Learning science through engaging with its epistemic representational practices

This group of papers explores the development of student understanding and application of the discursive tools of science to reason in this subject, as the basis for classroom practices that parallel scientists’ knowledge production practices. We explore how this account of the disciplinary literacies of science can be enabled through effective pedagogies. The papers draw on research from Australia and Sweden that have overlapping agendas and theoretical perspectives including pragmatism (Peirce 1931-58; Dewey 1938/1997), social semiotics (Kress et al. 2001) and socio-cultural perspectives on language and learning (Lemke, 2004). The papers examine the role of language/multimodal representations in generating knowledge claims in science classrooms, the classroom epistemologies that support learning, and assessment practices from this perspective. A large body of conceptual change research has identified trenchant problems in conceptual learning in science, spawning long-standing and ongoing programs to identify pedagogies to address this. By redefining the problem in terms of language and representation, we aim to offer a way forward to support student engagement and learning in science.

Learning science through representational generation/negotiation

This paper will describe the key features and theoretical underpinnings of a representation-intensive pedagogy developed in a six-year research program, and its relationship to the epistemic practices of science. The pedagogy draws on socio cultural, pragmatist perspectives on learning and cognition that view knowledge as grounded in multi modal representations that are discursively generated, negotiated and coordinated in science classrooms. From this perspective, the learning challenges identified by research in the conceptual change tradition are seen as inherently representational in nature, and the central feature of the pedagogy involves students generating representations in response to structured challenges. The paper will interrogate the key aspects of the pedagogy and the way it supports learning, using evidence from a range of units designed by the researchers working in partnership with a small group of teachers. The role of representations in supporting learning will be explored in terms of the way they afford and productively constrain knowledge generation, mirroring the epistemic practices of science. Lesson transcripts, and examples of student artefacts will be presented to demonstrate significant reasoning and learning outcomes.

Using models in teaching and learning science

Models can be excellent tools to help explain abstract scientific concepts and for students to better understand these abstract concepts. A model could be a copy or replica, but it can also be a representation that is not like the real thing but can provide insight about a scientific concept. Models come in a variety of forms, such as three dimensional and concrete, two dimensional and pictorial, and digital forms. The features of models often depend on their purpose: for example, they can be visual, to show what something might look like, dynamic to show how something might work, and or interactive to show how something might respond to changes. One model is often not an accurate representation of a concept, so multiple models may be used.
Students’ modelling ability has been shown to improve through instruction and with practice of mapping the model to the real thing, highlighting the similarities and differences. The characteristics of a model that can be used in this assessment include accuracy and purpose. Models are commonly used by science teachers to describe, and explain scientific concepts, however, pedagogical approaches that include students using models to make predictions and test ideas about scientific concepts encourages students to use models for higher order thinking processes. This approach relates the use of models to the way scientists work, reflecting the nature of science and the development of scientific ideas. This chapter will focus on the way models are used in teaching: identifying pedagogical processes to raise students’ awareness of characteristics of models. In this way, the strengths and limitations of any model are assessed in relation to the real thing so that the accuracy and merit of the model and its explanatory power can be determined.

Emotional experiences of preservice science teachers in online learning : the formation, disruption and maintenance of social bonds

The enactment of learning to become a science teacher in online mode is an emotionally charged experience. We attend to the formation, maintenance and disruption of social bonds experienced by online preservice science teachers as they shared their emotional online learning experiences through blogs, or e-motion diaries, in reaction to videos of face-to-face lessons. A multi-theoretic framework drawing on microsociological perspectives of emotion informed our hermeneutic interpretations of students’ first-person accounts reported through an e-motion diary. These accounts were analyzed through our own database of emotion labels constructed from the synthesis of existing literature on emotion across a range of fields of inquiry. Preservice science teachers felt included in the face-to-face group as they watched videos of classroom transactions. The strength of these feelings of social solidarity were dependent on the quality of the video recording. E-motion diaries provided a resource for interactions focused on shared emotional experiences leading to formation of social bonds and the alleviation of feelings of fear, trepidation and anxiety about becoming science teachers. We offer implications to inform practitioners who wish to improve feelings of inclusion amongst their online learners in science education.

Science is Primary - Children Thinking and Learning in theChemistry Laboratory

The goal of primary science education is to foster children’s interest, develop positive science attitudes and promote science process skills development. Learning by playing and discovering provides several opportunities for children to inquiry and understand science based on the first–hand experience. The current research was conducted in the children’s laboratory in Heureka, the Finnish science centre. Young children (aged 7 years) which came from 4 international schools did a set of chemistry experiments in the laboratory. From the results of the cognitive test, the pre-test, the post-test, supported by observation and interview, we could make the conclusion that children enjoyed studying in the laboratory. Chemistry science was interesting and fascinating for young children; no major gender differences were found between boys and girls learning in the science laboratory. Lab work not only encouraged children to explore and investigate science, but also stimulated children’s cognitive development.