Most recent papers:

• Young children's near and far transfer of the basic theory of natural selection: An analogical storybook intervention.
  Natalie Emmons, Kristin Lees, Deborah Kelemen.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. October 13, 2017
  Misconceptions about adaptation by natural selection are widespread among adults and likely stem, in part, from cognitive biases and intuitive theories observable in early childhood. Current educational guidelines that recommend delaying comprehensive instruction on the topic of adaptation until adolescence therefore raise concerns because children's scientifically inaccurate theories about species may be left unchallenged for many years, allowing them to entrench and become difficult to overcome. In consequence, this investigation sought to explore whether classrooms of kindergartners and second graders could acquire a basic but comprehensive understanding of adaptation from an intervention constructed around two picture storybooks that mechanistically explain natural selection. Learning was assessed in near and far transfer contexts both immediately and a month later. Kindergartners and second graders demonstrated substantial learning of biological information; however, second graders showed pronounced abilities to near and far generalize, immediately and over time. Results suggest that causally cohesive interventions with an emphasis on mechanistic explanation facilitate children's classroom learning of complex counterintuitive scientific ideas. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017.

  October 13, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21421   open full text
• “We don't know what is the real story anymore”: curricular contextualization principles that support indigenous students in understanding natural selection.
  Ingrid Sánchez Tapia, Joseph Krajcik, Brian Reiser.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. October 11, 2017
  We propose a process of contextualization based on seven empirically derived contextualization principles, aiming to provide opportunities for Indigenous Mexican adolescents to learn science in a way that supports them in fulfilling their right to an education aligned with their own culture and values. The contextualization principles we empirically derived account for Nahua students’ cultural cognition, socialization, and cultural narratives, thus supporting Indigenous students in navigating the differences between their culture and the culture and language of school while learning complex science concepts such as natural selection. The process of curricular contextualization we propose is empirically driven, taking culture, and socialization into account by using multiples sources (cognitive tasks to explore teleology, ethnographic observation of students’ community and classroom, and interviews with students and community members) and builds on the scholarship in Culturally Relevant Pedagogy and Indigenous Education. We used these principles to redesign a middle school biology unit on natural selection to make it more culturally relevant for Nahua students. The enactment of this unit resulted in students being engaged in science learning and achieving significant learning gains. The significance of this study lies in presenting evidence that learning science in culturally relevant ways supports the learning of challenging biology concepts. We provide evidence that Western science can be learned in ways that are more aligned with Indigenous students’ Traditional Indigenous Knowledge, thus informing the implementation of educational policies aiming to improve the quality of secondary education for Indigenous adolescents. Our proposed contextualization principles can benefit students of all cultural identities who feel that their religion, language, or traditional knowledge are not aligned with school science, facilitating their access to culturally relevant science education. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017.

  October 11, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21422   open full text
• Supporting girls’ and boys’ engagement in math and science learning: A mixed methods study.
  Jennifer A. Fredricks, Tara Hofkens, Ming‐Te Wang, Elizabeth Mortenson, Paul Scott.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. September 09, 2017
  This study uses a mixed method sequential exploratory design to examine motivational and contextual influences on boys’ and girls’ engagement in math and science, paying particular attention to similarities and differences in the patterns by gender. First, interviews were conducted with 38 middle and high school students who varied in their level of math and science engagement about their perceptions of the motivational and contextual factors influencing their level of engagement. Both boys and girls discussed how their engagement was higher in classrooms with more student‐centered instructional practices and in classrooms with highly engaged peers. Girls were more likely to discuss teacher support and personally relevant instruction as being important to their engagement in math and science. In contrast, boys reported being more engaged in math and science when they were interested in pursuing a STEM‐related career. From these interviews, we identified factors that students described as important to their engagement and tested whether these factors were statistically significant in a socioeconomic and racially diverse sample of 3,833 middle and high school students. Specifically, we tested the associations between adolescents’ motivational beliefs (e.g., utility value, attainment value, and expectancy beliefs), social support from teachers and peers, and student‐centered and relevant instructional practices with engagement (e.g., cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and social) in math and science, paying particular attention to main effects and gender as a moderator. In the majority of the models, the motivational and contextual factors were significantly related to engagement and had comparable effects for girls and boys. We documented a few significant interactions by gender that tended to mirror the patterns found in the qualitative interviews. Implications of these findings for developing interventions to increase girls’ participation in math and science are discussed. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  September 09, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21419   open full text
• Validity Evidence for a Learning Progression of Scientific Explanation.
  Jian‐Xin Yao, Yu‐Ying Guo.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 25, 2017
  Providing scientific explanations for natural phenomena is a fundamental aim of science; therefore, scientific explanation has been selected as one of the key practices in science education policy documents around the world. To further elaborate on existing educational frameworks of scientific explanation in K–12, we propose a learning progression of scientific explanation based on the Phenomenon‐Theory‐Data‐Reasoning (PTDR) framework. To examine the validation of the PTDR framework for scientific explanation and the learning progression based on it, we developed the Scientific Explanation Progression Assessment to investigate students’ performance (Grades 8–12 students, N = 4,554) on scientific explanations. A Rasch analysis and other statistical tests together indicated the validity of the PTDR framework for scientific explanation and the learning progression derived from this framework. We end with a discussion of the implications for future design of instruction and assessment. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  August 25, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21420   open full text
• Forms of science capital mobilized in adolescents’ engineering projects.
  Amy Wilson‐Lopez, Christina Sias, Allen Smithee, Indhira María Hasbún.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 07, 2017
  The purpose of this multiple case study was to identify the forms of science capital that six groups of adolescents mobilized toward the realization of their self‐selected engineering projects during after‐school meetings. Research participants were high school students who self‐identified as Hispanic, Latina, or Latino; who had received English as a Second Language (ESL) services; and whose parents or guardians had immigrated to the United States and held working class jobs. The research team used categories from Bourdieusian theories of capital to identify the forms of science capital mobilized by the participants. Data sources included transcripts from monthly interviews and from bi‐monthly group meetings during which the group members worked on their engineering projects. Data analysis indicated that the groups activated science capital in the following categories: embodied capital in the form of formal scientific knowledge, literacy practices, and experiences with solving everyday problems; social capital in the form of connections with authorities, experts, and peers; objectified capital in the form of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and measuring tools; and institutional capital in the form of awards and titles. The participants co‐mobilized multiple forms of science capital to advance their engineering projects, and some instances of co‐mobilization enabled the future activation of subsequent forms of science capital. Engineering, as a vehicle for learning science, provided the youth with opportunities to draw from diverse community resources and from multilingual literacy practices, recasting these resources and skills as forms of science capital, which were mobilized toward the attainment of other high‐status forms of science capital. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  August 07, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21418   open full text
• Counterspaces for women of color in STEM higher education: Marginal and central spaces for persistence and success.
  Maria Ong, Janet M. Smith, Lily T. Ko.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 01, 2017
  Counterspaces in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are often considered “safe spaces” at the margins for groups outside the mainstream of STEM education. The prevailing culture and structural manifestations in STEM have traditionally privileged norms of success that favor competitive, individualistic, and solitary practices—norms associated with White male scientists. This privilege extends to structures that govern learning and mark progress in STEM education that have marginalized groups that do not reflect the gender, race, or ethnicity conventionally associated with STEM mainstream success, thus necessitating spaces in which the effects of marginalization may be countered. Women of color is one such marginalized group. This article explores the struggles of women of color that threaten their persistence in STEM education and how those struggles lead them to search out or create counterspaces. It also examines the ways that counterspaces operate for women of color in STEM higher education, particularly how they function as havens from isolation and microaggressions. Using a framework of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and intersectionality theory and drawing on interview data from 39 women of color about their STEM higher education experiences, we describe five ways in which counterspaces operate: in peer‐to‐peer relationships; mentoring relationships; national STEM diversity conferences; STEM and non‐STEM campus student groups; and STEM departments. Whereas most research has discussed counterspaces as racially or ethnically homogeneous social groups of peers at the margins, our research found that counterspaces vary in terms of the race/ethnicity, gender, and power levels of participants. We found that counterspaces can be physical settings, as well as conceptual and ideological. Additionally, we identified counterspaces both at the margins and at the center of STEM departments. Thus, our research expands the existing understanding of the types and functions of counterspaces and broadens the definition of what locations can be and should be considered counterspaces. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Research in Science Teaching Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of National Association for Research in Science Teaching. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  August 01, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21417   open full text
• Gesticulating science: Emergent bilingual students’ use of gestures.
  Zeynep Ünsal, Britt Jakobson, Per‐Olof Wickman, Bengt‐Olov Molander.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 27, 2017
  This article examines how emergent bilingual students used gestures in science class, and the consequences of students’ gestures when their language repertoire limited their possibilities to express themselves. The study derived from observations in two science classes in Sweden. In the first class, 3rd grade students (9–10 years old) were involved in a unit concerning electricity. The second class consisted of 7th‐grade students (13–14 years old) working with acids and bases. Data were analyzed by using practical epistemological analysis (PEA). When students’ language proficiency limited their possibility to express themselves, using gestures resulted in the continuation of the science activities. Furthermore, both peers and teachers drew on the used gestures to talk about the science content. In some situations, the meaning of the gestures needed to be negotiated. Regardless, the gestures were always related to language. Both students and teachers participated in this process, but the teachers directed the communication toward the goal of the lessons: learning how to talk science. The study contributes to the field by showing the importance of paying attention to and valuing bilingual students’ use of gestures as a way to express scientific knowledge. In addition, it demonstrates how teachers might draw on students’ gestures to teach science and discusses the importance of creating multimodal learning environments. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  July 27, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21415   open full text
• Development and validation of an instrument to assess student attitudes toward science across grades 5 through 10.
  Ryan Summers, Fouad Abd‐El‐Khalick.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 26, 2017
  The aim of the present study is to enable future studies into students’ attitudes toward science, and related constructs, by developing and validating an instrument suitable for cross‐sectional designs. Following a thorough review of the literature it was determined that many extant instruments included design aspects that appeared to be limited in some way. The BRAINS (Behaviors, Related Attitudes, and Intentions toward Science) Survey was designed to address core criticisms that have been leveled against many existing instruments. BRAINS was rooted in a theoretical framework drawn from the theories of reasoned action and planned behavior (TRAPB). Initial development involved review by an expert panel, adaptation for online delivery and a pilot on this platform. To establish the psychometric validity of the 59‐item instrument it was administered to a representative, random sample of 1,291 Illinois students in grades 5 through 10. Confirmatory factor analysis and subsequent refinement yielded a 30‐item instrument with five factors and a good statistical fit including a RMSEA of 0.04 and a CFI of 0.95. The five factors, or constructs, of the final instrument model reflect the underlying TRAPB framework: attitudes toward science, behavioral beliefs about science, intentions to engage in science, normative beliefs, and control beliefs. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  July 26, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21416   open full text
• Key challenges and future directions for educational research on scientific argumentation.
  J. Bryan Henderson, Katherine L. McNeill, María González‐Howard, Kevin Close, Mat Evans.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 22, 2017
  At the 2015 NARST: A Worldwide Organization for Improving Science Teaching and Learning Through Research Annual International Conference, a group of scholars held an extended pre‐conference workshop to discuss key challenges and future directions faced by argumentation researchers around the world. This wide‐ranging group of facilitators and participants represented varying perspectives and experiences with argumentation research. Learning artifacts from the workshop were collected and analyzed utilizing multiple qualitative coding techniques. Analysis of these artifacts revealed five major themes that emerged from the NARST workshop describing this group of scholars’ views on current issues and potential directions for the field of argumentation research. These themes center on: (i) establishing a classroom culture that values argumentation; (ii) how differing theoretical frameworks challenge how researchers communicate findings; (iii) the challenge of assessing various aspects of scientific argumentation in a valid and reliable fashion; (iv) pedagogical challenges in supporting student discourse and social collaboration; and (v) challenges concerning the professional development of teachers. Each of these themes is described using direct quotes from the workshop artifacts, and implications for future research in argumentation are discussed. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  July 22, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21412   open full text
• Characterizing teacher attention to student thinking: A role for epistemological messages.
  Rosemary S. Russ.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 22, 2017
  Although research and policy suggest science and mathematics teachers should attend to their student's thinking during instruction, our field has inadequately defined what that means in relation to our ultimate goals for the practice. Here I present a theoretical argument that, in making their definitions, researchers should leverage the ways students understand such attention by characterizing teacher attention based on the epistemological messages it sends students about the nature of knowledge and learning in the classroom. Using data collected from high school science and mathematics teachers with a new video‐capture methodology, I present an analysis of variability in epistemological messages of teacher attention to illustrate work could unfold if we as researchers took up the theoretical claims made in this work. In doing so, I endeavor to draw the construct of epistemological messages into our collective conversations about teacher attention, and provide a starting point for our field to begin debating the most productive ways to study and unpack the epistemological messages we value in that teacher attention. I conclude by demonstrating the feasibility of using these messages to distinguish the types of teacher attention our field wants to develop and encourage in teacher education. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  July 22, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21414   open full text
• Gender, complexity, and science for all: Systemizing and its impact on motivation to learn science for different science subjects.
  Albert Zeyer.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 22, 2017
  The present study is based on a large cross‐cultural study, which showed that a systemizing cognition type has a high impact on motivation to learn science, while the impact of gender is only indirect thorough systemizing. The present study uses the same structural equation model as in the cross‐cultural study and separately tests it for physics, chemistry, and biology. The model was confirmed for physics and chemistry, but not for biology. This is interpreted as empirical evidence for a cognitive difference between the learning of hard sciences (like physics and chemistry) and life sciences (like biology) that reflects an epistemological difference between ordered (linear) and complex (non‐linear) systems. It is concluded that a more prominent inclusion of complex issues into science teaching could motivate low and average systemizers, independent of their gender, for science learning, that is, could be a key to science for all. Thus, there is a mutual benefit between important 21st century's issues of science teaching and the need to foster students’ motivation to learn science. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  July 22, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21413   open full text
• A person‐in‐context approach to student engagement in science: Examining learning activities and choice.
  Jennifer A. Schmidt, Joshua M. Rosenberg, Patrick N. Beymer.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 20, 2017
  Science education reform efforts in the Unites States call for a dramatic shift in the way students are expected to engage with scientific concepts, core ideas, and practices in the classroom. This new vision of science learning demands a more complex conceptual understanding of student engagement and research models that capture both the multidimensionality and contextual specificity of student engagement in science. In a unique application of person‐oriented analysis of experience sampling data, we employ cluster analysis to identify six distinct momentary engagement profiles representing different combinations of the behavioral, cognitive, and affective dimensions of student engagement in high school science classrooms. Students spend a majority of their classroom time in one of several engagement profiles characterized by high engagement on one dimension, but low levels on the others. Students exhibited low engagement across all three dimensions of engagement in about 22% of our observations. Full engagement, or high levels across all three dimensions, is the least frequent profile, occurring in only 11% of the observations. Students’ momentary engagement profiles are related in meaningful ways to both the learning activity in which students are engaged and the types of choices they are afforded. Laboratory activities provided especially polarized engagement experiences, producing full engagement, universally low engagement, and pleasurable engagement in which students are affectively engaged but are not engaged cognitively or behaviorally. Student choice is generally associated with more optimal engagement profiles and the specific type of choice matters in important ways. Choices about how to frame the learning activity have the most positive effects relative to other types of choices, such as choosing whom to work with or how much time to take. Results are discussed in terms of implications for practice and the utility of the methodological approach for evaluating the complexities of student engagement in science classrooms. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  July 20, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21409   open full text
• The effects of visualizations on linguistically diverse students’ understanding of energy and matter in life science.
  Kihyun Ryoo, Kristin Bedell.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 20, 2017
  Although extensive research has shown the educational value of different types of interactive visualizations on students’ science learning in general, how such technologies can contribute to English learners’ (ELs) understanding of complex scientific concepts has not been sufficiently explored to date. This mixed‐methods study investigated how interactive dynamic and static visualizations embedded in web‐based inquiry instruction can support ELs and non‐ELs in developing a coherent understanding of energy and matter transformations in life science. A total of 331 seventh‐grade ELs and non‐ELs were randomly assigned to a dynamic or a static visualization condition. During inquiry instruction, students in the dynamic group explored interactive dynamic visualizations of energy and matter transformations; students in the static group explored static, yet otherwise equivalent, interactive visualizations. The results show that, while both forms of visualizations were beneficial for students, dynamic visualizations had significant advantages for improving all students’ understanding of the target concepts. Our analyses of video data revealed that ELs and non‐ELs in the dynamic condition engaged in more talk turns to interpret the scientific phenomena using both visual and textual representations, whereas ELs and non‐ELs in the static condition appeared to rely on textual information to obtain new ideas about the scientific phenomena from the visualization. Compared to the static group, students in the dynamic group also more successfully evaluated and consolidated a range of ideas to develop coherent scientific explanations using evidence from the visualization. This study provides evidence that interactive dynamic visualizations have promise for supporting science learning for all students, including ELs who are often underserved in mainstream science classrooms. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  July 20, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21405   open full text
• Investigating a learning progression for energy ideas from upper elementary through high school.
  Cari F. Herrmann‐Abell, George E. DeBoer.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 05, 2017
  This study tests a hypothesized learning progression for the concept of energy. It looks at 14 specific ideas under the categories of (i) Energy Forms and Transformations; (ii) Energy Transfer; (iii) Energy Dissipation and Degradation; and (iv) Energy Conservation. It then examines students’ growth of understanding within each of these ideas at three levels of increasing conceptual complexity. The basic level of the model focuses on simple energy relationships and easily observable effects of energy processes; the intermediate level focuses on more complex energy concepts and applications; and the advanced level focuses on still more complex energy concepts, often requiring an atomic/molecular model to explain phenomena. The study includes results from 359 distractor‐driven, multiple‐choice test items administered to over 20,000 students in grades 4 through 12 from across the U.S. Rasch analysis provided linear measures of student performance and item difficulty on the same scale. Results largely supported a model of students’ growth of understanding that progresses from an understanding of forms and transformations of energy to energy transfer to conservation while also progressing along a separate dimension of cognitive complexity. An analysis of the current state of students’ understanding with respect to the knowledge identified in the learning progression showed that elementary level students perform well in comparison to expectations but that middle and high school students’ performance does not meet expectations. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  July 05, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21411   open full text
• Pedagogical content knowledge of experts and novices—what knowledge do they activate when analyzing science lessons?
  Matthias Krepf, Wilfried Plöger, Daniel Scholl, Andreas Seifert.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 05, 2017
  In the current debate on pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), the term is used to refer to the context‐specific knowledge that teachers activate when reflecting on practice. Against the background of this debate, we conducted an empirical study and sought to answer the question of which knowledge experts and novices activated in assessing a videotaped lesson in relation to its effectiveness for learning. Our assumption was that the participants activate their PCK as a blending of content knowledge (CK) and pedagogical knowledge (PK) as suggested by Shulman's amalgam thesis. The participants (9 experts and 9 novices) were shown a lesson on optics, in which the law of refraction (Snell's law) was being studied. In a subsequent interview, the participants were asked to analyze the observed lesson. A qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the interviews showed that experts activated both CK and PK intensively and in this respect they differed significantly from novices. Further analysis of the expert statements also proved that they do not activate their CK and PK in isolation, but instead combine both kinds of knowledge together, in line with Shulman's amalgam thesis. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  July 05, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21410   open full text
• Examining the reasoning of conflicting science information from the information processing perspective—an eye movement analysis.
  Fang‐Ying Yang.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 04, 2017
  The main goal of this study was to investigate how readers’ visual attention distribution during reading of conflicting science information is related to their scientific reasoning behavior. A total of 25 university students voluntarily participated in the study. They were given conflicting science information about earthquake predictions to read while their eye movements during reading were recorded by the FaceLAB eye tracking system. After reading, the participants were interviewed to probe their reasoning performance. Our study showed that when university students were asked to read and reason about conflicting science information, those who paid more cognitive attention and efforts to the text areas related to backing theory, data, and warrants demonstrated better performances in coordinating theory and evidence, identifying evidence, and providing rebuttals, compared to students who paid less attention and made fewer cognitive efforts to these areas. The association between students’ background knowledge and performance of scientific reasoning was weak. Compared to those with irrelevant backgrounds, students with relevant background knowledge tended to read more of the facts when the science information involved a simple experimental study, while their attention was directed more to data and claims when the experimental study was complicated or unfamiliar. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  July 04, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21408   open full text
• Comparing the preparedness, content knowledge, and instructional quality of elementary science specialists and self‐contained teachers.
  Joseph Brobst, Kimberly Markworth, Tammy Tasker, Chris Ohana.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 22, 2017
  In this article, we report on the results of a study comparing the preparedness, content knowledge, and instructional practices of elementary science specialist (ESS) teachers with those of a matched sample of self‐contained elementary teachers. Analysis of survey data collected for the two groups indicated that ESS teachers were more likely than self‐contained teachers to hold science content degrees. ESS teachers scored significantly higher than self‐contained teachers on self‐reported measures of the following: preparedness to teach science and engineering content; familiarity with science standards; knowledge of students’ strengths and weaknesses in science, having enough time to meet students’ needs in science and having enough time to plan for all the subject areas that they teach. ESS teachers also scored significantly higher than self‐contained teachers on selected measures of science content knowledge. Finally, in comparison to self‐contained teachers, some elements of ESS teachers’ science lessons were better aligned with our chosen framework for quality elementary science instruction. Regression analyses suggested that these differences in quality of science lessons could be predicted based on the different amounts of time that ESS and self‐contained teachers are respectively afforded for planning and teaching science. Implications are provided for future research into elementary science specialization as well as professional development support for all teachers of elementary science. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  June 22, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21406   open full text
• Analysis of inquiry materials to explain complexity of chemical reasoning in physical chemistry students’ argumentation.
  Alena Moon, Courtney Stanford, Renee Cole, Marcy Towns.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 16, 2017
  One aim of inquiry activities in science education is to promote students’ participation in the practices used to build scientific knowledge by providing opportunities to engage in scientific discourse. However, many factors influence the actual outcomes and effect on students’ learning when using inquiry materials. In this study, discourse from two physical chemistry classrooms using the Process‐Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) approach was analyzed using a lens of scientific argumentation. Analysis of the complexity of reasoning in students’ arguments using a learning progression on chemical thinking indicated that students did not employ very complex reasoning to construct arguments. To explain the distribution of reasoning observed, a separate analysis of the curricular materials was performed using the Task Analysis Guide for Science (TAGS). Results indicate a relationship between the task's targeted scientific practice and how students used evidence in their arguments as well as between the task's cognitive demand and the complexity of reasoning employed in arguments. Examples illustrating these relationships can be used to inform implications for design of inquiry materials, facilitation of classroom discourse, and future research. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  June 16, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21407   open full text
• Student development of model‐based reasoning about carbon cycling and climate change in a socio‐scientific issues unit.
  Laura Zangori, Amanda Peel, Andrew Kinslow, Patricia Friedrichsen, Troy D. Sadler.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 13, 2017
  Carbon cycling is a key natural system that requires robust science literacy to understand how and why climate change is occurring. Studies show that students tend to compartmentalize carbon movement within plants and animals and are challenged to make sense of how carbon cycles on a global scale. Studies also show that students hold faulty models of climate change which thwart their reasoning about how and why climate change occurs. Very few studies have examined how to support students in understanding carbon cycling and reasoning about the relationships between carbon cycling and climate change. To support secondary students in making these connections, we developed a modeling‐centered socio‐scientific issue (SSI) based curriculum unit taught by the same teacher across three sections of a secondary biology class. At three time points within the 2‐week unit, 50 students developed, used, evaluated, and revised their own carbon cycling models to use as sense‐making tools for how individual biological processes create a global carbon system and the relationship between carbon cycling and climate change. A small subset of students (n = 16) were also interviewed about their models. We constructed holistic scoring rubrics to document students’ model‐based reasoning associated with each model and then compared rubric scores across time points to examine potential progression of model‐based reasoning over the course of the unit. Results suggest that students’ must hold a robust understanding of causal mechanisms for transfer and transformation of carbon in order to make connections between carbon cycling and climate change. Once their understanding of carbon cycling becomes robust, their reasoning shifts in complexity to understand interrelationships between carbon cycling and climate change. Implications from this study suggest that embedding the practices of modeling within a SSI unit supported secondary students in building robust understanding of carbon cycling and the interrelationship to climate change. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  June 13, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21404   open full text
• The impact of a Framework‐aligned science professional development program on literacy and mathematics achievement of K‐3 students.
  Peter Paprzycki, Nicole Tuttle, Charlene M. Czerniak, Scott Molitor, Joan Kadervaek, Robert Mendenhall.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 07, 2017
  This study investigates the effect of a Framework‐aligned professional development program at the PreK‐3 level. The NSF funded program integrated science with literacy and mathematics learning and provided teacher professional development, along with materials and programming for parents to encourage science investigations and discourse around science in the home. This quasi‐experimental study used a three‐level hierarchical linear model to compare the Renaissance STAR Early Literacy, Reading, and Mathematics scores from 2015 to 2016 of K‐3 students in treatment and control classrooms in a large Midwestern urban school district. The statistically significant results indicate that, on average, every year that a student has a program teacher adds 8.6 points to a student's spring STAR Early Literacy score, 17.0 points to a student's STAR Mathematics score, and 41.4 points to a student's STAR Reading score compared to control students. Implications for early elementary teacher education and policy are discussed. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:1174–1196, 2017

