Science Education Reform Research Articles

Suggesting a NOS Map for Nature of Science for Science Education Instruction

Background:The aims of this research are 1) to explore the inter-relationships within the individual elements or tenets of Nature of Science (NOS), based on the dimensions of scientific knowledge in science learning, and 2) to consider Kuhn's concept of how scientific revolution takes place.Material and methods:This study suggests that instruction according to our NOS Flowchart should include the tenets of NOS. The aspects of NOS that have been emphasized in recent science education reform documents disagree with the received views of common science. Attitudes about science can have a significant effect on scientific literacy. In education theory, the understanding of content lies in the cognitive domain, whereas attitudes lie in the affective domain.Results:There are three major dimensions of learning in science: knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Additionally, it is valuable to introduce students at the primary level to some of the ideas developed by Kuhn. Key aspects of NOS are, in fact, good applications to the history of science through Kuhn’s philosophy.Conclusions:Therefore, an NOS Flow Map could be a promising means of understanding the NOS tenets and an explicit and reflective tool for science teachers to enhance scientific teaching and learning.

Multi‐Year Professional Development Grounded in Educative Curriculum Focused on Integrating Technology With Reformed Science Teaching Principles

Visions of science teaching and learning in the newest U.S. standards documents are dramatically different than those found in most classrooms. This research addresses these differences through closely examining one professional development (PD) project that connects teacher learning and teacher practice with student learning/achievement. This study examines the effects on eighth grade science teachers and their students in the context of a PD focused on the integration of information communication technologies and reformed science teaching practices. Findings from this investigation suggest that teachers who participated in PD for two years learned more about technology, improved their practice, and their students’ achievement was significantly higher compared to teachers who participated in one year of the PD or non‐participating peers. Science educators face multiple challenges as they attempt to deliver instruction in fundamentally different ways than what they experienced as learners. The delivery of this professional learning suggest that PD for science teachers should include educative learning experiences if understandings of reforms supported by research are to be realized.

Examining the Role of Leadership in an Undergraduate Biology Institutional Reform Initiative.

Undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education reform continues to be a national priority. We studied a reform process in undergraduate biology at a research-intensive university to explore what leadership issues arose in implementation of the initiative when characterized with a descriptive case study method. The data were drawn from transcripts of meetings that occurred over the first 2 years of the reform process. Two literature-based models of change were used as lenses through which to view the data. We find that easing the burden of an undergraduate education reform initiative on faculty through articulating clear outcomes, developing shared vision across stakeholders on how to achieve those outcomes, providing appropriate reward systems, and ensuring faculty have ample opportunity to influence the initiative all appear to increase the success of reform. The two literature-based models were assessed, and an extended model of change is presented that moves from change in STEM instructional strategies to STEM organizational change strategies. These lessons may be transferable to other institutions engaging in education reform.

STEM Faculty as Learners in Pedagogical Reform and the Role of Research Articles as Professional Development Opportunities.

Discipline-based education research (DBER) publications are opportunities for professional development around science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education reform. Learning theory tells us these publications could be more impactful if authors, reviewers, and editors pay greater attention to linking principles and practice. This approach, which considers faculty as learners and STEM education reform as content, has the potential to better support faculty members because it promotes a deeper understanding of the reasons why a pedagogical change is effective. This depth of understanding is necessary for faculty members to successfully transfer new knowledge to their own contexts. A challenge ahead for the emergent learning sciences is to better integrate findings from across sister disciplines; DBER reports can take a step in that direction while improving their usefulness for instructors.

The Impact of Design-Based STEM Integration Curricula on Student Achievement in Engineering, Science, and Mathematics

The new science education reform documents call for integration of engineering into K-12 science classes. Engineering design and practices are new to most science teachers, meaning that implementing effective engineering instruction is likely to be challenging. This quasi-experimental study explored the influence of teacher-developed, engineering design-based science curriculum units on learning and achievement among grade 4–8 students of different races, gender, special education status, and limited English proficiency (LEP) status. Treatment and control students (n = 4450) completed pretest and posttest assessments in science, engineering, and mathematics as well as a state-mandated mathematics test. Single-level regression results for science outcomes favored the treatment for one science assessment (physical science, heat transfer), but multilevel analyses showed no significant treatment effect. We also found that engineering integration had different effects across race and gender and that teacher gender can reduce or exacerbate the gap in engineering achievement for student subgroups depending on the outcome. Other teacher factors such as the quality of engineering-focused science units and engineering instruction were predictive of student achievement in engineering. Implications for practice are discussed.

