Science teachers have placed a high value on “scientific” thinking in their classes for quite some time. Unfortunately in the not to recent past that meant cook book labs, scripted lessons and taught students a prescribed way to do the scientific method. This left little room for free thought, questions and independence on the part of the student. The American Association for the Advancement of Science reports that, science educators have worked to infuse scientific inquiry into the K–12 curriculum (1990). This may be true but the definition that science teachers’ use for inquiry has been evolving and developing since then. Today teachers struggle with gaining the interest of their students who are surrounded by a multimedia deluge of information and distractions. One way for teachers to implement inquiry in this environment is by the use of high interest socioscientific inquiry (SSI). Socioscientific inquiry uses serious ecological concerns and critical citizenship to develop the students’ scientific inquiry and social responsibilities. There are many roadblocks that get in the way of using inquiry in the science classroom the teachers must contend with such as pressure to perform on standardized tests, time, teacher preparation and in-service training and financial constraints. In the long run using (SSI), socioscientific inquiry will pay dividends for the students, teachers and our environment both at the local and global levels. The SSI movement focuses specifically on empowering students to consider how science-based issues and the decisions made concerning them reflect, in part, the moral principles and qualities of virtue that encompass their own lives, as well as the physical and social world around them (Walker 2... ... middle of paper ... ...pretation, communication and collaboration. Works Cited American Association for the Advancement of Science. 1990. Science for all Americans. New York: Oxford University Press. Bell, P. (2004). Promoting students’ argument construction and collaborative debate in the science classroom. Internet environments for science education. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. Houser, N. (2005) Inquiry Island: Social Responsibility and Ecological Sustainability in the Twenty-first Century. The Social Studies May/June 2005 pp. 127-132. Walker, K and Zeidler D. (2007). Promoting Discourse about Socioscientific Issues through Scaffolded Inquiry. International Journal of Science Education Vol. 29, No. 11, pp. 1387–1410. Ketelhut, D. and Nelson, C. (2010): Designing for real-world scientific inquiry in virtual environments, Educational Research, 52:2, 151-167
Arthur L. Caplan, in his news article, “Distinguishing Science from Nonsense,” warns the audience about the uncertain economic future of the United States of America due to the abandonment of science within society. Further, Caplan’s purpose is to inform the audience how the dwindling importance of science in children is not only due to schools, but also due to American culture. Therefore, Caplan uses a combination of rhetorical devices to not only warn and inform the public about the importance of science, but to also engage them to an extent that persuades the audience to take action.
Michael, S.et al. (2008). Prospects for improving K-12 science education from the federal level. Journal of Education 69(9): 677-683.
Table 2.2 describes these variations. I created activities that were concrete and straightforward. The investigations were a tool for me to connect students to abstract concepts such as force and motion. McDonald et al. (2002, p. 5) believes that “learners need access to the world in order to connect the knowledge in their head with the knowledge in the world”. To give this access, teachers need practices such as hand-on investigations. Each investigation was aligned with Newton’s Laws of Motion. The concepts in the investigations were observable, and students not only designed the investigations, but they were able to observe the scientific phenomenon through carrying out multiple trials. I chose activities that were not overly challenging or too easy and were suited to the skill and knowledge level of the 7th and 8th grade students. By using the recommendations of Colburn (2000) with structured-inquiry learning segments, students in my study had more control of their
The term ‘scientific literacy’ has eluded precise definition ever since it was coined in 1958. That year, in light of the astonishing swift advancements made by mid-century scientists (e.g. the splitting of the atom, space exploration), three publications appeared that made reference to scientific literacy: a report by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which called for a larger technically trained workforce to safeguard our economic and military strength, and a more scientifically literate public able to execute civic responsibilities intelligently; a publication from Paul Hurd and colleagues at Stanford University that exhorted curricula leaders to develop pedagogies that promoted both the cultural and practical aspects of science; and a published address by the president of Shell Chemical Corporation, who called for new curricula emphasizing the fundamentals of science, its history, and its significance for active citizenship and everyday life (see DeBoer, 2000 for review). As DeBoer (2000) noted, however, all three publications used broad brushstrokes to define scientific literacy, thus shrouding the term in ambiguity. Indeed, when asked how they interpreted “scientific literacy,” scientists and science educators had disparate notions about the role content knowledge and a broader understanding of the nature of science had in developing a scientifically literate student (DeBoer, 2000). If nothing else, this example underscores the need for clear definitions and fully articulated curricular goals. To this end, educators have spent several decades making sense of the conceptual spectrum of scientific literacy, resulting in the dissection of scientific literacy into the following sub-genres: pra...
In the last decade technology has expanded greatly. Now, we can order movie tickets, make reservations, and even listen to music without ever leaving the comfort of our own homes. But technology tools are not only used for entertainment purposes. These tools also help us learn and explore new things. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of technology tools as they apply to learning and research within education.
