Title: Strategies
1Strategies Challenges for Facilitating Nature
of Science in the High School Classroom
- Catherine Koehler
- 1University of Connecticut
2Goals of Science Education
- Scientific Literacy (NRC, 1996)
- the knowledge and understanding of science
concepts and processes required for personal
decision making, participation in civic
cultural affairs, and economic productivity - Nature of Science (NOS) promotes scientific
literacy (NRC, 1996 AAAS, 1989, 1993) - Inquiry promotes an understanding of the
scientific endeavor critical thinking skills
(NRC, 1996, Pugliese, 1973 Schwab, 1962) -
3Theoretical Framework Literature
- Four Related but distinct lines of research in
NOS (Lederman, 1992) - Assessment of Students conceptions
- Development assessment of curricula
- Improvement assessment of teachers conceptions
- Relationship between teachers conceptions,
classroom practice student conceptions
4Theoretical Framework Literature
- Preservice teachers and student teaching NOS is
rare in planning lessons barriers exist - (Abd-El-Khalick, Bell, Lederman 1998)
- Physics NOS differing contexts for learn NOS
and teaching NOS - (Abd-El-Khalick, 2001)
- Teaching NOS course NOS - a content area
- (Moss Koehler, in preparation)
5Theoretical Framework Literature
- NOS must be explicit
- (Moss, Abrams Robb, 2001 Abd-El-Khalick, Bell,
Lederman, 1998 ) - Teachers role in NOS important
- (Lederman, 1992, Abd-El-Khalick Lederman, 2000
) - Teachers conceptions of NOS do not translate
into classroom practice - (Brickhouse, 1990, Lederman Zeidler, 1987)
6Research Question
- Provided with a strategy (The Model for Teaching
NOS) for fostering NOS understandings - What are the challenges facing experienced
teachers in facilitating NOS understandings in
the high school classroom?
7Participants
- Three Experienced Biology Teachers
- Masters Degree Students
- Enrolled in SCI 580 Teaching the NOS
- Interested in learning new ways to teach science
8Methodology
- SCI 580 Teaching the Nature of Science (Fall
2004) - VNOS C Questionnaire (x3)
- (Lederman, Abd-El-Khalick, Bell, Schwartz, 2002)
- Written Directive Define NOS (pre post x2)
-
- Curriculum Project based on NOS Model
- Other artifacts (reflective journals, classroom
observations, lesson plans)
9SCI 580 Teaching the NOS
- Classic Literature from Kuhn, Popper, McComas
- Conceptual Change Model (Posner, Strike, Hewson,
Gertzog, 1982) - Discussion - What is NOS?
- Activities explicitly directed toward NOS
understandings - Curriculum Projects Using NOS model
10Shifting the Paradigm- What is NOS?
- There is no single definition of NOS
- Defined by researchers
- Additional tenets may include
- There is no one scientific method of inquiry
- Dynamic
- Demand evidence
- VNOS (Lederman, Abd-El-Khalick, Bell, Schwartz,
2002) - Tentative
- Empirically based
- Theory-laden
- Social cultural
- Humanistic/Interpretative
- Creative Imaginative
- Distinction between
- Laws Theories
- Inferences Observations
11Strategy Model for Teaching NOS
Inquiry Scenario
NOS
Process
Content
12Inquiry Scenario
- Context of Lesson
- (Brown, Collins, Duguid, 1989 Schwartz,
Lederman, Crawford, 2004) - Relevance to Students Lives
- Socially Culturally Based
- STS, SSI
- Teacher initiates the Inquiry Scenario students
can develop own questions
13Content Element
- Embedded in one or more disciplines of science
(Earth/Space, Biology, Chemistry, Physics) - Supports the Inquiry Scenario
- History of Science
14Process Element
- Skill base to do science
- Experimentation, Data collection, Analysis
- Problem Solving Decision making
- Includes Mathematics as it applies to science
15Tying It All Together NOS
- Must be explicitly addressed throughout lesson
- Ideal for teaching NOS
- Must be assess as one outcome objective
- Meets objectives of scientific literacy movement
16Murder on The Hill Who Did It?
- Crime Scene Investigation
- At 1200 pm on Thursday May 26th, 2005 a male
body was found with a stab wound in the storage
closet of Room 103 at The School on the Hill. A
knife has been observed to be protruding out of
the victims abdomen - All students of the Anatomy and Physiology
class are to remain in the room during the
investigation until the perpetrator is found.
WHO, IN THIS ROOM, DID IT??????
17Example Murder on the Hill! Who Did It?
- Inquiry Scenario Context of Lesson
- Murder in Storage Closet
- Knife protruding from victims abdomen
- Blood on victim floor
- Students task Who Did It?
18Process Doing A Science Investigation
- Collecting evidence from crime scene
- Process the blood
- Analyze The Blood
- Determine Who Did It?
19Content Objectives
- Immune Responses
- Blood Analysis
- Anti-body Antigen
- Rh factor
- Transfusion of Blood
20NOS Where does it fit in?
- Tenets of NOS Addressed in Lesson
- Decisions based on evidence
- Tentative dynamic
- No one method to do science
- Interpretative
- Assessment Reflection piece
- Closure NOS explicitly addressed
21Results
- Implementation of NOS activities in classroom
- Student Reactions
- Hurdles encountered
- Students want the right answer
- Students want instant gratification
- Reluctance to work collaboratively
- Perceived lack of content taught
- Some students need more structure
- Time constraints
- Evolving Conceptions of NOS
22Implications for Science Education
- Provides a methodology for fostering NOS in the
classroom - Demonstrates that NOS is not a content objective
- Defines hurdles encountered when fostering NOS
understandings - Defines a progressive approach for teaching
science