Science Education Research Research Articles

Transforming Curriculum and Building Capacity in K–12 Data Science Education

The recently released and updated Pre-K–12 Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education (GAISE II; Bargagliotti et al., 2020) provides guidance as to how teachers can support the development of data literacy for all students in the pre-K–12 curriculum. However, to truly meet the vision of the GAISE II report and to support all students in developing data literacy for today’s societies, significant transformations need to be made to the educational system as a whole to build capacity for such development. In this article we discuss the current state of the K–12 curriculum focusing on the mathematics curriculum where statistics and data concepts are most frequently situated, presenting some challenges and exciting examples. We then discuss areas of need for capacity building that must come at all levels, including: K–12 school curriculum, K–12 teacher professional development, K–12 teacher preparation, statistics and data science education research, and policies. We also provide a set of recommendations for building capacity to develop the data literacy of all students through the teaching of data science and statistics concepts and practices in the K–12 mathematics curriculum to support democratic equity through engaged citizenship.

The focus and timing of gaze matters: Investigating collaborative knowledge construction in a simulation-based environment by combined video and eye tracking

Although eye tracking has been successfully used in science education research, exploiting its potential in collaborative knowledge construction has remained sporadic. This article presents a novel approach for studying collaborative knowledge construction in a simulation-based environment by combining both the spatial and temporal dimensions of eye-tracking data with video data. For this purpose, we have investigated two undergraduate physics student pairs solving an electrostatics problem in a simulation-based environment via Zoom. The analysis of the video data of the students’ conversations focused on the different collaborative knowledge construction levels (new idea, explication, evaluation, and non-content-related talk and silent moments), along with the temporal visualizations of the collaborative knowledge construction processes. The eye-tracking data of the students’ gaze, as analyzed by epistemic network analysis, focused on the pairs’ spatial and temporal gaze behavior. We illustrate how gaze behavior can shed light on collaborative knowledge construction in terms of the quantity of the talk (e.g., gaze behavior can shed light on the different activities of the pairs during the silent moments), quality of the talk (e.g., gaze behavior can shed light on the different approaches when constructing knowledge on physical phenomena), and temporality of collaborative knowledge construction processes [e.g., gaze behavior can shed light on (the lack of) attempts to acquire the supporting or contrasting evidence on the initial ideas on the physical phenomena]. We also discuss the possibilities and limitations of gaze behavior to reveal the critical moments in the collaborative knowledge construction processes.

New Materialist Network Approaches in Science Education: A Method to Construct Network Data from Video

Lately, new materialism has been proposed as a theoretical framework to better understand material-dialogic relationships in learning, and concurrently network analysis has emerged as a method in science education research. This paper explores how to include materiality in network analysis and reports the development of a method to construct network data from video. The approaches, 1) information flow, 2) material semantic and 3) material engagement, were identified based on the literature on network analysis and new materialism in science education. The method was applied and further improved with a video segment from an upper secondary school physics lesson. The example networks from the video segment show that network analysis is a potential research method within the materialist framework and that the method allows studies into the material and dialogic relationships that emerge when students are engaged in investigations in school.

Technology-supported Project-based Learning: Trends, Review and Future Research in Science, Technology and Engineering Education

This research investigates trends in technology-supported project-based learning (PjBL) in science, technology, and engineering education and also provides future research directions in this field. Bibliometric analysis with Scopus database sources in the period 2004-2023 was used in this investigation. 541 publications met the criteria, with the annual growth of publications increasing based on the number of documents and citations. American and Asian countries are the most productive countries and affiliates in publications in this field. Most publications are produced from international conferences. The publication's conceptual structure shows four research clusters with 81 terms, 1029 links, and a total link strength of 3492. The term "project-based learning" is the central node in the cluster, connecting several essential terms related to the use of technology in PjBL. The discussion at the end of this study leads to recommended further research paths for developing technology-supported PjBL.

Mapping and Extending the Theoretical Perspectives of Reading in Science and Mathematics Education Research

This introductory paper to the special issue “Reading in Science and Mathematics” presents four major theoretical perspectives of reading, literacy, and language that underpin many studies in this area, including the nine articles selected for this issue. It first outlines several new developments and contemporary issues that drive the growing importance of reading in science and mathematics. It then presents the perspectives that inform and situate the authors’ research as reported in this special issue, followed by a brief introduction of their articles situated within each of the perspectives. The four perspectives are reading comprehension, scientific/mathematical literacy, disciplinary literacy, and linguistic/semiotic meaning-making. The purpose in discussing these perspectives is to map out the theoretical terrain in the field and connect the key ideas within the research on reading in science and mathematics.

