Need For Science Education Research Articles

African American Language in science education: A translanguaging perspective

AbstractIdeologies of language and race are deeply connected in the United States. Language practices associated with racially marginalized communities, such as African American Language (AAL) or Spanglish, are often heavily stigmatized. Such stigma is not grounded in empirical research on language, but rather in “raciolinguistic ideologies” that reproduce white supremacy and oppression in teacher education and in US classrooms—including science classrooms. Science education need not be this way, however. Translanguaging pedagogies can create space for students to use any and all types of languaging practices to engage in scientific sensemaking. Implementing translanguaging pedagogies to support scientific sensemaking will require science teachers to develop inclusive ideologies of language—not only the knowledge that multiple varieties of language are valid tools for sensemaking, but also the inclination and ability to formatively assess student thinking even when that thinking is not couched in canonical “science language.” In the present manuscript, we explore the relationships among teachers' language ideologies, their racial ideologies, their knowledge of language as an epistemic tool for teaching science, their self‐reported assessment practices, and their actual responses to several different samples of student science writing—including a writing sample that includes an oft‐stigmatized feature of African American Language. We show that teachers with more language‐inclusive ideologies—that is, those who take a translanguaging stance, and thus value the use of AAL in classrooms—appear to be better at formatively assessing and responding to student science writing compared to teachers with more language‐exclusive ideologies. We also show that seemingly race‐neutral ideologies of language are in fact strongly associated with oppressive ideologies of race, and that these language ideologies predict teachers' science formative assessment practices independently of existing measures of pedagogical knowledge. We discuss implications for science teaching, teacher education, and science education research.

Students' credibility criteria for evaluating scientific information: The case of climate change on social media

AbstractThe rise of social media platforms and the subsequent lack of traditional gatekeeping mechanisms contribute to the multiplied spread of scientific misinformation. Particularly in these new media spaces, there is a rising need for science education in fostering a science media literacy that enables students to evaluate the credibility of scientific information. A key determinant of a successful credibility evaluation is the effectiveness of the criteria students apply in this process. However, research suggests that existing credibility criteria are often not integrated into students' actual social media evaluation behavior. This hints to a lack of transferability of the existing criteria. As a consequence, knowledge about how learners evaluate credibility in social media is a first step in closing this gap. In the present study, we report results from six focus groups with 21 10th‐grade students (M = 15 years, 57% female, 38% male, 5% nonbinary) about their usage of different credibility criteria in the case of social media posts about climate change. The data were analyzed through qualitative content analysis and as a first step assigned to established credibility dimensions of content (what?) and source‐related criteria (who?). Additionally, given the complexity of social media, we also added a composition‐based category (how?). In a second analysis step, we adapted our subcategories to the recently proposed credibility heuristic by Osborne and Pimentel. The findings suggest that students generally take criteria from all three heuristic credibility dimensions into account and combine different criteria when evaluating the credibility of scientific information in social media. Based on the application of the credibility criteria to the heuristic, implications for the development of teaching materials for fostering science media literacy are discussed.

AI and formative assessment: The train has left the station

AbstractIn response to Li, Reigh, He, and Miller's commentary, Can we and should we use artificial intelligence for formative assessment in science, we argue that artificial intelligence (AI) is already being widely employed in formative assessment across various educational contexts. While agreeing with Li et al.'s call for further studies on equity issues related to AI, we emphasize the need for science educators to adapt to the AI revolution that has outpaced the research community. We challenge the somewhat restrictive view of formative assessment presented by Li et al., highlighting the significant contributions of AI in providing formative feedback to students, assisting teachers in assessment practices, and aiding in instructional decisions. We contend that AI‐generated scores should not be equated with the entirety of formative assessment practice; no single assessment tool can capture all aspects of student thinking and backgrounds. We address concerns raised by Li et al. regarding AI bias and emphasize the importance of empirical testing and evidence‐based arguments in referring to bias. We assert that AI‐based formative assessment does not necessarily lead to inequity and can, in fact, contribute to more equitable educational experiences. Furthermore, we discuss how AI can facilitate the diversification of representational modalities in assessment practices and highlight the potential benefits of AI in saving teachers’ time and providing them with valuable assessment information. We call for a shift in perspective, from viewing AI as a problem to be solved to recognizing its potential as a collaborative tool in education. We emphasize the need for future research to focus on the effective integration of AI in classrooms, teacher education, and the development of AI systems that can adapt to diverse teaching and learning contexts. We conclude by underlining the importance of addressing AI bias, understanding its implications, and developing guidelines for best practices in AI‐based formative assessment.

