Teaching nature of science through inquiry: Results of a 3‐year professional development program

This study assessed the influence of a 3‐year professional development program on elementary teachers' views of nature of science (NOS), instructional practice to promote students' appropriate NOS views, and the influence of participants' instruction on elementary student NOS views. Using the VNOS‐B and associated interviews the researchers tracked the changes in NOS views of teacher participants throughout the professional development program. The teachers participated in explicit–reflective activities, embedded in a program that emphasized scientific inquiry and inquiry‐based instruction, to help them improve their own elementary students' views of NOS. Elementary students were interviewed using the VNOS‐D to track changes in their NOS views, using classroom observations to note teacher influences on student ideas. Analysis of the VNOS‐B and VNOS‐D showed that teachers and most grades of elementary students showed positive changes in their views of NOS. The teachers also improved in their science pedagogy, as evidenced by analysis of their teaching. Implications for teacher professional development programs are made. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 44: 653–680, 2007     

The effect of Newsday's science education series program on selected ninth-grade students' comprehension of science reading material

Reading is a communication process that is crucial to students in science. Printed text materials are the most widely used teacher aids in the classroom. But reading as a major focus of science instruction has been out of favor with the mainstream of science education since the late 1950s. Despite this, few would deny the value of reading skills in a science class. The purpose of the present investigation was to determine how the use of Newsday's Science Education Series Program affected selected ninth-grade students' comprehension of science reading material. Analysis of covariance showed that students with standardized reading and mathematics scores at least two years above grade level who were taught using newspaper science articles alone had Degrees of Reading Power posttest scores higher at the 0.05 level of significance compared to students taught using Newsday's Science Education Series Program or using only the science article's content as part of class lessons. Students with standardized reading and mathematics scores on grade level taught using Newsday's Science Education Series Program had Degrees of Reading Power posttest scores higher at the 0.01 level of significance compared to students taught by either of the other methods.     

Teachers' learning to facilitate high‐level student thinking: Impact of a video‐based professional development

Attaining the vision for science teaching and learning emphasized in the Framework for K‐12 Science Education and the next generation science standards (NGSS) will require major shifts in teaching practices in many science classrooms. As NGSS‐inspired cognitively demanding tasks begin to appear in more and more science classrooms, facilitating students' engagement in high‐level thinking as they work on these tasks will become an increasingly important instructional challenge to address. This study reports findings from a video‐based professional development effort (i.e., professional development [PD] that use video‐clips of instruction as the main artifact of practice to support teacher learning) to support teachers' learning to select cognitively demanding tasks and to support students' learning during the enactment of these tasks in ways that are aligned with the NGSS vision. Particularly, we focused on the NGSS's charge to get students to make sense of and deeply think about scientific ideas as students try to explain phenomena. Analyses of teachers' pre‐ and post‐PD instruction indicate that PD‐participants began to adopt instructional practices associated with facilitating these kinds of student thinking in their own classrooms. The study has implications for the design of video‐based professional development for science teachers who are learning to facilitate the NGSS vision in science classrooms.     

Just‐in‐time pedagogy: teachers' perspectives on the response to intervention framework

The purpose of this mixed methods research is to examine teachers' perspectives on the response to intervention (RTI) framework and its implementation in Michigan and Texas schools. Both states have been leaders in literacy, increasing preservice and in‐service teacher certification standards and developing similar batteries for assessing literacy skills. Using the International Reading Association's RTI principles, the following question directed this inquiry: what are the perspectives of teachers in various educational, geographic, economic and cultural settings of the RTI? The research was developed through questionnaires, focus groups and semi‐structured interviews. Findings revealed that teacher professional development, assessments and collaboration for instruction were highly integrated themes when developing RTI strategies as reforming practice and increasing student literacy. Michigan and Texas teachers were more confident and comfortable in measuring and identifying students with reading difficulties over their ability to prevent learning disabilities through their instruction.     

