s T. Louca

Epistemological Resources: Applying a New Epistemological Framework to Science Instruction.

Most research on personal epistemologies has conceived them as made up of relatively large, coherent, and stable cognitive structures, either developmental stages or beliefs (perhaps organized into theories). Recent work has challenged these views, arguing that personal epistemologies are better understood as made up of finer grained cognitive resources whose activation depends sensitively on context. In this article, we compare these different frameworks, focusing on their instructional implications by using them to analyze a third-grade teachers epistemologically motivated intervention and its effect on her students. We argue that the resources framework has more predictive and explanatory power than stage- and beliefs-based frameworks do.

Modeling-based learning in science education: cognitive, metacognitive, social, material and epistemological contributions

Models and modeling are considered integral parts of scientific literacy, reflecting educators’ efforts to introduce and engage students in authentic scientific inquiry through Modeling-based Learning (MbL) approaches in science. Over the years research has developed a considerable amount of knowledge concerning MbL. Our purpose in this paper was to review this research in order to systematize the knowledge accumulated and to provide an overview of what needs to be investigated further. We also took into account and describe the role of the teacher as part of the review. Our review shows that MbL has made cognitive, metacognitive, social, material and epistemological contributions in science education. Furthermore, it reveals that important information is still missing in order to ensure effective implementations of MbL. Future research needs to focus on investigating the learning processes which take place during MbL which result in improvements in student conceptual and epistemological understanding and abilities for scientific inquiry.

Objects, Entities, Behaviors, and Interactions: A Typology of Student-Constructed Computer-Based Models of Physical Phenomena

The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for analyzing and evaluating student-constructed models of physical phenomena and monitoring the progress of these models. Moreover, we aimed to examine whether this framework could capture differences between models created using different computer-based modeling tools; namely, computer-based programming environments which, in prior research, were found to differ in various aspects of the models constructed through them. We analyzed 220 computer-based models of physical phenomena developed by two groups of elementary-school students. Using open coding we developed a framework that includes five elements of scientific models that code for representations of: (i) the physical objects; (ii) the physical entities; (iii) the object behaviors; (iv) the interactions among physical objects, physical entities, and object behavior(s); and (v) the accuracy of the phenomenon depiction. The implementation of this framework confirmed that it can differentiate student-generated models according to their sophistication and structural components, independent of the computer-based programming environments used to create the models.

‘The exchange of ideas was mutual, I have to say’: negotiating researcher and teacher ‘roles’ in an early years educators’ professional development programme on inquiry-based mathematics and science learning

This paper explores the experiences of 14 early years educators who participated in a continuing professional development (CPD) programme coordinated by two of the paper’s authors. The programme was part of a three-year research project, which aimed at introducing early childhood educators to an inquiry-based approach to mathematics and science education and involved participants as teacher-researchers and curriculum-makers in cycles of action research. From this CPD experience, teachers appeared to reconceptualize traditional teacher and researcher ‘roles’ in more fluid and equitable ways, leading us to explore characteristics of the programme conducive to this shift. The main data source comprised teacher interviews, supplemented by video-recordings of group meetings, classroom enactment of activities and the facilitators’ field notes. Findings suggest that the shift was encouraged by the gradual formation of a community of practice; a reconceptualization of the ‘practical’; and the epistemology-oriented approach adopted in mathematics and science education. The discussion highlights the implications of these findings for early years educators’ professional development, and the problems of the ‘theory–practice’ divide in such development. Furthermore, the discussion stresses the importance of the socio-cultural context in which such projects take place, particularly as these often draw heavily upon international literature.

Students’ Collaborative use of Computer-Based Programming Tools in Science:

This paper presents a small-scale study investigating the use of two different computer-based programming environments (CPEs) as modeling tools for collaborative fifth grade science learning. We analyze student conversations while working with CPEs using Contextual Inquiry. Findings highlight the differences in activity patterns between groups using different CPEs. Students using Stagecast Creator (SC) did twice as much planning but half as much debugging compared with students using Microworlds (MW). Students working with MW used written code on the computer screen to communicate their ideas whereas students working with SC used the programming language (pl) to talk about their ideas prior to any programming. We propose three areas for future research. (1) Exploring different types of communication styles as compared with the use of different CPEs. (2) Identifying students’ nascent abilities for using CPEs to show functionality in science. (3) Further understanding CPEs’ design characteristics as to which may promote or hamper learning with models in science.

Concluding Remarks: Theoretical Underpinnings in Implementing Inquiry-Based Science Teaching/Learning

This book is a compilation of edited chapters from different science education disciplines and contexts, aiming to provide resources for the implementation of inquiry-based science teaching/learning (IBST/L), and to highlight ways in which those approaches could be promoted across various contexts. The chapters in the book presented the efforts of a group of science education researchers and practicing science teachers to put theoretical ideas into practice and to bridge the gaps between broad policy perspectives, specific educational realities of local school traditions, and embedded practices ingrained in national educational cultures. In this concluding chapter, we provide a structured overview of the main theoretical ideas discussed throughout the book, seeking to help the reader situate all these efforts within a coherent theoretical framework of what inquiry-based approaches in science education involve and what they require from teachers in terms of knowledge and abilities. We focus on four main topics that appear across the chapters in the book: (1) application of scientific inquiry in authentic learning environments; (2) descriptions of six main theoretical frameworks underpinning IBST/L throughout the book, (i) theory and research in motivation, (ii) self-efficacy, (iii) scientific literacy, (iv) dialogic teaching, (v) the communicative approach, and (vi) the nature of science; (3) presentation of pedagogical content knowledge as a productive framework that can unite efforts for teachers’ professional development in IBST/L as presented in this book; and (4) description of effective strategies for professional development, specifically for helping teachers implement this approach for teaching science.

Programming environments for young learners: a comparison of their characteristics and students' use

In this poster, I present findings from a descriptive case study investigating the use of two computer-based programming environments (CPEs), Microworlds™ Logo (MW) and Stagecast Creator™ (SC) as tools for collaborative fifth grade modeling in science. Findings include descriptions and comparisons of the ways that the students in this study used CPEs as scientific modeling tools and what particular characteristics of MW and SC were supportive or not for collaborative modeling.There is a longstanding interest in using models and modeling as learning tools in science (see Louca et al, 2003 for a review). The process of writing a computer program to simulate a natural system is similar to the process of developing a scientific model. This study was based on the idea that CPEs can be used by students who write programs as representations of natural phenomena.