“Maestro,what is ‘quality’?”: Language,literacy, and discourse in project‐based science

Recent curriculum design projects have attempted to engage students in authentic science learning experiences in which students engage in inquiry‐based research projects about questions of interest to them. Such a pedagogical and curricular approach seems an ideal space in which to construct what Lee and Fradd referred to as instructional congruence. It is, however, also a space in which the everyday language and literacy practices of young people intersect with the learning of scientific and classroom practices, thus suggesting that project‐based pedagogy has the potential for conflict or confusion. In this article, we explore the discursive demands of project‐based pedagogy for seventh‐grade students from non‐mainstream backgrounds as they enact established project curricula. We document competing Discourses in one project‐based classroom and illustrate how those Discourses conflict with one another through the various texts and forms of representation used in the classroom and curriculum. Possibilities are offered for reconstructing this classroom practice to build congruent third spaces in which the different Discourses and knowledges of the discipline, classroom, and students' lives are brought together to enhance science learning and scientific literacy. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 469–498, 2001     

Neurocognitive and Temperamental Systems of Self‐Regulation and Early Adolescents’ Social and Academic Outcomes

ABSTRACT— The aim of the current study was to examine the role of individual differences in neurocognitive and temperamental systems of self‐regulation in early adolescents’ social and academic competence. Measures used in the study included the Attention Network Test, the Early Adolescence Temperament Questionnaire, a peer‐reported Social Status Questionnaire, a self‐reported measure of Schooling Skills, and information on grades obtained by the students in a variety of school subjects (n= 69 12‐year olds). Results showed that efficiency of the neurocognitive network of executive attention is related to academic outcomes, particularly in mathematics, as well as to aspects of social adjustment. Temperamental effortful control appears to be a significant predictor of all dimensions of school competence assessed in this study and mediates the relationship between social adjustment and poor schooling outcomes. These data suggest that individual differences in systems of self‐regulation are central to understanding processes of learning and social adjustment in the school.