National Science Education Standards Research Articles

Coastal residents, stingray style: Selecting the best intertidal creeks for seasonal living

ABSTRACTGraphing and calculating percentages are integral skills in a STEM curriculum. Teaching students how to create graphs allows them to identify numerical trends and to express results in a clear and concise manner. In this activity, students will remain engaged in the lesson by moving around the room and then work together to generate their own data. Students will act like stingrays and determine the costs and benefits of selecting different habitats. The skills honed in the activity will enable students to compare actual stingray data with in-class data and to express the results graphically. This activity aligns with Ocean Literacy Principles, Common Core Standards, and National Science Education Standards. The Next Generation Science Standard of including the analysis and interpretation of data to provide evidence for the effects of resource availability on organisms in an ecosystem is also incorporated.

Call for papers: Journal of Research in Science Teaching – Special Issue: A critical examination of the Next Generation Science Standards

Call for papers: <i>Journal of Research in Science Teaching</i> – Special Issue: A critical examination of the Next Generation Science Standards

Floating Fishes: An Activity Investigating Overfishing, Buoyancy &amp; Gas Compressibility

Fish species are an important food resource all over the world, but the fishing practices of human beings are slowly driving many fish species to extinction. However, little is being done to communicate the problem of overfishing to the general public. In this three-part activity, students are introduced to the concepts of buoyancy and overfishing in an effort to provide a glimpse of how interesting fish are, and to raise awareness of overfishing. The students investigate buoyancy and gas compressibility by recreating a mysterious boat-sinking in the classroom, and by manipulating the buoyancy of artificial fish. By engaging in “fishing expeditions” with diminishing returns, the students learn why fish populations decline when we take too many of them. Throughout the activity, students have the opportunity to learn science as inquiry and the nature of science as presented in the National Science Education Standards.

Teacher's Toolkit: Explanations Across the Curricula: Integrating Common Core State Standards in Literacy With the National Science Education Standards

Teacher's Toolkit: Explanations Across the Curricula: Integrating Common Core State Standards in Literacy With the National Science Education Standards

Analysis of Individual Test Of Astronomy STandards (TOAST) Item Responses

&lt;p&gt;The development of valid and reliable strategies to efficiently determine the knowledge landscape of introductory astronomy college students is an effort of great interest to the astronomy education community. This study examines individual item response rates from a widely used conceptual understanding survey, the Test Of Astronomy Standards (TOAST). The TOAST, a 27-item, multiple-choice format, criterion-referenced test, addresses both the full range of topics commonly taught in a one- or two-semester undergraduate introductory astronomy survey courses, and concepts described in various national science education standards, frameworks, and reform documents. The present study involves an examination of responses by 1104 participants, allowing for a rigorous item-by-item and distractor-by-distractor analysis of students’ responses. The results suggest that each individual TOAST item is functioning appropriately across a broad range of students, and has sufficient sensitivity to identify notable student misconceptions. These results also provide an opportunity to identify target areas of opportunity for astronomy education researchers that remain largely unstudied.&lt;/p&gt;

An Analysis of Engineering Educational Standards and Outcomes Achieved by a Robotics Summer Camp Experience

Summer camps can be an effect method of encouraging children and teenagers to learn about career options and grow interest in careers for which there is a national shortage of young professionals, such as engineering. These camps can offer opportunities beyond what a normal school can offer, and achieve specific educational goals that would be difficult to realize in a traditional classroom setting. A robotics summer camp curriculum was developed in accordance with the age specific standards from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the National Science Education Standards (NSES). To link this to the engineering skills that are developed in college, the resultant student experience was evaluated in the context of the engineering outcomes for a four year engineering degree defined by the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET). The robotics summer camp was evaluated for its effectiveness building a foundation and supporting the skills that a student should develop in a college engineering program. Pre and post tests were given and scored with a standard rubric. The questions were mapped to the specific ABET outcomes which best align with the goals of the summer camp. The test scores will show the degree of improvement in various areas of engineering and problem solving. The resulting data shows the strengths of the summer camp and identify areas that can be targeted for improvement, to make a larger impact on the attendees.