Exploring the role of identity in elementary preservice teachers who plan to specialize in science teaching

Reforms in science education emphasize learning outcomes of elementary students; it is important to prepare elementary teachers to teach reformed-based science. This study interviews twenty elementary preservice teachers who participated in four discipline-specific science teaching methods courses to become elementary science specialists. This study asks: Why do elementary preservice teachers want to specialize in science teaching? And, how do the they narrate change in their identities following enrollment and through the progression of one or more courses? Using an identity lens, we find that discipline specific experiences and practice develops teachers' ability to see themselves as reformed-based elementary science teachers.

Wastewater Treatment Provides for Authentic Inquiry-Based Experiences in the Lab and Beyond

Efforts to reform science education focus on implementing constructivist pedagogy to engage students in scientific practices, promote critical thinking, and provide students with relevant research experiences. In this spirit, this article presents authentic, inquiry-based activities utilizing the real-world bioscience behind wastewater treatment. The activities begin with a tour of a wastewater treatment facility, followed by a guided inquiry activity in which students enumerate E. coli levels from wastewater samples collected from different steps of the treatment process. Students then participate in an open-inquiry experiment to test a unique hypothesis. Learning about wastewater treatment introduces students to important biology content such as bioremediation, microbiology, and nutrient cycling. Additionally, students engage in science practices such as inquiry and constructing evidence-based explanations.

Examining Leadership Style Influence on Engagement in a National Change Process: Implications for Leadership Education

Individuals expected to offer leadership are often chosen based on their power position within the field of interest and specialization in the context area being addressed and not on their leadership style. Leadership education curriculum often focuses on change as a product of leadership and leadership styles but places little emphasis on how the leadership styles of those chosen to lead change can influence the change process. In order to inform the development of curriculum targeting this aspect of leadership, research needs to be done to determine if leadership style impacts level of engagement in change. This research examined how transformational and transactional leadership styles impacted engagement in a national change process when 39 department chairs of universities across the United States were selected by the National Science Foundation to lead science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) educational reform at the undergraduate level. The findings revealed transformational leadership style positively predicted engagement in change and transactional leadership style negatively predicted engagement in change. While the small sample size makes the findings exploratory in nature and should be used with caution, they imply leadership education curriculum should include lessons on the impact these two styles have on engagement in change since there were statistically significant differences.

Where We Are and Where We Need To Be: Pre Service Science Teacher Preparation in China & Sri Lanka

The rejuvenation of a nation depends upon education and the development of education depends upon teachers. Thus, quality teachers are the spine for representing overall teaching levels. This is more in science education, the training of these teachers to the standards is a great need. This article discusses a proportional look into the pre service science teacher preparation in Sri Lanka and China with comparison to the National Science Standards in U.S.A. The reforms, pre service science teacher training and science teacher professional education systems contribute to producing competent science teachers to the education system in both the countries at different levels. However, it cannot meet the standards for remarkable increasing requirements of highly qualified science teachers in the context of new science education reform. More effective measures should be taken to improve pre-service science teacher education and it must also be altered, which is not easy. In this paper an attempt is made to bridge the gap between the previous reports findings, highlights problems associated with the planning and organization of in-service training and proffered recommendations towards improving classroom instruction and organization of in-service training for prospective science teachers teachers.

