Science Learning Environments Research Articles

Online Verbal Argumentative Interaction (OVAI) in an Online Science Class During the Covid-19 Pandemic

As we begin the third decade of the twenty-first century, argument and debate are not habitual practices of university science education. This can be explained by the hegemony of instructor-centered traditional approaches in many of these practices. The Covid-19 pandemic has not only pushed university education online but also seems to provide an unforeseen opportunity to develop deep educational transformations. Here, we report on the case of a university online science course that, because of the Covid-19 crisis, used online verbal argumentative interaction (OVAI) to provide students with explicit opportunities to co-construct reason-based and/or evidence-based arguments and counterarguments in an undergraduate-centered science learning environment. The written arguments and counterarguments co-constructed by forty students (20 females and 20 males, 19–24 years old) during OVAI sessions were analyzed to determine their quality. Also, students’ opinions about the use of OVAI in times of Covid-19 were documented. The results indicate that the students co-constructed high-quality arguments and counterarguments in the OVAI sessions. Most importantly, participants showed positive impressions about the use of OVAI in university online science education. The outcomes carry important educational implications considering the growing university online science courses in the pandemic and post-pandemic eras.

Doing Inquiry like Scientists: Elementary Students’ Scientific Inquiry in an Untact Online Science Learning Environment

In this study, a scientific inquiry program was developed to allow elementary school students to practice self-directed inquiry, as scientists do, in untact online exploration. This study examined the main characteristics of student exploration that appeared in online scientific inquiry and investigated how students perceived it. For this study, 167 elementary school students from all over Korea participated in an untact online scientific inquiry program. The students explored a total of seven inquiry topics, including ‘Making a strong and beautiful bridge,’ read activity guidance, and conducted inquiry activities for three weeks. As a result of the study, it was found that students positively and actively experience the process of conducting scientific inquiry just ‘like scientists.’ However, many students also expressed frustration and failure to solve a given inquiry problem. The students showed a variety of exploratory processes. Some students tried to explain scientifically why these results and phenomena appear while other students simply repeated trial and error—rather than going through the process of building evidence and justifying their findings by explaining reasonably, they did not think of a better way to solve the problem. Furthermore, the students expressed the deficiencies of the untact online inquiry situation and their regret or difficulty with it. Educational implications for science education are discussed to promote effective online scientific inquiry in untact mode.

Computational Thinking to Learn Environmental Sustainability: A Learning Progression.

Current environmental problems are the primary focus for environmental science students and researchers. Sustainable environmental solutions require interdisciplinary thought processes, which pose difficulty to both students and the public. Computational thinking is an emerging term emphasized by progressive science curricula. Computational thinking and environmental science are both interdisciplinary by nature. Learning about sustainable environmental solutions requires students to partake in computational thinking. These ideas lend toward an expansive learning progression that encourages scaffolded and differentiated student progress in both computational knowledge and environmental knowledge. The learning progression, which emerges from the conceptual framework, emphasizes the spheres of sustainability, research, education, and economic perspectives to support environmental science learning through computational thinking. Computational thinking emphasized by the computational components (input, integration, output, and feedback) support learning about environmental solutions within the learning progression. The learning progression promotes application and implications for educators, students, researchers, and environmental scientists.

Factor Structure and Dimensionality of an Instrument designed to Measure the Metacognitive Orientation of Thai Science Classroom Learning Environments

<p style="text-align:justify">The purpose of this study was to establish the factor structure and dimensionality of the Metacognitive Orientation Learning Environment Scale – Science (MOLES-S) in the Thai context. The metacognitive orientation of a science classroom learning environment is defined as the extent to which psychosocial conditions that are known to enhance students’ metacognition are evident in a specific science classroom. This study builds on earlier work in the research areas of science education, metacognition, and learning environments. A sample of 5418 Thai science students in grades 10 to 12, from 40 schools across Thailand, completed the MOLES-S that had been translated into Thai. Exploratory factor analysis was undertaken and Rasch analysis was used to calibrate the scale and explore its dimensionality. The results suggest that the MOLES-S(T), where (T) represents Thailand, has the same factor structure as the original MOLES-S, is reliable, and can be used with confidence in research into metacognition in Thai high school science classrooms.</p>

