The effect of reflective discussions following inquiry‐based laboratory activities on students' views of nature of science

This research investigated the effect of reflective discussions following inquiry‐based laboratory activities on students' views of the tentative, empirical, subjective, and social aspects of nature of science (NOS). Thirty‐eight grade six students from a Lebanese school participated in the study. The study used a pretest–posttest control‐group design and focused on collecting mainly qualitative data. During each laboratory session, students worked in groups of two. Later, experimental group students answered open‐ended questions about NOS then engaged in reflective discussions about NOS. Control group students answered open‐ended questions about the content of the laboratory activities then participated in discussions of results of these activities. Data sources included an open‐ended questionnaire used as pre‐ and posttest, answers to the open‐ended questions that experimental group students answered individually during every session, transcribed videotapes of the reflective discussions of the experimental group, and semi‐structured interviews. Results indicated that explicit and reflective discussions following inquiry‐based laboratory activities enhanced students' views of the target NOS aspects more than implicit inquiry‐based instruction. Moreover, implicit inquiry‐based instruction did not substantially enhance the students' target NOS views. This study also identified five major challenges that students faced in their attempts to change their NOS views. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 1229–1252, 2010     

Learning contexts,black Cultural Ethos,and the science achievement of African American students in an urban middle school

As other countries vigorously promote rapid advancement in science, optimizing the participation of all students in the United States in science is imperative. This study focused on African American students and examined their science achievement in relation to Black Cultural Ethos (BCE), a construct rooted in psychology. Via qualitative and quantitative data obtained from a non‐random control group design, the study addressed three questions: (1) With respect to BCE, what characterizes the natural instructional contexts of two middle school science teachers? (2) What characterizes the achievement of African American students in contexts that incorporate BCE and contexts that do not? (3) What achievement patterns, if any, exist in BCE and non‐BCE instructional contexts? With regard to the natural contexts, the teachers did not incorporate BCE even when the opportunities were available to do so. Within these non‐BCE contexts, the group's mean scores on the study‐specific test that aligned with instruction decreased from pretest to posttest with approximately one‐third of the students' scores improving. When a context was altered with a moderate effect size of 0.47 to include BCE, the group's mean scores on the aforementioned test increased from pretest to posttest with two‐thirds of the students' scores improving. An illustration of the interplay between BCE and context and a consideration of the interplay as a mediating factor in research involving African American students encapsulate the significance and implications of the study's findings. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 665–683, 2008     

Resisting the marginalization of science in an urban school: Coactivating social,cultural, material,and strategic resources

This study describes the resources and strategies middle school teachers, urban fellows, and a district science staff developer coactivated to resist the marginalization of science in a high‐poverty, low‐performing urban school. Through critical narrative inquiry, I document factors that marginalized science in three teachers' classrooms. The narratives show that constraints related to cultural, material, and social resources contributed to a more global symbolic resource constraint, the low status and priority of science in the school. The narratives develop a new category of strategic resources embodied or controlled by others and leveraged to improve students' opportunities to learn science. Attention to a broader array of resources, including social, symbolic, and strategic resources, helps to excavate some of the inertial forces that might derail efforts to teach for social justice. The findings provide a sense of how and why teachers might activate resources to resist the marginalization of science in their classrooms. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47:840–860, 2010     

A study of practical‐moral knowledge in science teaching: Case studies in physical science classrooms

This study further extends a conceptual framework that explores science teaching as a “practice” not reducible to the application of formal knowledge, but as informed by teachers' practical‐moral knowledge. A hermeneutic model was developed to examine practical‐moral knowledge indirectly by investigating teachers' commitments, interpretations, actions, and dialectic interactions between them. The study also aimed to analyze teachers' actions in terms of their interpretations and commitments as they realize “internal goods” of their practice. Ethnographic case studies of three science teachers were conducted through classroom observation, in‐depth interviews and dialogues, and artifact analysis. A commitment of preparing students for national exams was common to the three teachers but was manifested differently in classroom practices. This commitment originated from interpretations about the duty of “good” teachers not letting students and schools down. Other emergent commitments were commitments: to conceptual understandings, to “challenge” learners, and to social modeling. We present each with associated interpretations and actions. The concepts of practical wisdom (phronesis) and gap closing are used to characterize teachers' practical knowledge and its development respectively. Implications for teacher education are discussed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 929–951, 2010     

Self‐concept and science achievement: Investigating a reciprocal relation model across the gender classification in a crosscultural context

