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1. Evidence-based teaching practices correlate with increased exam performance in biology

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260789  

   Moon, Sungmin; Jackson, Mallory A.; Doherty, Jennifer H.; Wenderoth, Mary Pat (November 2021, PLOS ONE)

   Carvalho, Paulo F. (Ed.)

   Evidence-based teaching practices are associated with improved student academic performance. However, these practices encompass a wide range of activities and determining which type, intensity or duration of activity is effective at improving student exam performance has been elusive. To address this shortcoming, we used a previously validated classroom observation tool, Practical Observation Rubric to Assess Active Learning (PORTAAL) to measure the presence, intensity, and duration of evidence-based teaching practices in a retrospective study of upper and lower division biology courses. We determined the cognitive challenge of exams by categorizing all exam questions obtained from the courses using Bloom’s Taxonomy of Cognitive Domains. We used structural equation modeling to correlate the PORTAAL practices with exam performance while controlling for cognitive challenge of exams, students’ GPA at start of the term, and students’ demographic factors. Small group activities, randomly calling on students or groups to answer questions, explaining alternative answers, and total time students were thinking, working with others or answering questions had positive correlations with exam performance. On exams at higher Bloom’s levels, students explaining the reasoning underlying their answers, students working alone, and receiving positive feedback from the instructor also correlated with increased exam performance. Our study is the first to demonstrate a correlation between the intensity or duration of evidence-based PORTAAL practices and student exam performance while controlling for Bloom’s level of exams, as well as looking more specifically at which practices correlate with performance on exams at low and high Bloom’s levels. This level of detail will provide valuable insights for faculty as they prioritize changes to their teaching. As we found that multiple PORTAAL practices had a positive association with exam performance, it may be encouraging for instructors to realize that there are many ways to benefit students’ learning by incorporating these evidence-based teaching practices. 

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2. The effect of using different computational system modeling approaches on applying systems thinking

   https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2023.1173792  

   Eidin, Emil; Bowers, Jonathan; Damelin, Dan; Krajcik, Joe (June 2023, Frontiers in Education)

   This paper discusses the potential of two computational modeling approaches in moving students from simple linear causal reasoning to applying more complex aspects of systems thinking (ST) in explanations of scientific phenomena. While linear causal reasoning can help students understand some natural phenomena, it may not be sufficient for understanding more complex issues such as global warming and pandemics, which involve feedback, cyclic patterns, and equilibrium. In contrast, ST has shown promise as an approach for making sense of complex problems. To facilitate ST, computational modeling tools have been developed, but it is not clear to what extent different approaches promote specific aspects of ST and whether scaffolding such thinking should start with supporting students first in linear causal reasoning before moving to more complex causal dimensions. This study compares two computational modeling approaches, static equilibrium and system dynamics modeling, and their potential to engage students in applying ST aspects in their explanations of the evaporative cooling phenomenon. To make such a comparison we analyzed 10th grade chemistry students’ explanations of the phenomenon as they constructed and used both modeling approaches. The findings suggest that using a system dynamics approach prompts more complex reasoning aligning with ST aspects. However, some students remain resistant to the application of ST and continue to favor linear causal explanations with both modeling approaches. This study provides evidence for the potential of using system dynamics models in applying ST. In addition, the results raise questions about whether linear causal reasoning may serve as a scaffold for engaging students in more sophisticated types of reasoning. 

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3. Embedded student formative reporting to promote student metacognition and instructor pedagogical adjustments

   https://doi.org/10.55632/pwvas.v95i2.948  

   Richards-Babb, Michelle (April 2023, Proceedings of the West Virginia Academy of Science)