Building an Understanding of How Model-Based Inquiry Is Implemented in the High School Chemistry Classroom

Modeling as a scientific practice in K–12 classrooms has received a wealth of attention in the U.S. and abroad due to the advent of revised national science education standards. The study described herein investigated how a group of high school chemistry teachers developed their understanding of the nature and function of models in the precollege classroom through participation in a yearlong professional development program designed using model-based inquiry (MBI) as a framework. Further, we sought to understand the factors that catalyzed or hindered the incorporation of this pedagogy into the participants’ classrooms. It was found that the program positively influenced the teachers’ understanding of modeling as a scientific practice and facilitated growth in navigating pedagogical and conceptual challenges towards implementing modeling practices in their classrooms.

Science teachers’ perception and implementation of inquiry-based reform initiatives in relation to their beliefs and professional identity

The purpose of this study was to understand how early career science teachers perceive and interpret the calls for inquiry-based instruction (as suggested by National Science Education Standards) in relation to their emerging professional identity and beliefs. Further, this study explored how the school and classroom contexts influenced teachers’ implementation of the reform-based teaching practices. Using semi-structured interviews with twelve early career science teachers, this study revealed that teachers often showed limited understanding about inquiry-based instruction, such as hands-on lab activities, and devoted small amount of time for implementing inquiry teaching. However, interestingly, their beliefs about teaching science were aligned with the assumptions of inquiry-based instruction. The lack of inconsistency between beliefs and practices seem to result from the influence of contextual factors. School and classroom environments that limit teachers’ agency and sense of power lead teachers to experience unpleasant emotions, which may eventually threaten their identity as a teacher. This paper ends with implications for school administrators and policy makers.

U.S. Science Teaching and Learning of Evolution: A Critical Review of the Literature 2000-2014

This critical analysis examined research on evolution in the United States between the years 2000–2014, spanning early classroom implementation of the National Science Education Standards to current research findings. First, we sought to understand how the research literature published between 2000 and 2014 contributed to knowledge of evolution education as well as areas required to further illuminate our understanding of evolutionary acceptance and rejection. Two hundred thirteen studies were reviewed using identified criteria that included the approach to teaching, attitudes and perceptions, religiosity, and proposed teaching methods, with particular emphasis on evolution teaching and learning. Following multiple rounds of article examination, seven general directions appear to be present in evolution education research: (1) approach to evolution in the classroom; (2) knowledge, understanding, and acceptance of evolution; (3) attitudes and perceptions of evolution; (4) factors impacting the teaching and learning of evolution; (5) evolution conflict and coping strategies; (6) evolution and religiosity; and (7) proposed evolution teaching method, courses, and assessment. The analysis pointed to four areas in need of further exploration: (1) elaboration on how worldview affects acceptance; (2) exploration of specific factors (intrinsic and extrinsic) that influence the acceptance of evolution; (3) examination of experiences to define these factors, especially among preservice teachers; and (4) exploration of evolution acceptance across geographical regions of the United States.

What about a dimension of engagement, equity, and diversity practices? A critique of the next generation science standards

AbstractIn this paper, I offer a critique of A Framework for K‐12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (NRC, 2012) and of the Next Generation Science Standards (Achieve, 2013). While the new version of the science education standards and the arguments put forward to support them are an improvement from the previous version of the NRC Science Education Standards, we must pause and reflect on the implications on jumping on another education reform, fast moving train. Using sociotransformative constructivism as a guiding theoretical lens, I argued that the Conceptual Framework and NGSS documents fall short due to the lack of retrospection, the on‐going contradictory discourses, and the lack of voice and representation in the development of these important policy documents. Suggestions for improvement and discussion are offered in hope that we might prevent the NGSS from having as little impact on teachers' practice and on students' learning as the previous version of the national science education standards had. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 52: 1031–1051, 2015.