The researchers, Jennifer Fischer-Mueller and Dana Zeidler, in their article A Case Study of Teacher Beliefs in Contemporary Science Education Goals and Classroom Practices, conducted a case study involving science teachers and students in a classroom setting. Fischer-Mueller and Zeidler tried to determine if teachers who believed that science should be taught as inquiry (Constructivism) rather than instruction based (Cognitivism), actually practiced their belief in the classroom. The researcher (Fischer-Mueller), teachers, and students in the case study were from Souhegan High School in New Hampshire. The researchers used a qualitative research approach, a case study, to investigate “the degree to which teachers believe in the contemporary goals and whether classroom practice is changing in support of these goals is indicated” (Fischer-Mueller & Zeidler,2002). The instruments used in the case study were: surveys, observations, examining types of assessment, and interviews. The survey used was a quantitative instrument to determine the strength of the teachers’ beliefs in the contemporary goals of science education.
The researchers appeared to have the knowledge and skill to conduct the research. Two research professors from the University of Florida who specialize in educational science research conducted the study, published in the journal Research in Science Education. Contact information was also provided fo...
I grew up in a science-friendly home. My parents always encouraged me to ask questions, think critically, draw models, practice reasoning and watch science programs on television. My schooling provided me with interactive teaching and
When teaching science there are certain principles we must put into consideration. Taking into consideration the principle “Children live for the present moment”. As teachers more times than we can remember when we introduce our pupils to a topic, we often see thrill and excitement in their faces. Often we wonder why, but as we would have learned, children live for the present moment. Their minds and imaginations are pure, they have no memory of the events/activities that are occurring around them and they are anxious to gain/obtain new knowledge. These are the experiences that they as children will have with them for a lifetime. So we as teachers needs to do the best we can to also try to live for the present moment with our pupils.
However, prior knowledge can be seen as a problem as children rarely go to class with no existing knowledge of a particular subject, the problem arises when children have misconceptions within that subject, children do not come to the classroom as a blank sheet of paper with no existing information, but with their knowledge and experiences which are gained from their social environment either at home or school (aştürk, 2016). This knowledge is sometimes not accurate making it harder for a teacher to deliver the correct information. The students ' prior knowledge gives a clue of the misconceptions gained and the scientific conceptions the students have (Hewson and Hewson, 1983). In a teachers pedagogical practice, they should identify children’s
It looks at the political, economic, historical and social factors within their world and requires students to understand how each of these relate to each other. The subject aims to equip students with the necessary understandings of the world around them that will be required throughout their lifetime. (ACARA 2016a) An Inquiry teaching approach is most commonly associated with the science curriculum but this pedagogical style is becoming increasingly popular for other subjects. (Lupton 2012) This is a positive about the Inquiry approach as research has indicated that hands on and self-directed learning which gives control to the students contributed to their learning and allows for a deep understanding and better performance. (Barron & Darling-Hammond
In inquiry oriented classroom, teacher-student interaction forms the important component of classroom talk. Teachers are regular component of classroom talk and they play a crucial role in constructing the nature of discourse in a lesson. The types of question teacher ask will affect the cognitive processes of the students dealing with scientific knowledge construction. How students construct knowled...
Modern technology has made it so much easier to obtain educational information for classroom or homework assignments. It offers educational games that stimulate the brain and help children who have difficulties focusing on traditional teaching and learning procedures. College students are even taking advantage of online courses that many colleges are offering as an alternative to physically attending classes. Advances in technology and computers will continue to play an important role in education for many generations to come.
The Access Center. (n.d.). Science inquiry: the link to accessing the general education curriculum. Retrieved from http://www.k8accesscenter.org/training_resources/ScienceInquiry_accesscurriculum.asp
Information processing focuses on learning from the outside in. In constructivism, the learner constructs knowledge as they “actively impose organization and meaning on the surrounding environment” RD 40. They actively attempt to create meaning. The learning theory started to gain popularity in the 1940’s with Piaget. Lev Vygotsky was also a major influence and contributed to an iteration called social constructivism. Social constructivism emphasizes that learning is collaborative in nature. Taken together, constructivism and social constructivism focus on student-centered instructional strategies, active collaborative learning, and increased student engagement (Sivec 8). Proponents of constructivism focus on the active role learners can take in discovery and learning in meaningful contexts. Those against these principles focus more on the need to teach to the test, as well as how constructivist principles may not be best for all learners. In a 2010 study, Overbay, Patterson, Vasu, and Grable focus on the increased belief in constructivist principles and how that relates to classroom technology and it’s ever increasing presence in the classroom. In an authentic constructivist environment, they assert that technology should be “utilized in such a way that it engages students and pushes them to make deeper connections with the material under study, to generate meaning, rather than