Constructing Explanations in Science: Informal Formative Assessment Practices Among Science Teachers of English Learners

Research in Science Education - Informal formative assessments (IFAs) are classroom interactions teachers use to gather information about their students’ learning, interpret it, and act on...     

Supporting Argumentation Through Students' Questions: Case Studies in Science Classrooms

This study explores how student-generated questions can support argumentation in science. Students were asked to discuss which of two graphs showing the change in temperature with time when ice is heated to steam was correct. Four classes of students, aged 12–14 years, from two countries, first wrote questions about the phenomenon. Then, working in groups with members who differed in their views, they discussed possible answers. To help them structure their arguments, students were given a sheet with prompts to guide their thinking and another sheet on which to represent their argument diagrammatically. One group of students from each class was audiotaped. Data from both students' written work and the taped oral discourse were then analyzed for types of questions asked, the content and function of their talk, and the quality of arguments elicited. To illustrate the dynamic interaction between students' questions and the evolution of their arguments, the discourse of one group is presented as a case study and comparative analyses made with the discourse from the other three groups. Emerging from our analysis is a tentative explanatory model of how different forms of interaction and, in particular, questioning are needed for productive argumentation to occur.     

The Intersection of Inquiry-Based Science and Language: Preparing Teachers for ELL Classrooms

As teacher educators, we are tasked with preparing prospective teachers to enter a field that has undergone significant changes in student population and policy since we were K-12 teachers. With the emphasis placed on connections, mathematics integration, and communication by the New Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (Achieve in Next generation science standards, 2012), more research is needed on how teachers can accomplish this integration (Bunch in Rev Res Educ 37:298–341, 2013; Lee et al. in Educ Res 42(4):223–233, 2013). Science teacher educators, in response to the NGSS, recognize that it is necessary for pre-service and in-service teachers to know more about how instructional strategies in language and science can complement one another. Our purpose in this study was to explore a model of integration that can be used in classrooms. To do this, we examined the change in science content knowledge and academic vocabulary for English language learners (ELLs) as they engaged in inquiry-based science experience utilizing the 5R Instructional Model. Two units, erosion and wind turbines, were developed using the 5R Instructional Model and taught during two different years in a summer school program for ELLs. We analyzed data from interviews to assess change in conceptual understanding and science academic vocabulary over the 60 h of instruction. The statistics show a clear trend of growth supporting our claim that ELLs did construct more sophisticated understanding of the topics and use more language to communicate their knowledge. As science teacher educators seek ways to prepare elementary teachers to help preK-12 students to learn science and develop the language of science, the 5R Instructional Model is one pathway.     

The Laboratory as a Vehicle for Enhancing Argumentation Among Pre-Service Science Teachers

Science & Education - A study was conducted on how scientific laboratory lessons contribute to building arguments, both cognitively and socially. The population consisted of 12 second-year...     

科学论证教学的评价框架与实践述评

论证教学是指让学生通过确立主张,运用多种证据进行论证和相互说服,从而达成学习目标的教学方式.近年来,论证教学在全球科学教育界受到广泛关注.通过对68篇相关的国际核心文献进行系统化的检索、筛选与编码,研究结果显示,已有的论证教学评价研究主要集中在开发评价工具和聚焦课程与教学的评价两个方面,这两方面又分为评价维度、评价工具...     

形成性评价在科普场馆学习中的应用

随着现代教育理论的深度发展,场馆学习在现代教育体系中的地位不断上升,成为非正式学习的重要场所。相较于国内科普场馆的STEM课程普遍缺乏过程性评价的现状,国外科普场馆的STEM课程设计似乎有许多我们可以学习借鉴的地方。     

形成性评价对英语口语学习策略的影响

实验采用问卷调查、周记等为研究工具,对非英语专业大学生进行了为期一个学期的形成性评价教学与终结性评价教学对比研究,探讨形成性评价对学生口语学习策略的促进作用,对比形成性评价教学与终结性评价教学对学习成绩的影响。     

Teacher Roles of Questioning in Early Elementary Science Classrooms: A Framework Promoting Student Cognitive Complexities in Argumentation

The purpose of this study was to investigate the various roles that early elementary teachers adopt when questioning, to scaffold dialogic interaction and students’ cognitive responses for argumentative practices over time. Teacher questioning is a pivotal contributing factor that shapes the role teachers play in promoting dialogic interaction in argumentative practice and that different roles serve different functions for promoting students’ conceptual understanding. The multiple-case study was designed as a follow-up study after a 4-year professional development program that emphasized an argument-based inquiry approach. Data sources included 30 lessons focusing on whole class discussion from three early elementary teachers’ classes. Data were analyzed through two approaches: (1) constant comparative method and (2) enumerative approach. This study conceptualized four critical roles of teacher questioning—dispenser, moderator, coach, and participant—in light of the ownership of ideas and activities. The findings revealed two salient changes in teachers’ use of questions and the relationships between teachers’ question-asking and students’ cognitive responses: (1) teachers increasingly used multiple roles in establishing argumentative discourse as they persistently implemented an argument-based inquiry approach, and (2) as teachers used multiple roles in establishing patterns of questioning and framing classroom interactions, higher levels of student cognitive responses were promoted. This study suggests that an essential component of teacher professional development should include the study of the various roles that teachers can play when questioning for establishing dialogic interaction in argumentation and that this development should consist of ongoing training with systematic support.     