  June 07, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21400   open full text
• Teaching aquatic science as inquiry through professional development: Teacher characteristics and student outcomes.
  Kanesa Duncan Seraphin, George M. Harrison, Joanna Philippoff, Paul R. Brandon, Thanh Truc T. Nguyen, Brian E. Lawton, Lisa M. Vallin.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 05, 2017
  We present an inquiry‐based, aquatic science professional development (PD) for upper‐elementary, middle, and high school teachers and examine changes in student outcomes in light of participating teachers’ characteristics and the grade band of the students. Our study lends support to the assertion that inquiry‐ and content‐focused PD, paired with classroom implementation, can effectively improve student learning. Our findings indicate that students improved in their nature of science (NOS) and aquatic science content knowledge and that these changes depended in some ways on the participating teachers’ characteristics and adherence to the program. The students’ improvements were amplified when their teachers adhered more closely to the PD activities during their classroom implementation. The teachers’ previous science PD experience and pre‐PD understanding of inquiry‐based teaching also explained some of the variability in student growth. In both NOS and content, students of teachers with less prior science‐PD experience benefited more. Grade band also explained variation in student outcomes through interactions with teacher‐characteristic variables. In high school, students of teachers with lower pre‐PD inquiry knowledge appeared to learn more about NOS. Our results suggest that inquiry and content training through PD may minimize disparities in teaching due to inexperience and lack of expertise. Our study also demonstrates the value of PD that teaches a flexible approach to inquiry and focuses on underrepresented, interdisciplinary content areas, like aquatic science. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:1219–1245, 2017

  June 05, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21403   open full text
• A metasynthesis of the complementarity of culturally responsive and inquiry‐based science education in K‐12 settings: Implications for advancing equitable science teaching and learning.
  Julie C. Brown.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 03, 2017
  Employing metasynthesis as a method, this study examined 52 empirical articles on culturally relevant and responsive science education in K‐12 settings to determine the nature and scope of complementarity between culturally responsive and inquiry‐based science practices (i.e., science and engineering practices identified in the National Research Council's Framework for K‐12 Science Education). The findings from this study indicate several areas of complementarity. Most often, the inquiry‐based practices Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information, Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions, and Developing and Using Models were used to advance culturally responsive instruction and assessment. The use and development of models, in particular, allowed students to explore scientific concepts through families’ funds of knowledge and explain content from Western science and Indigenous Knowledge perspectives. Moreover, students frequently Analyzed and Interpreted Data when interrogating science content in sociopolitical consciousness‐raising experiences, such as identifying pollution and asthma incidences in an urban area according to neighborhood location. Specific inquiry‐based practices were underutilized when advancing culturally responsive science instruction, though. For example, Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking and Engaging in Argument from Evidence were infrequently encountered. However, culturally responsive engineering‐related practices were most often connected with these, and thus, represent potential areas for future complementarity, particularly as the United States embraces the Next Generation Science Standards. In considering innovative directions for advancing equitable science education, several possibilities are discussed in light of the findings of this study.© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:1143–1173, 2017

  June 03, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21401   open full text
• Prevalence and predictors of out‐of‐field teaching in the first five years.
  Ryan S. Nixon, Julie A. Luft, Richard J. Ross.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. May 29, 2017
  Many new science teachers are assigned to teach subjects in which they have not been prepared, a practice referred to as out‐of‐field (OOF) teaching. Teaching OOF has been shown to negatively influence instruction and constrain teachers’ development. In this study, we explored the extent to which new secondary science teachers were assigned OOF across their first 5 years. Analysis of this longitudinal data set indicated that these assignments were common. While new science teachers were assigned to teach a variety of subjects over their first 5 years of teaching, they were not assigned more or fewer OOF courses over time. Furthermore, results indicated that teachers in certain situations are more likely than others to be assigned to teach OOF. Even with federal legislation in the United States seeking to eliminate OOF teaching, a large portion of new secondary science teachers are assigned to teach science disciplines for which they are inadequately prepared. Based on the findings of this study, it is worth exploring policy avenues that eliminate OOF teaching. Policymakers, administrators, and teacher educators should seek to provide supports, such as science‐specific induction programs designed for new teachers who are assigned OOF, and science teacher educators should prepare prospective teachers to teach multiple science disciplines. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:1197–1218, 2017

  May 29, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21402   open full text
• To what extent does current scientific research and textbook content align? A methodology and case study.
  Andrea M.‐K. Bierema, Renee S. Schwartz, Sharon A. Gill.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. May 23, 2017
  Recent calls for reform in education recommend science curricula to be based on central ideas instead of a larger number of topics and for alignment between current scientific research and curricula. Because alignment is rarely studied, especially for central ideas, we developed a methodology to discover the extent of alignment between primary literature (a proxy for current research) and textbooks (a common curricular resource that often drives curriculum). We illustrated the use of this methodology by applying it to the discipline of animal behavior based on the central ideas identified by Tinbergen (1963, Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 20:410–433): causation, ontogeny, survival value, and evolution. We utilized deductive content analysis (both manual and automated) to collect data on how often these four ideas are addressed in animal behavior journal articles and the four most commonly used textbooks in the United States, identified by syllabi collected via a stratified random sample of U.S. post‐secondary institutions (n = 99). We observed an overall alignment between primary literature and textbooks in the use of the four central ideas—which suggests that the authors of animal behavior textbooks are meeting the suggestions provided by recent calls for reform that curriculum portrays current research. This paper illustrates the use of a methodology for evaluating the extent to which central ideas employed in primary research within a discipline are reflected within curricular resources. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:1097–1118, 2017

  May 23, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21399   open full text
• Bridging the design‐science gap with tools: Science learning and design behaviors in a simulated environment for engineering design.
  Jie Chao, Charles Xie, Saeid Nourian, Guanhua Chen, Siobhan Bailey, Molly H. Goldstein, Senay Purzer, Robin S. Adams, M. Shane Tutwiler.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. May 15, 2017
  Many pedagogical innovations aim to integrate engineering design and science learning. However, students frequently show little attempt or have difficulties in connecting their design projects with the underlying science. Drawing upon the Cultural‐Historical Activity Theory, we argue that the design tools available in a learning environment implicitly shape knowledge development as they mediate students’ design actions. To explore the roles of tools in design‐science integrated learning environments, this study investigated how secondary students’ tool‐mediated design actions were linked with their science learning in a tool‐rich design environment with minimal explicit guidance. Eighty‐three ninth‐grade students completed an energy‐efficient home design challenge in a simulated environment for engineering design supported by rich design tools. Results showed that students substantially improved their knowledge as a result of designing with the tools. Further, their learning gains were positively associated with three types of design actions—representation, analysis, and reflection—measured by the cumulative counts of relevant computer logs. In addition, these design actions were linked with learning gains in ways that were consistent with their theoretical impacts on knowledge development. These findings suggest that, instead of being passive components in a learning environment, tools considerably shape design processes, and learning paths. As such, tools offer possibilities to help bridge the design‐science gap. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Research in Science Teaching Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:1049–1096, 2017

  May 15, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21398   open full text
• A construct‐modeling approach to develop a learning progression of how students understand the structure of matter.
  Linda Morell, Tina Collier, Paul Black, Mark Wilson.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 28, 2017
  This paper builds on the current literature base about learning progressions in science to address the question, “What is the nature of the learning progression in the content domain of the structure of matter?” We introduce a learning progression in response to that question and illustrate a methodology, the Construct Modeling (Wilson, ) approach, for investigating the progression through a developmentally based iterative process. This study puts forth a progression of how students understand the structure of matter by empirically inter‐relating constructs of different levels of sophistication using a sample of 1,087 middle grade students from a large diverse public school district in the western part of the United States. The study also shows that student thinking can be more complex than hypothesized as in the case of our discovery of a substructure of understanding in a single construct within the larger progression. Data were analyzed using a multidimensional Rasch model. Implications for teaching and learning are discussed—we suggest that the teacher's choice of instructional approach needs to be fashioned in terms of a model, grounded in evidence, of the paths through which learning might best proceed, working toward the desired targets by a pedagogy which also cultivates students’ development as effective learners. This research sheds light on the need for assessment methods to be used as guides for formative work and as tools to ensure the learning goals have been achieved at the end of the learning period. The development and investigation of a learning progression of how students understand the structure of matter using the Construct Modeling approach makes an important contribution to the research on learning progressions and serves as a guide to the planning and implementation in the teaching of this topic. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:1024–1048, 2017

  April 28, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21397   open full text
• Second graders’ emerging particle models of matter in the context of learning through model‐based inquiry.
  Ala Samarapungavan, Lynn Bryan, Jamison Wills.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 28, 2017
  In this paper, we present a study of second graders’ learning about the nature of matter in the context of content‐rich, model‐based inquiry instruction. The goal of instruction was to help students learn to use simple particle models to explain states of matter and phase changes. We examined changes in students’ ideas about matter, the coherence of their emerging particle models, and how classroom science discourse influenced students’ learning. The study was conducted in two second grade classrooms in a rural Midwestern public school. We worked with the two teachers to help them design modeling activities for students to complement lessons from the Full Option Science System (FOSS™) science curriculum the teachers had previously used. Our data sources for student learning included individual interviews with students before and after they completed the set of Modeling in the Primary Grades (MPG) lessons, artifacts created by students during learning such as posters and science notebook entries, and videotapes of MPG lessons. Our findings suggest that second grade students who engaged in MPG model‐based inquiry lessons learned to use simple particle models to describe and explain a variety of material phenomena. For example, they could use particle models to account for differences in the appearance and behavior of solids, liquids, and gases and to explain what happens to matter during phase transitions. We also found variations in how MPG teachers structured classroom discourse, and our results suggest that such variations are associated with differences in the coherence of student models. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:988–1023, 2017

  April 28, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21394   open full text
• Toward a durable prevalence of scientific conceptions: Tracking the effects of two interfering misconceptions about buoyancy from preschoolers to science teachers.
  Patrice Potvin, Guillaume Cyr.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 05, 2017
  While the majority of published research on conceptual change has focused on how misconceptions can be abandoned or modified, some recent research findings support the hypothesis that acquired scientific knowledge does not necessarily erase or alter initial non‐scientific knowledge but rather coexists with it. In keeping with this “coexistence claim,” this article presents an analysis of scientific understanding in four groups of individuals with varying degrees of expertise (preschoolers, elementary students, secondary students, and science teachers) using a cognitive task on buoyancy. This task allowed us to determine the prevalence of certain conceptions and the interference caused by two possible conceptual distractors with regard to producing accurate answers. Results describe the progression of the desired (scientific) conception with age/expertise as well as the evolution or regression of the statuses of two misconceptions. Results also show that misconceptions continue to interfere with performance even when there is a higher degree of scientific expertise, and that patterns of such interference can be studied. In keeping with these conclusions, we argue for the use of a model of conceptual learning called “conceptual prevalence.” © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Research in Science Teaching Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:1121–1142, 2017

  April 05, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21396   open full text
• To educate engineers or to engineer educators?: Exploring access to engineering careers.
  Michael G. Eastman, Jeanne Christman, George H. Zion, Randy Yerrick.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. March 03, 2017
  Although studies claim increases in underrepresented populations choosing STEM majors, barriers to retention, and higher education degree completion in STEM still exist. This study examined efforts of a prominent technical university to attract and retain urban high school graduates through a tuition scholarship program. We sought to determine the trajectories of recruited urban high school graduates and explored students reasoning behind their choice of STEM majors. Findings revealed unforeseen obstacles prohibiting students from pursuing STEM degrees despite free tuition and other benefits of the diversity recruitment program. Student obstacles included: (i) logistic barriers; (ii) academic resources access; and (iii) social/cultural support. A secondary but related finding was the self‐realization of engineering faculty culpability in the attrition they observed. This critical account of race and privilege told by insiders to the engineering discipline speaks directly to the failure of educational institutions to address essential components of the economic and academic segregation which currently exists against a backdrop of reform calls which aim to diversify the engineering workforce. Implications for future research and recruitment efforts are discussed. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  March 03, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21389   open full text
• Teaching and research at a large university: Case studies of science professors.
  Jenay Robert, William S. Carlsen.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. March 03, 2017
  Current STEM workforce issues and retention problems faced by postsecondary STEM education have renewed research efforts in this arena. A review of literature on STEM professors indicates that although this population reports difficulties integrating teaching and research responsibilities, there have not yet been any qualitative studies conducted to deeply investigate the complexities of managing teaching, research, and service. This work utilized a set of four phenomenological case studies conducted over a 10‐month period to address the following research question: How do individuals in a sample of tenure‐track science professors prioritize teaching among their other professional roles and responsibilities? Contrary to literature speculation, the results of this study indicate that the participants make decisions about the way they allocate limited time in an unlimited work environment based on their intrinsic, personal career goals and aspirations and appear to be only minimally affected by external pressures to “prioritize research over teaching.” Furthermore, all of the participants in the study indicated that other than research training, they received little to no preparation for their jobs. These findings provide discipline‐based education researchers with points of interest for further study and provide professional development stakeholders with data for the design of educational support programs. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  March 03, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21392   open full text
• The increasingly important role of science competency beliefs for science learning in girls.
  Paulette Vincent‐Ruz, Christian D. Schunn.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. March 01, 2017
  The number of women studying STEM careers and pursuing graduate degrees has not changed in the last decade (National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, 2015; Science & Engineering Degree Attainment: 2004–2014). Most prior research to explain this problem has focused on the topics of identity, access, pedagogy, and choice (Brotman & Moore, 2008; Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 45, 971–1002). Additional research is needed on how internal and external factors interact with one another to demotivate girls and young women from pursuing science careers. Here, we show how girls’ competency beliefs are an essential foundation for science content learning during middle school and how these effects of competency beliefs are mediated by in and out‐of‐school factors. We recruited over 2,900 6th and 8th grade students from two different regions in the United States. At two different time points, students completed surveys asking about their stance toward science such as competency beliefs in science, willingness to engage in argumentation, and choice preferences toward optional science experiences. We also collected a reasoning ability measure, and pre‐ and post‐tests on science content knowledge. Moreover, students also reported on their cognitive behavioral engagement during a sampled science class on two separate occasions. Multiple regression and mediation analyses show that as boys grow older, their willingness to engage in argumentation and to participate in science experiences suppresses the role of competency beliefs on their learning science content. By contrast, as girls grew older, they showed an increasing need to have high competency beliefs to achieve strong content learning gains. Our results demonstrate that despite girls’ willingness to participate in scientific argumentation and to take part in science experiences, they probably do not receive enough support in their environment to access the benefits of these experiences, and hence they have a stronger need to have high competency beliefs in order to achieve significant growth in science learning. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:790–822, 2017

