Research in Science Education最新文献

Questioning is a critical strategy for science teachers to scaffold students’ exploration and knowledge construction in inquiry-oriented science teaching. In science teacher preparation, open-ended questions asked by teachers are advocated as an advantageous strategy to prompt student thinking. However, insufficient attention has been cast on how science content knowledge embedded in teacher questions contributes to students’ conceptual understanding. Pre-Service Teachers (PST) may formulate a mindset of hands-off inquiry teaching where students could achieve a learning objective by articulating their thoughts without guidance from teachers. In addition, existing methods for the assessment of questioning are mainly qualitative via discourse analysis from limited scenarios, which may yield biased inferences of a teacher’s competency in questioning. Besides, qualitative methods are unwieldy for large-scale analyses due to the complexity of synthesizing discoursal information. In this study, we designed a written instrument for quantitative assessment of PSTs’ pedagogical content knowledge of questioning. We thoroughly introduced the free-response and multiple-choice versions of this instrument and applied it with 108 PSTs. The findings supported the validity and reliability of this instrument. As suggested by this instrument, the participating PSTs were aware of the importance of questioning in inquiry teaching. However, the PSTs’ difficulties with science content knowledge and knowledge of students’ understanding might impede them from determining effective guiding questions to scaffold student learning. Finally, we discussed the potential of this instrument in preparing PSTs’ questioning skills.

This study addresses the issue of preference for natural versus synthetic products in different contexts, specifically food, medicines, and cosmetics. Participants were 52 students aged 14-15 years from two schools. We analysed the choices and justifications offered by 28 students from one of the schools before and after receiving an instructional module (nine 60-minute lessons over three weeks) focused on decision-making about natural and processed foods. The goal of instruction was not to guide them towards a particular preference (natural or processed foods) but rather to enable them to make well-reasoned and more scientifically-informed decisions. Transfer of learning to the contexts of medicines and cosmetics was also examined. The responses of students in this experimental group were compared with those of 24 comparison students from the other school who did not receive the instruction. Results suggested that the teaching received by the comparison group (based solely on the standard science curriculum in Spain) does not encourage students to abandon assumptions regarding the inherent superiority of natural products, or to justify their preferences in ways that may be considered on-target with respect to the secondary-level science curriculum. By contrast, a shift towards more scientifically informed choices and reasoning was observed following participation in the instructional module. However, there was limited evidence of transfer of learning from the food context to the other two contexts considered. Only in the medicines context did the experimental group show minor improvements at post-test, suggesting that students perceive greater similarity between food and medicines than between food and cosmetics.

This research explores the process of a Participatory Research (PR) project that brought together university researchers with museum practitioners to create reflective tools that can be used to better understand real practical challenges. This project followed Bourke’s (2009) definition of PR, viewing the process as a collaborative endeavour between researchers and practitioners in all steps of the way including project planning, research design, data collection and analysis, and distribution and application of research findings. In this project, we ran three main workshops with small group meetings in between, which were audio and video recorded and subsequently transcribed. These were then analysed to capture the PR process using James and Shaw’s (2023) Heuristic Framework as our analytical framework while using deductive and inductive techniques. Our analysis focused on understanding the dynamics between researchers and practitioners in this PR project in order to better understand how to conduct PR projects in this context. Our analysis offers a refined model that can be adapted and used with museum practitioners while identifying areas that need further attention in the process of PR. We included an important phase of reflection, and we offer recommendations for those who would like to take a PR approach in their research.

Many studies done in the last three decades show that, beginning with adolescence and sometimes even earlier, many adolescents undergo a process of distancing themselves from science as they age. This longitudinal study attempts to deepen our knowledge and understanding of factors that play a role in early adolescents’ science identity development. For 3 years, we followed nine early adolescents at school, at home, and at their after-school activities, interviewing them 162 times. A thematic analysis of the interviews led to the identification of 32 themes. When comparing these themes across different participants, we identified three motifs that distinguished between the participants. Our findings suggest that (A) having a clear area of interest, not necessarily in science, positively affected the participants’ self-efficacy in science and self-assessment of their ability in science studies; (B) being or not being the eldest child in a family with multiple siblings played a role in the participants’ identity development in relation to science; and (C) the participants who were wholly dependent on their grades as an indication of their ability in science rejected the possibility of a future in science and studied science out of compliance rather than out of any internal motive. The implications of our findings are discussed and offer insights into ways that may nurture the positive science identity development of early adolescents.