High School Students’ Emergent Positions from Science Internships

Learning science in authentic settings, such as science internships in university laboratories, has been suggested as an effective way to enhance students’ scientific knowledge and skills, expand their views on the nature of science inquiry, and inspire them to pursue science careers. However, little research has been done to study how high school students position themselves in science internships while working at the elbows of scientists. According to positioning theory, how students view and position themselves may greatly shape how they participate in educational activities. Thus, the purpose of this ethnographic study was to investigate high school students’ emergent positions from their interactions with scientists in science internships. By analyzing students’ cogenerative dialogues about their internship experiences, we identified ten categories of high school students’ positions that emerged in science internships. Moreover, how each science laboratory team made unique contributions to high school students’ positionalities and how these students positioned themselves during follow-up interviews eight months after their internships were further discussed. Science educators may model classroom environments that can promote and support the positions identified in this study as students learn how to research and experiment to answer scientific questions in an authentic science learning environment.

Growth of critical thinking skills in middle school immersive science learning environments

Modeling the growth of critical thinking (CT) skills is a challenge that has not received much attention, especially among middle school students. There is insufficient evidence to support how CT skills change over time and how covariates may influence the trajectory of these skills among middle school students. This study addressed these issues by modeling CT skills across four years (5th to 8th grade) for middle school students with latent growth curve modeling. We examined whether the trajectory of CT skills is different for boys and girls and related to reading scores. Findings describe how CT growth increases among students during this developmental transition time. Results also show how reading scores relate to initial levels of CT skills in the 5th grade and the growth across time. Implications for future research are discussed.

Development of Internet of Things Based Learning Media Through STEM Investigative Science Learning Environment Approach to Improve Student Learning Outcomes

This study aims to design and implement IoT-based media using the STEM-based ISLE model to improve student learning outcomes. This type of research uses Research and Development with the Dick & Carrey development model. The products produced are teaching aids based on the Internet of Things (IoT), student worksheet, and lesson plan. The IoT-based teaching aids were developed using Long Range Area (LoRa) SX1276, Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+, Arduino Uno, and DHT11 sensors, the data is displayed on the ThingSpeak web which has been integrated with the TTN (The Things Network) web for analysis by students. The results of the validation of teaching aids by media experts showed an average value of 4.20, material experts got an average value of 4.16, and observer teachers 4.83 which showed that the teaching aids were feasible to be applied. Validation was also carried out on student worksheets and lesson plans, the average value of student worksheets validation by media experts showed a value of 4.75, while by material experts 3.99 and by teacher observers 5, therefore student worksheets were feasible to be applied in the learning process, as well as with lesson plans with a validation value of 4.33. The results of the pre and post-test student learning outcomes showed an increase in the completeness of 70%. These results indicate that IoT-based media and products developed are feasible to be applied and can improve student learning outcomes in the learning process.

“What if We Explore…” Promoting Engaged Learning and Collaboration with MOUNTAIN RESCUE

Background According to the Committee on STEM Education, K-12 science students need access to learning experiences that promote collaboration and engagement. To fill that void, we need to develop activities that stimulate engaged learning and scaffold effective collaboration. K-12 teacher candidates see value in utilizing games for this purpose. Specifically, tabletop science games can help teachers engage students in science learning and scaffold collaboration. Aim For this study, we designed a collaborative, STEM-themed card game called MOUNTAIN RESCUE and explored its capacity to promote engaged learning and collaboration. Method Four groups of STEM campers (n = 14) in a suburban Mid-Atlantic region played MOUNTAIN RESCUE. All groups had a mix of boys and girls. Play-testers ranged from 10–13 years old. The tabletop game took approximately 30-minutes. During gameplay, players embodied unique STEM roles: physicist, chemist, structural engineer, and electrical engineer. They collaborated to solve challenges related to electricity, physics, chemistry, and engineering design. Discourse was audio-recorded throughout gameplay. Immediately after gameplay, self-report survey data were collected to assess flow and perceptions of collaborative learning. Results Findings demonstrated that the game promoted engagement and collaboration. Specifically, students had a flow-like experience and felt positively about the game's value for collaborative learning. Utterances demonstrating active engagement and constructive thinking became more group-focused over time. Conclusion This study contributes to science education by demonstrating potential benefits of a well-designed, low-tech, science learning environment or—in other words—a tabletop game.

