Abstract
According to the Next Generation Science Standards, science instructional materials can be efficient as long as they integrate three dimensions: science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts and disciplinary core ideas. However, research investigating the integration of these three dimensions in the content of school science textbooks is particularly limited. The present study aims to propose a framework of analysis and investigate the integration of these three dimensions, in the content of Greek middle-school science textbooks about forces and motion. A total of 61 reports and activities included in these textbooks were analyzed. A framework of analysis called Three-Dimensional Learning Analysis Inventory (3DLAI), which assesses the integration of the three dimensions in the content of school textbooks, was developed. Data analysis showed that only some science and engineering practices, crosscutting concepts and disciplinary core ideas are integrated to a limited extent in the reports and activities of Greek middle-school science textbooks, while their coexistence in them is limited as well.
Highlights
Significant research has been conducted in the last twenty years on the way students learn and on the way science could be taught more effectively (Krajcik et al, 2014; National Research Council (NRC), 2012)
According to the US National Research Council (NRC), “learning is defined as the combination of both knowledge and practice” (NRC, 2012, p. 254)
It is considered necessary that science education be based on three dimensions of science learning (DCIs, science and engineering practices (SEPs), and crosscutting concepts (CCCs))
Summary
Significant research has been conducted in the last twenty years on the way students learn and on the way science could be taught more effectively (Krajcik et al, 2014; NRC, 2012). Science education for students in Greece is not considered satisfactory. In order to improve students’ science learning outcomes, the Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the US National Research Council proposed a new Framework for K-12 Science Education based on three dimensions of science learning: science and engineering practices (SEPs), crosscutting concepts (CCCs) and disciplinary core ideas (DCIs) (NGSS Lead States, 2013; NRC, 2012). Students should engage in SEPs so as to develop and use core ideas and crosscutting concepts in order to explain phenomena and solve problems (Krajcik et al, 2014). It has been emphasized that the three dimensions are not taught separately but should coexist among the teaching goals and the activities used for teaching and assessing students (NRC, 2012)
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