Science Learning Environments Research Articles

Preface

Preface

Http://ejes.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/2.SCIENCE-EDUCATION-FOR-GIFTED-STUDENTS-OPINIONS-OF-STDENTS-PARENTS-AND-TEACHERS.pdf

This paper aims to examine the opinions of gifted children, their parents, and science teachers working at the Science and Art Centre (BILSEM) regarding science education for the gifted. The present study participants, which was conducted by utilizing the phenomenology design using one of the qualitative research methods, were ten talented students, seven parents, and two science teachers working at BILSEM. The study's data were collected using semi-structured interviews held with the participants. The collected data were analyzed by adopting the data analysis process proposed by Moustakas (1994) for phenomenological studies. The study revealed that gifted students possess a mental perception of sciences in the form of life, experience, and scientific knowledge. Talented learners want to learn science by employing experiments, projects, excursions, and observations. Based on these findings, it is recommended that gifted students should be provided with an enjoyable science learning environment to make them active, have fun while learning, perform experiments, and develop projects.

USING OF VIRTUAL INTERACTIVE ENVIRONMENT IN COMPUTER SCIENCE

We will conduct a practical and theoretical analysis of the virtual learning environment in computer science. Consider the goals and objectives of the study and analyze the effectiveness of training programs. We also discuss topical issues of "virtual technologies”," virtual interactive learning environment” and "online learning platform", etc. The scientific relevance of the work is due to the fact that modern technologies and virtual life affect children. Under the influence of globalization and informatization, new interactive approaches to teaching computer science have emerged. And virtual technologies are one of these ways. Virtual teaching in the country is not outdated. It is obvious that in the future, specialists working in this direction will need methodological guidance. After analyzing the results of the research work, I propose a manual for teachers. That is, to determine the practical significance of the research work and formulate rules for organizing and implementing a virtual interactive environment. In this project, we will look at ways to use and organize interactive computer technologies. Keywords: computer science, learning platform, educational process, IT technologies, virtual environment, programming languages, interactive learning.

Professional Development for Rural Stem Teachers on Data Science and Cybersecurity: A University and School District Partnership

The professional development (PD) was a six-week long summer-intensive NSF- funded project that took place at a large university in western Texas. It was designed to provide a research-rich learning environment in data science and cybersecurity for STEM teachers in the region, which is mainly rural. Because of geographical isolation, rural teachers lack the resources to prepare their 6th -12th grade students for STEM careers and often find it difficult to bring innovative science teaching into their schools. The team was comprised of nine teachers, five professors, and six graduate students. In analyzing teacher reflections, we found the teachers gradually developing a scientist persona. They acquired sophisticated pedagogical knowledge to integrate complex concepts into their 6th-12th STEM curriculum without sacrificing the state standards, while creating a community of learners. This led to reduced feelings of isolation often experienced by rural teachers. It is clear that partnerships between universities and rural school districts can transform the way STEM disciplines are delivered, creating a strong pipeline for rural students in the STEM workforce.

Investigating groundwater: Middle school students’ mapping data-driven, computer-based models to socio-hydrologic phenomena

Groundwater is a critical component of the global water cycle and standards-based topic within science education. However, students articulate an array of ideas about groundwater systems, including their natural and human elements. One way to support students’ learning about groundwater systems is through the use of data-driven, computer-based modeling tools in technology-enabled science learning environments. To use models to reason productively about groundwater, students must be able to interpret the relationship between the model and the phenomena it represents. Here, we report findings from a study conducted in 7th-grade classrooms (n = 209) during implementation of a 3-week curriculum module designed around a data-driven, computer-based groundwater modeling tool – the Hydrogeology Challenge. Students completed a series of tasks using the model to reason about and engage in problem-solving about a real-world, scenario-based water challenge. Here, we focus on how students relate – or map – elements of the model to the components of the authentic water-related phenomena they represent. We conducted quantitative and qualitative analyses of student artifacts and interviews. Findings suggest that students could more easily interpret and understand model elements which represent human dimensions of groundwater systems, such as wells, than they could elements that represent natural dimensions and processes, such as contour lines or groundwater flow direction. These findings provide important insights into students’ model-based reasoning about groundwater and teaching and learning about coupled human-hydrological systems.

