Meaningful Science Learning Research Articles

Enhancing Research Papers into Effective Teaching and Meaningful Learning in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa

Ensuring the growth of effective science education across the African continent is of significant importance to addressing global issues in health, agriculture, economic development and environmental sustainability. There is now a significant number of researchers in science education for African contexts as universities proliferate across Africa and African postgraduate students study across the globe. While the challenges facing science education in Africa are many, an important strategy for supporting quality enhancement in teacher development and curriculum development is the provision of sound research into what works in the resource-restricted educational environments of Africa. The ten papers in this Special Issue address a wide range of range of topics in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education (MSTE) in Africa. Several papers focus on teacher development so that teaching strategies can engage students in meaningful learning. As these studies show, learning activities for students of all ages need to be designed so that they immerse students in interactive, authentic scenarios. There can be no shortcuts. It is time that MSTE world-wide focused on this principle. Let me be quite clear: There is ample research evidence that a factory model of education is inefficient and minimally effective. If we want to use precious resources wisely, educational policy needs to focus on teacher development and curriculum development to produce learning environments where students are enthused by learning and can achieve the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will enable them to contribute to the myriad of problems facing countries in Africa and the entire globe. This requires a genuinely transformational approach to conceptualizing education systems, physical designs for schools, initial teacher education and ongoing teacher development. The world cannot afford to waste resources by perpetuating existing outmoded models for schooling and teacher education. I am grateful to colleagues world-wide who acted as peer reviewers for the Special Issue. This form of collegial service is often insufficiently recognized and yet it is the backbone of a global academic community. I am also deeply appreciative of the work of the editorial team of the EURASIA Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education who have worked with the authors and myself to produce this Special Issue. Finally, my heartfelt thanks to all the authors whose dedication to the refinement of their research has been done willingly and with diligence. This collection is presented in the firm belief that it will be a useful resource for teachers, teacher educators and policy makers, as well as supporting further research on MSTE in Africa and elsewhere.

Understanding science teaching effectiveness: examining how science-specific and generic instructional practices relate to student achievement in secondary science classrooms

ABSTRACTIn order to create conditions for students’ meaningful and rigorous intellectual engagement in science classrooms, it is critically important to help science teachers learn which strategies and approaches can be used best to develop students’ scientific literacy. Better understanding how science teachers’ instructional practices relate to student achievement can provide teachers with beneficial information about how to best engage their students in meaningful science learning. To address this need, this study examined the instructional practices that 99 secondary biology teachers used in their classrooms and employed regression to determine which instructional practices are predictive of students’ science achievement. Results revealed that the secondary science teachers who had well-managed classroom environments and who provided opportunities for their students to engage in student-directed investigation-related experiences were more likely to have increased student outcomes, as determined by teachers’ value-added measures. These findings suggest that attending to both generic and subject-specific aspects of science teachers’ instructional practice is important for understanding the underlying mechanisms that result in more effective science instruction in secondary classrooms. Implications about the use of these observational measures within teacher evaluation systems are discussed.

Student Motivation in Science Subjects in Tanzania, Including Students’ Voices

Fostering and maintaining students’ interest in science is an important aspect of improving science learning. The focus of this paper is to listen to and reflect on students’ voices regarding the sources of motivation for science subjects among students in community secondary schools with contextual challenges in Tanzania. We conducted a group-interview study of 46 Form 3 and Form 4 Tanzanian secondary school students. The study findings reveal that the major contextual challenges to student motivation for science in the studied schools are limited resources and students’ insufficient competence in the language of instruction. Our results also reveal ways to enhance student motivation for science in schools with contextual challenges; these techniques include the use of questioning techniques and discourse, students’ investigations and practical work using locally available materials, study tours, more integration of classroom science into students’ daily lives and the use of real-life examples in science teaching. Also we noted that students’ contemporary life, culture and familiar language can be utilised as a useful resource in facilitating meaningful learning in science in the school. Students suggested that, to make science interesting to a majority of students in a Tanzanian context, science education needs to be inclusive of students’ experiences, culture and contemporary daily lives. Also, science teaching and learning in the classroom need to involve learners’ voices.

Teaching Creativity Through Inquiry Science

The experience that students gain through creative thinking contributes to their readiness for the 21st century. For this and other reasons, educators have always considered creative thinking as a desirable part of any curriculum. The focus of this article is on teaching creative thinking in K-12 science as a way to serve all students and, especially, creatively gifted students. The premise is that teaching creativity through science is a good learning motivator and can lead to more meaningful science learning. Included is a model for teaching creative thinking through science with examples that show how a teacher can, at a minimum, start with an established series of inquiry lessons and incorporate more creative thinking. It is hoped that teachers with this experience can begin to include more creative aspects in the curriculum at the initial planning stages.