  March 01, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21387   open full text
• Improving Chinese junior high school students’ ability to ask critical questions.
  Xiao Huang, Norman G. Lederman, Chaojing Cai.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. February 25, 2017
  The present study explores ways to enhance students’ question‐asking ability (i.e., the ability to ask critical questions), which is the premise of scientific inquiry and a precondition for effective science teaching. A survey of junior high school students in Zhejiang province in China showed that students’ questioning behavior was not well developed and that their ability and willingness to question authority were weak. These results are consistent with an educational culture that dictates that textbooks and science teachers are always correct and cannot be questioned. The intervention involved several designed cases that included the explicit teaching of questioning strategies and ample opportunities to ask questions for inquiry and question card use. After the intervention, a dependent t‐test of several dimensions was conducted, the students’ question‐asking consciousness and question quality were compared, and the frequency distribution of different levels of questions was analyzed and compared. The development of question‐asking ability was further identified in the interviews. The efficacy and implications of the treatment for enhancing the critical question‐asking ability of middle‐school students in Chinese science classrooms are discussed. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:963–987, 2017

  February 25, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21390   open full text
• Investigating the role of a district science coordinator.
  Brooke A. Whitworth, Jennifer L. Maeng, Lindsay B. Wheeler, Jennifer L. Chiu.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. February 25, 2017
  This study explored the professional responsibilities of district science coordinators, their professional development (PD) experiences, the relationship between their role, responsibilities, district context, and background, and barriers encountered in their work. A national sample (n = 122) of self‐identified science coordinators completed a Science Coordinator Role Survey. Participants’ responses were analyzed using descriptive and correlational statistics. Following analysis of survey data, 16 participants (13.1%) were purposefully selected for semi‐structured follow‐up interviews. Results indicated the majority of respondents identified themselves as Caucasian, female, and had served in their position for less than 10 years. The typical science coordinator held a degree in a science content area and was a former science teacher. Respondents without science degrees tended to hold positions at small, remote, or rural school districts with responsibilities in multiple content areas. Participants also reported barriers of not having enough PD opportunities, lack of time, lack of emphasis on science instruction, and a lack of power to enforce policies within a district. Results characterize the professional responsibilities of coordinators, provide insight into the role of a science coordinator, and into how to create targeted PD for coordinators. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  February 25, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21391   open full text
• Engaging with socially acute questions: Development and validation of an interactional reasoning framework.
  Olivier Morin, Laurence Simonneaux, Russell Tytler.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. February 22, 2017
  Scientific expertise and outcomes often give rise to controversy. An educational response that equips students to take part in socioscientific discussions is the teaching of Socially Acute Questions (SAQs). Students engaging with SAQs need to engage with socio scientific reasoning, which involves reasoning with evidence from a variety of fields other than science, including values, economics, local and global perspectives, governance issues, and a variety of stakeholder perspectives. This paper describes research in which tertiary students from France and Australia engaging with sustainability SAQs reasoned responses in wikis. In previous analyses (Authors, ), we have developed a six‐dimensional framework of socioscientific sustainability reasoning (S3R). In this paper, we describe the development of an interactional reasoning framework that captures the quality of reasoning in the online discussions that led to specific improvement in S3R. The framework draws on and extends the discourse framework of Mercer, and Habermas’ three worlds of validity of arguments to identify first that a particular category—integrated exploratory talk—is associated with improvement in S3R, and that this almost exclusively involves exchanges drawing on personal and social evidence claims as well as technical. We explore the implications for supporting collaborative decision making in socio scientific issues, for democratic participation and for post normal science education. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  February 22, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21386   open full text
• Defining and characterizing ecosystem services for education: A Delphi study.
  John Ruppert, Ravit Golan Duncan.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. February 09, 2017
  Recent advancements in science have led to an increasingly sophisticated understanding of the many ways in which humans benefit from environmental systems. These benefits, termed Ecosystem Services, are sparsely characterized in education literature, but were included in the most recent iteration of US national science standards: the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). In this paper, we introduce the concept of Ecosystem Services and discuss why it is emerging as an important idea to teach. Specifically, we present a definition and set of big conceptual ideas about ecosystem services developed using a Delphi technique: a method that uses repeat survey of a panel of experts in a domain, to reach a consensus about important ideas. Using the central ideas that emerged during this study, we developed a refined model of coupled human‐environment systems that articulates multiple human populations as embedded within ecosystems, connected to these ecosystems near and far, and benefiting from the resources and conditions provisioned by these ecosystems. We discuss the implications of this model to future education research, as well as to future revisions of Disciplinary Core Ideas in the National Research Council Framework for Science Education. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:737–763, 2017

  February 09, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21384   open full text
• Applying a goal‐driven model of science teacher cognition to the resolution of two anomalies in research on the relationship between science teacher education and classroom practice.
  Todd L. Hutner, Arthur B. Markman.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. February 05, 2017
  Two anomalies continue to confound researchers and science teacher educators. First, new science teachers are quick to discard the pedagogy and practices that they learn in their teacher education programs in favor of a traditional, didactic approach to teaching science. Second, a discrepancy exists at all stages of science teachers’ careers between a science teacher's self‐reported pedagogical preferences and the behavior they exhibit during classroom observations. Previous attempts to resolve these anomalies draw upon models of teacher cognition that often prioritize beliefs or knowledge. In this paper, we resolve these anomalies and further elaborate the relationship between science teacher education and classroom practice via a goal‐driven model of cognition. Our model of goal‐driven cognition takes as its central premise that a science teacher's instructional practice is an attempt to satisfy one or more of their goals. While knowledge and beliefs play an important role in cognition, a teacher's goals are ultimately the mental constructs that engage the motivational and behavioral system, leading to action. In this paper, we first specify our goal‐driven model of cognition, and detail the role played by goals, beliefs and knowledge, and contextual information in cognition and action. When then compare our model to other theoretical approaches in research on science teacher cognition, showing how our model is distinct from these approaches. Next, we return to the two anomalies mentioned above, showing how a goal‐driven model resolves each. We also contrast our resolution with how the anomalies are resolved via a belief or knowledge driven model. We then provide implications of our theory for science teacher education, with respect to both course work and field experiences. Finally, we provide directions for future research, paying particular attention to ways to provide evidence in support of this theoretical approach. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:713–736, 2017

  February 05, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21383   open full text
• Expectancy‐value and children's science achievement: Parents matter.
  Julie A. Thomas, Kamden K. Strunk.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. February 03, 2017
  This longitudinal study explored the ways parents’ and teachers’ expectancy for success influences 3rd–5th children's expectancy for success and achievement in science. Guided by an open‐systems perspective and functional (Ballantine & Roberts, 2007) and expectancy‐value (Eccles, 2005, 2007) theories, we focused on school related socialization processes and the role of parents and teachers in shaping children's abilities and skills. Participants included 153 children from 23 rural, Oklahoma schools and provided matched sets of parent, teacher, and child surveys. Weisgram and Bigler’ (2006) science self‐efficacy subscale organized survey items where wording changes allowed parallel parent and teacher versions of the scale. Achievement was determined by test scores on the state‐administered Oklahoma Core Curriculum Tests (OCCT). Results showed teachers’ expectancy for children's success in science did not significantly predict students’ fifth grade science achievement. However, regression analyses showed parents’ expectancy did predict students’ fifth grade science achievement. The relationship was statistically significant and explained about 19% of the variance in fifth grade science achievement test scores (R2 = 0.19). We further determined that children's science self‐efficacy significantly influenced science achievement scores (β = 0.20) (however, this was a far weaker influence than the direct effect of parents’ expectancy [β = 0.38] of children's success in science). The novel finding is that parents have an influence on children's achievement over and above children's own self‐efficacy beliefs about science. Clearly, parents matter when it comes to science achievement. Though it seems parents are more influential than teachers when it comes to children's own expectations and achievement success in elementary science, we encourage further consideration of parent expectancy as it relates to child ability and achievement, modified classroom strategies, and home–school relations to better align teachers’ positive influence on children's expectancy for success. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:693–712, 2017

  February 03, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21382   open full text
• Promoting students’ progressions in science classrooms: A video study.
  Hui Jin, Michele E. Johnson, Hyo Jeong Shin, Charles W. Anderson.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. February 03, 2017
  This study was conducted in a large‐scale environmental literacy project. In the project, we developed a Learning Progression Framework (LPF) for matter and energy in social–ecological systems; the LPF contains four achievement levels. Based on the LPF, we designed a Plant Unit to help Levels 2 and 3 students advance to Level 4 of the LPF. In the present study, 12 teachers used the Plant Unit to teach, and their students took an LPF‐based assessment both before and after the teaching intervention. We observed and videotaped 20 lessons from four of those participating teachers. In this article, we report on how teachers’ teaching practice and students’ learning practice in classrooms mediate the intervention's impact on students’ learning outcomes. Regarding teaching practice, we focused on how teachers used discourse strategies to engage students in meaningful learning. Regarding students’ learning practice, we studied epistemological frames that the students used to guide their thinking. The results show that encouraging students to talk about the how and why behind their answers did not always lead to students’ use of productive frames and positive learning gains. We found that one teacher, Ms. S, successfully fostered students’ use of productive frames by using discourse strategies that target the specialized ways of reasoning behind the science content and the rationale for scientific investigations. Ms. S’ students also achieved a learning gain higher than the average learning gain in the intervention. These results suggest that discourse strategies aligned with the LPF play an important role in learning progression‐based interventions. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:XX–XX, 2017

  February 03, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21388   open full text
• Resistance to dialogic discourse in SSI teaching: The effects of an argumentation‐based workshop, teaching practicum, and induction on a preservice science teacher.
  Ahmet Kilinc, Umit Demiral, Tezcan Kartal.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. January 25, 2017
  Teaching socioscientific issues (SSI) necessitates dialogic discourse activities. However, a majority of science teachers prefer monologic discourse in SSI contexts. In addition, some of these teachers are resistant to change (from monologic to dialogic discourse) despite certain professional development attempts. The purpose of the present single‐case study was to investigate the nature of this resistance in a preservice science teacher (PST) (Duygu). We longitudinally followed preservice teachers through 1 year of their continuum of professional development (CPD). We administered a questionnaire including vignettes representing two types of discourse (monologic and dialogic) in SSI teaching; the participants selected one of the vignettes at four different points in their CPD: before an argumentation‐based workshop (N = 122), after the workshop (N = 6), after a SSI‐based teaching practicum (N = 5), and during the induction year (N = 1). The interviews (semi‐structured and stimulated recall) and classroom observations supported these data. We concluded that the argumentation‐based workshop decreased Duygu's resistance to dialogic discourse by producing pseudo‐changes, emergencies, and no changes in her beliefs. However, negative experiences during the teaching practicum enhanced resistance and resulted in a reversal of previous positive beliefs. Similarly, negative induction experiences contributed to her resistance by elaborating previous negative beliefs. In addition, we argue that resistance to change is a complex process exceeding the boundaries of units (e.g., discourse), subjects (e.g., SSI), and subject‐matter education (e.g., science education). The cognitive mechanisms (epistemic heuristic, evidence‐based justification, and prioritization), belief development processes (pseudo‐change, reversal, etc.), and a range of barriers (limited educational opportunities, naïve epistemologies, an argumentation‐avoider personality, etc.) produce a complex ecosystem. We believe that any effort that would be conducted to change science teachers’ teaching orientations from monologic to more dialogic versions and that does not consider this ecosystem will not thrive. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:764–789, 2017

  January 25, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21385   open full text
• Bridging inquiry‐based science and constructionism: Exploring the alignment between students tinkering with code of computational models and goals of inquiry.
  Aditi Wagh, Kate Cook‐Whitt, Uri Wilensky.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. January 25, 2017
  Research on the design of learning environments for K‐12 science education has been informed by two bodies of literature: inquiry‐based science and Constructionism. Inquiry‐based science has emphasized engagement in activities that reflect authentic scientific practices. Constructionism has focused on designing intuitively accessible authoring environments and microworlds that embody the structure of a content domain in program code. Learners build, extend, or explore artifacts to make sense of underlying mechanisms. In this paper, we bridge these bodies of work to argue that interacting with program code of a computational model can facilitate engagement in inquiry‐based science. Tinkering with code involves students playfully manipulating the code of a computational model to generate and pursue goals or questions in the model. We use data from video‐recorded interviews with eleven 10th grade students in which they demonstrate their tinkering explorations with code of models of biological phenomena, and describe related interactions with other students. We analyze these data using a conceptual framework of inquiry‐based science consisting of three components: pursuit of investigations, sense making of investigations, and engagement with a community. We characterize points of alignment between students’ tinkering and these components to argue that tinkering with code underlying computational models facilitated engagement in inquiry‐based science. We also demonstrate how it provided opportunities for disciplinary engagement in two ways: Computational engagement or using code as a representational medium to pursue questions of interest, and conceptual engagement, or coming to notice and explain resulting changes in the modeled phenomenon. More broadly, we argue that the constructionist approach of interacting with and manipulating program code of computational models can facilitate productive forms of engagement with inquiry‐based science. We discuss affordances of interacting with code as a way to engage in inquiry, and provide design recommendations for the adoption of manipulation of code as an inquiry practice. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:615–641, 2017

  January 25, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21379   open full text
• Understanding patterns of evolution acceptance—A new implementation of the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) with Midwestern university students.
  William L. Romine, Emily M. Walter, Ephiram Bosse, Amber N. Todd.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. January 12, 2017
  We validate the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) on undergraduate students using the Rasch model and utilize the MATE to explore qualitatively how students express their acceptance of evolution. At least 24 studies have used the MATE, most with the assumption that it is unidimensional. However, we found that the MATE is best used as two separate dimensions. When used in this way, the MATE produces reliable (α > 0.85) measures for (i) acceptance of evolution facts and data and (ii) acceptance of the credibility of evolution and rejection of non‐scientific ideas. Using k‐means cluster analysis, we found students express their acceptance of evolution in five distinct profiles: (i) uniform high acceptance; (ii) uniform moderate acceptance; (iii) neutral acceptance; (iv) acceptance of facts, but rejection of credibility; and (v) rejection of both facts and credibility. Furthermore, we found that knowledge of macroevolution moderately explains students’ acceptance profiles, corroborating previous claims that teaching macroevolution may be one way to improve students’ acceptance. We use these findings to express the first set of operational definitions of evolution acceptance and propose that educators continue to explore additional ways to operationalize evolution acceptance. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:642–671, 2017

  January 12, 2017   doi: 10.1002/tea.21380   open full text
• Hope and anxiety in physics class: Exploring their motivational antecedents and influence on metacognition and performance.
  Antonio González, María‐Victoria Carrera Fernández, Paola‐Verónica Paoloni.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. December 29, 2016
  Recent research on achievement in science asserts that motivation, emotion, and metacognition are important driving forces for learning. This study sought to examine the relationships between two physics class emotions (hope and anxiety), their motivational predictors (instrumentality and self‐efficacy), and their effects on metacognitive problem solving strategies (planning, monitoring, and evaluation) and performance. Data were collected from 520 grade 11 Spanish students (54.7% girls). Structural equation models (SEM), followed by a bootstrap procedure, were used to examine direct and mediated relationships. The results supported the model, suggesting that instrumentality and self‐efficacy negatively predicted anxiety, and enhanced hope, planning, monitoring, evaluation, and performance; metacognitive strategies and performance were negatively predicted by anxiety, and were positively predicted by hope; metacognitive strategies positively predicted performance. Furthermore, the hypothesized mediated relations were also statistically significant. The interpretation of these findings, their implications for physics teaching and learning, and future lines of research are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:558–585, 2017

  December 29, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21377   open full text
• What is (or should be) scientific evidence use in k‐12 classrooms?
  Katherine L. McNeill, Leema Berland.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. December 29, 2016
  Research and reform efforts frequently identify evidence as an essential component of science classroom instruction to actively engage students in science practices. Despite this agreement on the primacy of evidence, there is a lack of consensus around what counts as “evidence” in k‐12 classrooms (e.g., ages 5–18): scholarship and standards in science education define evidence in a variety of ways including empirical data, analogy, personal experience, and scientific theories. We argue that this disagreement results in a wide range of classroom activities around evidence, including ones that recapitulate traditional science instruction focused on final form science and teachers as disseminators of information. In this paper, we develop design heuristics to inform the design of classroom learning environments that productively use scientific evidence for student sensemaking about the natural world by (i) selecting from the range of information a subset to use as scientific evidence; and (ii) designing classroom activities that support students collaboratively making sense of the natural world. In particular, we argue for three design heuristics that could potentially shift science classroom activities away from traditional “problems of practice” to align more closely with the vision of science as a set of practices including: phenomena‐based, transformable, and used dialogically. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:672–689, 2017

  December 29, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21381   open full text
• The impact of physics teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge and motivation on students’ achievement and interest.
  Melanie M. Keller, Knut Neumann, Hans E. Fischer.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. December 29, 2016
  This paper examines students’ achievement and interest and the extent to which they are predicted by teacher knowledge and motivation. Student achievement and interest are both considered desirable outcomes of school instruction. Teacher pedagogical content knowledge has been identified a major predictor of student achievement in previous research, whereas teacher motivation is considered a decisive factor influencing students’ interest. So far, however, most research either focused on knowledge or motivation (both on the students’ as well as the teachers’ side), rarely investigating them together or examining the instructional mechanisms through which the supposed effects of teacher knowledge and motivation are facilitated. In the present study, N = 77 physics teachers and their classes in Germany and Switzerland are investigated utilizing a multi‐method approach in combining data obtained from test‐instruments (teacher pedagogical content knowledge, student achievement) and questionnaires (teacher motivation, student interest, student perceived enthusiastic teaching) as well as videotaped instruction (cognitive activation rated by observers). Multi‐level structural equation modeling was used to support the assumptions that teacher pedagogical content knowledge positively predicted students’ achievement; the effect was mediated by cognitive activation. Teachers’ motivation predicted students’ interest which was mediated by enthusiastic teaching as perceived by students. Neither did teacher pedagogical content knowledge predict students’ interest, nor teacher motivation students’ achievement. This implies that in order to improve students’ cognitive as well as affective outcomes, both teachers’ knowledge but also their motivation need to be considered. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Research in Science Teaching Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54:586–614, 2017

  December 29, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21378   open full text
• Factors contributing to lifelong science learning: Amateur astronomers and birders.
  M. Gail Jones, Elysa Nicole Corin, Thomas Andre, Gina M. Childers, Vanessa Stevens.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. December 05, 2016
  This research examined lifelong science learning reported by amateur astronomers and birders. One hundred seven adults who reported engaging in an informal (out‐of‐school) science interest were interviewed as part of an ongoing series of studies of lifelong science learners. The goal of the study was to gain insight into how and why amateur astronomers and birders pursue their hobby, how their hobby developed, and what influenced that development. Educators may use this information to design programs that support informal science learning over the lifespan. Informed by self‐determination theory, the characteristics, initial experiences, and interests, influences on continued development of science interests, sources of education, and benefits of engaging in a science hobby were explored. Results showed that most of the participants’ lifelong science interests began in childhood and were influenced by events, resources, and family members. Members of both hobby groups reported that, as a result of their informal science interests, they were more knowledgeable about science, more knowledgeable about how science is done, possessed better observation skills, possessed more environmental awareness, and had opportunities to socialize and network with others with similar interests. The intersection of motivation and social capital derived from hobby engagement and lifelong science learning is discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 412–433, 2017