The Relationship between Middle School Students’ Learning Environment Perceptions and Achievement Goals in Science

This study examined the reciprocal relationship between students’ perceptions of science learning environment, measured through promoting choice, interaction and mutual respect, and teacher feedback, and students’ achievement goals of mastery-approach and performance-approach goals. A total of 407 sixth and eighth grade students participated in the study. Canonical analysis showed that perceived learning environment variables and approach goal orientations were reciprocally and positively related. According to the results, all the dimensions of learning environment perceptions were related to students’ approach goals. For example, students who perceive right to share the control in tasks in science classroom, tend to adopt approach goals

The Relationship between Middle School Students’ Learning Environment Perceptions and Achievement Goals in Science

This study examined the reciprocal relationship between students’ perceptions of science learning environment, measured through promoting choice, interaction and mutual respect, and teacher feedback, and students’ achievement goals of mastery-approach and performance-approach goals. A total of 407 sixth and eighth grade students participated in the study. Canonical analysis showed that perceived learning environment variables and approach goal orientations were reciprocally and positively related. According to the results, all the dimensions of learning environment perceptions were related to students’ approach goals. For example, students who perceive right to share the control in tasks in science classroom, tend to adopt approach goals

Grade 10 Students’ Perception of Learning Environment: Prospects for K to12 Science Teaching Enhancement

Creating a positive psychosocial learning environment (PsLE) that holistically considers the learners’ needs is vital to optimizing learning productivity in Science. This study investigates the Science learning environment as perceived by the students in actual Science classes. Anchored on the three PsLE dimensions namely: relationship, personal development, and systems maintenance and change, it tracks for alignment of the current Science teaching and learning practices to the expectations of the Kto12 Science curriculum standards. A survey method was done to gather the students’ perception ratings based on a 5-point Likert scale (with 5 as most indicative) using the adapted established learning environment instruments, namely, the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey, the Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire, and the Science Laboratory Environment Inventory. The data was collected from 105 Grade 10 students in one of the provinces in Central Visayas, Philippines, and treated statistically using descriptive statistics to get the mean percentage score and standard deviation. Results showed a high perception rating of the scales in the relationship dimension with a mean perception score (MPS = 3.7, SD= 0.36) and least in the personal development dimension. The specific scales that are of low perception include independence, open-endedness, shared control, and differentiation. These findings bear implications for potential interventions for the improvement of Kto12 Science teaching. Re-tooling the teachers with professional development training is a practical move that can be undertaken by the school leadership. Some concrete teaching practices anchored on the PsLE framework are discussed for the enhancement of Kto12 Science teaching.

The Experiences of Undergraduates with Depression in Online Science Learning Environments.

Depression is one of the top mental health concerns among undergraduates and disproportionately affects students who are underrepresented in science. As such, understanding how emerging science learning environments, such as online science courses, affect students with depression is integral to creating a more inclusive scientific community. In this exploratory study, we interviewed 24 undergraduates with depression who were pursuing an online BS degree in biological sciences at a research-intensive institution. We assessed how students perceived depression affected their learning, and in turn, how online science courses affected their depression. Using a hybrid approach of deductive and inductive coding, we found that students reported depression negatively affected an array of cognitive domains when learning science online, including students’ effort, focus, and time management. Students reported that the fast pace of online courses, the lack of needing to show up to a class in person, and difficulty developing relationships with other students commonly exacerbated their depression. Conversely, the flexibility of completing course work when and where students wanted, developing a relationship with the instructor, and the ease of having questions answered online positively affected students’ depression. This study provides insight into ways to create inclusive online learning environments for students with depression.