The purpose of this study is to examine the predictive effects of epistemological beliefs about science and informal reading of scientific texts on students’ future-oriented optimism on the issue of climate change. Future-oriented climate change optimism is defined as encompassing hope and anticipation about the climate future. To identify the relationships among variables, structural equation modelling was conducted on the PISA dataset on 15-year-old students from Denmark, the UK and Finland which have the top three Environmental Protection Index. Students of all three countries demonstrated a consistently low optimism about the future of climate change. Also, the findings indicated that students’ epistemological beliefs about science had a significantly negative predicting effect on their future-oriented climate change optimism across all three countries, while their informal reading of scientific texts had a significantly positive predictive effect on their future-oriented climate change optimism in Denmark and the UK. Across all three countries, 15-year-old students’ awareness of the issue of climate change plays a significantly negative mediating role between their epistemological beliefs about science and their optimism in the future climate, as well as their informal reading of scientific texts and their optimism in the future climate. This calls for a new curricular environmental-science education model that addresses how students’ informal science reading and epistemological beliefs about science can address future-oriented climate change optimism which might in turn impact young people’s action competence to address the issues of climate change.

Science centres are informal learning spaces embedded with artefacts embodying mediational affordances. This exploratory and small-scale mixed methods study juxtaposes eye-tracking technologies and qualitative interviews to examine how visitors to a gallery navigated this space and interacted with different artefacts. A total of 15 visitors to the science centre gallery, Energy Story, participated in the study. The findings revealed inconclusive results about the directionality of their navigation. The mediational affordances of the artefacts, as interpreted from the interactive elements and interaction of the visitors and interviews, suggested that it was better to distribute the mediational affordances across a few artefacts in an exhibit rather than have one artefact embody several affordances. The concept of “mediational threshold” was suggested as a topic for future study. The findings contributed to the academic literature on eye-tracking studies at science centres. They also provided ideas for science centre curators and teachers who bring students with diverse learning needs to this mediational space.

Teacher educators have focused on designing learning environments ‘for’ rather than ‘with’ teacher candidates. However, a co-design collaboration with teacher candidates has been recently suggested as a critical feature for effective teacher education programs. In this study, a co-design team, including preservice science teachers (PSTs) as co-participants of the iterative design process rather than research subjects, collaboratively developed formative assessment (FA) practices based on the approach of conjecture mapping in a chemistry laboratory setting. This study aimed to examine the role of PSTs as co-designers and their contributions to the progressive development of the most robust design of FA practices, drawing on relevant theoretical perspectives and considering the characteristics of a general chemistry laboratory environment. Sixteen PSTs participated in the study for a whole semester. This qualitative-interpretive study employed the following data sources: classroom observations, audio tape recordings of co-design meetings, and field notes. Results under four main themes showed that the PSTs as co-participants can actively engage in and effectively contribute to creating the FA design for their chemistry laboratory investigations. Using conjecture mapping as an approach for critical and reflective thinking on design elements, the PSTs could focus on their own thinking and that of others when making, testing, and revising co-design decisions based on the relevant theory work and empirical findings as the design principles for the FA-embedded laboratory practices. This study has important implications for the inclusion of teacher candidates as active co-designers of high-leverage instructional practices such as FA in science learning settings.

This mixed-methods research study aimed to observe the changes in relational conceptual changes and achievement in photosynthesis and cellular respiration in 15 seventh-grade students using the variation theory of learning, a framework for contextual distinctions, and supports the Common Knowledge Construction Model (CKCM) for science education. The strategy used was prediction-observation-explanation, where students wrote and drew to express their macroscopic and sub-microscopic concepts, depicting any changes. Pre- and post-assessment tests were given to measure achievement in science. Through phenomenography analysis, five descriptive categories were generated for photosynthesis and nine for cellular respiration, revealing variations within and between students' ideas. Statistical tests showed significant improvements (p < .001) in photosynthesis and cellular respiration knowledge after implementing the CKCM learning sequence, with scores increasing from 37 to 77% and 33% to 72%, respectively. These findings suggest that inquiry-based learning based on relational conceptual change, guided by variation theory and an understanding of the nature of science, can lead to a deeper understanding of scientific explanations and improve overall science achievement.

Web-based inquiry learning provides opportunities for students to take responsibility to regulate their learning. However, due to a lack of science inquiry-specific self-regulated learning (SRL) frameworks, there is insufficient understanding of SRL processes in inquiry-based science learning. This study aims to explore students’ SRL patterns by using a comprehensive framework that combines SRL with the science inquiry process. Additionally, log-file data collected in the online science inquiry learning session were used to analyze students’ SRL patterns. The results of the latent class analysis revealed four types of SRL learners: disengaged learners, proficient SRL learners, aimless reflective learners, and less reflective learners. Furthermore, we found significant differences in science achievement tests among different SRL learners. Specifically, proficient SRL learners and less reflective learners scored significantly higher than the other two types of learners. A difference was also found between proficient SRL learners and disengaged learners in terms of their self-determined motivation. Understanding the heterogeneity of SRL processes among students revealed from distinct SRL patterns informs how to provide targeted intervention and support for students who encounter difficulties in inquiry-based science learning.