Call for papers: Journal of Research in Science Teaching—Special issue on “Examining translanguaging in science and engineering education research”

Call for papers: <i>Journal of Research in Science Teaching</i>—Special issue on “Examining translanguaging in science and engineering education research”

Is There a Limit to Resemblances?

The notion of family resemblance has recently emerged as a promising and fruitful approach to characterising the nature of science (NOS) in science education research, offering solutions to some perplexing challenges such as capturing both the domain-general and domain-specific features of science with a single framework. At the same time, however, criticism has been levelled that the resemblance might eventually extend to certain activities that are not scientific but pose as science. This would be an undesirable consequence for science educators, particularly given the increasing need for individuals to discern pseudoscientific claims circulated on social media from scientific information. Many pseudoscientific and non-scientific activities resemble science in terms of their aim to explain nature, their use of evidence-based methods, and their interrelation with politics and society. In this theoretical article, we build on the concept of family resemblance to consider how it can simultaneously explain the diversity and unity of science and help students to learn about the nature of science and that of pseudoscience in science education. We put forward three principles that can guide teaching about pseudoscience based on the family resemblance conceptualisation of science.

Gratitude and Gifts for Promotion of School Health Evidence.

The National Association of School Nurses established the Endowment Fund to support evidence for school nursing practice with research grants, special projects, and to support school nurse education with scholarships. This article provides an overview of the use of the NASN Endowment Fund since its origin including the awarding of scholarships and research grants beginning in 2015. The article also highlights the association of NASN research priorities and their connection to evidence-based practice, and recognizes the success of the project continues to rely of the generosity of contributors to the fund. Contributing to NASN Endowment will enable future educational scholarships and research projects to continue for many years to come.

Marginality in inquiry-based science learning contexts: the role of exclusion cascades

ABSTRACT Vygotskyan-inspired theories of learning have been applied in science education research, yet to more explicit attention to links between local social interactions and cultural-historical processes is needed advance critical theories of science learning. This microgenetic case study examined identity and motivation processes in a 7th grade inquiry science context with the goal of better historicizing these processes by describing the phenomenon of exclusion cascades in relation to two backgrounded cultural-historical processes, alienation and the social division of labor. Exclusion cascades highlighted the mutual constitution of competence and belonging. Implications are discussed with respect to challenging adaptationist ethos in science education.

A Custom-Made Board Game to Familiarise Primary School Children With Atoms

To discover the link between the abstract concept of atoms and the macroscopic material world is often seen as one of the key challenges for new students in chemistry. Failing to make this connection results in low student grades, little interest, and eventually small numbers of graduates in chemistry or related disciplines. Science education research approaches this challenge by designing and creating new learning experiences and curricula for children without any prior knowledge about atoms. One promising approach is to introduce atoms and/or sub-microscopic particles in late primary school, such that children can start making connections between the macroscopic and the microscopic world. In this paper, an educational, custom-made board game that combines science content and fun for primary school children is presented to accomplish this difficult task. The board game features cooperative gameplay for 2 to 4 players, simple strategic elements, and play time between 20 and 30 minutes. Intrinsic integration of the learning content was the leading design idea and, as a result, concrete associations between sub-microscopic particles and macroscopic events related to material hardness lie at the core of the game. Another pivotal criterion was that the game is fully playable for children at home, like other board games, or in school lessons. This contribution, therefore, discusses: (i) how the game works, (ii) the essential design elements of the current game from a designer’s and educator’s perspective; and (iii) the basic atomic concepts which could be facilitated by playing the game. Preliminary play tests suggest that players, or learners, believe the game to be fun, and appreciate the balance between elements of strategy and luck. In summary, a compact, playful activity could trigger children to think of hardness of solid materials as a property that emerges from the strength of interactions between atoms. Such a change in conceptual thinking could in turn ease students’ pathway for future chemistry education.

Preservice science teachers’ epistemological framing in their early teaching

ABSTRACT Background In the context of recent research in science education and continued struggles to understand how best to support science teachers, epistemological frames, made up of sets of epistemological resources teachers activate, have emerged as an important focus of research. However, at the time of this writing no research was available to identify the epistemological frames activated by preservice science teachers (PSTs). Methods In this research, using qualitative research methods, we studied and applied a coding scheme to identify 10 PSTs’ epistemological framing in their early teaching as part of a science teaching methods course. Three observations and three interviews of each PST served as primary data sources. Findings We found three main epistemological frames activated. Further, we identified the contexts in which these frames were activated, where contexts can be understood as situations characterized by different possible dimensions within which resources are activated. We also described dynamics noted by PSTs related to the activation of specific epistemological resources and identified frames. Contribution This research is a relatively new application of the epistemological framing framework that has potential to help science teacher educators better understand and support PST learning and practice.