Science achievement and self‐concept are articulated in this study to examine a model of reciprocal relationship during a crosscultural transition. Trend data have been gathered to assess changes of the perceived English importance before and after Hong Kong's sovereignty handover from Britain to China. The data analyses were conducted four times across dimensions of gender and timing over which the political transition took place. Besides small gender differences in the statistical results, weak but significant reciprocal relationships have been found between science achievement and self‐concept. In line with a policy of switching the medium of instruction from English to Chinese in most secondary schools, interpretation of different path coefficients obliges incorporation of cross‐cultural understanding in science education. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 711–725, 2008     

Drama activities as ideational resources for primary‐grade children in urban science classrooms

In this study we explored how dramatic enactments of scientific phenomena and concepts mediate children's learning of scientific meanings along material, social, and representational dimensions. These drama activities were part of two integrated science‐literacy units, Matter and Forest, which we developed and implemented in six urban primary‐school (grades 1st–3rd) classrooms. We examine and discuss the possibilities and challenges that arise as children and teachers engaged in scientific knowing through such experiences. We use Halliday's (1978. Language as social semiotic: The social interpretation of language and meaning. Baltimore, MD: University Park Press) three metafunctions of communicative activity—ideational, interpersonal, and textual—to map out the place of the multimodal drama genre in elementary urban school science classrooms of young children. As the children talked, moved, gestured, and positioned themselves in space, they constructed and shared meanings with their peers and their teachers as they enacted their roles. Through their bodies they negotiated ambiguity and re‐articulated understandings, thus marking this embodied meaning making as a powerful way to engage with science. Furthermore, children's whole bodies became central, explicit tools used to accomplish the goal of representing this imaginary scientific world, as their teachers helped them differentiate it from the real world of the model they were enacting. Their bodies operated on multiple mediated levels: as material objects that moved through space, as social objects that negotiated classroom relationships and rules, and as metaphorical entities that stood for water molecules in different states of matter or for plants, animals, or non‐living entities in a forest food web. Children simultaneously negotiated meanings across all of these levels, and in doing so, acted out improvisational drama as they thought and talked science. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 302–325, 2010     

A metasynthesis of the complementarity of culturally responsive and inquiry‐based science education in K‐12 settings: Implications for advancing equitable science teaching and learning

Employing metasynthesis as a method, this study examined 52 empirical articles on culturally relevant and responsive science education in K‐12 settings to determine the nature and scope of complementarity between culturally responsive and inquiry‐based science practices (i.e., science and engineering practices identified in the National Research Council's Framework for K‐12 Science Education). The findings from this study indicate several areas of complementarity. Most often, the inquiry‐based practices Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information, Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions, and Developing and Using Models were used to advance culturally responsive instruction and assessment. The use and development of models, in particular, allowed students to explore scientific concepts through families’ funds of knowledge and explain content from Western science and Indigenous Knowledge perspectives. Moreover, students frequently Analyzed and Interpreted Data when interrogating science content in sociopolitical consciousness‐raising experiences, such as identifying pollution and asthma incidences in an urban area according to neighborhood location. Specific inquiry‐based practices were underutilized when advancing culturally responsive science instruction, though. For example, Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking and Engaging in Argument from Evidence were infrequently encountered. However, culturally responsive engineering‐related practices were most often connected with these, and thus, represent potential areas for future complementarity, particularly as the United States embraces the Next Generation Science Standards. In considering innovative directions for advancing equitable science education, several possibilities are discussed in light of the findings of this study.© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:1143–1173, 2017     

The writing on the wall: Classroom context,curriculum implementation,and student learning in integrated,community‐based science projects

In this study we examined curriculum integration in new ways by exploring the link between classroom context, the implementation of community‐based, integrated science projects, and the subsequent student learning. The literature is inconsistent regarding the benefits of an integrated approach to curriculum. The research design was a multiple case study conducted in two classrooms in different schools. We employed a “worldly interpretive framework” that recognizes and embraces the importance of context in framing curriculum practices and outcomes. We found that similar projects in the two classrooms produced distinctly different (and equally valid) outcomes—focused either on bounded discipline‐specific knowledge or, alternatively, on issues and problems that transcended disciplinary boundaries. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 857–880, 2008     

Examining the effect of teachers' adaptations of a middle school science inquiry‐oriented curriculum unit on student learning

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     

Bridging scientific reasoning and conceptual change through adaptive web‐based learning

