Biology

Youths’ Solutions to Local Invasive Species

Educating students about real-world, issues such as local invasive species aims to encourage wider engagement with STEM.

Calabrese, J. E. & Songer, N. B. (2024). Youths’ solutions to local invasive species. Open Access Government January 2024.

Author/Presenter

Julia E Calabrese

Nancy Butler Songer

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2024
Short Description

Educating students about real-world, issues such as local invasive species aims to encourage wider engagement with STEM.

Socioscientific Modeling as an Approach Towards Justice-Centred Science Pedagogy

Justice-centred science pedagogy has been suggested as an effective framework for supporting teachers in bringing in culturally relevant pedagogy to their science classrooms; however, limited instructional tools exist that introduce social dimensions of science in ways teachers feel confident navigating.

Author/Presenter

Year
2023
Short Description

Justice-centred science pedagogy has been suggested as an effective framework for supporting teachers in bringing in culturally relevant pedagogy to their science classrooms; however, limited instructional tools exist that introduce social dimensions of science in ways teachers feel confident navigating. In this article, we add to the justice-centred science pedagogy framework by offering tools to make sense of science and social factors and introduce socioscientific modelling as an instructional strategy for attending to social dimensions of science in ways that align with justice-centred science pedagogy.

Exploring System Dynamics of Complex Societal Issues Through Socio-scientific Models

Research on socio-scientific issues (SSI) has revealed that it is critical for learners to develop a systematic understanding of the underlying issue. In this paper, we explore how modeling can facilitate students’ systems thinking in the context of SSI. Building on evidence from prior research in promoting systems thinking skills through modeling in scientific contexts, we hypothesize that a similar modeling approach could effectively foster students’ systematic understanding of complex societal issues.

Author/Presenter

Li Ke

Eric Kirk

Rebecca Lesnefsky

Troy D. Sadler

Year
2023
Short Description

Research on socio-scientific issues (SSI) has revealed that it is critical for learners to develop a systematic understanding of the underlying issue. In this paper, we explore how modeling can facilitate students’ systems thinking in the context of SSI. Building on evidence from prior research in promoting systems thinking skills through modeling in scientific contexts, we hypothesize that a similar modeling approach could effectively foster students’ systematic understanding of complex societal issues.

Understanding the Effect of Differences in Prior Knowledge on Middle School Students’ Collaborative Interactions and Learning

We investigated how the level of variance in students’ prior knowledge may have influenced their collaborative interactions and science learning in small groups. We examined learning outcomes from 102 groups from seven science teachers’ classes and discourse from two contrasting groups: Homogeneous versus heterogeneous. We examined individual and group outcomes using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to explore the effect of membership in a homogeneous or heterogeneous group on students’ learning.

Author/Presenter

Sadhana Puntambekar

Dana Gnesdilow

Sinan Yavuz

Year
2023
Short Description

We investigated how the level of variance in students’ prior knowledge may have influenced their collaborative interactions and science learning in small groups. We examined learning outcomes from 102 groups from seven science teachers’ classes and discourse from two contrasting groups: Homogeneous versus heterogeneous. We examined individual and group outcomes using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) to explore the effect of membership in a homogeneous or heterogeneous group on students’ learning. We then used social network analyses (SNA) to identify any differences in interaction patterns between the two contrasting groups as they conducted multiple compost simulations. Finally, we examined students’ discussions in these groups to better understand their interactions.

‘But, Is It Supposed to be a Straight Line?’ Scaffolding Students’ Experiences with Pressure Sensors and Material Resistance in a High School Biology Classroom

This case study examines how material resistance (limitations posed by the physical world) and graph interpretation intersected during a high school biology investigation using digital sensors. We use an extended episode from a small group to illustrate how, in an inquiry-based unit, measuring near the resolution limit of a sensor caused scaling issues in graphs.

Author/Presenter

Natalya St. Clair

A. Lynn Stephens

Hee-Sun Lee

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

This case study examines how material resistance (limitations posed by the physical world) and graph interpretation intersected during a high school biology investigation using digital sensors.

‘Me Hizo Sentir Como Científica’: The Expressed Science Identities of Multilingual Learners in High School Biology Classrooms

To make sound science-related decisions in a global society, individuals must possess a science identity, or see themselves as capable of doing and understanding science. Science identity development begins in school-aged years, when multilingual students (MLs) are often marginalised in the classroom due to language challenges and low expectations placed on them. This descriptive multiple case study explores the science identities expressed by six US high school MLs in their biology classrooms. Data from semi structured interviews were analysed through qualitative coding methods.

Author/Presenter

Molly M. Staggs

Julie C. Brown

Lead Organization(s)
Year
2023
Short Description

Science identity development begins in school-aged years, when multilingual students (MLs) are often marginalised in the classroom due to language challenges and low expectations placed on them. This descriptive multiple case study explores the science identities expressed by six US high school MLs in their biology classrooms.

Integrative Analysis Using Big Ideas: Energy Transfer and Cellular Respiration

Big ideas in science education are meant to be interpretive frameworks that empower student learning. Unfortunately, outside of the broad conception of scientific evaluation, there are few theoretical explanations of how this might happen. Therefore, we contribute one such explanation, an instructional concept called integrative analysis wherein students use a big idea to interconnect isolated scenarios and enrich their meanings. We illustrate the characteristics and value of integrative analysis within an empirical study of student learning in 9th-grade biology.

Author/Presenter

Jonathan T. Shemwell

Daniel K. Capps

Ayca K. Fackler

Carlson H. Coogler

Year
2023
Short Description

Big ideas in science education are meant to be interpretive frameworks that empower student learning. Unfortunately, outside of the broad conception of scientific evaluation, there are few theoretical explanations of how this might happen. Therefore, we contribute one such explanation, an instructional concept called integrative analysis wherein students use a big idea to interconnect isolated scenarios and enrich their meanings.

Integrative Analysis Using Big Ideas: Energy Transfer and Cellular Respiration

Big ideas in science education are meant to be interpretive frameworks that empower student learning. Unfortunately, outside of the broad conception of scientific evaluation, there are few theoretical explanations of how this might happen. Therefore, we contribute one such explanation, an instructional concept called integrative analysis wherein students use a big idea to interconnect isolated scenarios and enrich their meanings. We illustrate the characteristics and value of integrative analysis within an empirical study of student learning in 9th-grade biology.

Author/Presenter

Jonathan T. Shemwell

Daniel K. Capps

Ayca K. Fackler

Carlson H. Coogler

Year
2023
Short Description

Big ideas in science education are meant to be interpretive frameworks that empower student learning. Unfortunately, outside of the broad conception of scientific evaluation, there are few theoretical explanations of how this might happen. Therefore, we contribute one such explanation, an instructional concept called integrative analysis wherein students use a big idea to interconnect isolated scenarios and enrich their meanings.