How Does Science Learning Occur in the Classroom? Students’ Perceptions of Science Instruction During the Implementation of the REAPS Model

In this qualitative study the researchers explored children’s perceptions of their participation in a science class in which an elementary science curriculum, the Full Option Science System (FOSS), was combined with an innovative teaching model, Real Engagement in Active Problem Solving (REAPS). The children were capable of articulating views about their learning experiences during science classes. Meaningful experiences with deep levels of engagement were those that involved hands-on activities, such as experiments, provided by the FOSS curriculum; and problem-solving and model building, which were components of the REAPS model. Students’ perceptions demonstrated in their drawings were similar to their interviews, which were evidence of their meaningful science learning experiences. Incorporating students’ voices, as a type of feedback for teaching and learning, is important for teachers and practitioners; innovative pedagogical models contribute to meaningful and long-lasting science learning.

Do Projects in Information Systems Design Really Facilitate Meaningful Learning in Computer Science in High School?

Do Projects in Information Systems Design Really Facilitate Meaningful Learning in Computer Science in High School?

An exploratory study of informed engineering design behaviors associated with scientific explanations

Design and science inquiry are intertwined during engineering practice. In this study, we examined the relationship between design behaviors and scientific explanations. Data on student design processes were collected as students engaged in a project on designing energy-efficient buildings on a blank square city block surrounded by existing buildings using a computer-aided design program, Energy3D, with built-in solar energy simulation capabilities. We used criterion sampling to select two highly reflective students among 63 high school students. The main data sources were design replays (automatic playback of student design sequences within the CAD software) and electronic notes taken by the students. We identified evidence of informed design such as problem framing, idea fluency, and balancing benefits and trade-offs. Opportunities for meaningful science learning through engineering design occurred when students attempted to balance design benefits and trade-offs. The results suggest that design projects used in classrooms should emphasize trade-off analysis and include time and resources for supporting trade-off decisions through experimentation and reflection. Future research should explore ways to visualize patterns of design behavior based on large samples of students.

O recurso à modelação no ensino das ciências: um estudo com modelos geológicos

Tendo como base as temáticas de geologia do currículo da disciplina de Biologia e Geologia do 11º ano (amplitude de idades dos 15-17 anos), desenvolveu-se um estudo de investigação recorrendo-se à Aprendizagem Baseada na Resolução de Problemas (ABRP), utilizando-se a modelação como estratégia didática. Pretendendo-se investigar se a modelação potenciava aprendizagens significativas nos alunos, implementou-se um programa de intervenção recorrendo-se a modelos geológicos durante cinco semanas (24 horas letivas). A investigação realizada, apoiada nos moldes de uma Investigação e Desenvolvimento (I&D), recorreu à triangulação metodológica suportada em várias técnicas e diversos instrumentos de recolha de dados. A modelação permitiu envolver os alunos numa crescente formulação de explicações e de hipóteses e numa maior procura de explicações para responder às questões-problema. Os dados recolhidos permitiram, ainda, concluir quanto ao acréscimo da recolha de evidências num aperfeiçoamento da autonomia e numa melhoria dos resultados escolares.

Relations of Cognitive and Motivational Variables with Students’ Human Circulatory System Achievement in Traditional and Learning Cycle Classrooms