This study reports an adaptive digital learning project, Scientific Concept Construction and Reconstruction (SCCR), and examines its effects on 108 8th grade students' scientific reasoning and conceptual change through mixed methods. A one‐group pre‐, post‐, and retention quasi‐experimental design was used in the study. All students received tests for Atomic Achievement, Scientific Reasoning, and Atomic Dependent Reasoning before, 1 week after, and 8 weeks after learning. A total of 18 students, six from each class, were each interviewed for 1 hour before, immediately after, and 2 months after learning. A flow map was used to provide a sequential representation of the flow of students' scientific narrative elicited from the interviews, and to further analyze the level of scientific reasoning and conceptual change. Results show students' concepts of atoms, scientific reasoning, and conceptual change made progress, which is consistent with the interviewing results regarding the level of scientific reasoning and quantity of conceptual change. This study demonstrated that students' conceptual change and scientific reasoning could be improved through the SCCR learning project. Moreover, regression results indicated students' scientific reasoning contributed more to their conceptual change than to the concepts students held immediately after learning. It implies that scientific reasoning was pivotal for conceptual change and prompted students to make associations among new mental sets and existing hierarchical structure‐based memory. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 91–119, 2010     

Improving academic outcomes in poor urban schools through nature-based learning

This paper presents results from the evaluation of the Nurture thru Nature (NtN) programme, a natural science and environmental education intervention designed to help elementary school children from disadvantaged backgrounds increase their knowledge of science and strengthen overall academic performance. Using an experimental design the pilot NtN programme in New Brunswick, NJ was assessed in one elementary school for a period of four years. The evaluation revealed that NtN students (n = 18) consistently outperformed a group of controls (n = 34) in mathematics and science with the differences in science reaching statistical significance. The paper discusses the active learning philosophy that motivates NtN teaching, the programme components that operationalise this philosophy, and a natural history paradigm from which this philosophy derives.     

Effects of group work training on science attainment in rural and urban schools

This study investigated the effects of collaborative group work skills training on pupil attainment in science. Twenty‐four experimental classes were drawn from schools in rural and urban settings. Pupils in experimental classrooms engaged in general group work skills training and two structured group work activities in science. Attainment was assessed using the Performance Indicators in Primary Schools (PIPS) instrument. Significant gains in science attainment were observed in the experimental urban and rural classes. Significant changes in observed group work behaviours were observed in both urban and rural classes. Changes in group work behaviour were correlated to increased science attainment. The implications for practice, policy and future research are explored.     

Urban 5th graders conceptions during a place‐based inquiry unit on watersheds

This study aimed to determine how 33 urban 5th grade students' science conceptions changed during a place‐based inquiry unit on watersheds. Research on watershed and place‐based education was used as a framework to guide the teaching of the unit as well as the research study. A teacher‐researcher designed the curriculum, taught the unit and conducted the research using qualitative data sources such as concept maps, science notebooks and interviews. Most students came to understand that their watershed was part of an urban environment where water drains from the surrounding land into a body of water. Thus, they began to understand how urban land use affects water quality. This study provides evidence for the use of place‐based learning in developing students' knowledge of the National Science Education Standards (NRC, 1996) and watersheds. Implications of this study include the use of place‐based learning in urban settings and the experiences needed for students to conceptualize watersheds. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 501–517, 2010     

Parent involvement and academic outcomes among urban adolescents: examining the role of school engagement

The present study examined the extent to which parent involvement in education was directly and indirectly (via school engagement) related to academic outcomes in an effort to more fully understand the school experiences of urban adolescents. Participants (80% racial/ethnic minority; n = 108) were in grades 6, 7 or 8. In the Fall and subsequent Spring youth completed in-school surveys with items on parental involvement in education, school engagement (affective, behavioural, cognitive engagement) and perceived academic competence. Grades were obtained from official school records. Findings showed that parental involved was positively associated with behavioural and cognitive engagement, which in turn contributed to academic competence and achievement. Results underscore the importance of parental involvement in adolescents’ engagement and academic success and highlight the importance of examining the multiple components of school engagement simultaneously, as we found differential effects for affective, behavioural, and cognitive engagement on academic competence and achievement.     

Linking the components of a university program to the qualification profile of graduates: The case of a sustainability‐oriented environmental science curriculum

A university Environmental Sciences curriculum is described against the background of requirements for environmental problem solving for sustainability and then analyzed using data from regular surveys of graduates (N = 373). Three types of multiple regression models examine links between qualifications and curriculum components in order to derive some conclusions about which qualifications are enhanced by which curriculum components. The underlying rationale of these models is that assessments of the importance of a certain component (and the time graduates think should be allocated to it) should increase with the workplace demand for the qualifications it provides. A comprehensive set of 19 qualifications was used, subdivided into three areas of environmental problem‐solving skills (A, basic scientific and technological skills; B, transformation‐oriented skills; and C, sociopolitical skills) and two areas of transferable skills (D, individual key skills and E, social and communication skills). Relationships identified by different regression models are discussed in terms of mutual consistency and with regard to the design, content, and learning goals of the curriculum components. Many plausible relationships were identified. Using such regression models is a promising indirect method that may be generally applicable for the explorative qualification‐oriented evaluation of university curricula and their fundamental components based on graduates' judgments. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 46: 537–569, 2009