Comparing students’ flow states during apparatus-based versus video-based lab activities

This paper presents a study comparing physics students experimenting with physical apparatus (the apparatus group) versus students conducting the same experiments using videos of those experiments in place of the physical apparatus (the video group). In our study, we compare the results of an attitudinal survey designed to examine students’ mental states and sense of engagement with the material. In terms of the eight-channel flow model, we found that students who conduct design labs structured according to the Investigative Science Learning Environment mostly found themselves located in the productive learning zones of arousal, flow and control. We also found a small but consistent difference between the apparatus and video groups: in the video group there were slightly more students who were in the less productive zones of worry and anxiety, reflective of feelings of low skillfulness combined with a sense that the task was very challenging. We discuss the implications of these findings for the design of scaffolded inquiry tasks such as ISLE design labs in new virtual environments. We suggest that such activities, performed in virtual learning environments, may require different levels and types of scaffolding compared with the same activities performed in the in-person classroom with physical apparatus.

Study of ISLE-BASED STEM Approaches and Models in Its Use for Teacher Professionalism Development in Geometric Optical Case Studies

21st century learning emphasizes that information and knowledge are obtained together with good communication and cooperation among fellow students in building their knowledge. One of the appropriate learning models and approaches to be applied in accordance with 21st century learning is the Investigative Science Learning Environment (ISLE) combined with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). This study uses the Research and development (R & D) method with the ADDIE (Analysis-Design-Develop-Implement-Evaluate) model. The product developed in this study is ISLE-based STEM learning media in the form of Student Worksheets on Geometry Optics material and the relationship between ISLE-based STEM learning and Teacher Professionalism Development is reviewed

Changes and Sources of Changes of Middle School Teachers’ Self-efficacy for Teaching Science in A Computationally Rich Environment: A Mixed-Methods Study

ABSTRACT The inclusion of computational thinking (CT) into science curricula has advocated implementing a computationally rich science learning environment where students learn science via building models in a computer programming platform. Such an approach may influence teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching science which may also be associated with their self-efficacy for teaching CT. Framed using Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory, this study investigated the changes and sources of changes of Indonesian teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching science and CT and looking at whether the two constructs are correlated. A total of eleven Indonesian middle school science teachers (seven in-service and four pre-service) participated in a CT-integrated science instruction workshop. They then implemented the curriculum they learned and obtained from the workshop in their classrooms. The teachers took questionnaires on science and CT teaching efficacy beliefs four times: before and after the workshop and before and after they taught. As a follow-up, interviews and writing reflections were collected after they took the instruments. Skillings-Mack and repeated-measures correlation tests were run on the quantitative data, and the qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Results from quantitative analyses revealed a pattern of increasing teachers’ self-efficacy for teaching science and CT in a computationally rich environment over the administrations of the instrument. Thematic analysis showed three sources of teachers’ self-efficacy: computer programming experience, students’ interests, and teaching repetition and field experience. This study calls attention to the importance of providing experience for teachers to teach science in a computationally rich environment, whether through professional development or teacher education programs.

Instructor Perceptions of Student Incivility in the Online Undergraduate Science Classroom.

ABSTRACTStudent incivility, defined as a student behavior perceived to be disrespectful or disruptive to the overall learning environment in a course, can negatively affect the science learning environment and instructors. The transition to online science courses during the COVID-19 pandemic created a unique environment for student incivility to take place in undergraduate courses. There are few studies that examine student incivility in online synchronous courses, and we know of no studies that have investigated student incivility during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we surveyed 283 instructors across U.S. institutions who taught undergraduate science courses with synchronous online components. We probed their experiences with student incivility during the fall 2020 term. Over half of instructors surveyed reported experiencing student incivility, with women being more likely than men to report student incivility. Compared with white instructors, people of color were more likely to perceive an increase in student incivility in fall 2020 relative to previous in-person terms. This work indicates that student incivility is perceived in the online synchronous learning environment and that the negative impacts of perceived student incivility during COVID-19 online instruction were not distributed equally among instructors, disproportionately burdening women and people of color.

