Nicos Papadouris

Students’ Epistemological Awareness Concerning the Distinction between Science and Technology

We have developed an approach for assessing students’ understanding about the distinction between science and technology. The assessment approach focuses on a specific aspect of this distinction, namely the different goal pursued by each of the two domains. Based on this approach, we collected data from two sources: two written tests administered to 183 elementary, 132 middle school and 78 elementary education students and follow‐up interviews with a sub‐sample of the participants. The findings that have emerged from the data analysis indicate that students of all ages commonly fail to distinguish between the goals pursued by science and technology. They also suggest that students possess a vague notion of the two domains in that they tend to draw on a wide variety of criteria to distinguish between them in a non‐systematic and inconsistent manner. Our data also suggest that age and education level do not seem to have a significant impact on the validity and systematicity of students’ response patterns concerning the distinction between science and technology. The study concludes by reporting the various epistemological difficulties that seem to influence participants’ attempts to differentiate and explore the interconnections between the two fields. Our assessment approach can be used in studies or educational interventions that seek to monitor student understandings about science and technology. The findings can be used to inform possible attempts for designing or modifying activity sequences that address this particular aspect of epistemological awareness.

Teaching and learning about energy in middle school: an argument for an epistemic approach

We have reviewed the existing literature on teaching and learning about energy to develop an overview of the ongoing debate on conceptual aspects of the construct and also to highlight the issues that have emerged in approaches to designing teaching–learning sequences. Our review is informed by those aspects of the historical evolution of the construct of energy that reveal the significance of this topic for science education, and the ongoing debate in science education research about the relevance of energy forms and causal explanatory thinking as features of the use of energy in systems analysis. We elaborate briefly on the distinction between mechanisms and causes, and we outline why energy can only be used as a framework for mechanistic descriptions of system behaviour and not for causal explanations. Drawing on our review, we present an argument for introducing energy as a theoretical framework in the age range of 11–14 years. We illustrate this epistemic approach by outlining in brief the skeletal structure of an activity sequence. The main features of this proposed approach include the use of theories to create models of phenomena, the distinction between states and processes, and the unifying and transphenomenological nature of energy as an interpretive framework. We analyse how this approach responds to the major challenges identified in the science education research literature concerning the teaching and learning of energy. In justifying this proposed approach, we draw on the epistemology of science and also on the detailed results of the broad range of existing studies on this topic from science education research.

A Methodology for Integrating Computer-Based Learning Tools in Science Curricula.

This paper demonstrates a methodology for effectively integrating computer‐based learning tools in science teaching and learning. This methodology provides a means of systematic analysis to identify the capabilities of particular software tools and to formulate a series of competencies relevant to physical science that could be developed by means of these capabilities. This analysis could inform the transition to technology‐rich learning environments by helping to deflect reliance on computer‐based tools for objectives they cannot meet, while encouraging the design of activity sequences that make the most of the educationally useful capabilities of available computer‐based tools. This methodology is demonstrated by means of two software tools widely used in science learning, namely modelling and simulation tools.

Potential Contribution of Digital Video to the Analysis of the Learning Process in Physics: A Case Study in the Context of Electric Circuits.

We seek to demonstrate how digital video technology can contribute towards our understanding of the process of development of conceptual understanding in physics. We use digital video to analyze 4 brief Physics by Inquiry sessions with 2 groups of preservice teachers. The instances include independent group work and instructor-student interactions. Important insights emerge on the way students attempt to make sense of their observations and the way their initial ideas hamper the process of inquiry. Specific difficulties are identified that influence the learning trajectory. These are classified into categories, including epistemological, conceptual, and reasoning difficulties. Additional results demonstrate the crucial nature of careful guidance in inquiry-oriented activities and the variety in student responses to epistemological and other obstacles.

Distinctive Features and Underlying Rationale of a Philosophically-Informed Approach for Energy Teaching

Understanding energy is widely recognized as a significant learning objective of science teaching, starting from the elementary school grades. It constitutes a cross-disciplinary concept that spans all domains of science. In addition, energy has been identified as one of a small number of disciplinary core ideas for science learning. Despite this wide recognition of its significance, introducing and elaborating energy in school science continues to pose a significant instructional challenge. In this chapter, we firstly elaborate on the essence of this instructional challenge by presenting an analysis of the epistemological barriers that are inherent in attempts to introduce energy. We then propose a novel teaching approach, for middle school, that could contribute toward addressing the instructional challenge. The main features of this approach include (a) the shift from a purely conceptually-oriented approach toward a philosophically-informed approach, (b) placing emphasis on energy and its features (transfer, form conversion, conservation and degradation) as a coherent theoretical framework for system analysis, (c) drawing on the crosscutting nature of energy for eliciting its added value as an interpretive framework, and (d) distinguishing between forms of energy and energy transfer processes (as a precursor to the fundamental distinction between states and processes). We describe these key features and we elaborate on the rationale underlying the proposed teaching approach as a whole that aims for coherence.

