Research in Science Education最新文献

Children with advanced domain-general skills are associated with a better understanding of scientific concepts and articulation of scientific reasoning. However, research has found that not all individuals utilize these skills to respond to science literacy (SL) tasks, indicating the need for further identifying potential resources in early formal science education. Language-reading skills may help to enhance the informative analytic processes triggered by SL tasks, in which gender might be an important factor involved. Therefore, the present study explores the gendered relationships between domain-general skills (working memory, response inhibition) and language-reading skills (vocabulary, word reading (WR), and reading comprehension (RC)) in relation to SL in children. It aims to identify unique indicators of SL for both boys and girls and examines the moderating role of RC. Data from one hundred and ninety-three grade 2 learners (51% boys) show that both domain-general and language-reading skills are associated with boys’ SL, while only language-reading skills were associated with girls’ SL. Furthermore, in boys, response inhibition, WR, and interaction effect of response inhibition and RC can uniquely predict SL after considering vocabulary and RC as the control factors, implying that response inhibition becomes more favoured when coupled with a strong RC of the task-relevant materials. The findings of boys have not been disclosed in previous studies. Conversely, in girls, vocabulary is the only significant predictor. These findings provide insightful implications for tailored SL interventions, especially for enhancing girls’ engagement.

Discussions and arguments are a central component of science and its development. Therefore, it is very important to integrate them into science teaching. Various studies show that the use of arguments and discussions in science classes significantly improves students’ conceptual understanding compared to other learning methods. Jewish literature has for many centuries been a tradition of learning through the approach of discussions and arguments. This approach is the central guiding principle in learning the Talmud and designs the authentic structure of Talmudic texts. In the present study, we bring the Talmud to physics class. Since, students frequently misconceptualize the nature of heat we chose to respond the challenge and developed a unique Physics Talmud Page (PTP) about the concept of heat. We examined how learning physics by Whole-Class Dialogic Discussions (WCDD) based on the PTP was expressed in students’ argumentation skills. The participants in this study included 101 first-degree engineering students who studied a course in mechanics and heat in two respective groups: the experimental group (N = 51) and the control group (N = 50). In this work we conclude that students in the experimental group demonstrated remarkable improvement in their overall argumentation abilities, showing enhanced capacity to construct compelling arguments, develop thoughtful counter-arguments, and effectively utilize textual evidence to support their reasoning—clear evidence that the Talmudic learning approach significantly strengthens critical scientific discourse skills.

This exploratory study examined the experiences, expectancy value, academic identity, sense of impostorism, and social networks of graduate students in a large convergence science research center established with the goal of increasing phosphorus sustainability. There were two components to the study: a survey that explored expectancy value factors pre and post to the academic year and a social network analysis to examine student social networks pre and post to the academic year. Participants included 25 students in the treatment group (who participated in convergence research), and 28 students in a control group (who participated in traditional research). The social network analyses showed the convergence research students moved into more integrated social networks with increased connections to faculty and students across different Center institutions. The results of the survey found there was a drop in overall expectancy value scores for graduate research for the treatment group students. The survey results showed no significant differences in the treatment and control group students for impostorism on the survey. Students in both groups reported there were times when they felt unprepared for the classes; however, the treatment group students were more likely to describe having to take classes or study topics that were outside of their discipline and experienced difficulties with their research.

The aim of this paper is to present an analytical framework which characterizes students’ multimodal representations of nature of scientific practices (NoSP) and scientific methods (NoSM). Previous analytical frameworks primarily focused on students’ linguistic representation of NoSP/NoSM. Linguistic frameworks are limited as they can only uncover part of students’ understanding, as students might represent NoSP/NoSM through diverse modes such as drawings. An analytical framework was designed to investigate secondary students’ multimodal representations of NoSP/NoSM. To explore the utility of the analytical framework, we administered it to 40 7th grade students and examined their responses before and after engaging in explicit-reflective instruction focusing on nature of science (NOS). The approach yielded a total of 400 multimodal representations. Drawing on Lemke's (1998) three types of representational meaning, the analytical framework was used to describe and categorise collectively a wide range of ideas about scientific practices and methods across domain-general and domain-specific contexts of science. Students’ ideas changed after students engaged in NOS instruction that involved iterative compositions of multimodal representations of NoSP/NoSM. The framework affords the possibility for a detailed examination of shifts in semiotic resources for meaning-making of NoSP/NoSM. Implications for science curriculum and assessment are discussed.

Today's science education faces the imperative task of developing students’ competency to navigate misinformation while broadening the scope of scientific literacy. Traditionally, the concept of epistemic dependence, which encourages public trust in professional scientists, has supported this goal. However, the current landscape of science challenges the notions of experts with unanimous opinions and ‘the public’ as passive recipients of scientific information. In response, this case study examines the LK-99 incident, which involved a claimed discovery in the historic room-temperature and ambient-pressure superconductor, employing the Hype Cycle as the analytical framework. Data were collected on internet search traffic, discourse within the scientific community, mass media articles, and social media posts from July to December 2023, utilizing various online data analytics platforms. The researchers (1) quantitatively identified patterns in search trends, document sentiments, and associated word tokens related to LK-99, (2) qualitatively analyzed the shifting standpoints of stakeholders, the scientific community, mass media, and social media, and (3) synthesized these findings within the Hype Cycle framework. The results illustrate how the misinformation about LK-99 rapidly spread online (phase 1), leading to disagreements among scientists and confusion among the public, alongside erratic behavior in the stock market (phase 2). Ironically, the stakeholders' positioning themselves as scientists facilitated the scientific community's falsification of the claim (phase 3). We discuss the methodological and theoretical implications of this case and propose a reconceptualization of epistemic dependence centered on the scientific community as a whole and its collectively committed process of resolving uncertainty and verifying knowledge claims.

