Building on BSCS 5E Inquiry Science with Knowledge Building

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Building on BSCS 5E Inquiry Science with
Knowledge Building
Conceptualization of a Collaborative Science
Inquiry Model

• Seng-Chee Tan
• Aik-Ling Tan
• National Institute of Education
• Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

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This paper is about

• Theoretical hybridization of Biological Sciences
  Curriculum Study (BSCS) 5E model of inquiry
  science with knowledge building approach.

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Why BSCS and KB?

• Both are popular models with impact on classroom
  practices
• BSCS has over 73,000 curriculum materials
  developed
• KB has presence in at least 19 countries
• A KB community is epitomized by a scientist
  community.
• Time to build on

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Science as inquiry

• 1900 Science as a body of knowledge to be
  learnt.
• 1909 Dewey Too much emphasis on the
  accumulation of information.
• Not enough done to science as a way of
  thinking and an attitude of mind.

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Science as inquiry

• School science should emulate authentic practices
  such that students assume the agency of knowledge
  constructors and interact with phenomena in
  informed, reflective, and critical ways
• Rodriguez, 1998

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Science as inquiry

• Students do not come to understand inquiry simply
  by learning words such as hypothesis and
  inference or by memorizing procedures such as
  the steps of the scientific method.
• They must experience inquiry directly to gain a
  deep understanding of its characteristics.
• (NRC, 2000)

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The BSCS 5E model of inquiry (Bybee)
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BSCS 5E - what it looks like

• The effects of forces
• Engage
• two students of different body sizes to push each
  other and record what they feel as they pushed
  each other.
• Exploration
• students to investigate the amount of force
  required to move a small weight on four different
  types of surfaces
• Explain
• students to explain their observations
• Elaboration
• students to take photos of examples of forces at
  work in their home environment and propose an
  explanation on the forces acting on the object
  they have identified.
• Evaluation
• feedback from the teacher and peers. Self
  evaluation.

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BSCS 5E model

• BSCS takes a cognitive perspective
• Goal is conceptual understanding through inquiry
• Learning through social interactions is not
  highlighted

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Social cultural dimension

• Science learning is a process of socialization
  into a professional community, with its canonical
  problem niches, standards of explanation, and
  modes of discourse for communal sense-making.
• (Hawkins and Pea, 1987, p. 294)

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The 6th E (enculturation)

• Foster scientific literacy by enculturating
  students into disciplinary practice and
  communication (ONeil, 2001)
• Engage students in the discourse of the
  scientific community and develop awareness of the
  values (Barab Duffy, 2000)

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Inquiry with KB

• Brings in social cultural process
• Celebrate diversity and leverage diversity of
  ideas for improvement

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KB and BSCS

• KB Principles
• Authentic ideas
• Epistemic agency
• Democratizing knowledge
• Collective cognitive responsibility
• Idea diversity
• Improvable ideas
• Knowledge Building discourse
• Constructive use of authoritative sources
• Rise above
• Embedded assessment
• Symmetric advancement of knowledge
• Pervasive knowledge building

Exploration 1, 5, 7
Evaluation 10
Explanation 5, 7, 8
Engagement 1,2,3,4
Elaboration 5, 6, 7, 9
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6 E model
Progress in cognitive dimension
Cognitive goal Improved ideas, Scientific
knowledge Social cultural goal Symmetric
advancement of knowledge
Enculturation through pervasive knowledge
building in iterations of 5E inquiry cycles
Progress in social cultural dimension
Naïve ideas, everyday knowledge from individuals
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6E what it looks like

• Engage
• pairs of students to push each other and record
  what they feel as they pushed each other.
  Students put forth their initial ideas and
  questions about forces in Knowledge Forum.
• Exploration
• begins with diverse ideas about forces.
• Explanation
• Look up authoritative sources like textbooks or
  reference books and engaged in knowledge building
  discourse by reading and building on each others
  notes in the Knowledge Forum.

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6E what it looks like

• Exploration
• Students with common interest were assigned into
  groups and to design investigation tasks (e.g. to
  investigate the amount of force required to move
  a small weight on different types of surfaces)
• Explanation
• Students were again engaged in knowledge building
  discourse to come up with viable explanations for
  their investigation, in Knowledge Forum and in
  class.
• Elaboration
• The pupils were asked to look for more examples
  of forces at work in their home environment
  (elaboration).
• Evaluation
• Through record of ideas on KF. Evidence of
  pupils progress which could be evaluated by the
  teacher, by self and by peers.

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Epistemological difference

• BSCS
• pursuit of truth
• KB
• Pursuit of progress (idea improvement)

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Questions?
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Linking inquiry across grade levels
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(No Transcript)
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How does the 5E align with the essential features
of Inquiry?