The 21 st century science learning: HOTS and digital literacy among junior high school students in Semarang, Indonesia

The 21st-century skills was broadly discussed in all sectors. It challenges education to equip next generation with all important skills to face the digital technology transformation. The focus of this study was to identify profile of student’s higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) and digital literacy among junior high school students in science learning. Mixed method, a combination of quantitative and qualitative was used in this study. A total number of 170 of grade 7th students in private and public junior high school in Semarang City were administered in the integrated science test (IST). IST were used to measure student’s HOTS through constructed-multiple choice test. 17 science teachers were the key informant of HOTS and digital literacy in science learning. Rasch model and descriptive analysis used to identify HOTS and digital literacy based on gender and type of school. The results reveal that : (1) most of junior high school students HOTS performace were at low slight to moderate level (2) female students performs better than male students in HOTS, (3) type of school significantly impact on students’ achievement, and (4) teachers’ operation and thinking skills as basic skill of digital literacy were still unsufficient to provide digital-based learning. However, it is necessary to accustom implementation of HOTS assessment as well as digital technology in the science learning environment.

Improving Climate Change Awareness of Preservice Teachers (PSTs) through a University Science Learning Environment

The position of universities is of great importance in climate change education (CCE) if the scientific, environmental, social, and political challenges the world confronts are to be met. It is, therefore, crucial to comprehend the CCE being engaged in globally by higher education institutions (HEIs). It is also important to discover and analyze the ways that HEIs can better address this challenge. Consistent with the requirements of research, this study offers an analysis of climate change awareness-raising of preservice teachers (PSTs) in a university science classroom with a flipped class intervention. A total of 109 students participated in this research: 55 students in the control group (Group 1) and 54 students in the experimental group (Group 2). A questionnaire was used to detect any significant difference in the students’ awareness of climate change for the two groups and before and after course completion. The analyzed results exposed the improved awareness of climate change in PSTs after a flipped class intervention, and, therefore, PSTs were more willing to engage in climate change teaching. Hence, the results of this study will contribute significantly to reducing existing drawbacks, which will be vital to comprehend the professional teaching developments of preservice teachers. Thus, this research can offer various instances of clarifying how climate change education may be placed in a higher science education context with certain adaptations.

Adapting Internet of Things to Arduino-based Devices for Low-Cost Remote Sensing in School Science Learning Environments

<p class="0abstract"><span lang="EN-US">We examine the major technical problems that students experience in authentic scientific inquiry and propose an Arduino-based device, adapting the Internet of Things technology, which is designed for the school science in order to solve those technical problems. Three major technical problems as follows: First, it is difficult to have a variety of measuring tools which may satisfy the needs of students. Second, it is hard to equip students with tools befitting the complex inquiry procedures which students develop on their own. Lastly, there exists a problem in which a particular group(s) of students take advantage of their competence in technology and have a monopoly in the process of data analysis. Physical computing and the IoT technology can provide solutions to these problems. Development boards like Arduino and Raspberry Pi can be purchased at affordable prices, which allows for measuring devices to be made at low cost by connecting sensors to those boards. Utilizing these development boards may also lead to the possibility to optimize measuring methods or procedures for inquiries of each student. By transmitting the measured data to the IoT Platform, students can have an equal access to the data and analyze it easily. We also investigate technologies used in IoT-applied physical computing including development boards, IoT platforms, and telecommunications technologies. Lastly, as an example of inquiry that adapts physical computing and IoT, we introduce the case of transferring data, measured by a temperature/humidity sensor connected to a development board, to the IoT Platform and visualizing them.</span></p><div id="dicLayer" style="display: none;"> </div><div id="dicRawData" style="display: none;"> </div><div id="dicLayerLoader"> </div>

