Competency discourses: an analysis of secondary and tertiary assessments

Analysis of a sample of assessment tasks used in New Zealand first-year clinical and final-year secondary school Biology and Chemistry National Certificate of Educational Achievement summative assessments was conducted to assess whether similarities and differences existed in secondary and tertiary competency discourses. Findings suggested significant differences in language-in-use, especially in the psychomotor and affective domains of learning, reflecting different themes and ideologies. The suggested implication was a lack of preparedness for tertiary clinical learning that focuses on performance-based assessment of the affective and psychomotor domains.     

Power,participation and decision making in the primary classroom: children as action researchers

This article discusses a project focused on children researching their role in decision making in their classrooms and schools, with a view to increasing their involvement. The action research project was carried out by children, their class teachers and university researchers in six Norfolk primary schools from 2004 to 2006. As the project aimed to introduce more participatory approaches to decision making in classrooms, this necessarily had implications for the ways in which adults worked with children as action researchers. The article explores the constraints encountered by both children and teachers in sharing decisions and in carrying out action research, and identifies two dimensions: the teachers’ thinking and action, as well as children’s research and decision making. The teachers struggled with their need to mediate the project aims in the context of the changing nature of their professional role in the current target‐driven school culture.     

Thematic continuities: Talking and thinking about adaptation in a socially complex classroom

In this study I rely on sociocultural views of learning and teaching to describe how fifth–sixth‐grade students in a Fostering a Community of Learners (FCL) classroom gradually adopted scientific ideas and language in a socially complex classroom. Students practiced talking science together, using everyday, scientific, and hybrid discourses as they studied endangered species. Students' overarching content themes, or “thematic continuities,” acted as generative scaffolds for developing complex lines of inquiry, leading ultimately to the appropriation of aspects of the biological principle of adaptation. Thematic continuities provided an organizing framework for thinking and talking about previously disconnected science facts, and set the stage for the adaptationist stance. Mixed method data analyses relied on written assessments, in‐depth guided clinical interviews, video and audiotaping of small and large group participant structures, in‐class student work, and ethnographic notes. Data analysis included two discrete levels, the macro (whole and half class) and the intermediate (case study of one small group) to capture both holistic and detailed aspects of dialogue. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 1–30, 2008     

Students' questions and discursive interaction: Their impact on argumentation during collaborative group discussions in science

This study investigated the potential of students' written and oral questions both as an epistemic probe and heuristic for initiating collaborative argumentation in science. Four classes of students, aged 12–14 years from two countries, were asked to discuss which of two graphs best represented the change in temperature as ice was heated to steam. The discussion was initiated by asking questions about the phenomenon. Working in groups (with members who had differing viewpoints) and guided by a set of question prompts, an argument sheet, and an argument diagram, students discussed contrasting arguments. One group of students from each class was audiotaped. The number of questions written, the concepts addressed, and the quality of written arguments were then scored. A positive correlation between these factors was found. Discourse analysis showed that the initial focus on questions prompted students to articulate their puzzlement; make explicit their claims and (mis)conceptions; identify and relate relevant key concepts; construct explanations; and consider alternative propositions when their ideas were challenged. Productive argumentation was characterized by students' questions which focused on key ideas of inquiry, a variety of scientific concepts, and which made explicit reference to the structural components of an argument. These findings suggest that supporting students in productive discourse is aided by scaffolding student questioning, teaching the criteria for a good argument, and providing a structure that helps them to organize and verbalize their arguments. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47:883–908, 2010     

Teacher education as identity construction: insights from action research

This paper reports on the results of a qualitative study that explored the experiences of one group of pre‐service English language teachers in Hong Kong as they undertook an action research project as part of their undergraduate teacher training programme. Grounded in a theory of teacher identity construction as both practice and discourse, the paper examines how participation in an action research project by one group of pre‐service English language teachers in Hong Kong shaped their experiences of becoming teachers. The study indicates that as teacher researchers, the trainee teachers contested previously held perceptions about their engagement in teaching, their images of teachers and teaching, as well as their alignment with some aspects of contemporary educational discourse. Implications for teacher education and future research are also discussed.     

Claiming power by producing knowledge: the empowering potential of PAR in the classroom

The purpose of this article is to explore the concept of empowerment, reframing it in critical terms and in a precise and useful way. I approach this exploration through two participatory action research studies. Why are our teachers racist? took place over an 18-month period from 2012 to 2014 at a mid-sized high school in a rural dairy town in Idaho with 52 Latino/a students and their white teacher. Who can do research? was conducted in the fall of 2013 with a group of 60 pre-service teachers at a large university in the Midwest of the United States. Through the application of lessons learned from these two studies, I frame critical empowerment as a process whereby historically marginalized and oppressed individuals and groups can potentially lay claim to power as they/we engage in participatory approaches to knowledge production, thereby gaining control over processes by which we as a society determine what is useful and valuable knowledge.     

