Middle School Science Classes Research Articles

SEEING IS NOT UNDERSTANDING: Vygotsky, Halliday and Metaphor in Forming and Forgetting Middle School Science Concepts.

When teachers explain science concepts-for example, the solar wind, or plasma waves-some methods seem to be quick-acting and others long-lasting. Still others pose as many problems as they seem to solve. How, for example, does a parent explain how there can be solar wind without any air in space? How does a teacher explain how there can be plasma waves without any water? Locating metaphor between thinking and speech rather than within one or the other, we work out a single scheme to analyze two conversations with adult Koreans. These suggest that a text studied some ten years ago in middle school science class, replete with striking visual images, has left little more than everyday concepts. Instead of trying to use the striking visual images to refill gaps in the memory, however, the questions asked by a skilled science teacher suggest ways in which thinking could be freed from the middle school dogma of only three matter phases (solid, liquid, gas). To understand a metaphor like "solar wind", we need to replace fixed matters of fact with some more elusive facts of matter.

Probleme Dayalı Öğrenme ve Geleneksel Öğretim Yöntemlerinin Lisansüstü Çalışmalarda Karşılaştırmalı Çözümlemesi: Öğrenme Çıktıları Üzerine Etkilerinin Sentezi

This research aimed to evaluate and synthesize the effectiveness of problem-based learning (PBL) compared to traditional instruction (TI) in various learning outcomes. The study, using a sequential explanatory mixed research approach, reviewed 74 postgraduate dissertations from Türkiye, spanning from 2009 to 2021, that matched specific inclusion criteria. Qualitative data analysis revealed that the majority of these dissertations were master’s level and completed in 2010. These studies frequently implemented experimental interventions in middle school science classes, typically over five weeks with groups of 21-30 students. The quantitative analysis showed that PBL had a significant overall impact, with a General Effect Size (GES) of 0.734 across all variables. This effect was divided into specific clusters: knowledge (GES of 0.992), skills (GES of 0.696), and emotions (GES of 0.406). Further, PBL particularly affected academic achievement (GES of 0.842), scientific process skills (GES of 0.351), and course attitude (GES of 0.402), which were the most commonly assessed variables in the respective dimensions of knowledge, skills, and emotions. Additionally, PBL showed a substantial impact (GES of 0.799) on variables covering 21st-century competency framework skills. In summary, the study found that PBL is significantly more effective than traditional instructional methods across various learning outcomes, particularly in enhancing knowledge, skills, and emotional aspects of learning. This study suggests that integrating PBL activities can significantly enhance the attainment of curriculum objectives.

중학교 과학 수업에서 학생 행위주체성 발현을 위한 문제중심학습 활용 프로그램 개발 및 적용

Objectives The purpose of this study is to develop a program using problem-based learning to express student agency in middle school science classes and to verify the effectiveness of the program by applying it to science classes in the third grade of middle school.
 Methods Among the existing models of problem-based learning, the program was developed using the model of IMSA, and the validity of the program was reviewed by six incumbent science teachers with more than five years of educational experience. The developed program was applied to 180 third grade students at S Middle School in I City in December 2022, a pre-post test using tools to measure student agency for middle and high school students and class satisfaction survey were conducted on 135 students who agreed to participate in this study and participated in both the pre- and post-test in questionnaires. In order to analyze the results of the survey using the tools to measure student agency, a paired t-test was conducted using SPSS 12.0. In addition, the course was recorded to understand the meaning of the survey results in detail, and various data such as small group activity papers, student output, course-based evaluation data, and researchers' observation journals were used as auxiliary data. In addition, a class satisfaction survey was conducted to confirm the perception of the classes of students who participated in the program, In order to understand students' perceptions of the class in depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted after class, and the transcribed data were analyzed by recording them.
 Results A total of six classes were developed and applied to students, and their effectiveness was verified. As a result of paired t-test for survey using the tools to measure student agency, there was statistically significant differnece between the pre- test and the post-test in both total student agency and their 3 sub-domains. In addition, it was confirmed that the components of student agency, such as a sense of purpose, reflective behavior, investment of time and effort, and responsibility, appeared in the course of the class. In addition, the average of the class satisfaction survey was high at 4.13. And it was confirmed that the perception of the class was positive through semi-structured interviews conducted after class.
 Conclusions The program using problem-based learning for the expression of student agency developed in this study is effective in expressing student agency, and students' perception of the class is positive. Therefore, this study is expected to help middle school science teachers in the field who are considering designing the class support the expression of student agency, and to provide students who experience this program an opportunity to learn whole middle school science concepts.