Development and Validation of a Science Inquiry Skills Assessment

ABSTRACTThis paper reports on the development and validation of a science inquiry skills assessment for Earth science (iSA–Earth Science) in middle schools that classroom teachers can use to assess and monitor their students' science inquiry skills. An assessment framework with six primary inquiry skills, each with three to six subskills, was developed based on a comprehensive review of the literature and following the recommendations of the National Science Education Standards (NSES; NRC, 1996) and A Framework for K–12 Science Education (FSE; NRC, 2012). The six primary skills are: (1) identify questions for scientific investigations, (2) design scientific investigations, (3) use tools and techniques to gather data, (4) analyze and describe data, (5) explain results and draw conclusions, and (6) recognize alternative explanations and predictions. The assessment development and validation process followed guidelines from the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (American Educational Research Association [AERA], American Psychological Association [APA], and National Council of Measurement in Education [NCME], 1999). Psychometric analysis using both classical test statistics and Item Response Theory showed the instrument was internally consistent, reliable, and did not function differentially for male and female students. Implications for science education practice and research are discussed.

A Scientist's Guide to Achieving Broader Impacts through K-12 STEM Collaboration.

The National Science Foundation and other funding agencies are increasingly requiring broader impacts in grant applications to encourage US scientists to contribute to science education and society. Concurrently, national science education standards are using more inquiry-based learning (IBL) to increase students’ capacity for abstract, conceptual thinking applicable to real-world problems. Scientists are particularly well suited to engage in broader impacts via science inquiry outreach, because scientific research is inherently an inquiry-based process. We provide a practical guide to help scientists overcome obstacles that inhibit their engagement in K–12 IBL outreach and to attain the accrued benefits. Strategies to overcome these challenges include scaling outreach projects to the time available, building collaborations in which scientists’ research overlaps with curriculum, employing backward planning to target specific learning objectives, encouraging scientists to share their passion, as well as their expertise with students, and transforming institutional incentives to support scientists engaging in educational outreach.

Exploring How Research Experiences For Teachers Changes Their Understandings Of The Nature Of Science And Scientific Inquiry

&lt;p&gt;The nature of science is a prevalent theme across United States national science education standards and frameworks as well as other documents that guide formal and informal science education reform. To support teachers in engaging their students in authentic scientific practices and reformed teaching strategies, research experiences for teachers offered in national laboratories, university research centers, and national field-sites promise opportunities to help teachers update their current understanding of STEM fields and experience firsthand how scientific research is conducted with the end goal of supporting more inquiry-based teaching approaches in their classrooms. This qualitative interpretive study used an adapted Views of Nature of Science and Views on Scientific Inquiry surveys and protocols to investigate changes in 43 practicing teachers understandings about the nature of science and scientific inquiry as a result of participation in one of three summer science research programs. Each program provided participants with research experiences alongside professional researchers as well as activities intended to increase participants abilities to provide inquiry-based science learning activities for their students. Data were collected using open-ended surveys pre-program, post-program and long-term follow-up surveys, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, along with researchers observations and field-notes. Participation in these programs led to small, measurable enhancements in teachers understandings of scientific inquiry and the nature of science. Teachers prior experience with research was found to have the strongest relationship to their knowledge of the nature of science and scientific inquiry. The data in this study provides evidence that research experiences can provide valuable experiences to support teachers improved knowledge of how science is conducted.&lt;/p&gt;

The Effects of Inquiry Teaching on Student Science Achievement and Attitudes: Evidence from Propensity Score Analysis of PISA Data

Gauging the effectiveness of specific teaching strategies remains a major topic of interest in science education. Inquiry teaching among others has been supported by extensive research and recommended by the National Science Education Standards. However, most of the empirical evidence in support was collected in research settings rather than in normal school environments. Propensity score analysis was performed within the marginal mean weighting through stratification (MMW-S) approach to examine the effects of the level of openness of inquiry teaching on student science achievement and attitudes with the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006 data. Weighting subjects on MMW-S weight successfully balanced all treatment groups on all selected covariates. Significant effects were identified on both cognitive and attitudinal outcomes. For student science achievement, the highest score was achieved at Level 2 inquiry teaching, that is, students conduct activities and draw conclusions from data. For student science attitudes, higher level of inquiry teaching resulted in higher scores. The said conclusions were generally held in most PISA 2006 participating countries when the analysis was performed in each country separately.