Communicating about science and engineering practices and the nature of science: An exploration of American Sign Language resources

Science classrooms have been demonstrated to be educational contexts with unique and challenging language demands. Enhanced cognitive and linguistic demands arising from an emphasis on the science and engineering practices (SEPs) and the nature of science (NOS) in the Next Generation Science Standards warrant consideration of how to support students with different language abilities. Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students must negotiate multiple languages in the science classroom, including academic science vocabulary, written English, and spoken American Sign Language (ASL). However, science-specific ASL vocabulary is rather limited, and current development efforts mostly focus on developing signs for more traditional content vocabulary. Yet, effective science instruction for DHH students must also provide them opportunities to engage in and communicate about the NOS and the functions of the SEPs. The current study explores the availability of such ASL resources across a body of science-specific resources available for teachers of DHH students. Reviewing a body of publicly available resources, researchers identified a small list of 21 ASL signs that are common across multiple resources. These signs, and the larger data set, were reviewed to identify trends and patterns across them and how well they communicate scientific meanings for NOS and the SEPs. Issues that emerged and classroom implications are discussed.     

Teaching and learning about science practices: insights and challenges in professional development

The purpose of this study was to determine if science teachers showed a change in their ability to design and implement science lessons that integrate twenty-first century science practices as a result of their participation in a subject-specific professional development program. A qualitative design utilizing inductive analysis was used to investigate teachers’ ability to design inquiry-oriented lessons and implement them in the classroom. Eight science teachers participated in the study. Findings showed that teachers have benefited from their participation in the program and were able to plan and implement their inquiry-oriented lesson plans and implement them in the classroom. The analysis also showed that teachers were not able to demonstrate their ability in two dimensions of inquiry (asking scientifically oriented questions and designing and carrying out investigations). Finally, several suggestions were presented to modify the program’s training materials to focus more on these two dimensions of inquiry.     

The Influence of the Core Practices Movement on the Teaching and Perspectives of Novice Teacher Educators

This collaborative self-study examines the influence of engagement in the core practices movement on the course designs, instruction, and perspectives of three novice teacher educators at a large mid-Atlantic research university. Through core practices work, we integrated repeated cycles of analysis, practice, and reflection into our courses, ultimately becoming more deliberate and responsive in our planning. We engaged in more in-depth inquiry into our teaching as we inquired into the core practices with our teacher candidates and also noticed an enhanced use of shared language. Core practices work influenced our perspectives on the work of teacher educators by reaffirming our belief in the complexity of teaching and teacher education, raising important questions about the relationship between commitments and core practices and underscoring the value of learner-centered practices in teacher education. The finding of this self-study suggest that core practices present an opportunity to engage novice teacher educators in reflection, collaboration, and inquiry central to teacher education.     

Arguing to learn and learning to argue: Case studies of how students' argumentation relates to their scientific knowledge

In this study we investigated junior high school students' processes of argumentation and cognitive development in science and socioscientific lessons. Detailed studies of the relationship between argumentation and the development of scientific knowledge are rare. Using video and audio documents of small group and classroom discussions, the quality and frequency of students' argumentation was analyzed using a schema based on the work of Toulmin ( 1958 ). In parallel, students' development and use of scientific knowledge was also investigated, drawing on a schema for determining the content and level of abstraction of students' meaning‐making. These two complementary analyses enabled an exploration of their impact on each other. The microanalysis of student discourse showed that: (a) when engaging in argumentation students draw on their prior experiences and knowledge; (b) such activity enables students to consolidate their existing knowledge and elaborate their science understanding at relatively high levels of abstraction. The results also suggest that students can acquire a higher quality of argumentation that consists of well‐grounded knowledge with a relatively low level of abstraction. The findings further suggest that the main indicator of whether or not a high quality of argument is likely to be attained is students' familiarity and understanding of the content of the task. The major implication of this work for developing argumentation in the classroom is the need to consider the nature and extent of students' content‐specific experiences and knowledge prior to asking them to engage in argumentation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 101–131, 2008     

The politics of collaboration: discourse,identities, and power in a school–university partnership in Hong Kong

This article reports on how teacher educators from a university, acting as facilitators, supported teachers in conducting a school-based action research project as a practice of professional development in the context of reform in language assessment in Hong Kong. In particular, the article problematises how the facilitators and teachers negotiated and managed identities whilst being engaged in a collaborative action research project. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews. Critical discourse analysis was used to examine the textual data. A key finding was that identities were neither fixed nor finite in the context of collaboration, but were negotiated within and against a range of contextually salient discourses. A major contribution of the article lies in its examination of the complexities of negotiating identities when educators from two different institutional cultures collaborate. The article suggests that collaboration has to be understood within broader sociocultural contexts to identify the interplay of forces that shape relations, identities, and practices constructed.     