Science education reform in Confucian learning cultures: teachers\u2019 perspectives on policy and practice in Taiwan

This empirical study investigates secondary science teachers’ perspectives on science education reform in Taiwan and reflects how these teachers have been negotiating constructivist and learner-centered pedagogical approaches in contemporary science education. It also explores the challenges that teachers encounter while shifting their pedagogical focus from traditional approaches to teaching science to an active engagement in students’ learning. Multiple sources of qualitative data were obtained, including individual interviews with science teachers and teachers’ reflective journals about Confucianism in relation to their educational philosophies. Thematic analysis and constant comparative method were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that Confucian traditions play a significant role in shaping educational practices in Taiwan and profoundly influence teachers’ epistemological beliefs and their actual classroom practice. Indeed, science teachers’ perspectives on Confucian learning traditions played a key role in supporting or obstructing their pedagogical commitments to inquiry-based and learner-centered approaches. This study draws on the literature concerning teachers’ professional struggles and identity construction during educational reform. Specifically, we explore the ways in which teachers respond to educational changes and negotiate their professional identities. We employed various theories of identity construction to understand teachers’ struggles and challenges while wrestling with competing traditional and reform-based pedagogical approaches. Attending to these struggles and the ways in which they inform the development of a teacher’s professional identity is vital for sustaining current and future educational reform in Taiwan as well as in other Eastern cultures. These findings have important implications for teachers’ professional development programs in East Asian cultures.

Science education reform in confucian learning cultures: policymakers’ perspectives on policy and practice in Taiwan

This qualitative inquiry project investigates the political and policy discourses related to education reform in Taiwan. Specifically, it examines the science education reform policies and policy leaders’ vision for the reform. This work also reveals the unique challenges involved in implementing contemporary science education approaches in a Confucian learning culture. Data sources included reform policy documents and interviews with policymakers. Thematic and constant comparative methods were used to analyze these data. The Foucauldian framework on governmentality served as a lens to examine the historical and political conditions which shaped policy leaders’ rationale for educational change and the strategies that they used to implement the reform policies in local educational institutions. Policymakers identified a number of critical challenges related to the reform initiative, emphasizing that social and cultural traditions in Confucian learning cultures presented significant obstacles to the implementation of inquiry-based and learner-centered approaches in Taiwanese schools. These findings have important implications for future policy and curriculum initiatives in East Asian cultures.

Investigating Purposeful Science Curriculum Adaptation as a Strategy to Improve Teaching and Learning

In this paper, we investigate the potential and conditions for using curriculum adaptation to support reform of science teaching and learning. With each wave of reform in science education, curriculum has played a central role and the contemporary wave focused on implementation of the principles and vision of the Framework for K–12 Science Education (National Research Council, 2012) is no exception. Curriculum adaptation—whereby existing curriculum materials are purposefully modified—may provide an important strategy for teacher leaders in schools and districts to support changes to teacher practice aligned with the vision of the Framework. Our study provides empirical evidence that under supportive district conditions and within a research–practice partnership, purposefully adapted curriculum materials can improve student understanding of science and that these are linked to shifts teachers make in classroom culture facilitated by augmented curriculum materials.

Repositioning science reform efforts: Four practical recommendations from the field

Appeals to reform science education by policy makers are not new phenomena. To be sure, while science reform efforts have been ongoing occurrences for nearly six decades, perpetual educational reform efforts as a whole have been evolving and gaining momentum in number for more than a century. The general motivation for continual reform appears to focus on unifying educational outcomes that can be implemented globally. Relentless clarion calls for science reform appear to parallel the mergers of corporations whose constituents wish to gain access to national education systems and their methods of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Accordingly, scientists and science educators must reconsider what is taught in science classes at all levels. In this article, the authors examine the research on reform efforts in science education and several past science education reform initiatives, which are then placed in the context of the time when each was endorsed and sanctioned. Based on unifying strands of inquiry regarding past science education reform efforts, the authors conclude with four general recommendations for progressive reform that are believed to be beneficial to authentic science learning experiences.