Online Community and Citizen Science supports environmental science learning by young people

Community and citizen science in online settings could be seen as a means for young people to engage with and contribute to authentic science. Yet, there is a limited understanding of who takes part in citizen science among young people, what they learn, and through which processes, particularly in online settings. In this exploratory study, we analysed 34 in-depth interviews and log files of young people aged 11–19 years old who took part in citizen science projects, hosted on the Zooniverse platform. Data analysis suggested that participation in online citizen science can bring environmental science learning benefits to young people, with some participants reporting evidence of agency with science, highlighted by taking action to do science in another context. Many participating youth exhibited substantial previous science experiences that helped them to take part and learn from citizen science projects. Considering findings from this study, we present a first working framework of how environmental science learning is enabled or hindered by certain types of participation, as a means to guide the design of online citizen science for young people. We recommend that the future project design, publicity and recruitment in online citizen science activities explicitly target the needs and interests of young people with diverse characteristics and competencies to truly open science to all.

Determining the Mental Images of Fourth Grade Private and Public School Students for Science Learning Environments by Drawing Technique

The study aims to examine fourth-grade private and public-school students’ images of the science learning environment using their drawings. The survey was conducted in the 2017-2018 academic year, and a descriptive survey model was used. Participant group of this study consist of 357 fourth-grade students. In this study, data were collected by drawing technique. Content analysis, percentage, frequency, and Chi-Square test of independence were used in data analysis. Regarding the study results, although the learning environment in both schools consists of traditional classrooms and laboratories, differences were observed in student drawings according to school type (public-private). The private school students use the laboratory in science lessons, whereas the students in the public school use the teacher's desk as the experiment table. Another significant result of the study is that public-school students' priority is understanding the topic. In contrast, private school students assign more importance to the materials. Regarding the independence test results, Founding student behavior, teacher behavior, teacher position, and teaching method to differ in student images according to school type. But no found a significant difference between the place theme images of public school and private school students

Investigating the Relationship of Gifted Students’ Perceptions Regarding Science Learning Environment and Motivation for Science Learning with their Intellectual Risk Taking and Science Achievement

The purpose of this research was to examine relationship between the eighth-grade gifted students’ perceptions of science learning environment constructive learning environment perception (CLEP) and their motivations motivation to learn science (MLS) to learn science with their intellectual risk-taking (IRT) and science achievement (SA). For this purpose, the predictive research method was chosen. The sample consisted of 133 8th grade gifted students in Science and Art Centers in nine provinces of Turkey. The data collectioninstruments involved “IRT Scale,” “Motivational Strategies for Learning Questionnaire,” “Constructivist Learning Environment Scale,” and “SA Test.” In the research, path analysis was used to determine causal relationships between these variables. As a result of the analyzes, it was determined that CLEP predicted IRT and SA, MLS significantly predicted IRT in learning science and SA and IRT in learning science predicted SA. The findings were discussed by considering their importance for teaching and learning science in gifted education context.

Implementation of Virtual Training: The Example of a Faculty of Computer Science during COVID-19 for Sustainable Development in Engineering Education

Research on faculty engagement in computer science and e-learning environments is limited. Students in computer science majors and courses often cite the lack of engagement of their faculty as a reason for their decision to switch majors, drop out or perform poorly. With the shift to e-learning associated with the current global pandemic, reports of faculty engagement across countries and higher education systems converged to indicate a reduced level of interactivity. Using a cross-sectional sample of 39 lecturers and professors from a southern public university in Saudi Arabia, this manuscript documents empirically the low levels of computer science faculty engagement during the 2020 spring semester (March–May). The study found support for the hypotheses linking higher levels of empathetic instruction, an exhibition of exemplary performance traits, utilization of community building strategies and use of storytelling and students’ engagement. The study also found that many faculties need immediate and significant training on making their online instruction more interactive and exciting. Theoretically, the evidence presented confirms the importance of faculty engagement as the main predictor of desirable students’ outcomes across e-learning, as well as computer science learning environments.