   Timely, formative feedback is important for instructors and students. In this project, “embedded students” provided instructors with formative feedback through anonymized reports. Students enrolled in preparatory chemistry course sections in fall 2022 self-selected to submit reports documenting their ongoing experiences in learning chemistry content. Embedded students journaled about (i) hours devoted to the course; (ii) topic-specific content mastery, comfort, and confusion; and (iii) instructor pedagogy. An average of 108 reports per week were anonymized and shared with instructors. Instructor effort was limited to agreeing to receive the weekly reports, look them over, and potentially use them to inform upcoming teaching. Embedded students benefited by thinking about their learning in the class (metacognition) and focusing their learning for the upcoming week. Overall, 300 distinct students submitted 1,513 weekly reports, with overall means of 2.81 hours per week of self-reported time devoted to attending lecture, 4.75 hours per week of self-reported time engaged in additional study, and 7.56 hours per week of self-reported total time devoted to the course. Instructors reported reading over 87% of the reports and using feedback to make an average of 4.6 instructional adjustments ranging from working additional practice problems on difficult concepts, providing answer keys to extra problems, implementing problem-solving/review days, and reviewing difficult material or content from earlier in the course. Instructors indicated that the weekly reports contributed to “instructor beneficence”. Students “felt heard” especially when instructors explicitly and constructively addressed comments from the weekly reports. This work is partially supported by the NSF-funded First2 Network. 

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4. An interdisciplinary approach to building students’ spatial thinking skills from high school through college

   Davatzes, Alexandra; Shipley, Thomas; LaDue, Nicole; Lombardi, Doug (January 2017, Program and abstracts - V.M. Goldschmidt Conference)

   There is a large gap between the ability of experts and students in grasping spatial concepts and representations. Engineering and the geosciences require the highest expertise in spatial thinking, and weak spatial skills are a significant barrier to success for many students [1]. Spatial skills are also highly malleable [2]; therefore, a current challenge is to identify how to promote students’ spatial thinking. Interdisciplinary research on how students think about spatially-demanding problems in the geosciences has identified several major barriers for students and interventions to help scaffold learning at a variety of levels from high school through upper level undergraduate majors. The Geoscience Education Transdisciplinary Spatial Learning Network (GET-Spatial; http://serc.carleton.edu/getspatial/) is an NSF-funded collaboration between geoscientists, cognitive psychologists, and education researchers. Our goal is to help students overcome initial hurdles in reasoning about spatial problems in an effort to diversify the geoscience workforce. Examples of spatial problems in the fields of geochemistry include scaling, both in size and time; penetrative thinking to make inferences about internal structures from surface properties; and graph-reading, especially ternary diagrams. Understanding scales outside of direct human experience, both very large (e.g. cosmochemistry, deep time) and very small (e.g. mineralogy, nanoparticles) can be acutely difficult for students. However, interventions have successfully resulted in improvements to scale estimations and improve exam performance [3]. We will discuss best practices for developing effective interdisciplinary teams, and how to overcome challenges of working across disciplines and across grade levels. We will provide examples of spatial interventions in scaling and penetrative thinking. [1] Hegarty et al. (2010) in Spatial Cognition VII 6222, 85- 94. [2] Uttal et al. (2012) Psychology of Learning and Motivation 57, 147-181. [3] Resnick et al. (2016) Educational Psychology Review, 1-15. 

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5. Critical thinking during science investigations: what do practicing teachers value and observe?

   https://doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2023.2191186  

   Butcher, Kirsten R.; Hudson, Michelle; Lane, McKenna; Larson, Madlyn (August 2023, Teachers and Teaching)

   This paper examines how practicing teachers approach and evaluate students’ critical thinking processes in science, using the implementation of an online, inquiry-based investigation in middle school classrooms as the context for teachers’ observations. Feedback and ratings from three samples of science teachers were analysed to determine how they valued and evaluated component processes of students’ critical thinking and how such processes were related to their instructional approaches and student outcomes. Drawing from an integrated view of teacher practice, results suggested that practicing science teachers readily observed and valued critical thinking processes that aligned to goal intentions focused on domain content and successful student thinking. These processes often manifested as components of effective scientific reasoning—for example, gathering evidence, analysing data, evaluating ideas, and developing strong arguments. However, teachers also expressed avoidance intentions related to student confusion and uncertainty before and after inquiry-based investigations designed for critical thinking. These findings highlight a potential disconnect between the benefits of productive student struggle for critical thinking as endorsed in the research on learning and science education and the meaning that teachers ascribe to such struggle as they seek to align their instructional practices to classroom challenges. 

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