Positioning as not‐understanding: The value of showing uncertainty for engaging in science

Not understanding is central to scientific work: what scientists do is learn about the natural world, which involves seeking out what they do not know. In classrooms, however, the position of not‐understanding is generally a liability; confusion is an unfortunate condition to resolve as quickly as possible, or to conceal. In this article, we argue that students' public displays of uncertainty or confusion can be pivotal contributions to the classroom dynamics in initiating and sustaining a class's science inquiry. We present this as a central finding from a cross‐case analysis of eight episodes of students' scientific engagement, drawing on literature on framing to show how participants positioned themselves as not‐understanding and how that was consequential for the class's scientific engagement. We show how participants enacted this positioning by asking questions or expressing uncertainty around a phenomenon or model. We then analyze how participants' displays of not‐understanding shaped the conceptual, epistemic, and social aspects of classroom activity. We present two cases in detail: one in which a student's positioning helped initiate the class's scientific engagement and another in which it helped sustain it. We argue that this work motivates considering how to help students learn to embrace and value the role of expressing one's confusion in science.     

Excitatory and inhibitory effects of free reinforcers

Rats’ responding was maintained on a random-interval 1-min food schedule. In addition, non-contingent pellets were delivered, independently of the animals’ behavior, at either fixed intervals (Experiment 1) or at random intervals (Experiment 2). As the rate of delivery of the periodic and aperiodic free reinforcers increased, the rate of responding decreased. But these free reinforcers, in addition to having this inhibitory effect, had also a local excitatory effect upon responding: lever-pressing increased to a level above its mean rate following the delivery of a free food pellet. The time course of this behavioral aftereffect of free reinforcers, for both fixed and random intervals, was dependent upon the proportion of the interval between successive free food deliveries. The relation of these results to those obtained with response-contingent reinforcement, free punishment, and in schedule-induced phenomena is discussed.     

Science Teachers’ Misconceptions in Science and Engineering Distinctions: Reflections on Modern Research Examples

The aim of this exploratory study was to learn about the misconceptions that may arise for elementary and high school science teachers in their reflections on science and engineering practice. Using readings and videos of real science and engineering work, teachers’ reflections were used to uncover the underpinnings of their understandings. This knowledge ultimately provides information about supporting professional development (PD) for science teachers’ knowledge of engineering. Six science teachers (two elementary and four high school teachers) participated in the study as part of an online PD experience. Cunningham and Carlsen’s (Journal of Science Teacher Education 25:197–210, 2014) relative emphases of science and engineering practices were used to frame the design of PD activities and the analyses of teachers’ views. Analyses suggest misconceptions within the eight practices of science and engineering from the US Next Generation Science Standards in four areas. These are that: (1) the nature of the practices in both science and engineering research is determined by the long-term implications of the research regardless of the nature of the immediate work, (2) engineering and science are hierarchical, (3) creativity is inappropriate, and (4) research outcomes cannot be processes. We discuss the nature of these understandings among participants and the implications for engineering education PD for science teachers.     

Learning outside the laboratory: Ability and non-ability influences on acquiring political knowledge

The purpose of this study was to identify sources of individual differences in knowledge acquired under natural conditions. Through its direct influence on background knowledge, crystallized intelligence (Gc) had a major impact on political knowledge, acquired over a period of more than 2 months, but there were independent influences of personality and interest factors, via exposure to political information through activities like reading the newspaper. We also found sex differences in political knowledge, favoring males, and these differences could not be explained in terms of any of the predictor variables we modeled. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of the results.     

A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration of Intrinsic Problems in Designing Inquiry Activities

A central concern in science education is promoting inquiry activities, and a significant amount of research in science education has addressed what inhibits this goal. However, this research has tended to be focused on implementation issues. Levels of implementation are correlated with extrinsic barriers such as time, resources and teacher knowledge, but the internal structure of inquiry remains unexamined. However, are there also some ways in which inquiry based instruction is intrinsically difficult? That is, given perfect conditions for implementation, is devising inquiry activities a non-trivial matter, and are there patterns to the difficulties in doing so? The aim of this paper is to provide both a theoretical and empirical basis for the intrinsic problems associated with the construction of inquiry activities. We present a theoretical framework that connects contemporary studies of science to the classroom context. We then examine a case study of teacher education students designing inquiry-based instruction to demonstrate empirical evidence of intrinsic problems. Our ultimate goal is to improve our ability as teacher educators to guide science teachers in fulfilling this central task of their work.     

A third use of sociology of scientific knowledge: a lens for studying teacher practice

Over the last two decades, science educators and science education researchers have grown increasingly interested in utilising insights from the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK) to inform their work and research. To date, researchers in science education have focused on two applications: results of sociological studies of science have been used to define new areas of content, generally referred to as Nature of Science (NOS). This has included research into students’ understanding of the NOS, teachers’ understanding of the NOS, and inclusion (or exclusion) of NOS themes in curricula. A second vein of inquiry has been investigations that consider the classroom as a microcosm of scientific discourse and inquiry. Such research has included investigations of student‐to‐student and student‐to‐teacher interactions. In this paper, we present a third application for educational research – the investigation of teacher knowledge and practice as sociological phenomena. In addition to supporting scholarly research, we believe it can be a useful tool for illuminating the complexities of teaching that needs to be taken into account by policy makers and practitioners. In this paper, we provide a thematic review of concepts from the sociology of scientific knowledge, and their application to a case of teacher work.     

COGNITIVE STYLE AND THE OLDER LEARNER

Cognitive style is an attempt to understand behavior based on the characteristic modes of perceptual and intellectual functioning. Of the several conceptualizations of cognitive style, field‐dependence‐independence is used to develop categories of teachers and learners. Because older persons tend to have a dependent cognitive style, both theory and research indicate that group‐oriented approaches incorporating discussion, informality, supportiveness, and emphasizing humanistic‐social science content are likely to produce the most effective learning. Although most instruction of older persons is already oriented in this direction, research on cognitive style indicates a theoretical approach to designing more effective teaching and learning for this group.     

El papel del lenguaje en la formación de procesos mentales

RESUMEN

Una de las proposiciones básicas de la Psicología Soviética es señalar la función básica del lenguaje en el desarrollo intelectual. El lenguaje es el factor excepcional que reorganiza la percepción y da forma a la actividad mental del niño. Además es un medio de síntesis y análisis de la realidad, por lo que se convierte en regulador de la propia conducta. Durante tres décadas los psicólogos soviéticos han estudiado el desarrollo mental conectándolo con el desarrollo del lenguaje. Otras líneas de investigación se han centrado en los cambios producidos en el sistema nervioso con la adquisición del sistema lingúístico y las consecuencias del desarrollo anormal en deficientes mentales y sordomudos sobre el desarrollo. Finalmente se describe la evolución del lenguaje en dos gemelos evaluándose la influencia formativa del lenguaje sobre los procesos mentales.