Utilizing Simulation as a Means to Teach Diagnostic Medical Sonography: A Multi-Site Discipline-Based Educational Research Project

Objective: This discipline-based educational research (DBER) project was designed to longitudinally study the influence of high-fidelity computer-based sonography simulators (HFCBSSs) on student learning. The research question was: Can the implementation of HFCBSS improve clinical skills for sonography students, beyond traditional methods? Materials and Methods: HFCBSSs were shipped to three educational sites for implementation. A quasi-experimental design was utilized across the three educational sites. Educational materials, simulator guides, and assessment templates were developed for implementation. The educational sites revised their standard curricula to allow for students to develop skills with HFCBSS, low-fidelity simulation (e.g. phantoms), and sonographic evaluation of peer classmates. A control group of graduating sonography students was assessed having no HFCBSS experience. Those assessment scores were used as an educational threshold. Successive cohorts of students across the educational sites were assessed as they progressed through their first year. Results: First-year sonography students, exposed to the revised simulation curricula, demonstrated higher median assessment scores, on most sonographic examinations, than the control-group student scores. Those student cohorts that were exposed to the revised simulation curricula but demonstrated a lower median assessment score were remediated to make sure they were ready for clinical placement. Students, across all three educational sites, rated their experience with the HFCBSS as second only to gaining patient examinations in their sonography clinical placements. Conclusion: This educational research project spanned three educational sites, with varied curricula, but it did demonstrate HFCBSS is a useful and effective educational tool. It also demonstrated how preclinical sonographic skill assessments can ensure students get lab-based remediation prior to clinical placement. These results are exclusive to this cohort and should be replicated at other sites, for concurrence.

Effects of the use of ICT in schools on students’ science higher-order thinking skills: comparative study of China and Finland

ABSTRACT Information and communications technology (ICT) is now widely used in education. However, the effect of ICT on the development of students’ scientific higher-order thinking skills (S-HOTS) is a controversial issue in science education research. This has attracted significant attention from researchers worldwide in the field of educational technology. Purpose In this study, a novel framework for students’ S-HOTS is proposed based on Marzano’s new taxonomy to determine the impact of ICT on S-HOTS. And exploring the difference in the impact of ICT on S-HOTS in two different countries. Sample The data for this study were obtained from the Science Assessment and ICT Familiarity Questionnaire of the PISA 2015 survey for Finnish and Chinese students. This survey measures the differences in economic and educational levels and literacy in each country and tests the knowledge and skills necessary for life in reading, mathematics, and science for students (15 years old), through a detailed pre-testing country field study to make the results comparable across countries. Design and methods We used the Delphi methodology to determine the framework of S-HOTS and a regression analysis to analyse the effects of ICT on students’ S-HOTS. Results The results demonstrate how the availability, use frequency and use time of ICT affect S-HOTS. Furthermore, we compared the results between China (9841 students) and Finland (2538 students), and these findings demonstrated that ICT use at school has a negative effect on S-HOTS, especially ICT use time in school. We also found that using an interactive whiteboard positively and significantly affects S-HOTS. Conclusion The results suggest that the effect of ICT use on S-HOTS in school depends on the ICT method combined with the learning process. Consequently, the use of ICT in schools should be viewed dialectically to promote students’ S-HOTS.

Reflecting on Boundary Crossings between Knowledge and Values:

Through a series of practice-based narratives, drawn from specific experiences in a higher-education context in Sweden, the affordances of multimodal objects are reflected upon. In this work, multimodal objects are considered as boundary objects that can facilitate learning conversations, both cognitive and affective. Current work in science education research has highlighted the role that boundary-crossings between knowledge and values offer teaching and learning. The author believes such boundary-crossings to be essential in the current context of prolific species extinction, on a planet in which human-made materials now outweigh the living biomass; a planet in which life, death, self and other are ‘braided vulnerabilities’ across a complex socio-biological landscape. Thus, in these iterative, practice-based reflections on specific teaching moments, this paper offers small steps towards reimagining biology didactics in the ‘post-normal’ conditions of the 21st century. In so doing, possibilities for multimodal objects in contemporary biology didactics are reflected upon and suggested.

Co-designing Integrated Mathematics and Science Lesson Learning Sequences for Primary Education

Integrating mathematics and science can enrich student learning by providing relevant, meaningful, and engaging learning experiences that promote positive attitudes towards both subjects. However, despite reported benefits in relation to student learning, various barriers to integration have also been identified, including limited teacher content and pedagogical content knowledge, and the need for professional learning support with planning and implementing integrated lessons. In this article, we report on one phase of a project in which mathematics and science education researchers and primary teachers collaborated to design two sequences of integrated mathematics and science lessons. We focus on the processes considered critical for success, including how knowledge was co-constructed by the design team to develop the integrated lesson sequences. Findings are communicated as a set of guidelines to support teachers and educators interested in replicating the process to integrate mathematics and science content.