The history of science in the science classroom: The past is the key to the future in science education

In many science classes, students encounter ‘final form’ science (Duschl 1990, 1994) in which scientific knowledge is presented as a rhetoric of conclusions (Schwab 1962). Incorporation of the history of science in modern science classrooms combats this false image of linear science progression. History of science can facilitate student understanding of the nature of science, pique student interest, and expose the cultural and societal constraints in which a science developed, revealing science's ‘human side’ (Matthews 1994). Carefully selected and researched episodes from the history of science illustrate that scientists sometimes chose incorrect hypotheses, misinterpreted data, and argued about data analysis. Our research documented that historical vignettes can hook students' attention, and past controversies can be used to develop students' analysis and argumentation skills before turning class attention to modern controversial issues. Historical graphics also have educational potential, as they reveal the progression of a science and offer alternative vehicles for data interpretation. In the United States, the National Science Education Standards (United States National Research Council 1996) acknowledged the importance of the History and Nature of Science by designating it as one of eight science content strands. However, the new United States Next Generation Science Standards (Achieve 2013) no longer include this strand, although the importance of the nature of science is still emphasized in the science framework (United States National Research Council 2012). Therefore, it is crucial that science education researchers continue to research and implement the history of science via interdisciplinary approaches to ensure its inclusion in United States science classrooms for better student understanding of the nature of science.

DCIs, SEPs, and CCs, Oh My! Understanding the Three Dimensions of the NGSS

The Next Generation Science Standards' three dimensions--disciplinary core ideas (DCIs), science and engineering practices (SEPs), and crosscutting concepts (CCs)--were headliners at NSTA's national conference in Chicago and featured in many of the organization's other professional-development efforts this year (NGSS Lead States 2013). To some, the idea of DCIs, SEPs, and CCs may seem obvious and not all that new (Figure 1, p. 68). Haven't we been doing science inquiry since the release of the National Science Education Standards (NSES) in 1996? What is new and different about the NGSS, and what do these three dimensions mean for curriculum, instruction, and assessment? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] There are, in fact, several major differences in how the new standards portray science education. These differences call for substantial shifts in terms of our learning goals, instructional strategies, and assessment. In the next sections, we highlight what is new and different about each dimension. We do not address explicitly intertwining the three dimensions; a forthcoming article will discuss their integration. Much of what we discuss below draws directly from A Framework for K--12 Science Education (NRC 2012), which guided the development of the NGSS and is the foundation for the new standards. While the NGSS do provide some information from the Framework (in the blue, orange, and green boxes; see Figure 1) to elaborate on the performance expectations, these are only snippets of the more elaborate descriptions found in the Framework. We therefore urge readers to turn to the Framework when trying to understand the three dimensions and the standards. DCIs There are DCIs for each of the four major disciplines: physical sciences, life sciences, Earth and space sciences, and engineering (engineering, technology, and applications of science). Each of these disciplines includes no more than four DCIs, reflecting a concerted effort to cull the numerous ideas that all students are expected to know. While there are somewhat fewer ideas to teach, each is complex, with ample depth to delve into over the course of schooling. To rise to the level of a DCI, an idea must meet four criteria. First, it must be a key organizing principle within the discipline or across several disciplines; that is, it should be a core idea in the eyes of scientists. Second, it must have broad explanatory power: It should help learners understand and be able to reason about an array of phenomena and problems in the discipline. In this sense, it needs to be a useful thinking tool that is generative for students, and it should help them think about phenomena and problems they may encounter in and out of the classroom, both now and in their future. Third, a DCI needs to be relevant and meaningful for students. It should relate to phenomena and problems that students find intriguing. Fourth, the idea needs to have depth that allows for continued learning over the course of schooling. There are two complementary implications of this last point. First, the DCI, in some basic form, must be accessible to young learners, and, second, it must have enough complexity that it can be unpacked and deepened in higher grades. Many of the concepts (e.g., ionic bonds, mitochondria) and even topics (e.g., volcanoes, taxonomy) currently taught in school do not meet these criteria. As educators, it is incumbent upon us to closely evaluate what we are teaching and to dramatically prune the unwieldy tree of concepts we try to cover. Taken together, the DCIs create a conceptual toolkit that students can use to reason about and explain phenomena. The focus on explaining phenomena represents an important shift in the goals of instruction. Rather than teaching ideas in the abstract or in isolation, the new aim is to engage students in using these ideas to explain interesting phenomena. For example, instead of having students describe the water cycle and its components, students should be explaining cloud formation or precipitation patterns by using understandings about the water cycle and thermal-energy transfer to describe how weather events come about. …