How African Pasts Can Inspire Alternative Responses to Climate Change: a Creative Writing Experiment

AbstractHow can we use the past to help us solve today’s urgent climate change concerns? Archaeology provides one way forward by providing a long-term view of what worked and what did not work in the past. Indigenous knowledge systems have long curated a range of survival strategies that provide powerful inspiration for thinking differently about sustainability. Inspired by Africanfuturism—or how writers of African descent have creatively reimagined Black futures—we explore how creative writing can mobilize the past to rethink climate change responses. We have designed this piece for use in middle and secondary school science, history, or literature classes. An introductory explanation and “what we know” sections provide teachers with the necessary framing and background knowledge. The two short stories could be assigned to 13–18-year-old students to illustrate the kind of reimagining they might pursue based on archaeological and oral historical information.

How Immersion and Self-Avatars in VR Affect Learning Programming and Computational Thinking in Middle School Education.

We present an empirical evaluation of immersion and self-avatars as compared to desktop viewing in Virtual Reality (VR) for learning computer programming and computational thinking in middle school education using an educational VR simulation. Students were asked to programmatically choreograph dance performances for virtual characters within an educational desktop application we built earlier called Virtual Environment Interactions (VEnvI). As part of a middle school science class, 90 students from the 6th and 7th grades participated in our study. All students first visually programmed dance choreography for a virtual character they created in VEnvI on a laptop. Then, they viewed and interacted with the resulting dance performance in a between-subjects design in one of the three conditions. We compared and contrasted the benefits of embodied immersive virtual reality (EVR) viewing utilizing a head-mounted display with a body-scaled and gender-matched self-avatar, immersive virtual reality only (IVR) viewing, and desktop VR (NVR) viewing with VEnvI on pedagogical outcomes, programming performance, presence, and attitudes towards STEM and computational thinking. Results from a cognition questionnaire showed that, in the learning dimensions of Knowledge and Understanding (Bloom's taxonomy) as well as Multistructural (SOLO taxonomy), participants in EVR and IVR scored significantly higher than NVR. Also, participants in EVR scored significantly higher than IVR. We also discovered similar results in objective programming performance and presence scores in VEnvI. Furthermore, students' attitudes towards computer science, programming confidence, and impressions significantly improved to be the highest in EVR and then IVR as compared to NVR condition.

Future of the Lebanese Middle School Science Teaching Methods: The Importance of Teacher’s Shifting from Passive Learning to More Active Learning in Science Classes

This study evaluated the importance of integrating active learning techniques in to Lebanese middle school science classes. It examined the effect of this modification on students' academic performance and social development .The researcher collected data by using mixed method approach referred to as sequential explanatory design where the research collected both quantitative and qualitative data. The quantitative data was collected by distributing questionnaire developed based on 5 point Likert- scale to a non-probability convenience sample (N=50) of science teachers and the qualitative data was collected by performing an online interview with four middle school science teachers. The researcher used Statistical Package for the social sciences program (SPSS) to analyze quantitative data and to answer the studied hypothesis and problematic by using three tests (a) one sample T-test, (b) one way Manova test, and (c) correlation test. The interview data was analyzed qualitatively .The findings of this study showed that (a) there is a significant importance for teachers’ shifting from passive learning to more active learning in Lebanese middle school science classes, (b) Lebanese middle school science teachers are modifying their teaching methods in their classes to improve students' academic performance and social development, and (c) there is a significant effect of the teaching methods modification on students' academic performance and social development based on the Lebanese middle school teachers' perspective.

Introducing Pharmaceutics to Middle School Students using with Hypothesis-Driven, At-Home Activities

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in healthcare and related science majors at the undergraduate level. This presents an opportunity to introduce health science training in middle school science classes to familiarize students to various healthcare-related fields. The pharmaceutical science-based hands-on activities for middle school student presented here used over-the-counter vitamin supplements and inexpensive equipment for its easy replication at home or in an educational setting. The two main objectives of the activities were to signify the instructions of drug administration on labels of vitamin C effervescent tablets and to introduce effective drug delivery of iron supplement syrup. These activities followed Kolb’s framework of experiential learning theory through four key steps: (1) design a testable hypothesis, (2) identify experimental variables and controls, (3) incorporate wet chemistry and safety analysis into the process, and (4) data recording and presentation. This online and distance outreach model can be adapted in online K-8 summer or afterschool programs which can especially benefit students in rural regions or those with limited mobility. Furthermore, the pre- and post-activity sheets corroborated student’s ability to (a) combine their knowledge of kitchen chemistry and laboratory safety skills through active experimentation, and (b) reflect on the experimental results obtained for test variables and compare those to their original hypotheses.