Teaching plant physiology to prospective biology teachers: How do we deal with Lesson Study-Problem based Learning (LS-PBL) to enhance scientific argumentation skill?

Argumentation has been widely discussed in science education for many years. Argumentation is a part of science, to make a statement and claim, justifying the claim, and supporting it with the data. Science education need to be integrated with scientific argumentation empowerment. LS-PBL can be one way to empower argumentation skills. The aims of this study is to determing prospective biology teachers’ science argumentation skill through Lesson Study-Problem based Learning (LS-PBL). This research was conducted on 30 prospective biology teachers at Biology Department Universitas Negeri Malang. Research participants are prospective biology teachers who are taking Plant Physiology course during their 3rd semester. The learning implementation was carried out in a blended learning. Lesson study activities carried out consist of three activities, namely, plan, do, and see. The instruments used are essay tests of scientific argumentation skills, chapter design, lesson design, lesson plans, and worksheets. Data analysis used quantitative descriptive analysis. The results showed the average value of the argumentation obtained in the first week was 45.33 (moderate), the second week was 50.00 (moderate), and the third week was 56.00 (moderate). The percentage of the frequency of each level of scientific argumentation decreased with each test at levels 1 and 2, while levels 3 and 4 increased. However, there is no level 5 argumentation found in tests 1, 2, and 3. An increase in argumentation skills can occur due to the application of PBL which is integrated with LS. The PBL learning model accommodates prospective biology teachers to construct their arguments, while lesson study is useful for improving the learning process so that learning activities increase from week to week and what is lacking can be improved. LS-PBL can be used as a professional tool to improve the learning process and empower argumentation skills.

The Next Generation of Science Educators: Museum Volunteers

ABSTRACT There is a growing need for science educators and communicators who can support public understanding of complex science issues. Furthermore, little is known about how to nurture career aspirations for teaching science. This study examined the influence of youth volunteer experiences on career aspirations through a lens of science identity. Twenty-one participants were interviewed about high school volunteer experiences at a science museum. Data were coded for factors related to science identity (recognition, competence, and performance) and career aspirations. Results showed that the museum program contributed to the development of youth volunteers’ science identities through experiences that bolstered individuals’ science recognition, science competence, and science performance. Further analyses revealed the program’s impact on the development of individuals’ career interests in the areas of science communication and teaching. The results showed that after participating in the volunteer program, individuals indicated increased interests in communicating science to the public, teaching in informal science settings, and teaching in K-12 settings. These findings suggest that museum volunteer programs with an explicit focus on communicating science to the public may be optimal places to cultivate the next generation of science educators and communicators.

Communicating Climate Change: Lessons Learned from a Researcher-Museum Collaboration.

The need for science education and outreach is great. However, despite the ever-growing body of available scientific information, facts are often misrepresented to or misunderstood by the general public. This can result in uninformed decisions that negatively impact society at both individual and community levels. One solution to this problem is to make scientific information more available to the public through outreach programs. Most outreach programs, however, focus on health initiatives, STEM programs, or young audiences exclusively. This article describes a collaboration between the Research and Learning Center at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History and an interdisciplinary team of researchers from the Dallas–Fort Worth (DFW) metroplex area. The collaboration was a pilot effort of a science communication fellowship and was designed to train researchers to effectively convey current science information to the public with a focus on lifelong learning. We focus on the broader idea of a university-museum collaboration that bridges the science communication gap as we outline the process of forming this collaboration, lessons we learned from the process, and directions that can support future collaborations.

In the shadow of Sputnik: a transnational approach to Menzies support for science education in Australia, 1957–1964

This paper examines prime minister Robert Menzies decision to support science education in Australian schools in 1963. This was a landmark shift in policy for the federal government, but in many ways mirrors the decision of Eisenhower who brought down the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) in 1958. The paper uses a transnational approach to offer a new way of looking at the 1963 decision by focusing on the need for science education and the environment which supported science advocacy rather than the traditional interpretation of political expediency to court the Catholic vote.