AbstractThis study is aimed at investigating the relationships among students' relevant prior knowledge, meaningful learning orientation, reasoning ability, self-efficacy, locus of control, attitudes toward biology and achievement with the human circulatory system (HCS) usi ng the learning cycle (LC) and the traditional classroom setting. The study was conducted with two teachers and four classes for a total of 60 11th grade students from high school. One class for each teacher was assigned as an experimental group and treated with 5E LC instruction and the other class was assigned as a control group and treated with traditional instruction (TI). The Human Circulatory System Achievement Test (HCSACT) was administered twice as a pre-test and after the treatment period, as a post-test to both the experimental and control groups. The Learning Approach Questionnaire, Test of Logical Thi nking, Self- Efficacy Scale, Locus of Control Scale and Attitude toward Biology Scale were also administered to all students. The results indicated that the LC improved students' achievement in the HCSACT compared to TI. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that in the learning cycle classrooms, the main predictors of achievement on the HCSACT were students' reasoning ability (45.8%) and their prior knowledge (15.9%). In traditional classrooms, students' meaningful learning orientation (40%) and locus of control (9.8%) were the main predictors of achievement.KeywordsCognitive Variables, Human Circulatory System, Motivation, Learning Cycle.Ozlem SADIaResearch offers alternative strategies to improve meaningful learning in science. To promote meaningful learning, students can be encouraged to transfer theoretical knowledge into practical applications and to make connections between their pre-knowledge and new knowledge (Ausubel, 1963; Novak, 2002). The inquiry-based learning model has had a great influence on students' meaningful learning, and the model is one of the active learning models which includes not only asking question but also investigating, analyzing, and discussing subjects.The inquiry process encourages students to be active learners. Otherwise, rote learning occurs and several units and concepts can become unfamiliar and difficult to remember for students. Researchers state that rote learning leads to less understanding of scientific concepts and also generates misconceptions concerning those concepts (Williams & Cavallo, 1995). Especially in biology, the topics or concepts in each unit are closely related with each other, the human circulatory system being among such topics. According to the research, major concepts of the circulatory system which students do not fully understand are the structure and function of the human cardiovascular system, pumping mechanism of the heart, circulatory/respiratory relationships, systemic/ pulmonary circulation, closed circulation, type of blood vessels, homeostasis, and the blood flow rate (Alkhawaldeh, 2007; Arnaudin & Mintzes, 1985; Kwen, 2005; Sungur, Tekkaya & Geban, 2001; Windschitl, 2001; Yip, 1998). Students should connect each circulatory system concept with each other in a meaningful way in order to recognize better other biological concepts such as the digestive system, immune system and respiratory system (Alkhawaldeh, 2007).Research on the Learning CycleOver the years, most of the educational research studies have presented different learning approaches to support meaningful learning in science. One of them is the learning cycle, an inquiry-based teaching strategy derived from Piaget's model of mental functioning. The learning cycle can be defined as an instructional model based on constructivist epistemology that promotes conceptual change.There have been many studies carried out to assess the effectiveness of the learning cycle (Atay & Tekkaya, 2008; Balci, Cakiroglu & Tekkaya, 2006; Lee, 2003; Ates, 2005; Temel, Yilmaz, & Ozgur, 2013; Yadav & Mishra, 2013). …

Science Learning Affordances in Preschool Environments

THIS PAPER REPORTS ON the findings of a study into the perceived everyday science practices occurring within an early childhood centre in a southern part of Australia. In drawing upon cultural-historical theory, the study maps the possibilities for everyday science learning through photographic documentation (n = 223) and through undertaking a science walk with an early childhood teacher in order to establish how the environment was perceived for creating opportunities for science learning (planned or otherwise). The results foreground: science within the constant traditional areas within the preschool, building science infrastructure into the centre, and using science in everyday life in the centre. The findings show the importance of a sciencing attitude on the part of the teacher for affording meaningful science learning for preschool children.

Strategies of Teaching Science Using an Inquiry based Science Education (IBSE) by Novice Chemistry Teachers

Teaching Science is not about preparing students for a world that is static and fixed, but it concerns getting students ready to cope with changes and challenges in their lives. Traditional direct instruction in Science generally focuses on mastery of content with less emphasis on the development of scientific skills and attitudes; students are the receivers while the teacher the dispenser. In most classroom contexts, teachers are preoccupied with academic activities in pursuit of the schools’ successes; often in the form of their students gaining as many A's as possible. This scenario does not help students learn in a meaningful manner. This study specifically examines how meaningful science learning could be achieved via the introduction of an inquiry-based Science teaching approach. Three trainee teachers who underwent their teaching practice In Semester 2 2011/2012 session participated in the study. The study employed qualitative research design whereby data were mainly obtained through interview and document analysis in the form of lesson plans and reflective journal. Occasional observations on the way the trainee teachers apply the inquiry-based teaching strategies and model exposed to and taught in the Science Teaching Method course they took in the previous semester were also noted. The findings revealed that the inquiry-based teaching strategies employed were able to stimulate excitement among students when learning science. The ZYL teaching model was also proposed at the end of the study. This proposed teaching model summarizes the strategies of inquiry discovery in Science Education that can be adapted in science teaching process

Learning progressions as a guide for developing meaningful science learning: A new framework for old ideas

The development of learning progressions is one approach for creating the types of coherent curriculum frameworks that have been identified as predictors for high-performing scores on international stem assessments. We have developed a learning progression that describes how secondary students may build more sophisticated understanding of the structure, properties, and behavior of matter, and that also outlines the connections and relationships among ideas needed to develop more expert understanding. We used data collected from 82 individual interviews with secondary students and from assessments administered to 4000 Us middle school students to characterize how learners select and apply ideas to explain a range of transformation of matter phenomena. We found that most students relied on a limited set of ideas in their explanations, but that with the proper support, even middle school students were able to appropriately integrate ideas involving the structure of matter, conservation, interactions, and energy to provide mechanistic explanations of transformation phenomena.