Learning Institute for Environment: Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction Management – Climate Change Adaptation (DRRM-CCA) Technologies and Skills in Philippine Higher Educational Institution

The Learning Institute for Environment (LIFE) is a research and training center of Eastern Visayas State University (EVSU), a public school of higher learning in the Philippines. As an institutional project, it was established as a facility that provides the means to expedite the best learning in Environmental Science as well as Rural Development thru research and development and enlisting top-notch intellectuals who will be trained to take leadership positions in their respective professions, thereby making a culture of excellence and continuous improvement a hallmark of existence. Within the LIFE Project are three (3) major components: (i) Environmental Planning and Management Office; (ii) Climate Change Adaptation and Community Relations Office; and, (iii) EVSU Campus Radio, which are responsible in the formation of skilled, qualified, intellectually aware and eligible professionals with fundamental knowledge who can provide direction and service to humanity especially on environmental protection and management. As an engagement towards sustainable development, the Institute pursues effective research and development of new technologies in and across disciplines in order to serve the needs of industry, government, society, and the scientific community by expanding the body of knowledge in the field. It develops understanding with corporate partners, government agencies and civil society organizations in order to foster and enhance the implementation of academic programs in the University and ensure intensification of research application that may result to technological production in the behavioral, physical and environmental sciences. The project prioritizes activities that directly benefits the communities in Eastern Visayas which were adversely affected by Typhoon “Yolanda”. The assigned personnel in the Institute were highly trained to spearhead programs in the ‘barangay’ or villages that will enhance the knowledge, skills and attitude of the populace in community-based disaster risk reduction management (DRRM) and climate change adaptation (CCA). Through proper community planning and the use of radio communication, the Institute can generate greater awareness and appreciation among the people in the importance of appropriate DRRM techniques and CCA practices. Thus, the LIFE Project is the commitment of the University towards sustainable development through community engagement that focus on technological innovation, values formation, people empowerment, social justice and higher level of resiliency to disaster and adaptability to climate change.

Social positioning in small group interactions in an investigative science learning environment physics class

The most effective student groups have more equal conversations, are better able to sustain their attention during periods of frustration, and sit closer to one another.

Ciencias bilingües: how dual language teachers cultivate equity in dual language classrooms

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to document how K-8 critically conscious, dual language, science teachers (CCDLSTs) working with bilingual learners (BLs) practice their critical consciousness via the four tenets of dual language education: ideological clarity, pedagogical perspective and clarity, access for all, and equitable spaces (IPAE). This paper is informed by the fourth tenet and research question: How do CCDLSTs create equitable spaces in science learning environments? Previous research offers limited information on how dual language, science teachers practice their critical consciousness. Given the era of Common Core State Standards and the number of BLs left with underprepared teachers, this study advances an understanding of what CCDLSTs are doing in classrooms to draw upon the assets of BLs while implementing the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). A phenomenological qualitative design was used to gather interview and observational data of how six CCDLSTs working in Southern California public schools employed a critically conscious pedagogy in a Spanish/English dual language setting while creating access to science content with equity at the core. Findings include research-based examples of the instructional processes CCDLSTs used in their classrooms to create equity while teaching science in dual language classrooms.