  December 05, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21371   open full text
• Emotional and motivational outcomes of lab work in the secondary intermediate track: The contribution of a science center outreach lab.
  Heike Itzek‐Greulich, Christian Vollmer.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. December 05, 2016
  Students’ interest in science declines in secondary school. Therefore, motivating students to become competent and engaged in science topics that are relevant for their everyday lives is an important goal, so they can be better citizens and decision makers with socioscientific issues (e.g., climate change and waste disposal). The present study contributes to research on activity emotions (state) and motivational outcomes (situational interest and situational competence) in science education. The study compared three experimental groups in a guided inquiry lab work on the chemistry of starch and a control group. The three groups were (i) 13 science classes taught at school; (ii) 14 classes taught in a Science Center Outreach Lab (SCOL) visit; and (iii) 17 classes taught in a combined setting of (i) and (ii); the groups were taught on the same topic. The large sample of classes was randomly assigned to the experimental conditions and a control group and data were analyzed for the theoretical part and the practical part of the intervention. The nested data were analyzed using item response theory and multilevel analyses. The three lab‐work conditions were quite successful in comparison with the control group. There were some differences between the SCOL and school groups; the students experienced higher enjoyment in the theoretical part of the intervention in the school group and higher situational competence in the practical lab work at the combined setting. Especially low achievers profited from the intervention, supposedly because the topic was close to students’ everyday lives. Conscientiousness was a major predictor of emotional and motivational outcomes. In conclusion, experimental lab work at a SCOL can be seen as a supplement to a worthwhile STEM education. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 3–28, 2017

  December 05, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21334   open full text
• Factors contributing to students’ misconceptions in learning covalent bonds.
  Erman Erman.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. December 05, 2016
  This study aims to identify students’ misconceptions regarding covalent bonds. Seventy‐seven graduate students in the middle of Indonesia participated in the study. Data were collected in three stages. First, misconceptions were identified by using the Semi Open Diagnostic Test. Ten students who experienced the worst misconceptions were interviewed. Lastly, textbooks were reviewed. Content analysis was used to analyze the misconception data. We identified eight primary misconceptions, namely: (i) a covalent bond is formed between two atoms with a pair of free electrons; (ii) each atom in a stable molecule must follow the octet rules; (iii) a covalent bond is polar if the electron affinity of two bonded atoms is different; (iv) the form of the molecule depends on the number of atoms bonded to the central atom; (v) nonpolar molecules have a dipole moment µ > 0; (vi) all bonds in polar molecules are polar, while all bonds in non‐polar molecules are non‐polar; (vii) the number of bonds depends on the electronegativity of the atoms; and (viii) bond length depends on the type of bond. The main causes of student misconceptions are as follows: (i) incomplete information; (ii) difficulty understanding basic concepts regarding covalent bonds; and (iii) lack of effective communication between students and teachers. The results suggested the following implications for teaching: the teacher should identify misconceptions about prior knowledge or concepts prior to teaching the basics, identify reference book learning, and facilitate effective communication so that information received by the student is complete and correct. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 520–537, 2017

  December 05, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21375   open full text
• Do teaching assistants matter? Investigating relationships between teaching assistants and student outcomes in undergraduate science laboratory classes.
  Lindsay B. Wheeler, Jennifer L. Maeng, Jennie L. Chiu, Randy L. Bell.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. December 05, 2016
  This study explores the relationship between teaching assistants (TAs) and student learning in undergraduate science laboratory classes. TAs typically instruct laboratory courses, yet little, if any, research examines professional development (PD) for TAs or relationships between instructors and students in laboratory settings. The use of undergraduate TAs (UTAs) in the same manner as graduate TAs (GTAs) in inquiry‐based lab settings has yet to be explored. This quantitative study explored how TAs’ content knowledge, beliefs about teaching, and teaching confidence change as a result of PD and how TAs’ prior experience, UTA/GTA status, content knowledge, beliefs, and teaching confidence relates to students’ content knowledge learning in an inquiry‐based general chemistry laboratory. Participants included 14 GTAs, 5 UTAs, and their 529 students at a public university. PD supported TAs to lead inquiry‐based general chemistry laboratory classes, involving a week‐long workshop and 14 weekly follow‐up meetings. Results demonstrate that TAs’ content knowledge improved following PD and teaching, t(18) = −3.62, p = 0.002, and students’ content knowledge significantly improved across the semester, t(528) = −36.27, p = 0.000, dCohen = 1.3. Further, TAs with higher content knowledge post‐PD tended to have students with higher end‐of‐semester content (r = 0.517, p = 0.000). No differences existed between UTAs or GTAs on any TA characteristic or student outcome measure. Using a hierarchical linear regression model, student post‐semester content knowledge was predicted by student demographics; however, no TA characteristics or demographics were significant predictors of student content knowledge. Students who perceived their TA as more supportive also believed they learned more content (r = 0.280, p =0.000). Thus, UTAs can be used in lieu of GTAs in our inquiry‐based general chemistry laboratory context and could be a possible alternative for TA instructors at other universities. Continued work examining TA PD, TA characteristics, TA practice, and student learning in inquiry‐based laboratory contexts is warranted. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 463–492, 2017

  December 05, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21373   open full text
• A case for the use of conceptual analysis in science education research.
  Sami Kahn, Dana L. Zeidler.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. November 17, 2016
  Imprecise constructs abound in science education research in part due to reliance on stipulative definitions that neglect fine distinctions between closely related constructs and overlook important meanings and hidden values embedded in language. Lack of conceptual clarity threatens construct validity, hampers theory development, and prevents science education researchers from focusing on the precise skills they wish to study and promote. To address these challenges, we argue for the expanded use of conceptual analysis, a traditional form of philosophical inquiry underutilized in science education research. After examining the historical and epistemological bases for this methodology, we introduce a variety of techniques used in this mode of inquiry including generic, differentiation, and conditions‐type analyses using model, borderline, contrary, and invented cases. To further advance our argument, we then conduct an abbreviated differentiation‐type analysis to distinguish “perspectives” from the related terms “orientations” and “positions,” three terms that present conceptual challenges in the research area of Socioscientific Issues (SSI) yet are clarified and contextually situated through this analysis. Finally, in light of our analysis, we suggest future directions for the expanded use of conceptual analysis in science education research. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 538–551, 2017

  November 17, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21376   open full text
• Pushing and pulling Sara: A case study of the contrasting influences of high school and university experiences on engineering agency, identity, and participation.
  Allison Godwin, Geoff Potvin.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. November 17, 2016
  This manuscript reports a longitudinal case study of how one woman, Sara, who had previously considered dropping out of high school, authored strong mathematics and science identities and purposefully exhibited agency through her experiences in high school science. These experiences empowered her to choose an engineering major in college; however, her introductory university engineering experiences ultimately pushed her out of engineering. Drawing on critical agency theory, we argue that by paying careful attention to how and why women author their identities and build agency through their experiences in high school, we may gain insight into why women may choose an engineering path in college. Additionally, we examine how Sara's perceptions of engineering structures and practices chipped away at the critical engineering agency she developed and caused her to leave engineering after her first year in college. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 439–462, 2017

  November 17, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21372   open full text
• Evolution acceptance and epistemological beliefs of college biology students.
  Lisa A. Borgerding, Hasan Deniz, Elizabeth Shevock Anderson.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. November 10, 2016
  Evolutionary theory is central to biology, and scientifically accurate evolution instruction is promoted within national and state standards documents. Previous literature has identified students’ epistemological beliefs as potential predictors of evolution acceptance. The present work seeks to explore more directly how student views of evolution are related to their epistemological beliefs. We hypothesize that evolution acceptance may be related to students’ epistemological beliefs and that this relationship may vary depending on students’ relationship to the field of biology, either as an experienced major, a new major, or a non‐major. Specifically, this manuscript investigates how college students’ evolution acceptance may be connected to Perry developmental levels for three distinct groups of students: upper‐level majors, first‐year majors, and non‐majors. A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach entailing quantitative surveys followed by individual interviews was employed. In total, 395 college‐level biology students from three classes were surveyed, and 44 students were interviewed. Descriptive quantitative trends were identified, and evolution acceptance varied predictably by both Perry level and Class. Qualitative analysis explained these quantitative findings in terms of participants’ identification with science, views of authority, views of the compatibility of evolution and religion, and appreciation for the tentative nature of science with respect to evolution. Potential implications for science educators at the college level are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 493–519, 2017

  November 10, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21374   open full text
• Learned inequality: Racial labels in the biology curriculum can affect the development of racial prejudice.
  Brian M. Donovan.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. October 20, 2016
  For over a century, genetic arguments for the existence of racial inequality have been used to oppose policies that promote social equality. And, over that same time period, American biology textbooks have repeatedly discussed genetic differences between races. This experiment tests whether racial terminology in the biology curriculum causes adolescents to develop genetic beliefs about racial difference, thereby affecting prejudice. Individual students (N = 135, grades 7–9) were randomly assigned within their classrooms to learn either from: (i) four text‐based lessons discussing racial differences in skeletal structure and the prevalence of genetic disease (racial condition); or (ii) an identical curriculum lacking racial terminology (nonracial condition). Over 3‐months that coincided with this learning, students in the racial condition grew significantly more in their perception of the amount of genetic variation between races relative to students in the nonracial condition. Furthermore, those in the racial condition grew in their belief that races differ in intelligence for genetic reasons significantly more than those in the nonracial condition. And, compared to the nonracial condition, students in the racial condition became significantly less interested in socializing across racial lines and less supportive of policies that reduce racial inequality in education. These findings show how biology education sustains racial inequality, and conversely, how human genetic variation education could be designed to reduce genetically based racism. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 379–411, 2017

  October 20, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21370   open full text
• Serendipitous science engagement: A family self‐ethnography.
  Dana Vedder‐Weiss.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. October 20, 2016
  While opportunities for spontaneous, undesigned, serendipitous science engagement (SSE) are abundant and evidence regarding its affordances is accumulating, little is known about its nature. In this paper, I present a model defining and identifying SSE, which consists of a personal and a contextual continuum. To explore the nature of family SSE, I analyzed a 66‐minute case, obtained through self‐ethnography, of three children and a mother engaging with bugs they discovered in their backyard. Employing the “language games” approach, the analysis elucidates how the absence of designated goals enabled legitimate multiple language‐games over relatively long periods of time, with one game supporting the other. It also reveals delayed uptake, in which children appear to ignore scientific practice or content, while they are actually picking up ideas that they later use to engage with science. Examining processes of guided participation reveals that it entailed authentic modeling and gradual participation in the sense‐making game, without abandoning other games. I discuss implications for science learning and for learning theory more broadly, including parents’ role in SSE, issues of time for and in SSE, and guided participation in academic activities lacking designated goals. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 350–378, 2017

  October 20, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21369   open full text
• Secondary science teachers as curriculum makers: Mapping and designing Scotland's new Curriculum for Excellence.
  Carolyn S. Wallace, Mark R. Priestley.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. October 06, 2016
  Scotland is one of several countries to have recently implemented a new national curriculum to highlight 21st century educational priorities. Teachers have been mandated to follow the new curriculum guidelines, known as Curriculum for Excellence (CfE), since the fall of 2010. The purpose of this study was to use a phenomenological lens to investigate how Scottish secondary science teachers are experiencing their work of curriculum development, including daily lesson design and more broadly, curriculum mapping within the context of reform (Remillard [1999], Curriculum Inquiry, 29: 315–342). We probed seven science teachers’ experiences to create both a composite profile of conscious thoughts about curriculum design and individual profiles that highlight interactions between the curriculum mandates, beliefs, and agentic orientations. The study indicated that changes to curriculum development required accepting new cognitive commitments including: (i) analyzing the CfE document to discern the most significant principles underlying change; (ii) reflecting on the ways that science teacher curriculum development is a problem‐solving endeavor; (iii) undertaking the complex processes of curriculum mapping, from primary school all the way through national qualification exams; and (iv) recognizing that the epistemological frame for students’ science learning has changed and providing opportunities for students to create and apply knowledge. Two significant findings include the unpacking of these cognitive activities as part of a transformation toward a new epistemology of pedagogy, and the assertion that official curriculum documents can promote change, albeit with caveats concerning individual beliefs, agentic orientations, and possibilities for agency within school contexts. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 324–349, 2017

  October 06, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21346   open full text
• Gender and choosing a STEM major in college: Femininity, masculinity, chilly climate, and occupational values.
  Richard M. Simon, Ashley Wagner, Brooke Killion.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. October 06, 2016
  Masculinity and femininity have played a substantial role in how social scientists explain the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. The masculine culture of science is thought to be inconsistent with occupational values associated with feminine personalities, and to create a discriminatory academic environment for those who cannot adapt to it. However, there has been little systematic investigation into the extent to which masculine and feminine personality characteristics are actually correlated with STEM career outcomes, or how the effects of masculine and feminine personality characteristics on STEM career outcomes may be different when embodied in women compared to men. This study tests several hypotheses concerning the relationship of masculine and feminine personality characteristics to occupational values, perceptions of academic climate, and selection of a STEM major in college among a sample of 752 students enrolled at a major public university. We find little support for the hypothesis that masculine personality characteristics are especially rewarded in STEM majors. However, we also find that women pay a femininity penalty in STEM majors, while more abundant feminine personality traits in men render them more likely to major in a STEM field, after accounting for occupational values. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 299–323, 2017

  October 06, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21345   open full text
• Assessment of scientific literacy: Development and validation of the Quantitative Assessment of Socio‐Scientific Reasoning (QuASSR).
  William L. Romine, Troy D. Sadler, Andrew T. Kinslow.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. September 26, 2016
  We describe the development and validation of the Quantitative Assessment of Socio‐scientific Reasoning (QuASSR) in a college context. The QuASSR contains 10 polytomous, two‐tiered items crossed between two scenarios, and is based on theory suggesting a four‐pronged structure for SSR (complexity, perspective taking, inquiry, and skepticism). In the context of pre‐post measurement within a 1‐week SSI‐based unit on fracking, we found that the four sub‐constructs represent a one‐dimensional progression of ideas, and that SSR is largely independent of declarative knowledge. In the validation process, we discovered small inconsistencies in item functioning between scenarios in the areas of complexity and perspective‐taking, but determined that resulting biases sat well within the uncertainty in students’ measures. In light of future development and use of the QuASSR, we determined that use of a single scenario is sufficient to produce a measurement reliability of 0.7. Given the time it takes for students to complete a scenario, we consider a 3‐scenario QuASSR, and its accompanying measurement precision of 0.85, to be the practical upper precision limit of the QuASSR when used in experimental contexts. Finally, we found no significant change in SSR due to the SSI‐based intervention. This mirrors prior reports of short‐duration interventions targeting SSR. Our data suggest that as a cognitive construct underpinned by political, moral, and ethical ideologies around SSI, successful efforts to facilitate growth must target SSR as a central focus upon which more basic content knowledge is contextualized, so that sufficient instructional duration can be given to this important construct. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 274–295, 2017

  September 26, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21368   open full text
• Secondary school students’ reasoning about evolution.
  Cheryl To, Harriet R. Tenenbaum, Henriette Hogh.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. September 07, 2016
  This study examined age differences in young people's understanding of evolution theory in secondary school. A second aim of this study was to propose a new coding scheme that more accurately described students’ conceptual understanding about evolutionary theory. We argue that coding schemes adopted in previous research may have overestimated students’ grasp of evolutionary concepts. A total of 106 students aged 12, 14, and 16 took part in individual interviews investigating their understanding of evolution. Using the new coding scheme, we found that while 16‐year olds were more likely than 12‐year olds to endorse scientific concepts when answering a question about finches, their understanding of natural selection, however, did not generalize to the other four questions. Furthermore, students began to incorporate relevant terminology (e.g., adapt, evolve, etc.) and structure their explanations using relevant language at around age 14. Students often used relevant terminology without having a more advanced understanding of evolutionary theory. Instead, they used the relevant terms in a colloquial rather than a scientific sense. Implications of the current findings for teaching and theory are discussed. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Research in Science Teaching published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of National Association for Research in Science Teaching. J Res Sci Teach 54: 247–273, 2017

  September 07, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21347   open full text
• Exploring the relationship between secondary science teachers’ subject matter knowledge and knowledge of student conceptions while teaching evolution by natural selection.
  Margaret M. Lucero, Anthony J. Petrosino, Cesar Delgado.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 31, 2016
  The fundamental scientific concept of evolution occurring by natural selection is home to many deeply held alternative conceptions and considered difficult to teach. Science teachers’ subject matter knowledge (SMK) and the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) component of knowledge of students’ conceptions (KOSC) can be valuable resources for helping students learn difficult science concepts such as natural selection. However, little research exists that explores the relationship between science teachers’ SMK and their KOSC on evolution by natural selection. This study explores the relationship between SMK and KOSC through the participation of four biology teachers at a single high school and thus deepens our understanding of the teacher knowledge base. Main data sources are teacher interviews in which each teacher answered SMK‐type questions and predicted what their students’ most common alternative conceptions were by using the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS). Other data sources include student responses on the CINS and classroom observations. Findings revealed relative independence between SMK and KOSC, although there is likely a minimum threshold of SMK to recognize student alternative conceptions. However, our work also revealed ways in which teachers were not leveraging their KOSC and suggest potential avenues for future inquiry. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 219–246, 2017

  August 31, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21344   open full text
• Writing from different cultural contexts: How college students frame an environmental SSI through written arguments.
  Meena M. Balgopal, Alison M. Wallace, Steven Dahlberg.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 05, 2016
  The research objective of this study was to describe the frames that students from two culturally distinct institutions used in their argumentative essays on a locally relevant environmental socioscientific issue. Participants (n = 47) were recruited from biology courses designed for pre‐service elementary teachers at both a public university and a tribal community college separated by around 80 km. Students participated in iterative writing assignments, class discussion, and small group planning activities. Each student submitted three essays (in total around 140 essays), which were analyzed for the types of claims made, the types of evidence used to support claims, and patterns of argument framing. A framing typology from the science communication discipline was used. Both cohorts used frames around accountability and compromise, but tribal college students were more likely to draw on morality frames while university students drew on economic development frames. In addition, the tribal students were less likely (58% of essays) to use scientific evidence to support their claims than the university students (96% of essays). We conclude that while frames lend them themselves to using scientific evidence, students from culturally marginalized backgrounds have an opportunity to increase their sense of agency and communicate their argumentative positions on SSIs. We recommend that educators assign WTL activities that allow students to select their own frames but encourage students to integrate scientific evidence in their essays, while also recognizing that how we define science is likely culturally biased. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 195–218, 2017

  August 05, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21342   open full text
• Cultivating minority scientists: Undergraduate research increases self‐efficacy and career ambitions for underrepresented students in STEM.
  Anthony Carpi, Darcy M. Ronan, Heather M. Falconer, Nathan H. Lents.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 05, 2016
  In this study, Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) is used to explore changes in the career intentions of students in an undergraduate research experience (URE) program at a large public minority‐serving college. Our URE model addresses the challenges of establishing an undergraduate research program within an urban, commuter, underfunded, Minority‐Serving Institution (MSI). However, our model reaches beyond a focus on retention and remediation toward scholarly contributions and shifted career aspirations. From a student's first days at the College to beyond their graduation, we have encouraged them to explore their own potential as scientists in a coordinated, sequential, and self‐reflective process. As a result, while the program's graduates have traditionally pursued entry‐level STEM jobs, graduates participating in mentored research are increasingly focused on professional and academic STEM career tracks involving post‐graduate study. In addition to providing an increasingly expected experience and building students’ skills, participation in undergraduate research is seen to have a transformative effect on career ambitions for many students at MSIs. While undergraduate research is often thought of in context of majority‐serving institutions, we propose that it serves as a powerful equalizer at MSIs. Building on the institutional characteristics that drive diversity, our students produce scholarly work and pursue graduate degrees, in order to address the long‐standing under‐representation of minorities in the sciences. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 169–194, 2017