Science Education's Need for a Theory of Epistemological Development

Science educators have been interested in developing people’s understanding of the epistemology of science for a long time. Despite decades of research on students’ ideas, and decades of instructional reforms, it remains very hard to change students’ ideas about the nature of scientific knowledge and practice. There are essentially two specializations in science education related to epistemology: research on student’s conceptions of the nature of professional science (NOS) and research on students’ own efforts to make scientific meaning of the world through inquiry, modeling, argumentation, and so on. They have produced different conclusions about students’ understanding of the epistemology of science (Sandoval, 2005), and the fact that they are in very little dialogue with each other is a major obstacle to producing a coherent theory of epistemological development; a point I expand on below. Without such a theory, however, it is difficult to see how instructional experiences in school are likely to help students develop productive understandings of the epistemology of science. There are, at least, two reasons why we should want all students to leave high school with productive understandings of the epistemology of science. One is so that people understand what makes science science, to distinguish science as a field of human endeavor from other human endeavors. The second reason is to be able to use this understanding to identify scientific arguments and explanations from other kinds, and to be able to evaluate them in

Climate Change: Causes, Effects and the Need for Science Education for Sustainable Development

The world we live in has witnessed some drastic environmental imbalance in recent times. These imbalances have threatened sustainable development- which is the ultimate goal of man-environment relationship. This paper reviews the causes and effects of climate change on man and his environment with a view to using science education to solve the problems posed by climate change. Literature shows that climate change results mainly from human activities such as rapid deforestation for agricultural and industrial purposes, carbon dioxide emission from fossil fuel burning, carbon dioxide emission from burning gasoline for transportation, usage of chemical fertilizers on croplands and methane emission from animals, agriculture and arctic sea beds. The consequences of these activities include global warming, ozone layer depletion, greenhouse effect, rising sea level and acid rain. It is recommended here that the whole educational process be re-packaged to emphasize science education as a panacea for sustainable development. The argument here is that the educational institutions are the best media for the inculcation of proper morals and values. It is also recommended that teacher education programmes should allocate more funds to research in, and teaching of science in schools.

Climate Change: Causes, Effects and the Need for Science Education for Sustainable Development

The world we live in has witnessed some drastic environmental imbalance in recent times. These imbalances have threatened sustainable development- which is the ultimate goal of man-environment relationship. This paper reviews the causes and effects of climate change on man and his environment with a view to using science education to solve the problems posed by climate change. Literature shows that climate change results mainly from human activities such as rapid deforestation for agricultural and industrial purposes, carbon dioxide emission from fossil fuel burning, carbon dioxide emission from burning gasoline for transportation, usage of chemical fertilizers on croplands and methane emission from animals, agriculture and arctic sea beds. The consequences of these activities include global warming, ozone layer depletion, greenhouse effect, rising sea level and acid rain. It is recommended here that the whole educational process be re-packaged to emphasize science education as a panacea for sustainable development. The argument here is that the educational institutions are the best media for the inculcation of proper morals and values. It is also recommended that teacher education programmes should allocate more funds to research in, and teaching of science in schools.

Climate Change: Causes, Effects and the Need for Science Education for Sustainable Development

The world we live in has witnessed some drastic environmental imbalance in recent times. These imbalances have threatened sustainable development- which is the ultimate goal of man-environment relationship. This paper reviews the causes and effects of climate change on man and his environment with a view to using science education to solve the problems posed by climate change. Literature shows that climate change results mainly from human activities such as rapid deforestation for agricultural and industrial purposes, carbon dioxide emission from fossil fuel burning, carbon dioxide emission from burning gasoline for transportation, usage of chemical fertilizers on croplands and methane emission from animals, agriculture and arctic sea beds. The consequences of these activities include global warming, ozone layer depletion, greenhouse effect, rising sea level and acid rain. It is recommended here that the whole educational process be re-packaged to emphasize science education as a panacea for sustainable development. The argument here is that the educational institutions are the best media for the inculcation of proper morals and values. It is also recommended that teacher education programmes should allocate more funds to research in, and teaching of science in schools. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n8p35