Science Education Reform in Qatar: Progress and Challenges

Background:Science education reform in Qatar has had limited success. In the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS), Qatari 4th and 8th grade students have shown progress in science achievement, but they remain significantly below the international average. Also, in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), Qatari students have shown progress in science achievement, but they are again below the international average.Material and methods:data were analyzed from the international tests of TIMMS (2007 and 2011) and PISA (2006, 2009, and 2012). In addition, data were collected from a total of 92 science coordinators and teachers in 24 Qatar schools by means of the School Science Teaching Inventory Questionnaire (SSTIQ), which has been found to be reliable and valid in related studies (Author et al., 2013a,b).Results:The questionnaire results, in conjunction with interviews, indicated that science coordinators and teachers believed that a set of factors was responsible, and that low student motivation was the factor that was most responsible. Low student motivation was due, in part, to textbooks being overemphasized, and inquiry-based and problem-based methods being underemphasized. Based on these findings, recommendations for improving students’ science achievement were provided.Conclusions:Please see the conclusion section in the manuscript

Critical Design Decisions for Successful Model-Based Inquiry in Science Classrooms

Current science education reforms and the new standards (Next Generation Science Standards [NGSS], 2013) advocate that K-12 students gain proficiency in the knowledge-generating practices of scientists. These practices include argumentation, modeling, and coordinating evidence with theories and models. Practice-based instruction is very different from traditional methods. Creating practice-rich instructional materials presents substantive challenges even for experienced educational designers because of the unlimited choice of potential phenomena to study and the inherent difficulties of developing the associated models and evidence. In this design case we will discuss some of the affordances, constraints and tradeoffs associated with making decisions about four key design principles of engaging students with evidence-based scientific modeling. The first set of decisions involves identifying the focus phenomenon. The second set of decisions regards how to represent the focus phenomenon as an explanatory scientific model and how to design for student engagement with modeling. The third set of decisions involves selecting and developing the evidence students will use to evaluate models. The final set of design decisions pertains to developing supporting activities that foster disciplinary engagement (Engle & Conant, 2002) during modeling. We developed a variety of approaches that address these four design challenges and present them in the context of a unit we developed for a middle school life science course focusing on genetics and inheritance. This design case illustrates how a group of designers, including university researchers, teachers, and school administrators, arrived at collective design decisions bearing on these four problems.

Situated instructional coaching: a case study of faculty professional development

Barriers to reforming traditional lecture-based undergraduate STEM classes are numerous and include time constraints, lack of training, and instructor’s beliefs about teaching and learning. This case study documents the use of a situated instructional coaching process as a method of faculty professional development. In this model, a geoscience education graduate student (the coach) assisted a faculty member in reforming and teaching an introductory geoscience course on dinosaurs using evidence-based teaching strategies. The revision process occurred in three phases to progressively transfer responsibility for lesson design from the coach to the instructor over the length of the course. Data on instructional practices were collected using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP), and belief changes experienced by the instructor were captured using the Teacher Beliefs Interview (TBI) and Beliefs about Reformed Science Teaching and Learning (BARSTL) survey. RTOP data confirm that the instructor was successful in teaching the lessons as designed and also gained skills in designing reformed lessons. TBI and BARSTL were indicative of a shift in the instructor's beliefs toward a more student-centered perspective. Data collected on instructional practice and teaching beliefs indicate that this model served as an effective method of professional development for the instructor.

Students’ evaluations about climate change

ABSTRACTScientists regularly evaluate alternative explanations of phenomena and solutions to problems. Students should similarly engage in critical evaluation when learning about scientific and engineering topics. However, students do not often demonstrate sophisticated evaluation skills in the classroom. The purpose of the present study was to investigate middle school students’ evaluations when confronted with alternative explanations of the complex and controversial topic of climate change. Through a qualitative analysis, we determined that students demonstrated four distinct categories of evaluation when writing about the connections between evidence and alternative explanations of climate change: (a) erroneous evaluation, (b) descriptive evaluation, (c) relational evaluation, and (d) critical evaluation. These categories represent different types of evaluation quality. A quantitative analysis revealed that types of evaluation, along with plausibility perceptions about the alternative explanations, were significant predictors of postinstructional knowledge about scientific principles underlying the climate change phenomenon. Specifically, more robust evaluations and greater plausibility toward the scientifically accepted model of human-induced climate change predicted greater knowledge. These findings demonstrate that instruction promoting critical evaluation and plausibility appraisal may promote greater understanding of socio-scientific topics and increased use of scientific thinking when considering alternative explanations, as is called for by recent science education reform efforts.