It got me back to science and now I want to be a plant scientist: Arts-integrated science engagement for middle school girls

While middle school is a critical phase for science career development for all students (Maltese & Tai, 2009), this stage presents considerations for females in science, in particular. During middle school, the decline in science interest is greater for females than males and, for most students, the level of science interest developed during this middle school stage will persist throughout their lifetime, thereby influencing science career interests and attainment (Todd & Zvoch, 2017). This study aimed to stimulate and sustain middle school female students' interest in science study and careers by transforming opportunities for their participation in classroom science in ways that better appealed to and supported female science students. Research has shown that collaborative and active engagement with peers, hands-on and tangible modes of engagement, significant real-world connections, and choice have been effective in supporting middle school female students in science. Arts-integration has been explored as a cohesive framework that could potentially incorporate each of these characteristics into a science learning environment for five middle school female students. Pre- and post-interviews served as data to investigate the impact of a four-week arts-integrated science unit on the students’ interests in science and science careers. The students explicitly discussed the positive effects of collaborative and active engagement with peers, hands-on and tangible modes of engagement, and significant real-world connections on their interest in science and science career planning. While they did not explicitly acknowledge choice, all of the girls indicated thorough enjoyment from learning and engaging in science in the ways presented in the study. All of the students advanced in their career planning as a result of experiences in the unit, either in terms of science careers or the arts. Findings are discussed in light of related research and future lines of inquiry.

Comprehensive Exploration of Digital Literacy: Embedded with Self-Regulation and Epistemological Beliefs

Today, science educators accept that digital literacy has been one of the key concepts for science teachers in terms of creating meaningful science learning environments. Although there are many research attempts investigating digital literacy in science teacher education literature, the interrelations of this concept to cognitive and metacognitive aspects are still blurred. In this regard, this study was conducted to investigate the structural relations among preservice science teachers’ epistemological beliefs, self-regulated learning skills, and digital literacy as well as the reasons for these relations. A sequential explanatory research design guided this two-step study. The first step involved structural equation modeling analysis of data from 612 preservice science teachers. The second step focused on the reasons for the structural relations observed in the first step. Six participants were selected as the cases in the latter. Overall, the results showed that participants’ epistemological beliefs, self-regulation skills, and digital literacy are closely related to each other. Epistemological and self-regulational filters as well as epistemic bias and the context in which the filters exist directly affect these relationships. Considering the results, it was suggested that preservice science teachers should be involved in inquiry-based and argumentation-based learning mediums since these types of mediums contribute positively to the development of epistemological beliefs and self-regulation skills.

Designing Frameworks for Authentic Equity in Science Teaching and Learning: Informal Learning Environments and Teacher Education for STEM

Abstract In order to advance authentic equity in science education, it is salient to have frameworks that allow educators and researchers to design learning environments, activities, and research agendas that centers students’ strengths in order for them to achieve full participation in science. As such it is important to consider the social identities of science education stakeholders—teachers and students—in teacher education. However, as identity is complex, it requires research approaches that elucidate not only the nuances of teacher identity but also the complexities of science teaching and learning environments. This article describes a collaborative research project that aimed to unpack the relationship between teacher identity and learning to teach. It outlines the collaborative process of theory building that includes teacher participants and the research team and how the framework for teacher education emerged that considers the various aspects of designing equitable and liberatory science learning.

Co-Designing for Rightful Presence in Informal Science Learning Environments

Abstract Addressing ways in which systemic injustices manifest in learning environments has been a significant challenge to the field of informal science learning (ISL). The dominant discourses of equity are framed around calls for inclusion and the extension of rights for quality learning opportunities for all youth. In this paper, we move beyond inclusionary approaches to use the justice-oriented framework of rightful presence. Grounded in participatory design research, the findings show how possibilities for rightful presence arise when educators and youths collaboratively engage in exposing, disrupting, and transforming unjust narratives and practices that position youths as knowledge recipients and temporary guests in the host ISL institutions. These possibilities are characterized by opportunities to foreground youths’ lived lives and community wisdom in ways that shift the boundaries of who and what science is for. We discuss insights, dilemmas, and implications regarding justice-oriented pedagogies and their possibilities for rightful presence in science education.