The Impact of Web-based Inquiry in Secondary Science Education on Students’ Motivation for Science Learning

Many countries are facing a decline in motivation for science resulting in reduced numbers of young people choosing to pursue the study science of and a career in science. This is a matter of considerable social concern and debate in light of the increasing recognition of the importance and economic utility of scientific knowledge in an industrialized society. In that respect, research, as well as national standards support technology-enhanced learning in science as a possible answer to this problem, however, to date research focusing on the effects on learner motivation is lacking. In this respect, this study dealt with the implementation of a web-based collaborative inquiry project in secondary science education and unravelled if it contributed to the aim of fostering students’ motivation to learn science. An empirical study in 13 secondary science classes was conducted, involving 220 students. Students’ motivation for science learning was studied by means of The Academic Self-Regulation Scale (Vansteenkiste, Sierens, Soenens, Luyckx, & Lens, 2009) based the Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 2000). The SDT framework maintain that autonomous motivation can be fostered within an environment that facilitates the satisfaction of three basic needs: 1) students’ need for autonomy, 2) competence, and 3) relatedness. In this respect, is was hypothesized that web-based collaborative inquiry in science classrooms can be considered as a need-supportive environment which in turn can foster good quality motivation for science learning (i.e. high autonomous motivation, low controlled motivation). Based on the results of this study, the hypothesis of an overall increased autonomous motivation for science learning as a result of being exposed to web- based inquiry during secondary science education need to be rejected. On the other hand an overall increase of controlled motivation is found, but this doesn’t result in more qualitative motivation profiles. We need to conclude that higher learner motivation cannot taken for granted because of technology-enhanced learning in science. Further research is needed to gain insight to what extent students perceive web-based inquiry learning as need-supportive and how we can improve the teaching and learning environment to satisfy their basic needs and improve good quality motivation for science learning.

Extending the purposes of science education: addressing violence within socio-economic disadvantaged communities

Current discourses about science education show a wide concern towards humanisation and a more socio-cultural perspective of school science. They suggest that science education can serve diverse purposes and be responsive to social and environmental situations we currently face. However, these discourses and social approaches to science education tend to focus on global issues. They do not respond to the immediate needs and local context of some communities. I discuss in this paper why the purposes of science education need to be extended to respond to the local issue of violence. For this, I present a case study with a group of 38 students from a poor population in Bogota, Colombia, located in one of the suburbs with highest levels of crime in the city. I examine the ways that science education contributes to and embodies its own forms of violence and explore how a new approach to science education could contribute to break the cycle of violence.

Does Practical Work Really Motivate? A study of the affective value of practical work in secondary school science

The present paper reports on a study that examined whether practical work can be said to have affective outcomes, and if so in what sense. The term ‘affective’ is used here to refer to the emotions, or feelings, engendered amongst pupils towards school science in general, or one of the sciences in particular. The study is based on 25 multi‐site case studies that employed a condensed fieldwork strategy. Data were collected, using tape‐recorded interviews and observational field notes, in a sample of practical lessons undertaken in English comprehensive (non‐selective) schools during Key Stages 3 and 4 (ages 11–14 years and 15–16 years, respectively). The findings suggest that whilst practical work generates short‐term engagement, it is relatively ineffective in generating motivation to study science post compulsion or longer‐term personal interest in the subject, although it is often claimed to do so. This suggests that those involved with science education need to develop a more realistic understanding of the limitations of practical work in the affective domain.

From professional development to classroom instruction: addressing issues related to science inquiry discourse

In this rejoinder, I first provide a more detailed account of the discourse-focused professional development activities facilitated as part of the SMIT’N program, specifically addressing issues raised by van Zee with regard to the institute’s overall format, goals and development strategies. Next, I resort to Peter Medawar’s metaphorical view of inquiry as scientific storytelling to reflect about Bencze’s expressed opposition to “politely guided quasi-inductive science inquiry instruction” and highlight the need for science educators to give more careful consideration to oral classroom discourse. I then conclude by describing how guided science inquiry teaching can be conceived in terms of the theoretical notion of negative politeness.