  August 05, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21341   open full text
• An exploration of teacher learning from an educative reform‐oriented science curriculum: Case studies of teacher curriculum use.
  Lisa M. Marco‐Bujosa, Katherine L. McNeill, María González‐Howard, Suzanna Loper.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 05, 2016
  Educative curriculum materials provide teachers with authentic opportunities to learn new skills and practices. Yet, research shows teachers use curriculum in different ways for different reasons, and these modifications could undermine the learning goals of the curriculum. Little research, however, has examined the variation in teacher use of educative curriculum and the impact on teacher learning. In this article, we use organizational theory's concept of sensemaking to examine teacher learning from educative curriculum. Utilizing a multiple‐case study methodology, we explored the variation in how teachers utilized the same educative, reform‐oriented science curriculum to plan for instruction in addition to the differences in teacher interpretation and learning about argumentation from the curriculum. Participants included five middle school science teachers who differed with respect to teaching experience, prior exposure to argumentation, and school settings, including suburban and rural and public and private schools. Findings indicate that some teachers used the curriculum as a resource solely to support student learning, and consequently did not utilize the educative aspects or recognize the intended support for teacher learning. Second, we found that the teachers who actively engaged in their own learning while adapting the curriculum to their context made learning gains, indicating a need for teacher active reflection to learn new practices. Our findings suggest a need to shift teachers’ perspectives from viewing curriculum as a source of activities to a resource to support their own learning and professional goals. This study raises questions and makes suggestions for future educative curriculum development and teacher preparation. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 141–168, 2017

  August 05, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21340   open full text
• The impact of video case content on preservice elementary teachers’ decision‐making and conceptions of effective science teaching.
  Joanne K. Olson, Crystal N. Bruxvoort, Andrea J. Vande Haar.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 05, 2016
  Little is known about how the content of a video case influences what preservice teachers learn about science teaching. This study was designed to determine the impact of two different video cases on preservice elementary teachers’ conceptions of multiple aspects of effective science teaching, with one video selected to focus attention on the role of the teacher. Three groups completed either: (i) a unit plan; (ii) a video case analysis with problematic selection of content and use of teacher behaviors; or (iii) a video case analysis with only problematic teacher behaviors. Two hundred seven end‐of‐semester oral defenses were analyzed to determine the extent to which group differences exist on six questions. Both groups who completed the video case analysis better consider how children learn when making decisions, involving activities and content than those who completed the unit plan. However, they do not use this same knowledge base to inform their role in interacting with children to move their thinking toward more accurate ideas. Prospective teachers in all three groups overlook the role of the teacher in the classroom and focus almost entirely on keeping children physically active. Therefore, even when a video case was deliberately selected to focus attention on the role of the teacher, this critically important aspect of teaching continues to be absent, or vague at best, for the 207 prospective teachers in this study. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1500–1523, 2016

  August 05, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21335   open full text
• Effective secondary science programs: A best‐evidence synthesis.
  Alan Cheung, Robert E. Slavin, Elizabeth Kim, Cynthia Lake.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 21, 2016
  This article reports a systematic review of research on science programs in grades 6–12. Twenty‐one studies met inclusion criteria including use of randomized or quasi‐experimental assignment to conditions, measures that assess content emphasized equally in experimental and control groups, and a duration of at least 12 weeks. Programs fell into four categories. Instructional process programs (ES = +0.17) and technology programs (ES = +0.47) had positive sample‐size weighted mean effect sizes, while use of science kits (ES = −0.02) and innovative textbooks (ES = +0.10) had much lower effects. Outcomes support the use of programs with a strong focus on professional development, technology, and support for teaching, rather than materials‐focused innovations. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 58–81, 2017

  July 21, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21338   open full text
• Students from non‐dominant linguistic backgrounds making sense of cosmology visualizations.
  Zoë E. Buck Bracey.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 21, 2016
  This article presents the results of exploratory research with community college students from non‐dominant linguistic backgrounds (NDLB) in an introductory astronomy class as they collaborated to reconstruct dynamic cosmology visualizations through drawing. Data included student discourse during the drawing activity, post‐activity interviews, and the drawings themselves. This work comes from the theoretical perspective that revealing student competence should be an essential part of science education research, and is guided by sociocultural theory. Results indicate that dynamic cosmology visualizations can support the development of cosmological literacy by facilitating heterogeneous sense‐making strategies. The activity of drawing the visualizations in groups created fluid, hybrid spaces where students could grapple directly with cosmology content while trying on the language of science. In light of these findings, the author argues that carefully incorporating collaborative activity around the interpretation of visualizations into learning environments can improve access to cosmology content for learners, particularly those who come from non‐dominant linguistic backgrounds. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 29–57, 2017

  June 21, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21337   open full text
• Early elementary students’ understanding of complex ecosystems: A learning progression approach.
  Hayat Hokayem, Amelia Wenk Gotwals.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 17, 2016
  Engaging in systemic reasoning about ecological issues is critical for early elementary students to develop future understanding of critical environmental issues such as global warming and loss of biodiversity. However, ecological issues are rarely taught in ways to highlight systemic reasoning in elementary schools. In this study, we conducted semi‐structured interviews with 44 students from the first through fourth grades. Using an iterative process, we developed an empirically grounded learning progression that captures how elementary students use systemic reasoning to explain interactions in ecosystems. This learning progression contains five reasoning patterns: anthropomorphic reasoning, concrete practical reasoning, simple causal reasoning, semi‐complex causal reasoning, and complex causal reasoning. The results also show that many students exhibited mixed‐level reasoning, meaning that they used reasoning patterns at multiple levels to construct a single response. We discuss the implications of the study for learning progression research and teaching ecosystems at early elementary grades. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1524–1545, 2016

  June 17, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21336   open full text
• A longitudinal analysis of the extent and manner of representations of nature of science in U.S. high school biology and physics textbooks.
  Fouad Abd‐El‐Khalick, John Y. Myers, Ryan Summers, Jeanne Brunner, Noemi Waight, Nader Wahbeh, Ava A. Zeineddin, Jeremy Belarmino.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 16, 2016
  This study assessed the (i) ways in which, and extent to which, several aspects of nature of science (NOS) are represented in high school biology and physics textbooks in the United States (U.S.); (ii) extent to which these representations have changed over the course of several decades; and (iii) relative impact of discipline, and textbook publishers versus authors on the observed patterns. NOS aspects included the empirical, tentative, inferential, creative, theory‐laden, and social NOS; myth of “The Scientific Method”; nature of theories and laws; and social and cultural embeddedness of science. The sample included 34 (16 biology and 18 physics) textbooks, which commanded significant shares of the U.S. science textbook market. Textbooks were selected from seven “connected series” (three in biology and four in physics), which spanned 1–5 decades, with five series spanning, at least, 3 decades. Textbooks were scored for the accuracy and manner in which, as well as the extent (in textbook pages) to which, the target NOS aspects were represented. Analyses indicated that, on average, only less than 2.5% of the analyzed textbook pages were dedicated to addressing NOS constructs. Overall, representations of NOS in the textbooks did not differ by content area, were discernibly less than favorable, and did not improve substantially over the past several decades. These trends are incommensurate with the emphasis placed in U.S. reform efforts on helping precollege students develop informed NOS conceptions. Finally, the data strongly suggested that textbook authors have a relatively greater impact on the observed patterns when compared to textbook publishers. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 82–120, 2017

  June 16, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21339   open full text
• Developing a learning progression for sea level rise, a major impact of climate change.
  Wayne Breslyn, J. Randy McGinnis, R. Christopher McDonald, Emily Hestness.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 16, 2016
  We present research from an investigation on developing a learning progression (LP) for sea level rise (SLR), a major effect of global climate change. We began our research by drafting a hypothetical LP for sea level rise, informed by extant knowledge of the topic in the scientific community, in science education literature, and in science education policy documents such as the Next Generation Science Standards. Causes and mechanisms, scale and representations, and impacts made up the three components of the LP. Our confidence in our hypothetical LP was greater for the lower and upper anchors than for the levels between them. For all levels, however, we remained tentative due to the limitation of empirical data from learners. We next developed an assessment instrument as well as an online activity as a way to elicit learners’ thinking about sea level rise. These instruments were administered to middle school students (N = 95) and undergraduate pre‐service teachers (N = 77). An analysis of the data suggested that our hypothetical LP for sea level rise was a necessary first step, but it underscored the necessity of probing learners’ thinking of the construct to develop a robust understanding of learners’ conceptual understanding overtime of SLR. The assessment data provided essential information about learner understanding of the construct of sea level rise that assisted us in moving our SLR LP from a hypothetical state to a more stable state, which we term as “conditional.” The development of a conditional SLR LP, along with the accompanying assessment instruments, contributes to research and thinking about learning progressions and climate change education. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1471–1499, 2016

  June 16, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21333   open full text
• The GAENE—Generalized Acceptance of EvolutioN Evaluation: Development of a new measure of evolution acceptance.
  Mike U. Smith, Scott W. Snyder, Randolph S. Devereaux.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 16, 2016
  The present study reports the development of a brief, quantitative, web‐based, psychometrically sound measure—the Generalized Acceptance of EvolutioN Evaluation (GAENE, pronounced “gene”) in a format that is useful in large and small groups, in research, and in classroom settings. The measure was designed to measure only evolution acceptance—not related knowledge or religious beliefs. Item development was based on extensive student interviews and pretesting followed by multiple rounds of qualitative review and quantitative validity testing based on expert review (Lawshe, 1975) and multiple rounds of item revision, then by reliability testing of over 600 high school (HS) and post‐secondary (PS) students (Study 1, GAENE 1.0). Data analysis strongly supported the reliability and validity of GAENE 1.0, principal components analysis supported a two‐factor solution. All the negatively worded items (and only those items) loaded on the second factor. Rasch analysis also suggested the need for items that would be endorsed at the lower end of the person‐item scale. The negatively worded items were, therefore, reworded as positives, additional items were generated to attract wider endorsement, two additional rounds of qualitative and quantitative expert validation were conducted, and reliability testing was repeated with over 600 HS and PS students (Study 2, GAENE 2.0). Both reliability and validity indices of GAENE 2.0 were strong (Lawshe content validity index = 0.72; Cronbach's alphaHS = 0.940; Cronbach's alphaPS = 0.948; Cronbach's alphacombined = 0.945). Principal components analysis suggests that GAENE 2.0 measures a single factor. Together with Rasch analysis results, these data provide substantial initial evidence to support the validity and psychometric integrity of the GAENE as a measure of the degree to which high school and college students accept the theory of evolution. The rigorous development process can also serve as a model for others interested in measure development. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1289–1315, 2016

  June 16, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21328   open full text
• The role of a museum‐based science education program in promoting content knowledge and science motivation.
  Andrew J. Martin, Tracy L. Durksen, Derek Williamson, Julia Kiss, Paul Ginns.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 08, 2016
  Informal learning settings such as museums have been identified as opportunities to enhance students' knowledge and motivation in science and to optimize the connection between science and everyday life. The present study assessed the role of a self‐paced science education program (situated in a medical science museum) in enhancing students' program‐related content knowledge, self‐efficacy, valuing, and aspirations. The study also investigated whether gains in content knowledge recall and motivation (as relevant to biology, anatomy, health) are associated with reported improvements in beliefs about health practices relevant to everyday life. The program aligned with a well‐established tripartite engagement framework conforming to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional engagement principles as well as principles underpinning guided discovery learning. Among a sample of N = 167 (upper) elementary and secondary school students (aged 10–16 years, M = 12.62 years), we found significant gains in content knowledge recall (achievement) and science motivation (self‐efficacy, valuing, aspirations) following participation in the science program. Additionally, gains in content knowledge recall and motivation were associated with reported improvements in beliefs about everyday health practices. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1364–1384, 2016

  June 08, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21332   open full text
• A day at the museum: The impact of field trips on middle school science achievement.
  Emilyn Ruble Whitesell.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 02, 2016
  Field trips are an important feature of the United States’ education system, although in the current context of high‐stakes tests and school accountability, many schools are shifting resources away from enrichment. It is critical to understand how field trips and other informal learning experiences contribute to student test scores, but little research has explored the impact of field trips on standard measures of academic learning. In this study, I used 6 years of student‐level data to estimate the impact of field trips to informal science education institutions on New York City students’ performance on the state's standardized eighth‐grade science exam. Using a rigorous identification strategy with school fixed effects to capitalize on variation in field trip participation within schools over time, I found small positive effects of exposure to field trips on students’ science test scores and proficiency. Effects were largest for Hispanic students and those who qualified for free or reduced‐price lunch. This evidence that field trips can contribute positively to student achievement is meaningful for policymakers and administrators, as it suggests schools can provide enrichment experiences that families desire without sacrificing student test scores. The study suggests that field trips might be an effective tool for reducing achievement gaps. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53:1036–1054, 2016

  June 02, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21322   open full text
• A learning progression should address regression: Insights from developing non‐linear reasoning in ecology.
  Tasos Hovardas.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 02, 2016
  Although ecological systems at varying scales involve non‐linear interactions, learners insist thinking in a linear fashion when they deal with ecological phenomena. The overall objective of the present contribution was to propose a hypothetical learning progression for developing non‐linear reasoning in prey–predator systems and to provide empirical evidence for one part of this progression. Pre‐service teachers followed three teaching units that involved a game simulation of the prey–predator system. Participants predicted how wolf and deer populations would evolve in a hypothetical forest, and then they used the simulation to generate data, construct a graph, describe their graph, and compare their predictions with graph description. A new learning context was introduced and new predictions were requested to investigate whether participants would transfer former learning experiences in the new setting. Analysis of learning products revealed the “messy” character of learners' intermediate steps. Some participants succeeded in identifying aspects of metamodeling knowledge, but this was not used in their new predictions. Graph description could either perpetuate or challenge linear heuristics depending on the strategy participants followed. There were a number of participants who misrepresented prey and predator population trends as “inversely proportional,” which indicated that there is a possibility of regression to the lower anchor. Linearity and proportionality might have re‐surfaced during the learning activity sequence and linear heuristics could have been so powerful as to distract learners' attention from axes labels. Learning products constructed by learners during learning activities included crucial benchmarks to diagnose learner performance and indicated proper timing for feedback provision. Overall, the implications of the study highlight the importance of using learning products to enact formative assessment. Directions for future research are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1447–1470, 2016

  June 02, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21330   open full text
• Enhancing student explanations of evolution: Comparing elaborating and competing theory prompts.
  Dermot F. Donnelly, Bahadir Namdar, Jonathan M. Vitale, Kevin Lai, Marcia C. Linn.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 02, 2016
  In this study, we explore how two different prompt types within an online computer‐based inquiry learning environment enhance 392 7th grade students’ explanations of evolution with three teachers. In the elaborating prompt condition, students are prompted to write explanations that support the accepted theory of evolution. In the competing prompt condition, students are prompted to write explanations that differentiate two views of evolution associated with Darwin and Lamarck. Data sources included a pretest and posttest, an embedded item, observations, logged teacher guidance, and teacher interviews. Findings show similar pretest to posttest gains in students’ understanding of evolution for both conditions, but this pattern was not uniform across all three teachers. For one teacher, students who received competing theory prompts produced significantly higher gains than those who received elaborating theory prompts. A closer look at embedded student work reveals a higher degree of teacher participation (i.e., grading and guidance) than for the other teachers. Our findings illustrate how helping students distinguish between competing scientific claims can support learning in an inquiry unit, but may require a higher degree of teacher participation and reinforcement. We discuss the implications of these findings for enhancing students’ scientific explanations. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1341–1363, 2016

  June 02, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21331   open full text
• Designing, launching, and implementing high quality learning opportunities for students that advance scientific thinking.
  Hosun Kang, Mark Windschitl, David Stroupe, Jessica Thompson.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. May 06, 2016
  Instructional tasks are key features of classroom practice, but little is known about how different components of tasks—such as selecting or designing tasks for a lesson, launching, and implementing them with students—shape the conditions for students’ intellectual engagement in science classrooms. Employing a qualitative multiple case study approach, we analyzed 57 science lessons taught by 19 first‐year teachers. We examined the potential for students’ intellectual work built into the tasks across the phases of instruction, and how the demand of the unfolding task deepened (or failed to deepen) students’ engagement in science. The findings suggest the importance of beginning a lesson with high quality instructional tasks—complex tasks that bear appropriate levels of epistemic uncertainty for a particular group of students in a particular moment. Beginning a lesson with high quality tasks; however, was insufficient by itself to ensure rigorous learning opportunities. With the use of complex tasks, higher quality opportunities to learn were observed in lessons in which: (i) the tasks were framed as a process of understanding contextualized phenomena; (ii) the specific disciplinary concepts in the task were related to big science ideas that transcended the activities themselves; and (iii) students’ implementation of these tasks were structured using tools that supported changes in thinking. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1316–1340, 2016

  May 06, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21329   open full text
• Disciplinary literacy in the science classroom: Using adaptive primary literature.
  Michele Hollingsworth Koomen, Sarah Weaver, Robert B. Blair, Karen S. Oberhauser.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. May 05, 2016
  This study reports on an innovative version of adaptive primary literature (APL) that we call Science Behind the Scenes used during a summer professional development (PD) program. Classroom teachers read and discussed papers from the primary literature, and created translations of these papers relevant to their own classroom needs. We randomly selected 31 teacher‐created Science behind the Scenes products for evaluation with a rubric that was aligned with the K‐12 Science Education Frameworks (2012). In addition, we interviewed groups of teachers at follow‐up sessions and individual teachers who used the APL in their classrooms. We used frameworks for grounded theory to sort the interview text and descriptive statistical measures for quantitative data. Our analysis reveals two key findings: (i) the teachers created respectable adaptations of primary scientific literature into APL; and (ii) the teachers used the APL products in their classrooms to support the discourse of science and disciplinary literacy, and to create a bridge to the scientific enterprise. Our findings have implications for instructional design, curricular materials, professional development, and science education. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 847–894, 2016

  May 05, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21317   open full text
• Emergent themes from recent research syntheses in science education and their implications for research design, replication, and reporting practices.
  Joseph Taylor, Erin Furtak, Susan Kowalski, Alina Martinez, Robert Slavin, Molly Stuhlsatz, Christopher Wilson.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 27, 2016
  This article draws upon the experiences of four recent efforts to synthesize the findings of quantitative studies in science education research. After establishing the need for research syntheses in advancing generalizable knowledge and causal effects research in our field, we identify a set themes that emerged in the process of conducting these syntheses. These themes include that many impact study designs were not conducive to quantitative synthesis, reporting practices of studies were often insufficient for inclusion in research synthesis, and very few replications were performed. These findings have the potential to limit the advancement of knowledge and discovery in science education research. We recommend that the science education research community pay closer attention to existing reporting standards and guidance, as well as consider the merits of a stronger commitment to study registration, replication, and data sharing. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1216–1231, 2016

  April 27, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21327   open full text
• Doing research in school: Physics inquiry in the zone of proximal development.
  Shulamit Kapon.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 27, 2016
  Research experience is increasingly considered an important component of science education at the secondary school and undergraduate levels. This paper presents a case study of students learning in a unique apprenticeship model in which students are engaged in long‐term (18 month) open‐ended research projects in physics that are done at the laboratory in school, and in which the project advisor is a physics teacher supported by a community of teacher–researchers. The goals of the study were to characterize what the students learned, how they perceived their inquiry and their role in it, the features of mentorship they received and the social‐infrastructure in which they and their advisor functioned. Qualitative data were collected over a whole school year through interviews, weekly observations, and content analysis of the final research reports. Participants were the focus advisor, and some of his former and current project mentees. Data on the larger educational context were collected from other project advisors and their mentees. The study documented students’ learning gains such as learning of scientific content and skills, internalization of scientific habits of thought as well as developing passion, interest, and agency with regard to science. It documented features of students’ engagement that reflect deep involvement in the technical and epistemic aspects of the inquiry, and highlighted the specific features of mentorship, and the social infrastructure that fostered this learning and engagement. It concluded with a theoretical examination of the interaction between a cultural discipline (i.e., physics), the social infrastructure in which the advisor and the students function, the advisor's mentorship style, and the students’ learning and engagement. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1172–1197, 2016