Cultivating minority scientists: Undergraduate research increases self‐efficacy and career ambitions for underrepresented students in STEM

In this study, Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) is used to explore changes in the career intentions of students in an undergraduate research experience (URE) program at a large public minority‐serving college. Our URE model addresses the challenges of establishing an undergraduate research program within an urban, commuter, underfunded, Minority‐Serving Institution (MSI). However, our model reaches beyond a focus on retention and remediation toward scholarly contributions and shifted career aspirations. From a student's first days at the College to beyond their graduation, we have encouraged them to explore their own potential as scientists in a coordinated, sequential, and self‐reflective process. As a result, while the program's graduates have traditionally pursued entry‐level STEM jobs, graduates participating in mentored research are increasingly focused on professional and academic STEM career tracks involving post‐graduate study. In addition to providing an increasingly expected experience and building students’ skills, participation in undergraduate research is seen to have a transformative effect on career ambitions for many students at MSIs. While undergraduate research is often thought of in context of majority‐serving institutions, we propose that it serves as a powerful equalizer at MSIs. Building on the institutional characteristics that drive diversity, our students produce scholarly work and pursue graduate degrees, in order to address the long‐standing under‐representation of minorities in the sciences. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 169–194, 2017     

Videobased lesson analysis: Effective science PD for teacher and student learning

The Science Teachers Learning from Lesson Analysis (STeLLA) project is a videobased analysis‐of‐practice PD program aimed at improving teacher and student learning at the upper elementary level. The PD program developed and utilized two “lenses,” a Science Content Storyline Lens and a Student Thinking Lens, to help teachers analyze science teaching and learning and to improve teaching practices in this year‐long program. Participants included 48 teachers (n = 32 experimental, n = 16 control) and 1,490 students. The STeLLA program significantly improved teachers' science content knowledge and their ability to analyze science teaching. Notably, the STeLLA teachers further increased their classroom use of science teaching strategies associated with both lenses while their students increased their science content knowledge. Multi‐level HLM analyses linked higher average gains in student learning with teachers' science content knowledge, teachers' pedagogical content knowledge about student thinking, and teaching practices aimed at improving the coherence of the science content storyline. This paper highlights the importance of the science content storyline in the STeLLA program and discusses its potential significance in science teaching and professional development more broadly. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., J Res Sci Teach 48: 117–148, 2011     

Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2006 (PIRLS): pedagogical correlates of fourth‐grade students in Hong Kong

Reading literacy of fourth‐grade students in Hong Kong showed a remarkable improvement from 2001 to 2006 as shown by international PIRLS studies. This study identified various aspects of the teacher factor contributing to the significant improvement among students. A total of 4,712 students and 144 teachers from 144 schools were randomly selected using probability proportional‐to‐size technique to receive the Reading Assessment Test and complete the Teacher's Questionnaire, respectively. A number of items pertaining to teachers' instructional strategies and activities, opportunities for students to read various types of materials, practices on assessment, and professional preparation and perception, were found to be significantly correlated with the outcome of students' reading literacy. Stepwise regression procedure revealed four significant predictors for students' overall reading achievement. The most powerful predictor was the use of materials from other subjects as reading resources. Suggestions to improve quality of teaching of reading and further studies are made.     

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     

Negotiating power and redefining literacy expertise: Buddy Reading in a dual‐immersion programme

This paper reports on a case study of face‐to‐face interaction around and about texts between a second grade dyad in a dual‐immersion programme. Through the lenses of Vygotskian situated cognition and Literacy Studies, classroom observations were conducted, both holistic and focused. Daily peer reading sessions between a dyad were tape recorded, and informal interviews with the teacher and the participating dyad were conducted. The analysis of participants' verbal exchanges revealed multiple pedagogical scaffolds, few of which were unexpected. As meaning making became more salient to the various collaborative literacy tasks, the roles of tutor and tutee were blurred. The shift in power also impacted the direction of language switches. Buddy Reading encouraged the peer readers to acknowledge and draw upon each other's expertise, as they redefined what it meant to be ‘a good reader’.     