Junior Secondary School Pupils' Perception of the Relevance of Environmental Issues: Implications for Science Educators

This study focuses on how the Ghanaian youth would want to associate with some environmental matters regarding science and technology learning using the Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) survey questionnaire; and is also aimed at providing implications for science educators. The results reported in this study are an extract from the author's thesis and also from Ghanaian data which are aspects of much larger ROSE data collected from about 40 countries. The study involved a sample of 1027 Junior Secondary School (JSS) 3 or ninth graders (551 boys and 476 girls) drawn from all the 12 districts in the Central Region of Ghana. The study draws on only one of the themes covered by the ROSE instrument and pupils were asked to indicate the extent to which they agree with 18 statements on a 4-point Likert-type scale which goes from ‘Disagree' to ‘Agree'. The responses were analysed using SPSS and Excel. Descriptive statistics was conducted on the data and an independent sample 2-tailed t-test was used to explore the statistical significance of the differences in the items' mean at p ≤ 0.05. On the average, the results suggest that the majority of pupils in the sample, irrespective of the gender shared almost similar sentiments towards environmental protection issues and to a large extent, placed the same items on top as well as at the bottom of their priorities. An interesting aspect of pupils' concerns for the environment was their optimism about the future of the globe. The study suggests the need for science educators to consider pupils' views when teaching environmental related issues. African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 5 2007: pp. 87-98

Caenorhabditis elegansas an undergraduate educational tool for teaching RNAi

Discovery of RNA-mediated interference (RNAi) is widely recognized as one of the most significant molecular biology breakthroughs in the past 10 years. There is a need for science educators to develop teaching tools and laboratory activities that demonstrate the power of this new technology and help students to better understand the RNAi process. C. elegans is an ideal model organism for the undergraduate laboratory because of the simplicity of worm maintenance, its well-studied genetic background, and the fact that it can be employed as a model organism in laboratory environments where vertebrate research is restricted. Certain unique features of C. elegans make it a very suitable organism for RNAi studies. Specifically, nematode strains highly sensitive to RNAi are readily available from public sources, and RNAi induction by a feeding method is an uncomplicated procedure that lends itself readily as an educational tool. In this article, we provide a detailed depiction of the use of C. elegans as an RNAi educational tool, describing two separate RNAi-based experiments. One is a qualitative experiment where students can examine the effects of knocking down the unc-22 gene involved in the regulation of muscle contraction, which results in a "twitching" phenotype. The other experiment is a quantitative RNAi experiment, where students measure the effect of knocking down the lsy-2 gene involved in neuronal development. Although these experiments are designed for a college-level study, nematode research projects can also be accomplished in secondary school facilities.

Does Science Education Need the History of Science?

This essay argues that science education can gain from close engagement with the history of science both in the training of prospective vocational scientists and in educating the broader public about the nature of science. First it shows how historicizing science in the classroom can improve the pedagogical experience of science students and might even help them turn into more effective professional practitioners of science. Then it examines how historians of science can support the scientific education of the general public at a time when debates over "intelligent design" are raising major questions over the kind of science that ought to be available to children in their school curricula. It concludes by considering further work that might be undertaken to show how history of science could be of more general educational interest and utility, well beyond the closed academic domains in which historians of science typically operate.

The Need for Visually Impaired Students Participation in Science Education: its Implication for Counselling

This paper examines the counselling implication of the need for the visually impaired students' participation in science education. Descriptive research design was adopted for the study while a validated structured questionnaire tagged visually impaired students perception of science education (VISPSE) was administered to two hundred visually impaired students randomly selected from three special schools in Oyo and Lagos States of Nigeria. T-test statistics was used to analyze the data, and the results showed that there were significant statistical differences in the respondents' perception of both class levels i.e. (Junior Secondary Schools and Senior secondary school) and the living conditions i.e. (Resident and Day School) on the need of science education for the visually impaired. Also, it was discovered that there was no significant difference between the perception of visually impaired students in integrated schools and those in special schools\' on the need for science education for the visually impaired. On the basis of these findings, counselling services are considered essential to elicit and enhance the science aptitude of the visually impaired individuals and to involve them in the world of science.International Journal of emotiaonl psychology and sport ethics Vol. 9 2007: pp. 73-80

Points of View: A Survey of Survey Courses: Are They Effective?

Points of View: A Survey of Survey Courses: Are They Effective?