competition, a purposive reflection of their own project was promoted. With respect to different educational levels, experimentation proves to be a complex scientific framework that will be learnt step by step throughout students’ education. We therefore argue for a stronger anchoring of research experiments embedded in open or authentic inquiry to be included in science lessons at school.     

Learning to learn in informal science settings

Visits to museums and science centres are a part of most school science programs- but are they really learning experiences? By accompanying classes on visits and talking with the teachers and students during and after these visits, information has been gathered on the ways in which school groups currently use visits to two informal science learning settings in Sydney- a science education centre and a large museum. Comparison of the teacher and student behaviours on these visits with current views on good teaching/learning practice, reveals considerable anomalies. At the same time, reported studies of museum visitors suggest that family groups use museums for learning in ways which are quite different from the way most school groups do. Can these apparent mismatches be translated into a pathway for developing new approaches to learning in informal settings?     

Learning to teach science in urban schools

Teaching in urban schools, with their problems of violence, lack of resources, and inadequate funding, is difficult. It is even more difficult to learn to teach in urban schools. Yet learning in those locations where one will subsequently be working has been shown to be the best preparation for teaching. In this article we propose coteaching as a viable model for teacher preparation and the professional development of urban science teachers. Coteaching—working at the elbow of someone else—allows new teachers to experience appropriate and timely action by providing them with shared experiences that become the topic of their professional conversations with other coteachers (including peers, the cooperating teacher, university supervisors, and high school students). This article also includes an ethnography describing the experiences of a new teacher who had been assigned to an urban high school as field experience, during which she enacted a curriculum that was culturally relevant to her African American students, acknowledged their minority status with respect to science, and enabled them to pursue the school district standards. Even though coteaching enables learning to teach and curricula reform, we raise doubts about whether our approaches to teacher education and enacting science curricula are hegemonic and oppressive to the students we seek to emancipate through education. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 941–964, 2001