Co-design and implementation of community-based engineering enriched science units: Exploration of pre-service science teachers' professional development

In recent years, many countries have revised their curricula to improve scientific inquiry skills and to develop the engineering practices of K-12 students, mostly within the context of science topics. However, there are not enough studies in the literature on what the content of science units integrated with engineering practices should be. There is also a gap in the literature regarding the kind of professional development (PD) training teachers should receive.Considering this gap, for the current study, pre-service science teachers (PSTs) developed Community Based Engineering (CBE)-Enriched Science Units within the context of a PD program. Then, they implemented these units in middle school science classes or science applications classes. The professional development of the pre-service teachers during these units' development and implementation process was closely monitored and the obtained findings were presented to promote both science teacher education and engineering education. In this way, the knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and classroom practices of PSTs regarding CBE-enriched science teaching, and their perceptions of middle school students’ learning outcomes were investigated and revealed.Data were collected from 14 volunteer PSTs in a public university in Istanbul, Turkey. The data collection tools were semi-structured interviews, developed units, and reflection papers. As a result, 3 cases came to the fore: participants whose CBE-enriched science teaching self-efficacy increased (4 PSTs), remained unchanged (8 PSTs), and decreased (2 PSTs). Findings are discussed using the Interconnected Model of Professional Growth.

Maker Activities and Academic Writing in a Middle School Science Class

Academic language is an important focus area in middle school. However, academic writing in science classes is challenging for middle school students. Maker activities can contribute to students’ academic language development through artifact creation with tangible resources (Own, 2018). This makerspace and academic writing project, codesigned by a science teacher and a technology integration specialist, invited middle school science students to work on academic writing through maker activities.

A Study on the Characteristics of Electricity Concept Change and Feedback Acceptance in Middle School Science Class Using Correct and Advice Feedback Worksheets

A Study on the Characteristics of Electricity Concept Change and Feedback Acceptance in Middle School Science Class Using Correct and Advice Feedback Worksheets

Using Children’s Literature in the Middle School Science Class to Teach Nature of Science

Using Children’s Literature in the Middle School Science Class to Teach Nature of Science

Middle school science teachers’ agency to implement place-based education curricula about local wildlife

Environmental education researchers and policy makers acknowledge the need to act responsibly toward the environment. Yet, teachers do not always know how to help students translate environmental knowledge into sustainable action. This study examines the implementation of locally developed place-based education (PBE) curriculum for middle school science classes with the intention of promoting environmentally positive behaviors. Camera traps were placed near schools and teachers were provided with photographic data of urban wildlife to use during ecology lessons Through our grounded theory study, we found that teachers who perceived a curricular alignment and drew on curricular agency were willing to adopt and adapt the lessons for their classrooms. Those who did not implement the lessons either lacked curricular agency or perceived a misalignment of the PBE lessons and their school context. Our study informs environmental education professional development leaders, who, we argue, should allow teachers to first explore their own curricular agency and context. In addition, we encourage educators to explore how PBE can create opportunities to teach students about civic engagement.

Two Decades of STEM Education Research in Middle School: A Bibliometrics Analysis in Scopus Database (2000–2020)

STEM education has become important in many countries around the world. STEM education can begin while students are very young. However, earlier research has shown that one of the most important factors influencing the decision on scientific research selection is the middle school science classes. In this research, we extract database from Scopus to evaluate the scientific results of publications in the field of STEM education in middle school in the period 2000–2020. A data set of 272 academic papers was indexed to monitor the development of this field by Scopus. The results of the quantitative analysis showed that researches on STEM education in middle schools have boomed in the last 5 years, mainly in the USA. The trend of research collaboration in the field of STEM education in middle schools is not strong. The research topics are quite diverse, focusing on a number of issues: gender, engineering education, curriculum, etc. This study has some limitations, including that only data from the Scopus database were selected and manually filtered, so our analyses totally depended on the quality of the input information imported from the Scopus database.