  April 27, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21325   open full text
• Upper‐level undergraduate chemistry students’ goals for their laboratory coursework.
  Brittland K. DeKorver, Marcy H. Towns.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 15, 2016
  Efforts to reform undergraduate chemistry laboratory coursework typically focus on the curricula of introductory‐level courses, while upper‐level courses are bypassed. This study used video‐stimulated recall to interview 17 junior‐ and senior‐ level chemistry majors after they carried out an experiment as part of a laboratory course. It is assumed that the students who are taking those courses are inherently more interested and motivated to learn the material, thus requiring less support from the curriculum. The videos and interviews revealed that the upper‐level students displayed strong similarities to students in introductory‐level coursework: holding conflicting goals and lacking reflection on their progress toward achieving those goals. Upper‐level laboratory curricula should be scrutinized to ensure that students receive the maximum benefit from laboratory coursework. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1198–1215, 2016

  April 15, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21326   open full text
• “A ton of faith in science!” Nature and role of assumptions in, and ideas about, science and epistemology generated upon watching a sci‐fi film.
  John Y. Myers, Fouad Abd‐El‐Khalick.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 15, 2016
  This study (i) explicates the sorts of ideas about science and the nature of knowing that were generated among participant graduate students who viewed the sci‐fi film, Contact, and (ii) examines the interactions between these ideas and ontic stances with which participants approached viewing the film. Eleven doctoral students of various disciplinary backgrounds viewed Contact, wrote a film review in response to a prompt, and were interviewed to clarify and further explore ideas mentioned in their review. Participants’ most prevalent ideas generated upon viewing Contact were that scientific assumptions, and trust in scientific knowledge and authority, are “faith‐based”; theory‐choice in science can be faith‐based; science requires empirical evidence; and females in science are severely misrepresented. Further, more participants experienced such ideas as realistic rather than unrealistic representations of science, and some identified with particular scenes from the film. These results do not empirically support pedagogical techniques recommended by prior literature suggesting that science teachers who expose students to sci‐fi film in the classroom should focus specifically on what teachers deem scientifically inaccurate or misinformation. This approach is rather limited and fails to consider ideas generated by students upon viewing films, which teachers might not expect (e.g., relating science with faith). Rather, we recommend an open‐ended, reflective pedagogical approach to using sci‐fi film where teachers, first, openly engage students with writing about and discussing thoughts they generate upon watching a given film, and then move to address student ideas. Our findings also indicate a critical need to expand the current consensus model for NOS in K‐12 science education—in particular, including and explicating the nature and role of assumptions in science as an additional core dimension of currently accepted NOS models. Toward this end, we delineate the nature and role of scientific assumptions by reference to the epistemological theory of coherentism. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1143–1171, 2016

  April 15, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21324   open full text
• The development and validation of a learning progression for argumentation in science.
  Jonathan F. Osborne, J. Bryan Henderson, Anna MacPherson, Evan Szu, Andrew Wild, Shi‐Ying Yao.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 03, 2016
  Given the centrality of argumentation in the Next Generation Science Standards, there is an urgent need for an empirically validated learning progression of this core practice and the development of high‐quality assessment items. Here, we introduce a hypothesized three‐tiered learning progression for scientific argumentation. The learning progression accounts for the intrinsic cognitive load associated with orchestrating arguments of increasingly complex structure. Our proposed learning progression for argumentation in science also makes an important distinction between construction and critique. We present validity evidence for this learning progression based on item response theory, and discuss the development of items used to test this learning progression. By analyzing data from cognitive think‐aloud interviews of students, written responses on pilot test administrations, and large‐scale test administrations using a Rasch analysis, we discuss the refinement both of our items and our learning progression to improve construct validity and scoring reliability. Limitations to this research as well as implications for future work on assessment of scientific argumentation are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 821–846, 2016

  April 03, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21316   open full text
• Visualizing biological data in museums: Visitor learning with an interactive tree of life exhibit.
  Michael S. Horn, Brenda C. Phillips, Evelyn Margaret Evans, Florian Block, Judy Diamond, Chia Shen.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 03, 2016
  In this study, we investigate museum visitor learning and engagement at an interactive visualization of an evolutionary tree of life consisting of over 70,000 species. The study was conducted at two natural history museums where visitors collaboratively explored the tree of life using direct touch gestures on a multi‐touch tabletop display. In the study, 247 youth, aged 8–15 years, were randomly assigned in pairs to one of four conditions. In two of the conditions, pairs of youth interacted with different versions of the tree of life tabletop exhibit for a fixed duration of 10 minutes. In a third condition, pairs watched a 10 minute video on a similar topic. Individual responses on a 53‐item exit interview were then compared to responses from a fourth, baseline condition. Contrasting with the baseline condition, visitors who interacted with the tabletop exhibits were significantly more likely to reason correctly about core evolutionary concepts, particularly common descent and shared ancestry. They were also more likely to correctly interpret phylogenetic tree diagrams. To investigate the factors influencing these learning outcomes, we used linear mixed models to analyze measures of dyads’ verbal engagement and physical interaction with the exhibit. These models indicated that, while our verbal and physical measures were related, they accounted for significant portions of the variance on their own, independent of youth age, prior knowledge, and parental background. Our results provide evidence that multi‐touch interactive exhibits that enable visitors to explore large scientific datasets can provide engaging and effective learning opportunities. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 895–918, 2016

  April 03, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21318   open full text
• Designing automated guidance for concept diagrams in inquiry instruction.
  Kihyun Ryoo, Marcia C. Linn.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 03, 2016
  Advances in automated scoring technologies have the potential to support student learning during inquiry instruction by providing timely and adaptive guidance on individual students’ responses. To identify which forms of automated guidance can be beneficial for inquiry learning, we compared reflective guidance to directive guidance for student‐generated concept diagrams in web‐based inquiry instruction. Eleven intact classes were randomly assigned to either a reflective guidance or a directive guidance condition. After creating a concept diagram showing energy flow in life science during the inquiry instruction, the directive group was told specific ways to improve their diagram, while the reflective group was told to revisit a relevant visualization step to locate useful information. The results from the concept diagrams, as well as individual tests, show that both forms of automated guidance helped students add target energy concepts, but reflective guidance was significantly more effective than directive guidance in improving students’ coherent understanding of how energy flows in life science. Analyses of log data revealed that the reflective group was more likely to revisit the visualization step as suggested in the guidance, which significantly enhanced student learning. Detailed analyses suggest that revisiting relevant materials to find useful information challenged students to identify gaps in their understanding and distinguish among multiple ideas. This study shows the value of designing reflective automated guidance for helping students engage in evidence‐gathering practices and enhance their understanding of scientific concepts. The findings suggest promising directions for the design of automated adaptive guidance to support complex science learning. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53:1003–1035, 2016

  April 03, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21321   open full text
• Exemplification in science instruction: Teaching and learning through examples.
  Alandeom W. Oliveira, Adam O. Brown.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. March 30, 2016
  Although the practice of giving examples is central to the effective teaching and learning of science, it has been the object of little educational research. The present study attends to this issue by systematically examining the exemplification practices of a university professor and his students' learning experiences during a biology lecture on animal behavior. It is reported that the science instructor provided students with a series of procedural, conceptual, and analytical examples. Each type of exemplification was characterized by a unique focus, form and degree of dialogism. These examples promoted student acquisition of specialized scientific language and engagement in varied types of argumentation: inductive reasoning by parallel cases, inductive reasoning by causation, inductive generalization, and deductive reasoning. Furthermore, students' experiences learning from examples were contingent upon their performance of parallel instructional activities such as text reading and note‐taking. Based on these findings, we argue for the importance of promoting student development of exemplification literacy (the ability to critically assess the use of examples in scientific communication) and the need for science instructors to provide students with opportunities not only to learn science concepts through examples but also to learn about the nature of scientific exemplification itself. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53:737–767, 2016

  March 30, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21319   open full text
• Tool trouble: Challenges with using self‐report data to evaluate long‐term chemistry teacher professional development.
  Deborah G. Herrington, Ellen J. Yezierski, Senetta F. Bancroft.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. March 29, 2016
  The purpose of this study was to compare the ability of different instruments, independently developed and traditionally used for measuring science teachers’ beliefs in short‐term interventions, to longitudinally measure teachers’ changing beliefs. We compared the ability of three self‐report instruments (Science Teaching Efficacy Belief Instrument Form A [STEBI], Teaching of Science as Inquiry instrument [TSI], Inquiry Teaching Beliefs instrument [ITB]) and one observational instrument (Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol [RTOP]) to appropriately measure high school chemistry teachers’ beliefs as they engaged in a two and a half year professional development program. Collectively our findings from these four instruments, across three separate cohort of teachers (N = 16), indicated conflicting changes in teacher beliefs. For example, the STEBI indicated teachers’ self‐efficacy remained unchanged or increased while the TSI indicated a concurrent decrease in self‐efficacy throughout the PD program. Additionally, the ITB seemed to indicate a decrease in teachers’ knowledge of inquiry while their interview data and RTOP scores indicated a concurrent increase in their knowledge of and ability to enact inquiry‐based practices. We reconcile these conflicting results and discuss the implications these findings have for validly and reliably measuring science teacher belief changes within longer duration PD. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53:1055–1081, 2016

  March 29, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21323   open full text
• What students learn from hands‐on activities.
  Martin Schwichow, Corinne Zimmerman, Steve Croker, Hendrik Härtig.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. February 24, 2016
  The ability to design and interpret controlled experiments is an important scientific process skill and a common objective of science standards. Numerous intervention studies have investigated how the control‐of‐variables‐strategy (CVS) can be introduced to students. However, a meta‐analysis of 72 intervention studies found that the opportunity to train CVS skills with hands‐on tasks (g = 0.59) did not lead to better acquisition of CVS relative to interventions without a hands‐on component (g = 0.74). We conducted an intervention study in which we investigated the differential effects of hands‐on and paper‐and‐pencil training tasks on 161 eighth‐grade students’ achievement. CVS was demonstrated to all students before they were grouped into a hands‐on or a paper‐and‐pencil training condition. In both training conditions, students designed and interpreted experiments about which variables influence the force of electromagnets. Students in the hands‐on group interacted with physical equipment while students in the paper‐and‐pencil group planned experiments using sketches and interpreted the outcome of experiments presented in photographs. We found no general advantage or disadvantage of hands‐on tasks, as both groups did equally well on CVS and content knowledge tests. However, hands‐on students outperformed paper‐and‐pencil students on a hands‐on test identical to the training tasks, whereas the paper‐and‐pencil students outperformed hands‐on students on a science fair poster evaluation task similar to the paper‐and‐pencil training. In summary, students learned task‐specific procedural knowledge, but they did not acquire a deeper conceptual understanding of CVS or the content domain as a function of type of training. Implications for instruction and assessment are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53:980–1002, 2016

  February 24, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21320   open full text
• STEM‐focused high schools as a strategy for enhancing readiness for postsecondary STEM programs.
  Barbara Means, Haiwen Wang, Viki Young, Vanessa L. Peters, Sharon J. Lynch.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. January 18, 2016
  The logic underlying inclusive STEM high schools (ISHSs) posits that requiring all students to take advanced college preparatory STEM courses while providing student‐centered, reform‐oriented instruction, ample student supports, and real‐world STEM experiences and role models will prepare and inspire students admitted on the basis of STEM interest rather than prior achievement for postsecondary STEM. This study tests that logic model by comparing the high school experiences and achievement of students in ISHSs and comparison schools in North Carolina. After identifying ISHS and non‐STEM comparison high schools serving students who were similar in terms of socioeconomic status and academic achievement prior to high school entry, we employed propensity‐score weighting and HLM modeling to estimate the impact of attending an ISHS on a set of outcome measures obtained from student surveys and from the state's longitudinal student data system. Analyses of student survey data found that attending an ISHS raises the likelihood that a student will complete pre‐calculus or calculus and chemistry in high school, leads to increased involvement in STEM extracurricular and out‐of‐class activities, and enhances interest in science careers and aspirations to earn a master's or higher degree. Analyses of student outcome data from state administrative records revealed a positive impact of inclusive STEM high school attendance on grade point average (GPA) but not on ACT scores. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Research in Science Teaching Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 709–736, 2016

  January 18, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21313   open full text
• The “general aspects” conceptualization as a pragmatic and effective means to introducing students to nature of science.
  Kostas Kampourakis.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. January 13, 2016
  Teaching about nature of science (NOS) is considered as an important goal of science education in various countries. Extensive empirical research about how some aspects of NOS can be effectively taught is also available. The most widely adopted conceptualization of NOS is based on a small number of general aspects of NOS, which fall into two groups: aspects of the nature of scientific knowledge (NOSK) and aspects of scientific inquiry (SI). This conceptualization of NOS will be described in this article as the “general aspects” conceptualization of NOS. Proponents of this conceptualization have concluded from empirical research that particular general aspects of NOS can be effectively taught at various K‐12, undergraduate, and teacher preparation courses. Yet, this conceptualization has been criticized as being insufficient and even as misrepresenting science. Critics suggest that a more complete picture of science should be communicated to teachers and students, rather than a list of general aspects of NOS. In this article, I suggest that the “general aspects” conceptualization of NOS provides an effective starting point for teaching about NOS and for addressing students’ preconceptions about science. Once this is done, teaching could include more complex aspects and attend simultaneously to multiple contexts, as the critics suggest. This might be achieved along a learning pathway, in which the “general aspects” conceptualization of NOS might nicely pave the way for the “family resemblance” conceptualization of NOS, espoused by several of the critics because of explicit continuities between them. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 667–682, 2016

  January 13, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21305   open full text
• Students’ progression in understanding the matter concept.
  Jan Christoph Hadenfeldt, Knut Neumann, Sascha Bernholt, Xiufeng Liu, Ilka Parchmann.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. January 12, 2016
  This study presents our attempt to elicit students’ progression in understanding the matter concept. Past work has identified the big ideas about matter students need to understand, the many everyday understandings students hold about these ideas, and levels of understanding through which students progress in developing understanding of the big ideas, or the matter concept as a whole. None of this research, however, has investigated whether the hypothesized big ideas represent distinct ideas and if so, how students’ progression in developing understanding of the big ideas compares across them. With our study, we aim to provide a more comprehensive picture about students’ progression in understanding matter by investigating students’ progression in developing understanding of four big ideas about matter (structure and composition, physical properties and change, chemical reaction, and conservation). Based on a framework developed from a systematic review of the literature that identifies five levels of understanding for each of the four big ideas, an instrument based on Ordered‐Multiple‐Choice (OMC) items was developed to assess students’ level of understanding about each idea. This instrument was administered to N = 1,388 students from grades 6 to 13. Multi‐dimensional Rasch analysis was used to analyze the data collected. Our analyses confirm that the four big ideas represent distinct ideas although our examination of students’ progression in understanding these ideas suggests that three of them develop in parallel. A detailed comparison of students’ progression suggests that the hypothesized levels mark a hierarchical series of levels through which all students progress in the same order although not necessarily at the same pace. Together with the instrument developed which provides an efficient and reliable way to assess students’ understanding our work may help to inform future efforts in optimizing instruction about matter and investigating students’ trajectories in developing an understanding of the matter concept. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53:683–708, 2016

  January 12, 2016   doi: 10.1002/tea.21312   open full text
• What do we mean by science education for civic engagement?
  John L. Rudolph, Shusaku Horibe.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. December 22, 2015
  One of the most frequently cited goals for science education over the years has been to provide students with the understanding and skills necessary to engage in science‐related civic issues. Despite the repeated insistence on the importance of this kind of democratic participation, there has been little effort in the research community either to define just what science‐related civic engagement entails or to ask whether the research or practices in the field are suited to accomplishing this goal. In this paper we take a step toward this end by offering a precise definition of science‐related civic engagement drawing on work from the fields of philosophy and political theory. We argue that such engagement can be found in instances requiring both the use and production of scientific knowledge and examine the various avenues of that engagement. We then explore some implications such a definition might have for thinking about science education research and practice. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 805–820, 2016

  December 22, 2015   doi: 10.1002/tea.21303   open full text
• A case study of long‐term engagement and identity‐in‐practice: Insights into the STEM pathways of four underrepresented youths.
  Jrène Rahm, John C. Moore.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. September 23, 2015
  Our longitudinal study unpacks how an informal summer science and mathematics enrichment program influenced the educational pathways of four first‐generation college‐bound students. Through the lens of identity‐in‐practice and navigations, we explore their figured worlds of science, positioning and authoring of self in science as they applied to the program, as they participated in the program and later, in light of their college pathways. We explore the range of social and material supports the program made available to the four youth. We also show how they became consequential and for some facilitated navigations into college and STEM degrees while others experienced uncoordinated practices over time that pushed them out of science. Our study of local struggles at three pivotal moments in time attests to the agentive side of youth as they navigate in and out of science and engage in improvisational acts to get educated despite being tangled up in a matrix of oppression. At the same time, our study calls for systemic approaches that bring formal and informal science venues together in a more seamless manner. We call for a strength‐based model that recognizes and leverages youths' figured worlds, positionings, and authored selves in science across context and over time in ways that they become consequential, empowering, and supportive of STEM pathways. We also call for more longitudinal studies committed to a theoretical grounding in identity‐in‐practice and navigations. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 768–801, 2016

  September 23, 2015   doi: 10.1002/tea.21268   open full text
• Informal science institutions and learning to teach: An examination of identity, agency, and affordances.
  Jennifer D. Adams, Preeti Gupta.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 25, 2015
  Informal science education institutions play an important in the public understanding of science and, because of this are well‐positioned to positively impact science teacher education. Informal science institutions (ISIs) have a range of affordances that could contribute to learner‐centered science teacher identity development. This article describes research from a clinical experience in a museum where teacher candidates engaged visitors in learning dialogs around objects on a moveable cart in an exhibit. We describe how working in informal settings and learning to use the affordances of that setting supports aspiring teachers to connect theory to practice in ways that developed Spielraum in that is student‐centered, responsive to the needs of learners, and allows for the imagination future selves and classrooms that are conducive to maintaining these identities. This research supports the critical role that ISIs could play in teacher education, especially during the clinical phase where teacher candidates are forming initial notions about their identities, about the self who teaches. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 121–138, 2017

  August 25, 2015   doi: 10.1002/tea.21270   open full text
• Declarative and dynamic pedagogical content knowledge as elicited through two video‐based interview methods.
  Alicia C. Alonzo, Jiwon Kim.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 25, 2015
  Although pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) has become widely recognized as an essential part of the knowledge base for teaching, empirical evidence demonstrating a connection between PCK and teaching practice or student learning outcomes is mixed. In response, we argue for further attention to the measurement of dynamic (spontaneous or flexible, as opposed to static) aspects of PCK. We identify a set of trade‐offs entailed in the measurement of teachers’ PCK and propose two video‐based interview methods for eliciting teachers’ PCK. We describe a study in which we used these methods to elicit high‐school physics teachers’ PCK for the topic of force and motion. Interview 1 was based on video clips from teachers’ own classroom instruction and elicited the reasoning underlying their instructional decision making. In Interview 2, teachers responded to a standard set of video clips highlighting both typical and unexpected student thinking. Although all six teachers demonstrated the main components of their declarative PCK consistently across the two interviews, Interview 2 allowed us to characterize a more dynamic form of PCK that may underlie teachers’ in‐the‐moment instructional reasoning. When exhibiting strong dynamic PCK, teachers appeared to rely heavily on their declarative PCK as they reasoned about new examples of student thinking and corresponding instructional responses. In addition, demonstrations of dynamic PCK included features likely to support further PCK development, including a willingness to think critically about evidence of student thinking, physics content, and pros and cons of instructional representations. Although we were able to detect seemingly meaningful differences in teachers’ declarative and dynamic PCK, diversity in and the contextualized nature of the responses demonstrating strong PCK raise questions about the possibility of differentiating between such responses for measurement purposes and, thus, the potential for moving beyond elicitation, to measurement, of dynamic forms of PCK. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1259–1286, 2016