Inquiry Practices in Malaysian Secondary Classroom and Model of Inquiry Teaching based on Verbal Interaction

Purpose – Inquiry teaching has been suggested as one of the important approaches in teaching chemistry. This study investigates the inquiry practices among chemistry teachers. Method – A combination of quantitative and qualitative study was applied in this study to provide detailed information about inquiry teaching practices. Questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and field notes were used. 23 chemistry teachers participated in this study. 92 chemistry lessons were audio and video recorded, which subsequently were transcribed in verbatim. By applying descriptive statistics, the frequencies and percentages of each category in the observation instrument were determined. Findings – Most of the questions made by the teachers and students were closed-ended questions. Teachers in this study practised wait-time after asking questions. Meanwhile, it was found that most of the students’ questions were followed by answer given by the teacher and the sequence after students’ answers was followed by explanation from the teacher. Students were merely following teacher’s explanation or procedures in text book before carrying out experiment. The mean of students’ ability to provide further explanation was very low. Significance – A model of inquiry teaching based on verbal interaction was proposed as a guide for chemistry teachers to implement inquiry teaching in order to be in line with the Malaysian National Science Education Standards.

Using a Combined Approach of Guided Inquiry &amp; Direct Instruction to Explore How Physiology Affects Behavior

Hands-on activities with live organisms allow students to actively explore scientific investigation. Here, I present activities that combine guided inquiry with direct instruction and relate how nutrition affects the physiology and behavior of the common housefly. These experiments encourage student involvement in the formulation of experimental design, promoting engagement in the learning process. These activities are suitable for both postsecondary education and high school classroom settings and highlight National Science Education Standards, particularly by promoting inquiry-based learning and communicating science explanations.

Explicitly Linking Human Impact to Ecological Function in Secondary School Classrooms

Both the old National Science Education Standards (NSES) and the recent Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) devote significant resources to learning about human environmental impact. Whereas the NSES advocate learning about human environmental impact in a section apart from the science-content learning strands, the NGSS embed them in the core life-science and ecology learning strands. We describe a study that compared the effects of these different approaches on ninth-grade biology student learning. It found that students learned significantly more human-environmental-impact and ecological-function content when human-impact content was embedded in ecology content than when human impact was taught as a discrete unit from ecology.

Decision-making Competence in Biology Education: Implementation into German Curricula in Relation to International Approaches

The integration of decision-making competence or comparable constructs into science education has been strongly enforced during the last twenty years. Germany captured the tendency with the introduction of national standards for science education that included a domain that refers to decision-making competence. This domain – ‘evaluation and judgement competence’ – is currently depicted by different models. This paper describes the models and existing international approaches on decision-making. To give insights into current research on the German construct, selected results of two studies regarding teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge with the focus on improving the integration of evaluation and judgement competence into biology lessons are presented. Relations of evaluation and judgement competence to international approaches and its integration into biology lessons are discussed.