Fostering senior primary school students’ understanding of climate change in an inquiry-based learning environment

ABSTRACT This quasi-experimental study explored the impact of inquiry-based instruction on students’ conceptions of climate change and their perceptions of science learning environment. A total of 68 senior primary school students participated into the study. Data sources included Questionnaire on Global Climate Change and Constructivist Learning Environment Survey. Data were coded and analysed using quantitative procedures. Before the instruction, about 25% of the participants were aware of the major consequences of, causes of and possible cures for climate change. Following the instruction, about 50–85% of the participants developed scientific understandings about climate change, but the participants showed slow progress in terms of identifying nonscientific conceptions concerning climate change. In addition, students perceived inquiry-based learning environment more encouraging compared to their regular science classes.

Learning “real” science: Storying whiteness in university science labs

Although science is practiced globally, science is historically a field dominated by white people. In response, science education has worked to increase equity in science by examining and transforming science learning environments. However, lacking within this work is a direct examination of whiteness. By engaging in autoethnographic storytelling, I leverage critical whiteness studies and the history of science in order to explicate the relationship between white supremacy and science by examining my experiences as a white man in university science labs.

Engaging Equity Pedagogies in Computer Science Learning Environments.

In this position paper, we advocate for the use of equity-focused teaching and learning as an essential practice within computer science classrooms. We provide an overview of the theoretical underpinnings of various equity pedagogies (Banks & Banks, 1995), such as culturally relevant pedagogy (Ladson-Billings, 1995, 2006) and share how they have been utilized in CS classrooms. First, we provide a brief history of CS education and issues of equity within public schools in the United States. In sharing our definition of equity, along with our rationale for how and why these strategies can be taken up in computer science (CS) learning environments, we demonstrate how researchers and educators can shift the focus from access and achievement to social justice. After explaining the differences between the relevant theoretical frameworks, we provide practical examples from research of how both practitioners and researchers might use and/or examine equity-focused teaching practices. Resources for further learning are also included.

The relationship between students perceptions of the science learning environment on the learning outcomes

The purpose of this study was to describe students` perceptions of the science learning environment in class VII SMP Sepuluh Nopember, to describe student learning outcomes in class VII SMP Sepuluh Nopember, and whether there was a relationship between students` perceptions of the science learning environment and student learning outcomes in class VII SMP Sepuluh Nopember Sidoarjo. This type of research includes quantitative research with comparative causal types with correlation analysis techniques. Data collection was obtained through questionnaires and documentation of students cognitive learning outcomes,the sample used was 29 students. The object of the research was the seventh grade students at SMP Sepuluh Nopember Sidoarjo. The results showed that the students` perceptions of the science learning environment in the high category were 6 students, 18 students in the medium category and 5 students in the low category. And the cognitive learning outcomes of students with complete categories of 15 students and incomplete categories of 14 students. Then the calculation was carried out through the correlation hypothesis test, the results of this calculation obtained significant results, namely 0,237< 0,05 and significant 0,216< 0,05, so this indicated that there was a positive relationship between students` perceptions of the science learning environment and student cognitive learning outcomes.

Pre-service Science Teachers’ Views towards Socio-scientific Issues and Socio-scientific Issue-based Instruction

Today, many countries have revised their science curricula to ensure an effective science-learning environment and Turkey is one of such countries. Thanks to the revisions within this scope, socio-scientific issues were integrated into the curriculum. Their presence has brought about the requirement of knowing what socio-scientific issues are and how to integrate them into lessons. The aim of this study is to explore pre-service science teachers’ views towards socio-scientific issues and socio-scientific issue-based instruction in Turkey. To this end, it utilized qualitative research method. The qualitative data were collected from thirty pre-service science teachers through semi-structured interviews and they were analyzed through content analysis technique. The study revealed that while some participants were aware of socio-scientific issues, some were not. In addition, some did not know those issues existing in science education curricula, and how to deal with them during lessons. Besides, participants did not have sufficient self-efficacy beliefs towards dealing with socio-scientific issues in real classroom settings. These results suggest that socio-scientific issues should be integrated into science education programs of universities and more teaching opportunities should be provided for pre-service teachers to practice SSI-based instruction.