A South African beginner natural sciences teacher’s articulated PCK-in-practice with respect to electric circuits: A case study

Literature shows that science teachers’ development and practice of PCK have always been a concern in science education research. Globally, national policies have begun to underscore the instruction of science teachers as a great concern. This study is considered worthwhile, as it intended to address this gap by exploring a beginner teacher’s PCK knowledge and articulated PCK-in-practice. One participant was purposefully sampled. An exploratory qualitative case study was conducted, and the beginner natural sciences teacher’s PCK of teaching grade 9 electric circuits was explored and analysed through an in-depth enquiry. First, the participant was interviewed, then classroom observations were conducted. The observations were video recorded while the topic in question was being taught. The PCK classroom observations schedule was adopted from Barendsen and Henze (2019). A post-classroom observation interview was conducted. Saldaña’s (2009) model and Pitjeng’s (2014) topic specific PCK rubric were adopted as analytical tools. The findings of this study show that the participant ignored students’ contributions and debates because the lessons were teacher centred. The participant highlighted difficulties linking theoretical classroom science concepts with learners’ real-life experiences. This study is important, as it shows the interconnections of PCK knowledges and how they play a significant role in a teacher’s articulated PCK-in-practice with respect to electric circuits.

Recent Research in Science Teaching and Learning.

The Current Insights feature is designed to introducelife science educators and researchers to current articles of interest in other social science and educationjournals.In this installment, I highlight three recent studies from the fields of psychology and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education that can inform life science education. The first assesses the impact of a novel study strategy: having students deliberately make mistakes and correct them. The second encourages educators to think more carefully about the impact of different types of interest on student learning. The third reminds us of the impact of personal beliefs in diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

Discovery of Ambiguity in the Traditional Norms of Specifying Physical Quantities along the Axes of Coordinates in Drawing Data Based Graphs

This paper (falling within the purview of Physics Education Research in particular, and Science Education Research in general) deals with a very significant issue related to labeling of the physical quantities along the axes of coordinates in graphing. It has been discovered that the traditional norms of specification of physical quantities along the axes in graph drawing are ambiguous. Such norms of specification totally ignore the inherent nature of a physical quantity. Furthermore, as a result of such a specification, each coordinate of a point lying on the graph assumes a numerical value along with a unit tagged with it, thereby violating the most fundamental concept of Cartesian coordinate geometry according to which the coordinates of a point in two-dimensional real space should be an ordered pair of real numbers. To get rid of such an ambiguity, an unambiguous procedure of specifying the physical quantities along the axes of coordinates in graph drawing has been finally proposed. The issue raised in the paper along with the relevant solution offered are both original and novel, never considered by any one earlier and hence the present scheme could not be placed into context to other existing works on the same issue. However, the present work has been compared with two other earlier works reported by the author in relation to graphing to judge its novelty and originality.

Science Education Research within TPACK Framework at a Glance: A Bibliometric Analysis

We conducted a bibliometric analysis of the scientific articles in the field of science education research within TPACK framework published between 2012 and 2021. In total, 910 articles published in science education and technological education journals were extracted from Scopus databases. This study aims to present a summary of science education research within TPACK framework regarding number of annual production, most influencing authors and productive countries, the co-authorship collaboration, and research foci. The main findings show that the number of articles on science education research within TPACK framework throughout the period 2012 to 2021 fluctuated. Co-authorship collaborations were mostly made up of researchers from the same country. Furthermore, a shift in the research foci was observed. Recent research foci have emphasized higher education, self-efficacy, and STEM as important keywords. In addition, one of the most common articles published in the field is a literature review.

Prospective Science Teachers' Skills in Exploring Reference Sources of Scientific Articles through Science Education Research Methodology Course

Prospective science teachers' research proposals are still weak in reference sources because citations from national or international journals are still lacking. The main weakness comes from the reference sources and citation methods. This study aims to measure prospective science teachers' skills in exploring reference sources for scientific articles. Exploratory skills in this research are limited to organizing a theoretical review for a thesis proposal. This research uses mixed methods. Quantitative data is obtained from the score of research proposals prepared by 34 prospective science teachers as research targets, while qualitative data is from analyzing reference sources in research proposals. Each prepares one proposal so that there are 34 research proposals studied. From the results of the proposal assessment, prospective science teachers are still weak in using references that meet the criteria of &gt;80% of journals and reference publication years that meet the criteria of &gt;80% of publications in the last ten years. The study concludes that learning that equips prospective teachers in preparing research proposals requires a curriculum review. Students need more profound knowledge about references, starting from getting to know journals, selecting articles, looking for articles' findings, citing, and compiling a bibliography.