College Science, Mathematics, and Methods Teaching Faculty Talk About Science and Mathematics: An Examination of Faculty Discourse in a Reform-Based Teacher Preparation Program

In this study discourse and conversation analyses were performed on talk by science and mathematics teaching faculty participating in reforming content courses for teacher candidates participating in a mathematics and science teacher preparation project (upper elementary and middle level). The context of the study was the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation (MCTP), a National Science Foundation funded project in the USA. The study's goal was to explore the use of discourse and conversation analyses as ways to understand faculty beliefs concerning mathematics and science, two disciplines the MCTP project aimed to connect. Discussion focused on two areas: (1) the comparison of the discourse on science and mathematics by the science, mathematics, and pedagogy content specialists, and (2) the impact of collaboration on the science and mathematics teaching faculty's conversation on science and mathematics. An implication of this study is to promote the analysis of talk as way to inform and direct faculty transformation in science and mathematics teacher education programs. Future research is recommended.     

Adolescents' motivation to select an academic science-related career: the role of school factors,individual interest,and science self-concept

Many researchers consider a lacking interest in science and the students' belief that science is too demanding as major reasons why young people do not strive for science-related careers. In this article, we first delineated a theoretical framework to investigate the importance of interest, self-concept, and school factors regarding students' career preferences. Then, we tested the expected effects on a sample of German 9th-grade students (N = 7,813). We focused on two school factors: the amount of (additional) science activities and the real-life applications in science classes. The multi-level analysis showed that school factors were highly relevant for the students' interest in science and science self-concept. In turn, interest in science and science self-concept affect the students' interest in science-related careers. We conclude that focusing on the link between individual and school characteristics is important for the understanding of students' interest in science-related careers.     

Teacher development through coteaching outdoor science and environmental education across the elementary-middle school transition

Abstract

This study considers the benefits of coteaching in the context of the outdoors. It explores the use of coteaching in a professional development program and investigates all the cited outcome categories for teachers: cognitive, affective, coteaching, and professional development. Coteaching pairs coplanned, cotaught, and coevaluated “Shared Learning Days” in the outdoors. Eight teachers took part with 180 students in their last year of elementary school or their first year of (junior) high school. This article demonstrates how a model of professional development, with coteaching at its core, is beneficial for the development of teachers who are teaching “outside” their comfort zone (outdoors) and expected to focus on skills-based teaching and learning. In particular, the benefits of attitudinal change among the teachers involved is discussed.     

Camila,the earth,and the sun: Constructing an idea as shared intellectual property

Recent research has challenged traditional assumptions that scientific practice and knowledge are essentially individual accomplishments, highlighting instead the social nature of scientific practices, and the co‐construction of scientific knowledge. Similarly, new research paradigms for studying learning go beyond focusing on what is “in the head” of individual students, to study collective practices, distributed cognition, and emergent understandings of groups. These developments require new tools for assessing what it means to learn to “think like a scientist.” Toward this goal, the present case study analyzes the discourse of a 6th‐grade class discussing one student's explanation for seasonal variations in daylight hours. The analysis identifies discourse moves that map to disciplinary practices of the social construction of science knowledge, including (1) beginning an explanation by reviewing the community's shared assumptions; (2) referencing peers' work as warrants for an argument; and (3) building from isolated ideas, attributed to individuals, toward a coherent situation model, attributed to the community. The study then identifies discourse moves through which the proposed explanation was taken up and developed by the group, including (4) using multiple shared representations; (5) leveraging peers' language to clarify ideas; and (6) negotiating language and representations for new, shared explanations. Implications of this case for rethinking instruction, assessment, and classroom research are explored. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47:619–642, 2010     

Making learning interesting and its application to the science classroom

Generations of students are graduating from secondary school disinterested in post-secondary study of science or pursuing careers in science-related fields beyond formal education. We propose that destabilising such disinterest among future students requires science educators to begin listening to secondary school students regarding their views of how science learning is made interesting within the science classroom. Studies on students’ interest in response to instructional strategies applied in the classroom communicate the opinions (i.e. the ‘voice’) of students about the strategies they believe make their classroom learning interesting. To this end, this scoping study (1) collects empirical studies that present from various science and non-science academic domains students’ views about how to make classroom learning interesting; (2) identifies common instructional strategies across these domains that make learning interesting; and (3) forwards an instructional framework called TEDI ([T]ransdisciplinary Connections; Mediated [E]ngagement; Meaningful [D]iscovery; and Self-determined [I]nquiry), which may provide secondary school science teachers with a practical instructional approach for making learning science genuinely interesting among their students within the secondary school science classroom context.     

Mediatizing higher education policies: discourses about quality education in the media

This article presents a critical–political discourse analysis of the media debate over quality assurance in higher education, which occurred in Chile after the 2011 student movement. Students criticized the privatization of higher education and the multiple flaws of this sector, which included corruption scandals during the process of quality assurance certification. After the end of the movement, the government announced a new quality assurance system, triggering public discussion over this issue in the media. The most influential newspapers and educational authorities participated actively in this debate. Through editorials and columns, these education agents constructed quality assurance discursively as a domain for experts, who have to design and administer quality standards for all educational institutions and actions. These procedures regulate and discipline educational practices, but professors and students are excluded from this debate. Thus, this quality assurance discussion reproduces the traditional neoliberal power relations in education and does not problematize the role of education in society.