Aligning Teaching to Learning: A 3-Year Study Examining the Embedding of Language and Argumentation into Elementary Science Classrooms

How can classrooms become communities of inquiry that connect intellectually challenging science content with language-based activities (opportunities to talk, listen, read, and write) especially in settings with diverse populations? This question guided a 3-year mixed-methods research study using the Science Writing Heuristic (SWH) approach in cooperation with 2 universities, area education agencies, 6 school districts, 32 elementary teachers, and over 700 students each year. The participating teachers engaged in a yearly summer institute, planned units, implemented this curriculum in the classroom, and contributed to ongoing data collection and analysis. Findings demonstrate that critical embedded language opportunities contribute to an increase in student Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS) scores in science and language based on level of implementation particularly for elementary students who receive free and reduced lunch (an indicator of living at the poverty level).     

Science Teachers Without Classrooms of Their Own: A Study of the Phenomenon of Floating

“Floating” teachers, or teachers without their own classroom, experience unique affordances and constraints as they develop professionally. To increase the knowledge in this area, this study looks at how traveling to different classrooms affects beginning secondary science teachers’ development and instruction. The participants in this study were three first-year floating secondary science teachers whose experiences were analyzed through a cultural historical activity theory framework. The data revealed how floating can either support or constrain the development of beginning science teachers, and limit the implementation of standards-based instruction. Finally, this study shows that high levels of human, physical, and social resources are necessary for progress towards standards-based science teaching. It suggests that if science teachers must move to different classrooms, we need to create ways in which to support their instruction and development. Furthermore, this study recommends that all teachers and supervisors work toward a deeper understanding of the school community’s role in the experience of the floating science teacher.     

形成性评价模式在大学英语口语教学中的设计与研究

本文充分阐述了我国形成性评价的发展现状、基本理论,并进一步将形成性评价基本理论与大学英语口语教学实践结合,主要探讨了将形成性评价理论运用到大学英语口语教学实践中的方法。     

形成性评价在大学英语口语教学中的应用研究

形成性评价源于诊断性测试,与终结性评价相比,它重在对学生的学习过程进行评价,旨在确认学生的潜力,改进和发展学生的学习。形成性评价在大学英语口语教学中的应用,应遵循一定的实施原则和采取相应的策略。     

Performance Assessment as a Diagnostic Tool for Science Teachers

Research in Science Education - Information on students’ development of science skills is essential for teachers to evaluate and improve their own education, as well as to provide adequate...     

过程性评价：内涵与操作——以深圳市育才中学为主例

过程性评价是高中新课程学业评价的重要组成部分,也是取得学分的必要条件。它是一种在课程实施的过程中对学生的学习进行评价的方式。科学地进行过程性评价,对学生学习动机、效果以及与学习密切相关的非智力因素等方面的提升能产生积极而显著的作用。但就面上的情况来看,相当一部分学校因种种原因导致其形同虚设甚至完全取消。如何准确把握过程性评价的内涵与实践,实现过程性评价的应有价值和功能,是每一个课程理论工作者及一线实践者必须面对的问题。     

Autonomy in Science Education: A Practical Approach in Attitude Shifting Towards Science Learning

This work describes a 2-year study in teaching school science, based on the stimulation of higher thinking levels in learning science using a highly student-centred and constructivist learning approach. We sought to shift and strengthen students’ positive attitudes towards science learning, self-efficacy towards invention, and achievement. Focusing on an important aspect of student’s positive attitude towards learning, their preference (like/dislike) towards independent study with minimal or no teacher interference, which leads to increased learning autonomy, was investigated. The main research was conducted on elementary school students; 271 grade level one (G1; 6 years old) to grade level four (G4; 10 years old) participated in this study. As a result of this study, it was found that: (1) 73% of the students preferred minimal or no explanation at all, favoring to be left with the challenge of finding out what to do, compared to 20% of the control group, indicating a positive attitude shift in their learning approaches. (2) The experimental group achieved slightly more (9.5% difference) than the control group in knowledge-comprehension-level based exam; however, the experimental group scored much higher (63% difference) in challenging exams which required higher thinking levels. (3) The same trend was also observed in self-efficacy toward invention, where 82% of the experimental group saw themselves as possible inventors compared to 37% of the control group.     

Formative Assessment in Higher Education:Its Significance for Employability,and Steps Towards Its Enhancement

Research shows that formative assessment can exert a powerful effect on student learning, yet the complexity of formative assessment is not well understood and some curricular structures and practices do not fully exploit its potential. This article outlines the background to the political promotion of employability and shows that institutional responses are influenced by multiple considerations. It discusses formative assessment and models it as a complex signalling system before considering the implications, for students’ employability, of accentuating the attention given to formative assessment. The potential for action is discussed with reference to three levels: those of the institution, the department, and the individual academic.