Adapting Web-Based Inquiry Learning Environments from One Country to Another: The CoReflect Experience

This chapter discusses the process of adapting inquiry learning environments (LEs) from one national context to another, drawing from the collaboration of eight partners from Europe and Israel, all participating in the European project “Digital Support for Inquiry, Collaboration, and Reflection on Socio-scientific Debates” (CoReflect, http://www.coreflect.org). Each national Local Working Group (LWG), which was comprised of researchers, practicing teachers, and science experts, used a common theoretical framework to design, enact, and investigate web-based inquiry LEs on socio-scientific issues. Following design-based research and iterative improvements of the LEs through local enactments, the LWGs translated each learning environment in English and one other language. The LEs were adapted and used in authentic classroom environments in a different country. Four of the seven adaptations are reported here and implications for educational praxis are discussed.

CoReflect: Web-Based Inquiry Learning Environments on Socio-scientific Issues

This chapter describes the development of the web-based inquiry learning environments as part of CoReflect, a finalized 3-year EC project involving seven countries. In CoReflect, interactive web-based materials for data-driven inquiry using the web-based platform STOCHASMOS were developed. The learning environments (LEs) embrace the guided constructivist approach to learning and support collaborative and reflective work. Teachers were engaged in the design and implementation of the LEs so that a mechanism could be developed for subsequent scale-up within Europe. All LEs were implemented at least three times and in two different countries. The final versions are available from coreflect.org. This chapter focuses on experiences from the first two implementations and gives an overview of the implementations of four LEs, discussing findings and student outcomes. Results are related to earlier research on the use of socio-scientific issues in the teaching of science.

Design, Development and Refinement of a Teaching-Learning Sequence on the Electromagnetic Properties of Materials

We describe a process of designing, developing, and gradually refining a teaching-learning sequence (TLS) on electromagnetic properties of materials (EPM). The design of the teaching-learning sequence draws on principles from the frameworks of inquiry-oriented teaching-learning and learning through technological design. Combining these two frameworks was intended to lead to an instructional context that would likely sustain student interest for the extended time that is necessary to attain conceptual understanding of magnetic interactions and electromagnetic phenomena. Also, it was expected to facilitate the development of students’ epistemological awareness regarding the interconnections and distinction between science and technology. The development process involved a series of six implementation-evaluation-revision cycles (two in upper secondary classes in a school setting, two in a science summer club for highschool students, and two in a science content course for pre-service elementary teachers), with a total of 294 participants. In each implementation, we collected data on students’ learning outcomes through various sources, including open-ended assessment tasks and student-constructed artefacts (e.g., technological products and accompanying posters and written reports). After each implementation, we drew not only on the collected data but also on the feedback provided by the teachers, so as to refine the teaching-learning sequence with the intent to enhance its potential to promote its targeted learning objectives. In this study, we illustrate how the empirical data collected during the implementation of the teaching-learning sequence could serve to guide its refinement. We report on particular instances in which the data on student learning outcomes led us to identify specific limitations of the teaching-learning sequence in terms of its facility to promote certain learning objectives and we elaborate on the revisions we undertook so as to address those limitations.

Pre-service Elementary School Teachers’ Ability to Account for the Operation of Simple Physical Systems Using the Energy Conservation Law

Energy is recognized as a core idea in science and, hence, a significant learning objective of science education. The effective promotion of this learning objective posits that teachers themselves possess sound conceptual understanding. This is needed for enabling them to organize effective learning environments for their students. In this study, we report on the results of an empirical investigation of teachers’ understanding of energy. In particular, the focus is placed on pre-service teachers’ ability to employ energy as a framework for analyzing the operation of physical systems. We have collected data from 198 pre-service teachers through three open-ended tasks that involved the application of the energy conservation principle to simple physical systems. The results corroborate the claim made in the literature that teachers typically do not possess functional, coherent understanding of this principle. Most importantly, the data serve to identify and document specific difficulties that hamper attempts to use energy for the analysis of the operation of physical systems. The difficulties we were able to document lend support to the idea that it is important to introduce the idea of energy degradation alongside the conservation of energy principle. The findings of this study have implications for the design of preparation programs for teachers, about energy. The findings also provide insights into the limitations of conventional teaching of energy, to which the participants had been exposed as students, in fostering coherent understanding of energy conservation.