Impact of computer modeling on learning and teaching systems thinking

AbstractResearchers have found that computer modeling fosters the learning of causal mechanisms in systems, an important crosscutting concept in science that many novice learners find challenging. Despite the research that highlights the role of teacher's instructional practices in enacting computer tools, few studies have considered teachers' use of computer modeling and its implications for student learning in classroom interactions, compared to interactions without computer tools. In this study, we examine (a) the impact of computer modeling on students' understanding of causal links in decomposition and (b) classroom interactions with use of computer modeling. We employed a quasi‐experimental design with eight middle school science classes that served predominately Latinx students. The random treatment was at the class level (computer modeling; n = 60, four classes) and control (paper modeling; n = 59, four classes). Analyses incorporated student preassessment and postassessment, classroom observations, and audio‐recorded modeling instruction. Results indicate that compared to paper modeling, computer modeling enriched systems thinking, particularly students' ability to provide causally coherent statements in explaining scientific ideas and evidence. Enactment of computer modeling may be associated with a shift in classroom interactions to include more invitation for students' elaboration of causal systems. We discuss aspects of computer modeling that may foster systems thinking, with implications for the future design of tools and curricula.

A Kidney Education Program Integrated into Middle School Science Classes Increases Student Kidney Knowledge, Improves Health Behaviors, and Increases Kidney Health Literacy

A Kidney Education Program Integrated into Middle School Science Classes Increases Student Kidney Knowledge, Improves Health Behaviors, and Increases Kidney Health Literacy

ON DEMAND: Investigator: Facilitating Inquiry-based Teaching and Learning of Critical Thinking Skills (5 mins)

With support from the NSF’s “Improving Undergraduate STEM Education” program, we developed an artificial intelligence based cognitive assistant, called sInvestigator (science Investigator) that helps students develop critical thinking skills for addressing scientific problems, through an easy to employ inquiry-based approach. The instructor formulates an inquiry and the students hypothesize possible answers. Then they use sInvestigator to determine the hypothesized answer that is best supported by evidence. They form teams, each team developing an evidence-based argumentation for assessing the probability of their selected hypothesized answer. Using sInvestigator, they decompose their hypothesis into simpler and simpler hypotheses, until the top hypothesis is reduced to very simple (elementary) hypotheses, each showing clearly what evidence may favor or disfavor it. This guides the students to search for this evidence on the Internet, and assess its relevance and credibility by using fuzzy qualifiers, such as “likely” or “almost certain”. Based on these student assessments, sInvestigator determines the probabilities of the elementary hypotheses, and combines them to obtain the probability of the hypothesized answer. The students may be asked to perform deeper credibility analyses of the Internet articles found, by assessing lower-level credentials, such as author’s competence, conflicts of interest, and publication reputation. They may also be asked to justify their assessments. Once an analysis is complete, sInvestigator generates an analysis report that is finalized by the students and debated in class. sInvestigator was experimentally used in several GMU undergraduate science classes. Case studies for middle school and high school science classes have also been developed.

Profiling preservice science teachers’ early experiences, beliefs about teaching, and teaching practices

ABSTRACT Background One of the most important, albeit ignored, issues in the process of curriculum implementation is teachers’ beliefs; indeed, this is a vital issue since their beliefs about teaching and learning will in part govern their actions in the classroom. There is a substantial body of the literature that highlights how teachers’ beliefs are important when ensuring that science education reforms are successfully carried out. Therefore, it is important to explore the beliefs of teachers and teacher candidates to support them in adapting these beliefs to be in accord with the goals of the reform. Purpose This paper presents the results of an investigation into the nature of preservice science teachers’ (PSTs) beliefs about teaching, the congruency of their beliefs about teaching, their actual classroom practices, and the potential role of their early experiences as learners in shaping their beliefs and classroom practices. Sample At the outset of the study, there were 13 PSTs. Among them, four were recruited for the study by purposive sampling. They were all in the final year of their 4-year teacher education programme and will be able to teach middle school science classes after graduation. Design and methods This study employed a basic qualitative research method. The primary methods of data collection in this study were: 1) initial interviews to select participants in a purposeful manner; 2) classroom observation of each PST to identify how they taught science; and 3) final interviews with each PST to explore their beliefs about science teaching and their past experiences. Results We found that the PSTs who chose to participate in this study hold student-centred teaching beliefs while performing teacher-centred science teaching practices. The result was interesting in that the PSTs’ teaching practices closely resemble those of their early science teachers.