Figures play a common, but highly crucial role in providing explanatory or contextual images of objects, phenomena, and processes for learning science. Although many studies have investigated the types and distribution of these visual representations in science textbooks, there has been a lack of understanding of how one mode of representation complements the meanings of other modes within figures from the perspective of social semiotics. To address this gap particularly in different instructional contexts, we thus adopted a comparative design to examine the roles of visual and written representations (i.e., captions and labels) within figures from current lower secondary (Grades 7 and 8) science textbooks from Singapore and South Korea. Using an analytic framework that we developed, we analysed 335 figures from science textbooks in these two regions with a focus on physics topics. We found that the primary role of visual components in figures from Singapore was to show realistic phenomena or examples whereas among Korean science textbooks visuals of figures were used to juxtapose phenomena and their visualised scientific models together. In both regions, the most dominant role of written components within figures was to connect scientific phenomena with their relevant terms and concepts. Another important role was to label scientific phenomena using everyday language, but not with targeted terms. Extending from these results, we discuss the complementary roles of visual and written representations within figures in science textbooks in terms of providing additional vital resources for the learning of science.

A five-day workshop, rooted in place-based approaches, was offered to 24 underserved/underrepresented middle school students. The workshop's activities centered around three key concepts of disease ecology: 1) the interactions between living things and their environment, 2) the impact of environmental interactions on health, and 3) the role of scientists and students in improving health. Throughout the week, students reflected on the disease ecology concepts in relation to their own lives and communities after each session. Daily reflections and student interviews were used to explore students' successes and challenges with the activities, as well as the relevance of place-based learning for their understanding of these three disease ecology concepts. The analysis revealed that the workshop was influential not just in teaching disease ecology to middle school students but also in fostering a deeper interest in science through hands-on learning and place-based activities. The connection to their places made the learning more relevant and interesting for students. The student reflections on each of the disease ecology questions showed that while students faced challenges in connecting disease ecology concepts to personal and community health practices, the overall trend indicated a positive trajectory in students' understanding and application of disease ecology topics. We conclude that the workshop demonstrated the effectiveness of combining place-based pedagogies in engaging underserved middle school students in disease ecology and its real-world implications.

Human-induced climate change intensifies extreme weather events due to its profound impact on the Earth's atmospheric balance. Despite its global relevance, research on climate education predominantly focuses on K-12 levels or college science majors, leaving a significant gap in understanding how non-science majors engage with this critical issue. Addressing this gap, this study examines the impact of a scaffolding activity, the Extreme Weather Model-Evidence Link (EW-MEL) diagram activity, on non-science major college students’ perceptions of global climate change and its connection to extreme weather events. The research was conducted with 62 college students from a research university in the United States. The study employed a pre-post quasi-experimental design to examine whether students’ plausibility perceptions about climate change alter after participating in the EW-MEL activity. The findings indicated a statistically significant change in students’ plausibility perceptions after the MEL activity. Moreover, in the EW MEL activity, while more students found the scientific explanation plausible, many also found the alternative explanation plausible. This indicates that despite students’ acknowledgement of the human impact on global climate change, misunderstandings may still exist. The study highlights the need for explicitly teaching critical evaluation in higher education to enhance students’ understanding of evidence-based decision making.

This paper draws from our Science Material Development Project which was interested in understanding how engagement strategies used by science communicators in informal learning environments such as science museums could be used to improve science teaching and learning experiences in under-resourced schools. We demonstrate how the Complementarity of Learning Framework (Colfram), a design tool, was used to develop a simple Do-It-Yourself (DIY) science kit. We followed the design-based research methodology which had three stages: needs analysis, development of learning material, and evaluation of the designed learning material. A detailed needs analysis was conducted, focusing on Grade 9 natural sciences classes at three secondary schools from a rural district in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa. Afterwards, a nucleotide blocks DIY science kit was developed and evaluated by the Grade 9 students and teachers at the same schools. Further evaluations were conducted by consulting five life science teachers based at urban schools in Durban, South Africa. Our results showed that the designed DIY science kit successfully facilitated effective science education experiences in under-resourced classrooms by eliciting the affective domain as well as affording teachers alternative approaches for content delivery. We also illustrated how the Colfram’s minimalist design approach may be suitable for teachers to use in designing their own inquiry-based learning material. Overall, the study demonstrated how engagement strategies from informal learning environments have the potential to offer cheaper, more accessible, and immediate interventions to help close the resource gap in under-resourced schools.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into K-12 education is gaining momentum for its potential to enhance AI literacy among students. This study, conducted in a professional development program context, analyzed the approaches teachers took to integrate task-specific AIs into science instructions based on what they learned through PD experiences. Specifically, we focused on the approaches teachers highlighted and discussed in their individual Peer Teaching Videos (PTVs), created as the final learning outcomes of the PD. PTVs are 15–20 min videos showcasing their AI-integrated science instruction for fellow teachers, produced with guidance from the PD instructor and shared on an online platform. Using constant comparative content analysis of PTVs, along with data from surveys and interviews, we identified three approaches teachers used to engage students with AI. These approaches differed in the positionality and depth of integrating AI in students’ science learning: (1) Trying out AI as a digital tool, (2) Training and testing AI as an inquiry practice partner, and (3) Exploring AI as an epistemic system. Although these approaches were initially developed for integrating task-specific AIs, they hold significant relevance in the context of the current surge in the use of generative AI. Specifically, these findings offer instructional implications for integrating AI not only as a technological tool but also in ways that promote a critical understanding of the epistemic processes and outcomes fostered by engaging with both science and AI.