The ASM-NSF Biology Scholars Program: An Evidence-Based Model for Faculty Development.

The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) established its ASM-NSF (National Science Foundation) Biology Scholars Program (BSP) to promote undergraduate education reform by 1) supporting biologists to implement evidence-based teaching practices, 2) engaging life science professional societies to facilitate biologists’ leadership in scholarly teaching within the discipline, and 3) participating in a teaching community that fosters disciplinary-level science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) reform. Since 2005, the program has utilized year-long residency training to provide a continuum of learning and practice centered on principles from the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) to more than 270 participants (“scholars”) from biology and multiple other disciplines. Additionally, the program has recruited 11 life science professional societies to support faculty development in SoTL and discipline-based education research (DBER). To identify the BSP’s long-term outcomes and impacts, ASM engaged an external evaluator to conduct a study of the program’s 2010–2014 scholars (n = 127) and society partners. The study methods included online surveys, focus groups, participant observation, and analysis of various documents. Study participants indicate that the program achieved its proposed goals relative to scholarship, professional society impact, leadership, community, and faculty professional development. Although participants also identified barriers that hindered elements of their BSP participation, findings suggest that the program was essential to their development as faculty and provides evidence of the BSP as a model for other societies seeking to advance undergraduate science education reform. The BSP is the longest-standing faculty development program sponsored by a collective group of life science societies. This collaboration promotes success across a fragmented system of more than 80 societies representing the life sciences and helps catalyze biology education reform efforts.

RESEARCH ON THE COGNITIVE LEVEL OF STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF PHYSICS MODELS AND MODELING MECHANISM IN CHINESE HIGH SCHOOLS

Scientific model has been advocated as a central role of teaching in science education reform all over the world, with the critical method to achieve one of the goals of science education to promote scientific models and modeling. To find the students’ perceptions of cognitive level of physics models and their modeling mechanism, firstly, research progress in scientific models and modeling are summarized. Then, 39 experts and 8 researchers are chosen to do the three-stage questionnaire and interview, and 1576 students are selected from junior high school and 1625 students from senior high school to do the empirical study. The classification and cognitive level of physics models perceived by high school students have been founded as well as the influence on schools and regions. Finally, regression analysis on the model construction process of students is conducted. The result shows the cognitive level of scientific models held by students, appeared in Chinese national curriculum standards and national examination requirements are equivalent, but there are also some differences among students’ learning, curriculum standards and examination requirements. A specific classification of the models based on the comprehensive understanding systems is conducted, and the impact on learning among different schools and regions and inherent relationship on the cognitive level of physics models are founded. Key words: cognitive level, modeling mechanism, physics model, scientific model.

Over reported and misunderstood? A study of teachers’ reported enactment and knowledge of inquiry-based science teaching

ABSTRACTScience education reforms worldwide call on teachers to engage students in investigative approaches to instruction, like inquiry. Studies of teacher self-reported enactment indicate that inquiry is used frequently in the classroom, suggesting a high level of proficiency with inquiry that would be amenable to inquiry reform. However, it is unclear whether the high frequency of self-report is based on sound knowledge inquiry. In the absence of sound knowledge, high rates of self-reported enactment would be suspect. We conducted a study to measure teachers’ knowledge of inquiry as it related to the known, high frequency of reported enactment. We developed a multidimensional survey instrument using US reform documents and administered it to 149 K–12 teachers at a national science teachers’ conference. The majority of the teachers surveyed did not report inquiry enactment based on well-structured knowledge of inquiry. Interviews with participants showed how teachers could readily map non-inquiry activities onto inquiry statements taken directly from reform documents. From these results we argue that teachers often believed they were enacting inquiry, when likely they were not. We further reason that teachers may struggle to interpret and enact inquiry-related requirements of science education reform and will need support distinguishing inquiry from non-inquiry practices.