Undergraduates' attitudes and beliefs about subject matter and pedagogy measured periodically in a reform‐based mathematics and science teacher preparation program

This study describes the design and use of a valid and reliable instrument to measure teacher candidates' attitudes and beliefs about mathematics and science and the teaching of those subjects. The instrument, Attitudes and Beliefs about the Nature of and the Teaching of Mathematics and Science, was developed for the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation (MCTP), a statewide, standards‐based project in the National Science Foundation's Collaborative in Excellence in Teaching Preparation (CETP) Program. We report on two applications of the instrument: (a) a contrast between MCTP teacher candidates' and non‐MCTP teacher candidates' attitudes and beliefs about mathematics and science as they initially encountered reform‐based instruction in their undergraduate courses, and (b) a landscaping of how the MCTP teacher candidates' attitudes toward and beliefs about mathematics and science evolved over a 2.5‐year period. In support of current reform in science and mathematics teacher education, we determined that over an extended period the MCTP teacher candidates' attitudes and beliefs moved substantively and significantly in the direction intended. However, we also found that the non‐MCTP teacher candidates in the same reform‐based courses did not mirror this improvement in their attitudes and beliefs about mathematics and science or the teaching of those subjects. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 39: 713–737, 2002     

The Relationship Between Retention and College Counseling for High‐Risk Students

The author used an archival study to explore the relationship between college counseling and retention. The cohort for this study was a college's 2006 class of full‐time, 1st‐year students (N = 429). The results of chi‐square analyses and regression analyses indicated (a) a significant difference in retention between high‐risk and low‐risk students who used counseling services (CS) and (b) that a student's risk for dropout did not vary significantly over time based on risk level or CS use.     

Evaluating the impact of science‐enrichment programs on adolescents' science motivation and confidence: The splashdown effect

The impact of summer science‐enrichment programs on high‐school students' science motivation and confidence was evaluated in a 7‐month period following program completion. The programs took place on a college campus. The splashdown effect was defined as program‐related changes the program graduates recognized in themselves that became apparent to them after reentry to their home high school. The effect was studied in a group of 88 gifted girls and boys from 38 high schools. On qualitative and quantitative measures obtained during private interviews, students reported a strong splashdown effect after returning to their high school. Results supported the validity of the splashdown concept. Splashdown motivation and splashdown confidence (i.e., recognition of program‐related gains in motivation and confidence that occurred after high‐school reentry) predicted change in corresponding science attitudes during the follow‐up period. As predicted by social comparison theory, the intensity of the splashdown effect was associated with average school achievement in the student's home high school. Students from academically weaker schools reported stronger splashdown effects. Implications for enhancing and evaluating the effect of science‐enrichment programs on students' science attitudes are discussed. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 42: 359–375, 2005     

Preservice teachers’ self-efficacy to teach primary science based on ‘science learner’ typology

ABSTRACT

According to international benchmarks [Thomson, S., Wernert, N., O'Grady, E., & Rodrigues, S. (2017). TIMSS 2015: Reporting Australia's results. Retrieved from Camberwell, Victoria: www.acer.edu.au/timss], Australia’s science education is still in decline and so the need for further investigation into preservice teachers is warranted. Utilising data from a broader mixed methods doctoral study [Norris, C. M. (2017). Exploring the impact of postgraduate preservice primary science education on students’ self-efficacy. Retrieved from http://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2040], this paper investigates the type of science learner entering into postgraduate preservice primary teacher education and how different learner types influence teacher self-efficacy and their effectiveness to teach science [Bleicher, R. (2009). Variable relationships among different science learners in elementary science-methods courses. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 7(2), 293–313. doi:10.1007/s10763-007-9121-8]. In this study, data was derived from a modified STEBI-B questionnaire and focus group discussions that provided a deeper insight into the survey data. Participants (N?=?274) were from a one-year Australian Graduate Diploma of Education Primary (GDEP) program. Bleicher’s (2009) research on ‘science learner types’, which included Fearful, Disinterested, Successful and Enthusiastic learners, was used as a theoretical framework to categorise the participants. The study identified a new type of learner (Not Clearly Identifiable, n?=?68), located in the middle of the other four categories, where individuals’ attitudes and beliefs towards science had changed due to life experiences between secondary school and their GDEP program. Statistical analysis showed science learner types did influence participants’ science teaching self-efficacy (STSE), giving suggestions for how this may affect tertiary teacher education courses.     