  August 25, 2015   doi: 10.1002/tea.21271   open full text
• Developing interpretive power in science teaching.
  Ann S. Rosebery, Beth Warren, Eli Tucker‐Raymond.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 25, 2015
  Early career teachers rarely receive sustained support for addressing issues of diversity and equity in their science teaching. This paper reports on design research to create a 30 hour professional development seminar focused on cultivating the interpretive power of early career teachers who teach science to students from historically non‐dominant communities. Interpretive power refers to teachers’ attunement to (a) students’ diverse sense‐making repertoires as intellectually generative in science and (b) expansive pedagogical practices that encourage, make visible, and intentionally build on students’ ideas, experiences, and perspectives on scientific phenomena. The seminar sought to integrate student sense‐making, scientific subject matter, teaching practice, and matters of equity and diversity on the same plane of professional inquiry by engaging participants in: (a) learning plant science; (b) analyzing classroom cases; (c) experimenting with expansive discourse practices in their classrooms; and (d) analyzing their classroom experiments in relation to student sense‐making and expansive pedagogy. Twenty‐eight teachers participated in two cycles of design research. An interview‐based transcript analysis task captured shifts in teachers’ interpretive power through their participation in the seminar. Findings showed that the teachers developed greater attunement to: complexity in students’ scientific ideas; the intellectual generativity of students’ sense‐making; student talk as evidence of in‐process, emergent thinking; and co‐construction of meaning in classroom discussions. Findings also showed that participants developed deeper understanding of the functions of expansive teaching practices in fostering student sense‐making in science and greater commitment to engaging in expansive practices in their classroom science discussions. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1571–1600, 2016

  August 25, 2015   doi: 10.1002/tea.21267   open full text
• The practice of using evidence in kindergarten: The role of purposeful observation.
  Sabela F. Monteira, María Pilar Jiménez‐Aleixandre.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 24, 2015
  This article examines kindergarten children's (5–6 years old) engagement in scientific practices, with a focus on generating and using evidence to support claims, during a 5‐month project about snails. The research questions are as follows: (1) what meanings do kindergarteners construct for what constitutes evidence? How are those meanings reflected in the development of data into evidence? (2) Which ways of gathering empirical evidence are jointly constructed by children and teacher during the project? (3) How do children use evidence to revise their understandings? The participants are one class of Early Childhood Education children (N = 25) and their teacher. They were engaged in a project about snails, involving pursuing their own questions, carrying out experiments and purposeful observations, collecting data and drawing conclusions, under the guidance of the teacher. The results show that children developed meanings of a certain level of sophistication about evidence, that they distinguished between empirical evidence from planned experiments and from prolonged observation, which we call purposeful, and that they combined different types of evidence in the revision of their ideas about snails. We identified two levels in the development of data into evidence—closer to descriptive statements and evaluative judgments. We suggest that purposeful observation, which has a clear focus, is guided by the teacher and explicitly discussed, has affordances in early childhood science. For instance, 30 out of 57 evidence statements relate to purposeful observation. Promoting purposeful observation as a source of evidence at this age may allow studying processes both for children (biology processes) and for researchers (learning processes). The results would support Metz's (2011) contention about the relevance of instructional opportunities over developmental constraints. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1232–1258, 2016 Examínase a participación do alumnado de educación infantil (5–6 anos) nas prácticas científicas, en concreto en xerar e usar probas para sustentar conclusións, durante un proxecto de cinco meses sobre caracois. As preguntas de investigación son: (1) Que significados constrúen os nenos e nenas para o que constitúen probas? Como se reflicten estes significados no desenvolvemento de datos en probas? (2) Que formas de obter probas empíricas son construídas conxuntamente por nenos e mestra durante o proxecto? e (3) Como usan os nenos e nenas as probas para revisar o seu coñecemento? Os participantes son unha clase de terceiro curso de Educación Infantil (N = 25) e a súa mestra. Levaron a cabo un proxecto sobre caracois, procurando respostas ás suas propias preguntas, realizando experimentos e observacións cun propósito, recollendo datos e extraendo conclusións, guiados pola mestra. Os resultados mostran que desenvolveron significados de certa sofisticación sobre as probas, distinguindo entre probas procedentes de experimentos planificados e da observación prolongada, que denominamos cun propósito; e que combinaron diferentes tipos de probas na revisión das súas ideas sobre os caracois. Identificamos dous niveis na transformación de datos en probas, enunciados cercanos a descricións e xuízos avaliativos. Suxerimos que a observación cun propósito, caracterizada por ter un obxectivo definido, estar guiada pola mestra e ser discutida explicitamente, ten potencial no ensino das ciencias en educación infantil e primaria. Por exemplo, 30 dos 57 enunciados sobre probas relaciónanse coa observación cun propósito. Promover a observación cun propósito como fonte de probas nestas idades pode permitir estudar procesos, tanto polos nenos (procesos biolóxicos) como polas investigadoras (procesos de aprendizaxe). Os resultados sutentan a perspectiva de Metz (2011), respecto da relevancia da instrución sobre limitacións debidas ao desenvolvemento.

  July 24, 2015   doi: 10.1002/tea.21259   open full text
• Awakening a dialogue: A critical race theory analysis of U. S. nature of science research from 1967 to 2013.
  Leon Walls.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 06, 2015
  As the nation's K‐12 classrooms become increasingly more racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse, it is incumbent upon the science community to seize opportunities to attend to the rhetoric of reform, namely to enhance scientific literacy for all students. Using Critical Race Theory (CRT) as a framework, this study examined 112 nature of science (NOS) research peer‐reviewed studies conducted in the U. S. from (1967 to 2013). Results suggests that while White participants are being represented in the NOS research, Black, Latino, Native American and other people of color, were found to be disproportionally excluded as participants. Implications of excluding these individuals are explored and suggestions for making NOS research more equitable are discussed. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1546–1570, 2016

  July 06, 2015   doi: 10.1002/tea.21266   open full text
• Normative beliefs, discursive claims, and implementation of reform‐based science standards.
  William R. Veal, Mary E. Riley Lloyd, Malia R. Howell, John Peters.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 18, 2015
  Reform‐based science instruction is guided by teachers' normative beliefs. Discursive claims are how teachers say they teach science. Previous research has studied the change in teachers' beliefs and how beliefs influence intended practice and action in the classroom. Few studies have connected what teachers believe, how they say they teach, and how they actually teach in the classroom. The purpose of this study was to investigate how a teacher's normative beliefs, discursive claims, and classroom practices were related to the implementation of reform‐based standards. This research study analyzed 78 secondary science teachers' beliefs and claims about teaching in a reform‐based, innovative manner. A subset of teachers was observed in the classroom to determine the relationship among beliefs, claims, and implementation in the classroom. The study revealed that there is a disconnect between what science teachers believe and what they say about science teaching. A teacher with traditional normative beliefs and innovative discursive claims implemented reform‐based pedagogy. Beliefs alone were not a good predictor of innovative teaching, whereas discursive claims were determined to be a better predictor for implementation of reform‐based science teaching. Innovative discursive claims, regardless of the type of beliefs, resulted in innovative teaching. A Normative‐Discursive‐Practice Model is proposed to guide research about beliefs and claims leading to classroom implementation. The conclusions indicate that determining teachers' discursive claims is more informative for planning professional development than determining or monitoring their beliefs. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1419–1443, 2016

  June 18, 2015   doi: 10.1002/tea.21265   open full text
• Empirical refinements of a molecular genetics learning progression: The molecular constructs.
  Amber Todd, Lisa Kenyon.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 18, 2015
  This article describes revisions to four of the eight constructs of the Duncan molecular genetics learning progression [Duncan, Rogat, & Yarden, (2009)]. As learning progressions remain hypothetical models until validated by multiple rounds of empirical studies, these revisions are an important step toward validating the progression. Our revisions are based on empirical data obtained from tenth grade students in three classroom contexts (n = 121); although our study was done with students at the upper bounds of the progression, students held naive ideas prior to instruction which allowed us to track their ideas through all the levels of each construct during the course of one academic year. We revised the four constructs that center around the molecular model of genetics using students’ pre/post assessments and interviews. We found that tenth grade students do hold ideas consistent with the hypothesized levels in the progression as well as several intermediate ideas not included. Our revisions include adding student ideas that are important conceptual stepping stones in each construct as well as other modifications such as splitting and combining levels, moving ideas to other constructs, changing the conceptual progression of a construct and splitting a construct. Along with the revisions, we identified challenges in each construct. Even after instruction, students had difficulties understanding that genes code for proteins, that proteins connect genes and traits, and how differential gene expression leads to different repertoires of proteins inside of specialized cells. Our findings indicate that classroom instruction should focus more on proteins: how they are created, what their functions are, and how cells express different proteins. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 1385–1418, 2016

  June 18, 2015   doi: 10.1002/tea.21262   open full text
• Examining evidence construction as the transformation of the material world into community knowledge.
  Eve Manz.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 18, 2015
  Recent consensus documents in science education (e.g., the Next Generation Science Standards) emphasize helping students develop facility with constructing and critiquing both claims and the evidence that supports them. While students typically view evidence as necessary for supporting scientific claims, they tend to objectify evidence, that is, they see it as self‐evident and factual, rather than as constructed or open to interpretation (Driver, Leach, Miller, & Scott, 1996; Sandoval & Çam, 2011). In this paper, I introduce a perspective from the science studies literature—evidence construction as transformation—that might usefully guide closer analyses of students' work with evidence. I describe the problem of objectification of evidence and how it has been studied, developing an argument for studying in greater detail how evidence is constructed by classroom communities over the course of their work with investigations. The remainder of the paper shows how one framework was developed for this purpose and describes how it was applied to an empirical investigation conducted in a third grade classroom to understand what work was done to construct evidence and what roles teachers and students were playing in this work. I argue that this framework makes visible three important aspects of evidence construction: what epistemic work is done to construct evidence, whom this work is meaningful to, and what it is meaningful for. I end the paper by exploring potential implications for understanding the construction of an explanation in community activity, the development of students' facility with evidence construction, and the teacher's role in facilitating the construction of evidence. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53:1113–1140, 2016

  June 18, 2015   doi: 10.1002/tea.21264   open full text
• Stories, proverbs, and anecdotes as scaffolds for learning science concepts.
  Harriet Mutonyi.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 08, 2015
  Few research studies in science education have looked at how stories, proverbs, and anecdotes can be used as scaffolds for learning. Stories, proverbs, and anecdotes are cultural tools used in indigenous communities to teach children about their environment. The study draws on Bruner's work and the theory of border crossing to argue that stories, proverbs, and anecdotes can be useful tools in the teaching of science concepts. The study uses a qualitative approach to understand how students in a secondary school in Uganda were appropriating stories, proverbs, and anecdotes to explain their understanding on health and HIV‐related issues. The data collection methods included interviews, focus group discussions, journaling, and document collection. The major finding is that use of stories, proverbs, and anecdotes drawn from the students' cultural context helps them understand science concepts. The main argument of the article is that cultural tools (stories, proverbs, anecdotes) can be used to scaffold students' learning of scientific concepts. The implications are that stories, proverbs, and anecdotes can be used to help students may not be inclined to science, to enter into the world of science by linking their everyday world to the culture of science. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 943–971, 2016

  June 08, 2015   doi: 10.1002/tea.21255   open full text
• Epistemologies in practice: Making scientific practices meaningful for students.
  Leema K. Berland, Christina V. Schwarz, Christina Krist, Lisa Kenyon, Abraham S. Lo, Brian J. Reiser.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 08, 2015
  Recent research and policy documents call for engaging students and teachers in scientific practices such that the goal of science education shifts from students knowing scientific and epistemic ideas, to students developing and using these understandings as tools to make sense of the world. This perspective pushes students to move beyond the rote performance of scientific actions or processes and engage instead in purposeful knowledge construction work. This raises parallel questions about how to go beyond characterizing student performance of scientific process to understand their engagement in scientific practices as a goal‐directed activity. To that end, this article offers a framework—the Epistemologies in Practice (EIP) framework—for characterizing how students can engage meaningfully in scientific practices. This framework emphasizes two aspects of student engagement in scientific practices: (1) the students' epistemic goals for their knowledge construction work and (2) their epistemic understandings of how to engage in that work. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53:1082–1112, 2016

  June 08, 2015   doi: 10.1002/tea.21257   open full text
• Family learning outdoors: Guided participation on a nature walk.
  Heather Toomey Zimmerman, Lucy R. McClain.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. May 26, 2015
  This informal learning research project examined how guided participation processes support the use of cultural tools (such as scientific equipment) during a nature walk at one nature center. This paper analyzed family interactions outdoors using microethnographic methods. An informal learning framework based on guided participation and cultural tools allowed for an in‐depth investigation of social facilitation used by a working class family: a grandmother, a mother, and two young sons. We identified three findings related to guided participation strategies that facilitated the use of cultural tools for this family, which are discussed in detail: (1) one guided participation process that emerged was the facilitating physical movements related to cultural tool use; (2) a second guided participation process that emerged was balancing the access to cultural tools to reflect family goals for both social harmony and supporting science interests; and (3) trail‐based designed learning settings where outdoor explorations occur are important, but understudied, sites of learning for rural families. Implications of the study included the analytical importance of the constructs of cultural tools, guided participation, and embodied science knowledge for advancing research on family learning related to biology and environmental sciences. The research also suggested an expanded view of what counts as an informal science learning institution by including nature trails and related outdoor spaces alongside museums, science centers, and zoos in order to represent the everyday learning activities of rural families. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 53: 919–942, 2016

  May 26, 2015   doi: 10.1002/tea.21254   open full text
• The evolution of classroom physics knowledge in relation to certainty and uncertainty.
  Andrée Tiberghien, David Cross, Gérard Sensevy.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. May 20, 2014
  This paper deals with the joint construction of knowledge by the teacher and the students in a physics classroom. It is focused on the status of epistemic certainty/uncertainty of knowledge. The same element of knowledge can be introduced as possible and thus uncertain and then evolve towards a status of epistemic certainty; the status of other elements can do the reverse. The evolution of a certainty/uncertainty status reflects the evolution of the shared knowledge in the classroom. The study of this evolution is based on a previous analysis of the evolution of knowledge in a classroom during a teaching sequence of mechanics at grade 10. From this analysis two notions were selected and the evolution of the elements of knowledge associated was analyzed in terms of epistemic certainty/uncertainty. The results show how the emergence of new epistemic questions depends on the nature and status of student's prior knowledge; in other terms, new epistemic uncertainty emerges from epistemic certainty. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999:1–32 Ce papier concerne la construction conjointe du savoir par le professeur et les élèves en classe de physique. Il est centré sur le statut de la certitude/incertitude épistémique c'est‐à‐dire relative savoir. Le même élément de savoir peut être introduit comme possible et ainsi incertain et ensuite évoluer vers un statut de certitude épistémique ; le statut d'autres éléments peut évoluer de façon inverse. L'évolution d'un statut de certitude vers celui d'incertitude ou l'inverse reflète celle du savoir partagé dans la classe. L'étude de cette évolution est fondée sur une analyse antérieure de l'évolution du savoir dans la classe pendant une séquence d'enseignement de mécanique au grade 10. A partir de cette analyse deux notions ont été sélectionnées et l'évolution des éléments du savoir associé a été analysée en termes de certitude/incertitude épistémique. Les résultats montrent que l'émergence de nouvelles questions épistémiques dépend de la nature et du statut des connaissances antérieures des élèves ; en d'autres termes l'incertitude épistémique émerge de la certitude épistémique.

  May 20, 2014   doi: 10.1002/tea.21152   open full text
• The development of a Visual‐Perceptual Chemistry Specific (VPCS) assessment tool.
  Maria Oliver‐Hoyo, Caroline Sloan.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. May 12, 2014
  The development of the Visual‐Perceptual Chemistry Specific (VPCS) assessment tool is based on items that align to eight visual‐perceptual skills considered as needed by chemistry students. This tool includes a comprehensive range of visual operations and presents items within a chemistry context without requiring content knowledge to solve correctly. The VPCS was administrated to a total of 2,713 chemistry students taking general, organic, inorganic, and physical chemistry courses at a large, southeastern university over a period of three academic years. The preliminary validation process involved primarily factor analysis and Item Response Theory. A three‐factor solution was considered appropriate with the most reasonable interpretation labeling Factor 1 as a general visual‐spatial skill, Factor 2 involving multiple viewpoints (frames of reference), and Factor 3 related to memory ability. Our analysis supports an interpretation relevant to chemistry instruction that departs from previous findings where the factors obtained were viewed in terms of static or kinetic qualities (mechanical) and/or two‐dimensional versus three‐dimensional aspects. Several interpretations for the three‐factor solution are discussed as well as implications for teaching and future research. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach

  May 12, 2014   doi: 10.1002/tea.21154   open full text
• The synergistic effect of affective factors on student learning outcomes.
  Brady Michael Jack, Huann‐shyang Lin, Larry D. Yore.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. May 06, 2014
  This study investigates how affective and self‐related factors impact participation in science learning and environmental awareness and responsibility. Using PISA 2006 datasets from Taiwan and Canada having similar level of science competency, the model for this study verifies and expands an earlier model by examining the relationships among science‐related interest, enjoyment, self‐efficacy, self‐concept, leisure time engagement, and future intended interest in science and how these relationships synergistically interact with environmental awareness and responsibility. The most consistent finding revealed that students' science self‐concept in both groups was weakly associated with future intended interest and engagement in science learning and with their sense of environmental awareness and responsibility. Reasons for this phenomenon and possible causes underlying why students' science self‐concept was weakly connected to their future intended interest in science learning are also presented. Finally, how the results of this study are important to science education instruction and research are forwarded in which students' identity and beliefs about self in science need to part of the next generation of science education reforms. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999: 1–18, 2014

  May 06, 2014   doi: 10.1002/tea.21153   open full text
• Experimental evaluations of elementary science programs: A best‐evidence synthesis.
  Robert E. Slavin, Cynthia Lake, Pam Hanley, Allen Thurston.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 29, 2014
  This article presents a systematic review of research on the achievement outcomes of all types of approaches to teaching science in elementary schools. Study inclusion criteria included use of randomized or matched control groups, a study duration of at least 4 weeks, and use of achievement measures independent of the experimental treatment. A total of 23 studies met these criteria. Among studies evaluating inquiry‐based teaching approaches, programs that used science kits did not show positive outcomes on science achievement measures (weighted ES = +0.02 in 7 studies), but inquiry‐based programs that emphasized professional development but not kits did show positive outcomes (weighted ES = +0.36 in 10 studies). Technological approaches integrating video and computer resources with teaching and cooperative learning showed positive outcomes in a few small, matched studies (ES = +0.42 in 6 studies). The review concludes that science teaching methods focused on enhancing teachers' classroom instruction throughout the year, such as cooperative learning and science‐reading integration, as well as approaches that give teachers technology tools to enhance instruction, have significant potential to improve science learning. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach

  April 29, 2014   doi: 10.1002/tea.21139   open full text
• Building a learning progression for celestial motion: An exploration of students' reasoning about the seasons.
  Julia D. Plummer, L. Maynard.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 28, 2014
  We present the development of a construct map addressing the reason for the seasons, as a subset of a larger learning progression on celestial motion. Five classes of 8th grade students (N = 38) participated in a 10‐day curriculum on the seasons. We revised a hypothetical seasons construct map using a Rasch model analysis of students' pre/post‐assessments followed by a closer examination of individual student explanations. Our proposed construct map is consistent with the Framework for K‐12 Science Education [National Research Council. (2012). Framework for K‐12 Science Education. Washington, DC: National Academy Press] but includes a more nuanced discussion of critical conceptual and spatial connections. Movement up the construct map begins with learning foundational concepts about the Earth's motion in space and how observational patterns of the Sun relate to temperature changes. Movement into the upper levels of the seasons construct map occurs as instruction supports students in making sense of how the space‐based perspective of their location on a spherical Earth can be used to account for observable patterns of change. However, our findings suggest that making this connection between Earth‐based observations of the Sun and the motions and perspectives of the Earth in space is one of the major challenges that limit student progress in this domain. Findings have implications for instruction designed to support astronomy education as described by the Next Generation Science Standards [NGSS Lead States. (2013) Next Generation Science Standards: For the States, By the States. Achieve, Inc. on behalf of the twenty‐six states and partners that collaborated on the NGSS. Retrieved from: http://www.nextgenscience.org/next‐generation‐science‐standards]. Instruction that supports progress along this construct map, and the larger celestial motion learning progression, must purposefully support the spatially complex connection between the Earth's motion in space and phenomena observed from the Earth's surface. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999: 1–28, 2014

  April 28, 2014   doi: 10.1002/tea.21151   open full text
• Becoming (less) scientific: A longitudinal study of students' identity work from elementary to middle school science.
  Heidi B. Carlone, Catherine M. Scott, Cassi Lowder.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 08, 2014
  Students' declining science interest in middle school is often attributed to psychological factors like shifts of motivational values, decrease in self‐efficacy, or doubts about the utility of schooling in general. This paper adds to accounts of the middle school science problem through an ethnographic, longitudinal case study of three diverse students' identity work from fourth‐ to sixth‐grade school science. Classroom observations and interviews are used as primary data sources to examine: (1) the cultural and structural aspects of the fourth‐ and sixth‐grade classrooms, including the celebrated subject positions, that enabled and constrained students' identity work as science learners; (2) the nature of students' identity work, including their positioning related to the celebrated subject positions within and across fourth‐ and sixth‐grade science; and (3) the ways race, class, and gender figured into students' identity work and positioning. In fourth‐grade, all experienced excellent science pedagogy and performed themselves as scientifically competent and engaged learners who recognized themselves and got recognized by others as scientific. By sixth‐grade, their identity work in school science became dramatically less scientific. Celebrated subject positions did not demand scientific thinking or robust engagement in scientific practices and were heavily mediated by race, class, and gender. Our results highlight three insights related to the middle school problem: (1) when students' social identity work was leveraged in service of robust science learning, their affiliation increased; (2) academic success in school science did not equate to affiliation or deep engagement with science; and (3) race, class, and gender figured into students' successes in, threats to, and identity work related to becoming scientific. We end the article by providing a framework and questions that teachers, teacher educators, and researchers might use to design and evaluate the equity of science education learning spaces. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach

  April 08, 2014   doi: 10.1002/tea.21150   open full text
• Case‐based instruction: Improving students' conceptual understanding through cases in a mechanical engineering course.
  Aman Yadav, Megan Vinh, Gregory M. Shaver, Peter Meckl, Stephanie Firebaugh.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. March 26, 2014
  Recently, there has been a push within engineering curricula to adopt more learner‐centered pedagogies, such as case‐based instruction. Case‐based instruction has been hypothesized to make the curriculum more relevant and motivating for students by pushing them to integrate the concepts they have learned with other experiences. The current study examined the influence of case‐based instruction when compared to traditional lecture‐based instruction within a mechanical engineering course on student performance in terms of learning, conceptual understanding, and student perceptions towards the two approaches. Seventy students from one systems course in a mechanical engineering program participated in this study. The study utilized within subjects posttest only experimental research design to assess student learning and engagement from cases. Participants completed posttests and a survey. We found that students' conceptual understanding was significantly higher when learning from case‐based instruction as compared to traditional lecture. Additionally, the survey results exhibited that cases allowed for significantly more engagement and connections to the real world. However, students reported that cases were not better in improving their learning. Given limited research on the effectiveness of case‐based instruction in engineering, this study provides empirical support for the use of cases in engineering. We also argue that student perceptions are not accurate predictors for their actual learning outcomes. Implications for engineering educators and directions for future research are offered. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 51: 659–677, 2014

  March 26, 2014   doi: 10.1002/tea.21149   open full text
• Effectiveness of a curricular and professional development intervention at improving elementary teachers' science content knowledge and student achievement outcomes: Year 1 results.
  Brandon S. Diamond, Jaime Maerten‐Rivera, Rose Elizabeth Rohrer, Okhee Lee.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. March 26, 2014
  Teacher knowledge of science content is an important but under‐studied construct. A curricular and professional development intervention consisting of a fifth grade science curriculum, teacher workshops, and school site support was studied to determine its effect on teachers' science content knowledge as measured by a science knowledge test, a questionnaire, and classroom observations. These three measures, along with college science courses taken, were then used to examine the effect of teachers' science content knowledge on student achievement outcomes. The intervention had a significant effect on the treatment group teachers' science knowledge test scores and questionnaire responses compared to the control group, but not on the classroom observation ratings. Teachers' scores on the science knowledge test were found to be the largest significant teacher‐level predictor of student achievement outcomes regardless of participation in the intervention. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 51: 635–658, 2014

  March 26, 2014   doi: 10.1002/tea.21148   open full text
• Assessment of uncertainty‐infused scientific argumentation.
  Hee‐Sun Lee, Ou Lydia Liu, Amy Pallant, Katrina Crotts Roohr, Sarah Pryputniewicz, Zoë E. Buck.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. March 14, 2014
  Though addressing sources of uncertainty is an important part of doing science, it has largely been neglected in assessing students' scientific argumentation. In this study, we initially defined a scientific argumentation construct in four structural elements consisting of claim, justification, uncertainty qualifier, and uncertainty rationale. We consulted literature to characterize and score different levels of student performances on each of these four argumentation elements. We designed a test comprised of nine scientific argumentation tasks addressing climate change, the search for life in space, and fresh water availability and administered it to 473 students from 9 high schools in the United States. After testing the local dependence and unidimensionality assumptions, we found that the uncertainty qualifier element was not aligned with the other three. After removing items related to uncertainty qualifier, we applied a Rasch analysis based on a Partial Credit Model. Results indicate that (1) claim, justification, and uncertainty rationale items form a unidimensional scale, (2) justification and uncertainty rationale items contribute the most on the unidimensional scientific argumentation scale as they cover much wider ranges of the scale than claim items, (3) average item difficulties increase in the order of claim, justification, and uncertainty rationale, (4) students' elaboration of uncertainty exhibits dual characteristics: self‐assessment of their own knowledge and ability versus scientific assessment of conceptual and empirical errors embedded in investigations, and (5) students who can make warrants between theory and evidence are more likely to think about uncertainty from scientific sources than those who cannot. We identified limitations of this study in terms of science topic coverage and sample selection and made suggestions on how these limitations might have affected results and interpretations. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 51: 581–605, 2014

  March 14, 2014   doi: 10.1002/tea.21147   open full text
• What matters in college for retaining aspiring scientists and engineers from underrepresented racial groups.
  Mitchell J. Chang, Jessica Sharkness, Sylvia Hurtado, Christopher B. Newman.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. February 18, 2014
  This longitudinal study examined factors that contribute to the persistence of underrepresented racial minority (URM) undergraduates in STEM fields. The primary source of data came from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program's 2004 The Freshman Survey (TFS) and 2008 College Senior Survey (CSS). The sample included 3,670 students at 217 institutions who indicated on the TFS that they intended to major in a STEM field, 1,634 of whom were underrepresented minority (URM) students. Findings indicate that Black and Latino undergraduates were significantly less likely to persist in STEM majors than were their White and Asian American counterparts. Background characteristics and college experiences moderated this race effect, suggesting both that pre‐college factors may explain some of the observed racial disparities and that individual institutions can take more concrete actions to improve science achievement. Findings from the follow‐up analysis of the sample of URMs suggest that institutions can improve URM STEM persistence by increasing the likelihood that those students will engage in key academic experiences: studying frequently with others, participating in undergraduate research, and involvement in academic clubs or organizations. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 51: 555–580, 2014

  February 18, 2014   doi: 10.1002/tea.21146   open full text
• Diversifying instruction and shifting authority: A cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) analysis of classroom participant structures.
  Terri Patchen, Dennis W. Smithenry.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. January 22, 2014
  Recent calls asking science teachers to increase student authority by diversifying instruction appear stalled by a lack of empirical evidence supporting the actual implementation of any such shifts. To better support the practical integration of more student‐directed inquiry into the science classroom, we consider one teacher's day‐to‐day praxis within the context of a yearlong chemistry curriculum. Using cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) we analyze how the interplay of key classroom elements (i.e., the classroom community, subjects, division of labor, mediating artifacts, rules, objects, and outcomes) varies within and across three distinct participant structures, and thus shapes what students experience as science. We construct CHAT activity models of each of the participant structures in order to examine how the teacher's differentiated use of traditional classroom mechanisms (e.g., whole class discussions and critique) scaffolds students' developing ability to direct their own inquiries. Our study demonstrates how a teacher can link elements within and between a diverse set of participant structures in ways that systematically create real opportunities for student‐directed inquiry and collaboration while assuring students learn to act with disciplinary authority. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 51: 606–634, 2014

  January 22, 2014   doi: 10.1002/tea.21140   open full text
• Fostering student sense making in elementary science learning environments: Elementary teachers' use of science curriculum materials to promote explanation construction.
  Laura Zangori, Cory T. Forbes, Mandy Biggers.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 13, 2013
  While research has shown that elementary (K‐5) students are capable of engaging in the scientific practice of explanation construction, commonly‐used elementary science curriculum materials may not always afford them opportunities to do so. As a result, elementary teachers must often adapt their science curriculum materials to better support students' explanation construction and foster student sense making. However, little research has been conducted to explore if and, if so, how and why, elementary teachers modify science curriculum materials to engage students in explanation construction. We use an embedded mixed methods research design to explore elementary teachers' (n = 45) curricular adaptations and pedagogical reasoning. We collected and quantitatively analyzed a matched set of 121 elementary science lesson plans and video recorded lesson enactments to investigate the extent to which inservice elementary teachers engage in instruction to more productively support students' explanation construction. Our findings suggest that the curriculum materials heavily emphasized hands‐on engagement and data collection over explanation construction and that the teachers' adaptations did not fundamentally alter scientific sense‐making opportunities afforded students in the lesson plans. Interviews and other artifacts were also collected and analyzed to construct a multiple‐case study of four of these elementary teachers. Findings from the case study suggest that the teachers' conceptions of explanation construction and concerns about the abilities of their students to engage in scientific explanations impacted their curricular adaptations. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999: 1–29, 2013

  August 13, 2013   doi: 10.1002/tea.21104   open full text
• Research skills and STEM undergraduate research students' aspirations for research careers: Mediating effects of research self‐efficacy.
  Omolola A. Adedokun, Ann B. Bessenbacher, Loran C. Parker, Lisa L. Kirkham, Wilella D. Burgess.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 12, 2013
  Positive student outcomes of undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have been well documented, however, many studies have neglected the logical relationship among outcomes, the processes through which they are achieved, and the contextual and participant factors at play in UREs. This study uses structural equation modeling to explore these issues in a URE program. The study tested a hypothesized model of the mediating effect of participant research self‐efficacy on the relationship between their research skills and desire to persist in science. Results indicate that research skills and research self‐efficacy predict student aspirations for research careers, and that the effects of research skills are partially mediated through self‐efficacy beliefs. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach

  August 12, 2013   doi: 10.1002/tea.21102   open full text
• Visualizing communication structures in science classrooms: Tracing cumulativity in teacher‐led whole class discussions.
  Sami Lehesvuori, Jouni Viiri, Helena Rasku‐Puttonen, Josephine Moate, Jussi Helaakoski.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. August 08, 2013
  Teacher‐led whole class discussions are essential when it comes to guiding students' construction of knowledge, and recent studies on teaching and learning emphasize the need for more student‐centered teaching methods. In previous studies, the extent to which different types of communication take place in the classroom have been extensively reported by means of lists, tables, and charts, yet these studies have not included overviews of how talk develops and progresses over time. This study addresses this aspect by presenting how different communicative approaches constitute a specific, cumulative communication structure. Within this structure, the role and temporal considerations of a dialogic approach to teaching are examined within a teaching sequence on the topic of electrical power and energy. The case data were analyzed on multiple levels. First, teaching sequences were presented graphically to provide a broader picture of the communicational orientation of the overall lesson. Second, a detailed analysis of dialogic interactions was executed to understand the quality and role of these interactions on a broader communicational level. This multilevel analysis provides insights into the different purposes and quality of dialogic implementation in terms of the cumulative and meaningful learning of science. Implications for teaching and teacher education and educational research are also discussed. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 9999: 1–28, 2013

  August 08, 2013   doi: 10.1002/tea.21100   open full text
• Using iPads to teach inquiry science to students with a moderate to severe intellectual disability: A pilot study.
  Bridget T. Miller, Gerald H. Krockover, Teresa Doughty.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. July 03, 2013
  Multiple illustrative case studies were used to investigate guided inquiry methods and the benefits of traditional science notebooks versus electronic science notebooks for students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. Results indicated students successfully acquired science content and increased motivation through science inquiry instruction using both methods. However, each student demonstrated higher motivation, engagement, and independence in inquiry investigation with the use of iPad® electronic notebooks. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach

  July 03, 2013   doi: 10.1002/tea.21091   open full text
• Changes in participants' scientific attitudes and epistemological beliefs during an astronomical citizen science project.
  C. Aaron Price, Hee‐Sun Lee.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. June 11, 2013
  Citizen science projects provide non‐scientists with opportunities to take part in scientific research. While their contribution to scientific data collection has been well documented, there is limited research on how participation in citizen science projects may affect their scientific literacy. In this study, we investigated (1) how volunteers' attitudes towards science and epistemological beliefs about the nature of science changed after six months of participation in an astronomy‐themed citizen science project and (2) how the level of project participation related to these changes. Two main instruments were used to measure participants' scientific attitude and epistemological beliefs and were administered before they registered for the program and six months after their registration. For analysis, we used pre‐ and post‐test data collected from 333 participants who responded to both tests. Among them, nine participants were randomly chosen for interviews. Participants' responses were analyzed using the Rasch Rating Scale Model. Results show that overall scientific attitudes changed positively, p < 0.01. The change was strongest in attitudes towards science news and citizen science projects. The scientific attitudinal change was related to participant social activity in the project. There was a negative change in their evaluation of their knowledge. The interviews suggest that this is due to a greater appreciation for what they have yet to learn. Epistemological beliefs about the nature of science significantly improved from the pre‐ to the post‐tests, p < 0.05. Overall, we found volunteers' participation in social components of the program was significantly related to their improvement in scientific literacy while other project participation variables (such as amount of data contributed to the project) was not. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50: 773–801, 2013

  June 11, 2013   doi: 10.1002/tea.21090   open full text
• Scaffolding learning from molecular visualizations.
  Hsin‐Yi Chang, Marcia C. Linn.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. May 31, 2013
  Powerful online visualizations can make unobservable scientific phenomena visible and improve student understanding. Instead, they often confuse or mislead students. To clarify the impact of molecular visualizations for middle school students we explored three design variations implemented in a Web‐based Inquiry Science Environment (WISE) unit on thermodynamics: Observation, Research Guidance, or Critique. We tested these variations in an inquiry unit designed following the knowledge integration framework to promote coherent understanding. Seven middle school classes (205 students) and their two teachers participated in the study. Students studying each version of the unit made significant gains on knowledge integration items designed to measure coherent understanding of thermodynamics. Compared to Research Guidance, the Critique condition was more successful, especially in helping students conduct consequential experiments. Embedded assessments revealed that students who critiqued a confounded experiment were more successful in conducting valid experiments than students who did not critique. In addition, the combination of critique and virtual experimentation increased student ability to connect molecular and observable phenomena. These results suggest design guidelines to help future designers. Specifically, preceding experimentation with critique activities helps students distinguish among existing and new ideas. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50: 858–886, 2013

  May 31, 2013   doi: 10.1002/tea.21089   open full text
• Science identity trajectories of latecomers to science in college.
  Phoebe A. Jackson, Gale Seiler.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 24, 2013
  This study introduces a new group of students to the postsecondary science agenda: latecomers to science. Latecomers, who enter postsecondary science through alternative routes because they are missing prerequisites, are less likely to graduate than traditional science students. Challenges to latecomers' persistence are explored through two questions: (1) What trends in science identity trajectories are latecomers to science able to construct during their first year in a college science program? (2) How are latecomers' identity trajectories constrained by or improvised with the cultural models and associated resources available in the figured world of a college science program? These questions are investigated through an analysis of educational activities, reflective writings, and interviews of nine latecomers. We view identification as analogous to velocity and demonstrate how recurring forces exerted by figured worlds and cultural models within them create patterns of acceleration towards or away from science, thus supporting or hindering persistence as identity trajectories gain or lose momentum. Findings show that latecomers' persistence was greatly constrained by two cultural models from the science program: good science students follow a paradigmatic sequence of courses and consistently earn good grades. Occasionally, latecomers improvised to resist these constraints. We illustrate our findings through three cases exemplifying inbound, outbound, and peripheral trends, offering a method of representing trajectories that may lead to new understandings of persistence. We also suggest implications for better supporting latecomers and connect this research to recent developments in the theoretical and methodological use of identity trajectories in understanding access to science. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50: 826–857, 2013

  April 24, 2013   doi: 10.1002/tea.21088   open full text
• Science as a classed and gendered endeavor: Persistence of two white female first‐generation college students within an undergraduate science context.
  Rachel E. Wilson, Julie Kittleson.
  Journal of Research in Science Teaching / Journal for Research in Science Teaching. April 17, 2013
  As colleges and universities aim for greater diversity in their undergraduate populations, one population researchers consider is first‐generation students, or students whose parents do not have a college education. The research reported here addresses first‐generation college students' discipline of study (e.g., biology) and its impact on their persistence. Exploring how female, low‐income, first‐generation college students evaluate their persistence within undergraduate science learning environments contributes to understanding how gender and social class influence persistence in STEM fields. Two White, female, low‐income, first‐generation college students were interviewed during their last year in college. Using constant comparative coding methods and Ricoeur's (Ricoeur [1984] Time and narrative, Volume I (K. McLaughlin & D. Pellauer, Trans.). Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press) description of narrative construction, common tensions were identified related to participants' descriptions of undergraduate science as competitive. These persistence‐related tensions are (1) differing experiences in lecture and lab, (2) managing time to work, study, and maintain family relationships, and (3) weighing their personal (family) priorities against the longer time it would take them to reach their science‐related career goals. These tensions depict a traditional undergraduate science learning environment focused on individuals and abstract knowledge that positions female lower‐income students as “academic non‐competitors” because of the importance of kinship ties and physical skills in their cultural background (Lareau [2002] American Sociological Review 67(5), 747–776; Lareau [2003] Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. Berkeley: University of California Press). The participants' experiences support that the gendered and classed expectations needed to succeed in a science environment could be somewhat alleviated through reforms to traditional lecture and laboratory undergraduate science courses that promote cooperative student learning groups and integration of lecture with hands‐on activities. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50: 802–825, 2013

  April 17, 2013   doi: 10.1002/tea.21087   open full text