Collaborating in the Evolution of a Middle School Science Learning Environment

This study describes a collaborative study involving a teacher and university researcher using learning environment research to transform a middle school science learning environment. Habermas' idea of knowledge constitutive interests (technical, practical, and emancipatory) is used as a perspective to make sense of the learning environment. Student perceptions of science and the nature of science were explored. Classroom observations and student interviews were the primary data sources. Students perceived science as primarily a set of facts to be learned and did not view it as an inquiry method or a social process. Despite the characterization of the course by the teacher and students as hands-on and experimental, technical interests were prevalent. Through negotiation, a plan of action was outlined for recreating the learning environment to make it more practical and emancipatory, as well as more consistent with contemporary perspectives on the nature of science.