Enhancing literacy practices in science classrooms through a professional development program for Canadian minority-language teachers

Literacy in the Science Classroom Project was a three-year professional development (PD) program supporting minority-language secondary teachers’ use of effective language-based instructional strategies for teaching science. Our primary objective was to determine how teacher beliefs and practices changed over time and how these were enacted in different classrooms. We also wanted to identify the challenges and enablers to implementing these literacy strategies and practices at the classroom, school, and district levels. Data collection involved both qualitative and quantitative methodologies: student questionnaires; interviews with teachers, principals, and mentor; and focus groups with students. The findings suggest that the program had an impact on beliefs and practices commensurate with the workshop participation of individual teachers. These language-enhanced teacher practices also had a positive impact on the use of talking, reading and writing by students in the science classroom. Finally, continuing PD support may be needed in certain jurisdictions for strengthening minority-language programs given the high teacher mobility in content-area classrooms evident in this study.     

Predictive and construct validity of the developing cognitive abilities test: Relations with the iowa tests of basic skills

This study investigated the predictive and construct validity of the Developing Cognitive Abilities Test in a heterogeneous sample of 863 sixth grade students. Level H of the DCAT was administered during the student's sixth grade year and selected subtests of the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills were administered eight months later during their seventh grade year. Results showed that correlations between the DCAT and Iowa Tests of Basic Skills ranged from .50 (DCAT Spatial‐ITBS Language Usage) to .74 (DCAT Total‐ITBS Mathematics Problem Solving) with a median r= .635. Correlations also supported the construct (convergent) validity of the DCAT when compared to the ITBS with the DCAT Verbal subtest correlating significantly higher with the ITBS Vocabulary, Reading, and Language Usage than either the DCAT Quantitative or Spatial subtests which are not as verbally oriented. The DCAT Quantitative subtest was associated with the ITBS Mathematics Problem Solving to a greater extent than either the DCAT Verbal or Spatial subtests. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Game‐based feedback for educational multi‐user virtual environments

It is generally accepted that informative and timely feedback is important to a student's learning experience within higher education. In the study of commercial digital games it has also become increasingly understood that games are particularly good at providing effective feedback of this form to gameplayers. We discuss recent game based learning research that attempts to harness the motivating qualities of digital games to inform the design of educational technology. Results from this research demonstrate student participation and performance can be improved by providing Game‐Based Feedback (GBF) to students. The GBF approach awards points to students for the successful completion of tasks throughout a course of study. Points and achievements accumulated over time builds a profile that provides a student with a potentially powerful representation of their educational identity. In this paper, we argue that virtual worlds are particularly suitable for this form of GBF and can further enhance a student's understanding of their educational standing. We outline a Virtual Learning Landscape (VLL) design that is embedded within a multi‐user virtual environment, where educational feedback is supplied to students via their avatar and a virtual world's landscape. The core structural principles of the proposed VLL are explained and several examples of the use of the VLL are provided to illustrate the system.     

Bunny Hill or Black Diamond: Differences in Advanced Course‐Taking in College as a Function of Cognitive Ability and High School GPA

College students commonly have considerable course choice, and they can differ substantially in the proportion of their coursework taken at an advanced level. While advanced coursework is generally viewed as a desirable component of a student's education, research has rarely explored differences in student course‐taking patterns as a measure of academic success in college. We examined the relationship between the SAT, high school grade point average (HSGPA), and the amount of advanced coursework taken in a sample of 62 colleges and 188,985 students. We found that both the SAT and HSGPA predict enrollment in advanced courses, even after controlling for advanced placement (AP) credits and demographic variables. The SAT subtests of Critical Reading, Writing, and Math displayed differential relationships with advanced course‐taking dependent on student major. Gender and race/ethnicity were also related to advanced course‐taking, with women taking more advanced courses in all major categories except for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) where they took fewer, even after controlling for other variables. Socioeconomic status had a negligible relationship with advanced course‐taking. This research broadens our understanding of academic achievement in college and the goals of admissions in higher education.