USING SCIENCE CAMPS TO DEVELOP UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY—TAIWANESE STUDENTS IN A U.S. SUMMER SCIENCE CAMP

Recent years have witnessed a dramatic rise in the number of middle and high school students from Asian countries participating in U.S.-based summer experiences (Perlez &; Gao, 2013). Although summer science camps have been shown to improve students’ attitudes and interests related to science and science learning (Bhattacharyya, Mead &; Nathaniel, School Science and Mathematics 111:345–353, 2011; Fields, International Journal of Science Education 31:151–171, 2009; Gibson &; Chase, Science Education 86:693–705, 2002; Luehmann, International Journal of Science Education 31:1831–1855, 2009), whether there are cognitive gains for visiting students in these short-term experiences is not well understood (Liu &; Lederman, School Science and Mathematics 102:114–123, 2002; Williams, Ma, Prejean, Ford &; Lai, Journal of Research on Technology in Education 40:201–216, 2007). This study explored the efficacy of a U.S. summer science camp to engender improved understandings about scientific inquiry (SI) among a group of gifted Taiwanese students (n = 19) in grades 8 and 9. Participants were completing an 80-h summer science camp at a Midwestern U.S. university. The Views About Scientific Inquiry (VASI) questionnaire (Lederman, Lederman, Bartos, Bartels, Antink Meyer &; Schwartz, Journal of Research in Science Teaching 51:65–83, 2014) was used to capture students’ views before and after camp participation, with modest gains evident for five of the eight aspects of scientific inquiry assessed. These gains were related to scientific investigations beginning with a question, the multiple methods of science, the role of the question in guiding procedures, the distinction between data and evidence, and the combination of data and what is already known in the development of explanations. Implications for the structure of science camps for supporting the development of SI understandings among students from Asian classrooms, and in general, are discussed.

     

Creative Cognition in Secondary Science: An exploration of divergent thinking in science among adolescents

The divergent thinking skills in science of 282 US high school students were investigated across 16 weeks of instruction in order to determine whether typical academic time periods can significantly influence changes in thinking skills. Students’ from 6 high school science classrooms completed the Scientific Structures Creativity Measure (SSCM) before and after a semester of instruction. Even the short time frame of a typical academic term was found to be sufficient to promote both improvements in divergent thinking skills as well as declining divergent thinking. Declining divergent thinking skills were more common in this time frame than were improvements. The nature of student performance on the SSCM and implications are discussed.     

Teachers’ Incorporation of Epistemic Practices in K-8 Engineering and Their Views About the Nature of Engineering Knowledge

Science & Education - The paper reports about a study that examines changes in teachers’ incorporation of epistemic practices in their design of engineering lessons and compares them to...     

Nature of Engineering Knowledge

Science & Education - The inclusion of engineering standards in US science education standards is potentially important because of how limited engineering education for K-12 learners is,...     

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.