Intermingling of identities: a Black student in a middle-school science class

We explored ways in which racial, academic, and science identities intermingle in contested classroom and school spaces where students’ personal histories meet institutional histories. Building on identity studies in science education, we aimed at developing nuanced understandings of Black youth’s negotiation among these three identities, which takes place in moment-to-moment interactions and as a personal narrative over time. The study answers the question: What constructs related to identity construction, and in what ways, are salient for Black youth in negotiating who they are and are becoming as Black people in science classrooms where their Black racial identities are affirmed and used as a resource for learning? Using a case study design focusing on one student, Serena, and multiple data sources, we paid attention to the space-time relationships that were part of Serena’s becoming in her science class. Four dimensions emerged as important in the configuration of Serena’s identities—competence, commitment, choice, and emotions. Serena’s performances and narrations related to each of these four dimensions were not only interrelated with those of the other dimensions, but were also inseparable from the various roles and positionings that Serena was performing and imagining for herself in the context of her science class and her science engagement and learning. The findings highlight the complex ways in which cognitive, social, and affective aspects of experience inform and shape students’ identities as they negotiate ways of being, thinking, performing, and interacting in contentious spaces where meanings of being Black, a good student, a scientist evolve over time shaped by the interaction among these three meanings and the students’ collective and individual experiences. The study’s implications include being explicit and purposeful in designing and enacting teaching that offers students multiple opportunities for dynamic identity laminations that could support their science learning, defined as construction of both knowledge and identity.

The educational value of the Sol Y Agua digital game into middle school science class

This paper focuses on finding the added educational value that the Sol y Agua game provides to science students in the El Paso TX context. Hong et al. (2009) created an evaluation index for assessing the educational value of digital games which includes seven categories: Mentality change, emotional fulfillment, knowledge enhancement, thinking skill development, interpersonal skills, spatial ability development, and bodily coordination. Sol y Agua is an educational digital game developed at the CyberShare Center of Excellence at the University of Texas at El Paso. The game is a role-playing adventure game that focuses on the environmental and water sustainability problems in the El Paso area. The game was created to be part of a lesson plan for middle school science classrooms. Along with practices that include computational thinking skills, the game provides students with opportunities to develop reasoning, simulation, and a better understanding of the soil and water properties as well as their usage within the community. Based on the Evaluation Indices for Assessing Educational Digital Games, a game provides elements that allow players (students) a mentality change, emotional fulfillment, knowledge enhancement, development of thinking skills, and spatial ability. The ultimate goal of the game is for students to design a park for a specific population, children and elder people. To achieve this, the game provides students with the opportunity to identify the different types of soil (desert, mountain) different types of trees, and their water and soil requirements.
 Keywords: digital games, assessment, science class, middle school

Evaluating the efficacy of using sentence frames for learning new vocabulary in science

AbstractScience students are increasingly challenged to use technical language related to the topics that they are studying, and therefore, science teachers benefit from knowing which tools are effective to support students in learning to use new terms. This study examined the impact of using one such tool—sentences frames—to teach science vocabulary, as measured through a science‐writing task. Using an experimental approach with extant middle school science classes that offered a sample of 75 mainly Latino school students from grades six through eight, the researcher together with participating teachers identified 10 essential terms per science unit. The teachers used vocabulary‐focused sentence frames for teaching the terms in one science unit, and a more traditional science text‐based approach for teaching vocabulary in another unit. The writing task required at the end of the units consisted of essays in response to science‐based prompts that directed students to use as many target science words as possible; matching/cloze format quizzes were also used to measure pretest and posttest receptive vocabulary knowledge. Findings indicated that there were advantages for teaching new science vocabulary via sentence frames as measured by use of the words in writing, but there were no advantages for sentence frames on quizzes measuring receptive vocabulary. Advantages of sentence frames for writing approached but did not reach statistical significance. There was some evidence that current and previous English language learners benefited more than initial English speakers from sentence frames, implying that utilizing sentence frames to teach science vocabulary might offer needed support especially for these subgroups. Limitations of the study included the sample size and the possibility that the strategy utilized in the comparison group might have offered some of the same advantages in producing language with technical vocabulary that the sentence frames unit offered.