Effective Science Learning through Restructuring and Reconstruction from the Knowledge Soup

Authentic and meaningful science learning can be achieved when students are given the opportunity to organize, reorganize and restructure their learning from the knowledge soup. This is the focus of this paper that investigated how the performance of undergraduate science students could be enhanced when they construct and monitor their own learning individually and in team. It was a case study of 22 integrated science students’ learning of Organic Compounds I and II courses, facilitated and monitored in two semesters. The students were assigned specific tasks individually on the course outlines which they presented one after the other in two hours’ lectures a week that lasted for 12 weeks in the first semester. In the second semester, tasks were assigned on team (5 groups of 4 or 5) basis and were presented as projects and seminars on power points followed by discussion and interactive sessions two hours a week for another 12 weeks. Instruments for data collection included the moderated semester examination questions with marking schemes, class assignments and tests which assessed the depth of individual and team works, skills of presentation and quality of contributions to class discussions. The analysis of data revealed good performances in the two semesters but a better one during the second semester when the students worked in teams. Appropriate conclusion was drawn and recommendations made. This study calls for reawakening of learners’ initiated, student-centered pedagogy which is gradually fading away in our science classrooms.

Effective Science Learning through Restructuring and Reconstruction from the Knowledge Soup

Authentic and meaningful science learning can be achieved when students are given the opportunity to organize, reorganize and restructure their learning from the knowledge soup. This is the focus of this paper that investigated how the performance of undergraduate science students could be enhanced when they construct and monitor their own learning individually and in team. It was a case study of 22 integrated science students’ learning of Organic Compounds I and II courses, facilitated and monitored in two semesters. The students were assigned specific tasks individually on the course outlines which they presented one after the other in two hours’ lectures a week that lasted for 12 weeks in the first semester. In the second semester, tasks were assigned on team (5 groups of 4 or 5) basis and were presented as projects and seminars on power points followed by discussion and interactive sessions two hours a week for another 12 weeks. Instruments for data collection included the moderated semester examination questions with marking schemes, class assignments and tests which assessed the depth of individual and team works, skills of presentation and quality of contributions to class discussions. The analysis of data revealed good performances in the two semesters but a better one during the second semester when the students worked in teams. Appropriate conclusion was drawn and recommendations made. This study calls for reawakening of learners’ initiated, student-centered pedagogy which is gradually fading away in our science classrooms. Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE AR-SA /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:Table Normal; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; text-align:justify; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:Calibri,sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}

Effective self-regulated science learning through multimedia-enriched skeleton concept maps

Background: This study combines work on concept mapping with scripted collaborative learning. Purpose: The objective was to examine the effects of self-regulated science learning through scripting students’ argumentative interactions during collaborative ‘multimedia-enriched skeleton concept mapping’ on meaningful science learning and retention. Programme description: Each concept in the enriched skeleton concept map (ESCoM) contained annotated multimedia-rich content (pictures, text, animations or video clips) that elaborated the concept, and an embedded collaboration script to guide students’ interactions. Sample: The study was performed in a Biomolecules course on the Bachelor of Applied Science program in the Netherlands. All first-year students (N=93, 31 women, 62 men, aged 17–33 years) took part in this study. Design and methods: The design used a control group who received the regular course and an experimental group working together in dyads on an ESCoM under the guidance of collaboration scripts. In order to investigate meaningful understanding and retention, a retention test was administered a month after the final exam. Results: Analysis of covariance demonstrated a significant experimental effect on the Biomolecules exam scores between the experimental group and the control, and the difference between the groups on the retention test also reached statistical significance. Conclusions: Scripted collaborative multimedia ESCoM mapping resulted in meaningful understanding and retention of the conceptual structure of the domain, the concepts, and their relations. Not only was scripted collaborative multimedia ESCoM mapping more effective than the traditional teaching approach, it was also more efficient in requiring far less teacher guidance.

