Search for: All records

Within the science education reform movement, there have been long standing calls initiated to attend to equity in the science classroom. These calls are sought to de-settle and advance the broad strokes of “equity for all” into deeper, more meaningful actions, considering the way we view equity and how equitable practices unfold in the classroom. Productive science discourse or productive science talk is just one instructional practice used and discussed which leverages students as sensemakers. This study seeks to better understand productive science talk as a practice of equitation instruction. In examining Ms. Savannah’s practice, a high school biology teacher, two major findings emerged around the use of productive talk: (1) pattern of moves to leverage student ideas and (2) timing of moves to stimulate interest or motivation. These talk moves and timing gave insight into talk as both having the ability to hinder and foster student ideas and provide an initial “on-ramp” for students’ voice to be heard, taken up and have accountability in the classroom. This work continues to sustain a call toward attention to equity and a need to evaluate the equity-aligned practices that are fore-fronted in PDs and workshops. 

Current understandings of science learning revolve around students’ developing the ability to use science concepts and practices to “figure out” aspects of the natural world. One emerging area of focus in this new vision of learning is the emotional work required in students’ participation science sense making. This research focuses on how one teacher supports student reframing of moments of epistemic vexation. After reviewing classroom video, and interviews, three themes emerged: (1) Productive meta-affect is more likely to occur when students understand why the teacher allows for failure to connect ideas or understand scientific concepts, (2) Without explicit attention from the teacher during moments of epistemic vexation, students can disengage from sense-making and (3) When the teacher does not adequately attend to students’ epistemic vexation, students can build solidarity and reach out to each other for emotional support in developing meta-affect. 

This research employs the lenses of epistemological resources and framing to examine the complexities of one teacher’s efforts to position his middle-school biology students as sensemakers. Through interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis, we trace the teacher’s activation of varied epistemological resources and how such resources positioned students’ efforts throughout the lesson. While the launch of tasks was framed as an opportunity for “doing science,” this framing became less stable when the teacher engaged with students in small group work and during the wrap up that were focused on the “right answer.” Specific phases of the lesson served as a context that influenced the epistemological resources activated, helping us understand the varied, dynamic, and sometimes contradictory nature of the teacher’s moves and their consequences on students’ framing of their efforts. 

As part of a larger effort to understand the impact of professional development (PD) on teachers’ thinking and practices, this research explores changes in epistemic orientation (and associated practices) of two cohorts of secondary science teachers as they were involved in a longitudinal PD. To measure epistemic orientation, Epistemic Orientation toward Teaching Science surveys were administered at three-time points and teachers’ classrooms were observed. Findings suggest that change in epistemic orientation occurred for teachers who engaged in two years of PD, but that one year was not sufficient to engender such changes in epistemic orientation or instructional practice. These findings speak to the need for continuous, highquality, longitudinal PD. 

This paper examined changes in students' biological reasoning, scientific sensemaking, valuing of science, and fascination in science over the course of a school year after their teacher participated in one of the two professional development programs. One professional development (PD) group emphasized teacher collaboration in revising materials for their classroom, while the other emphasized revision of materials without collaboration among teachers. Results from repeated measures ANOVA showed improvements in students' biological reasoning from the beginning to end of the school year when in classrooms led by teachers who participated in the collaboration-focused PD. Students' scientific sensemaking, valuing of science, or science fascination remained stable across the school year across both PD groups. 

Recent educational reforms conceptualize science classrooms as spaces where students engage in Science-as-Practice to develop deep understandings of scientific phenomena. When students engage in Science-as-Practice they are constructing explanations, arguing from evidence, and evaluating and communicating information to develop scientific knowledge (NGSS Lead States, 2013). This process of learning requires a focus on productive science talk in which students grapple with and socially negotiate their ideas (Kelly, 2014) through interactions involving talk, joint attention, and shared activity aimed at building, negotiating, and refining new understandings of phenomena and relevant science concepts (Ford, 2015; Michaels & O’Connor, 2012). Productive talk requires the ‘nimble’ involvement of the teacher to help students productively contribute their ideas to the class and use them as resources to drive instructional activities supporting the development and refinement of more sophisticated scientific understandings (Christodoulou & Osborne, 2014; González‐Howard & McNeill, 2020). 

Current reform efforts in science education focus on creating environments where students grapple with and negotiate their own understandings and mechanistic explanations of scientific phenomena by using their knowledge of disciplinary content and science practices. In order to support this reformed vision, effective professional development (PD) for science teachers is critical. If PD is to shape teachers’ practice, teachers must experience a change in attitudes and beliefs. The research presented here explores the epistemic orientation of three secondary science teacher cohorts who were supported in different iterations in a larger professional development study. The epistemic orientation toward teaching science survey was administered at three time points for each cohort and paired sample t-tests were performed to analyze composite and dimensional scores. Our analysis revealed that change in epistemic orientation occurred for teachers who engaged in two years of supportive PD, but that one year of support was not sufficient to engender change in epistemic orientations. These findings further support the need for continuous, high-quality, longitudinal PD when the goal is a shift in science teachers’ epistemological beliefs and teaching practices. 

Using the IQA-SOR instrument, we analyzed participating teachers' classroom implementation of instructional resources and models. Teachers who collaboratively designed their materials for the focal lessons demonstrated more rigorous implementation, while those who only experienced the focal lessons during the PD experience did not implement as rich of instruction. However, all participating teachers did show strengths in implementing particular aspects of the focal lessons. 

Reform efforts targeting science instruction emphasize that students should develop scientific proficiency that empowers them to collaboratively negotiate science ideas as they develop meaningful understandings about science phenomena through science practices. The lessons teachers design and enact play a critical role in engaging students in rigorous science learning. Collaborative design, in which teachers work together to design, enact, and reflect on their teaching, holds potential to support teachers’ learning, but scarce research examines the pathways by which collaborative design can influence teachers’ instructional practices. Examining the teaching and reflective thinking of two science teachers who engaged in collaborative design activities over two years, we found that their enactment practices became more supportive of students’ rigorous learning over time, and that they perceived collaborative efforts with teacher educators and partner teachers to plan lessons and analyze videos of instruction as supportive of their learning to enact rigorous instruction. 

Current reform efforts in science education focus on creating environments where students grapple with and negotiate their own understandings and mechanistic explanations of scientific phenomena by using their knowledge of disciplinary content and science practices. In order to support this reformed vision, effective professional development (PD;) for science teachers is critical. If PD is to shape teachers’ practice, teachers must experience a change in attitudes and beliefs. The research presented here explores the epistemic orientation of two secondary science teacher cohorts who were supported in a longitudinal professional development study. The epistemic orientation toward teaching science survey was administered at three time points for each cohort and paired sample t-tests were performed to analyze composite and dimensional scores. Our analysis revealed that change in epistemic orientation occurred for teachers who engaged in two years of supportive PD, but that one year of support was not sufficient to engender change in epistemic orientations. These findings further support the need for continuous, high-quality, longitudinal PD when the goal is a shift in science teachers’ epistemological beliefs and teaching practices.