Promoting Science Outdoor Activities for Elementary School Children: Contributions from a research laboratory

The purposes of the study were to analyse the promotion of scientific literacy through practical research activities and to identify children's conceptions about scientists and how they do science. Elementary school children were engaged in two scientific experiments in a marine biology research laboratory. A total of 136 students answered a questionnaire about their previous habits towards science and carried out the following actions: (1) a guided visit to the laboratory, (2) a brief presentation of the research theme, (3) the development of two experiments, and (4) a questionnaire about the experiments and science conceptions. The research methods included observation, document analysis, and content analysis of the answers to the questionnaires. Additionally, each visit was video recorded in order to design learning materials. The results revealed that most of the pupils were able to follow every stage of experimentation. However, some of them misinterpreted results and conclusions. One implication of the study is that this type of outdoor activity is extremely important to promote meaningful science learning in children, but more care should be taken in practical science activities so that children can overcome some common difficulties when performing scientific inquiry.

Making science real: photo-sharing in biology and chemistry

In this paper, we examine students’ reflections about the value of two photosharing activities that were implemented in undergraduate Biology and Chemistry subjects. Both activities aimed, broadly, to provide support for authentic and meaningful learning experiences in undergraduate science. Although the activities were similar - both required students to capture and share images as part of an independent inquiry activity - students in the Biology case study were more positive, overall, than the Chemistry students in their evaluation of the activity. In this paper, we examine the findings from the two case studies in parallel to provide insight into our understanding of meaningful learning in undergraduate science. The results suggest that, for meaningful learning to occur, the learning activity needs to be well aligned with students’ individual learning goals and with the objectives and characteristics of the course. In the two case studies examined in this paper, this alignment was successful for the Biology case study but less successful in the Chemistry case study. Keywords: science education; photo-sharing; meaningful learning (Published: 15 March 2012) Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2012, 20 : 16151 - DOI: 10.3402/rlt.v20i0.16151

Indigenous knowledge and science in a globalized age

This forum explores and expands on Ben-Zvi Assaraf, Eshach, Orion, and Alamour’s article titled “Cultural Differences and Students’ Spontaneous Models of the Water Cycle: A Case Study of Jewish and Bedouin Children in Israel” by examining how indigenous knowledge is appropriated in science classrooms; how students from indigenous students’ experiences are more complex than many non-indigenous students; and how science and globalization complicates the preservation of indigenous knowledge. In this forum we suggest that research on indigenous knowledge be examined through the lens of the locally situated contexts and the extent to which globalization hinders this kind of knowledge in the name of value neutral scientific knowledge. We finally suggest that research in indigenous communities has to be more intentional and respectful, and teachers need to rethink how useful and meaningful science learning can be for indigenous students.

Examining the mediation of power in a collaborative community: engaging in informal science as authentic practice

Focusing on the interplay of context and language, this study examined a group of high school students and their mentors’ use of language during a robotics competition. This informal setting allowed us to gain insights into the mediation and manifestation of power within the group. Using critical discourse analysis of competition transcripts and interviews we found that both students and mentors felt a sense of ownership and community leading to symmetry in power amongst them. The shift in power led to greater student ownership and agency and created a space for authentic and meaningful science learning. The context of the robotics competition mediated discourse practices that were different from students’ classroom experiences in that they were descriptive, relational, explanatory, and had an authentic evaluative dimension. This engaged the participants to co-construct and critique each other’s knowledge claims thereby engaging in scientific practices that approximated the practices of scientists. Our study presents an argument that language and context reflexively influenced one another and reduced the imbalance of power amongst the participants thereby adding a new dimension to what has already been established about the conditions under which authentic science learning is likely to occur.

Authoritarian science curriculum standards as barriers to teaching and learning: An interpretation of personal experience

AbstractThis is a critical time for the science education community as we embark on the creation and implementation of new national science standards. The purpose of this essay is to offer insight into how the language of curriculum standards, including that found in state science standards in the United States over the past 15 years, has posed barriers to meaningful science teaching and learning. I synthesize research from educational policy, science education, curriculum theory, critical inquiry, and my own experiential learning from a particular case in the state of Georgia to analyze the effects of authoritarian standards language on science classroom teaching. I argue that curriculum standards based on a content and product model of education (A. V. Kelly, 1999), have been incongruent with research from cognitive psychology, science identity formation, language use, and science as inquiry. The final portion of the essay considers how a process‐oriented set of curriculum standards, for example that found in New Zealand, could provide a more empowering epistemological foundation for classroom teaching. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 96:291–310, 2012