Science Learning: Contexts, Characteristics and Interactions Poster Session A

3:15pm – 4:15pm, Griffin Exhibit Hall

A15. Analysis of Inquiry Studies by Using Interactive-Constructive-Active Framework Muhsin Menekse, Arizona State University, [email protected]

Michelene Chi, Arizona State University Omid Vasefi, Arizona State University

ABSTRACT: Inquiry is one of the most common and prominent concepts in science education. An enormous number of studies have been published on inquiry during past 50 years. A significant amount of these studies investigated the effectiveness of inquiry based science instruction on student learning. Most of the meta-analyses of inquiry studies provide some level of positive trend favoring inquiry based science instruction over traditional methods. However, some meta-analyses found very little (Lott, 1983) or no relation (Minner et al., 2010) between the inquiry level and the students learning of science concepts. In this study, Chi’s (2009) interactive-constructive- active framework was applied to classify inquiry based science instructions/interventions and to measure their relative effectiveness on learning on a finer grain size.We used Chi’s framework to clarify the discrepant findings in some inquiry studies. Chi’s interactive-constructive-active framework provided a good model to comprehend and interpret the results in inquiry based science education literature. The classification of overt activities and /or interventions based on underlying cognitive principles offered a finer grain size to analyze and understand the contradictory findings in different studies as well.

A17. Facilitating Student Creativity in Scientific Inquiry: An Exploration of Secondary Chemistry Classrooms Allison Antink Meyer, Illinois Institute of Technology, [email protected]

Norman G. Lederman, Illinois Institute of Technology

ABSTRACT: The study utilized teachers’ instructional materials surrounding inquiry tasks (teacher generated) and student work to characterize scientific creativity in the high school chemistry classroom environment. Ten student groups from five different teachers' classrooms participated in a semester long study of how student creativity is manifested in teacher-generated inquiry activities. Transcripts were analyzed for instances of student talk that reflected the operationalization of scientific creativity: a manifestation of student knowledge in a science context through a process of divergent thinking culminating in convergence on an idea deemed “best”. Codes and categories were then developed and interviews were conducted to ensure that findings were valid. A19. High School Youths' Reactions to and Perceptions of STEM Project-Based Learning

Leah A. Bricker, University of Washington, [email protected] Katie Van Horne, University of Washington

ABSTRACT: In this interactive poster paper, we highlight high school youths’ reactions to and perceptions of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) project-based learning (PBL). We do so because the voices of youth are rarely represented in our literatures yet youth are critical educational stakeholders. The research questions that guided this analysis were: (a) What are high school youths’ reactions to and perceptions of the STEM PBL experiences in which they are engaged?, and (b) Do high school youth perceive PBL to be a

pedagogy that helps them learn and if so, why and how (or why not)? Data sources included audio and videotape of student focus groups and student survey responses. We segmented our findings into three categories: (a) youth perceptions of and reactions to PBL as a learning tool, (b) suggestions youth have for improving PBL experiences, and (c) projects that youth report participating in outside of school and hobbies/interests that they count as related to STEM. We discuss implications for the design of STEM project/problem-based learning environments, a youth voice research agenda, and research that examines science learning and teaching across the boundaries of formal and informal settings.

A21. Authentic vs. Vicarious: An Analysis of Environmental Education in Different Learning Contexts Jeffrey Nordine, Trinity University, [email protected]

Courtney Lambert Crim, Trinity University

ABSTRACT: Many individuals do not perceive an attachment to or a responsibility to protect the environment (Louv, 2005). However, research has demonstrated that perceptions about the environment are learned, not innate (Rickinson, 2001). As educators grapple with diverse populations and exploding urban communities, they are challenged to connect urban students with nature through deliberately integrated educational experiences. Many children in urban areas do not receive their information about nature through direct experiences with nature and learn about the environment through a variety of built experiences. Given the challenge of providing authentic experiences in nature to a rapidly growing number of urban students, the present study explores a university/community collaborative model that offers 7th grade, urban students an opportunity to experience authentic outdoor experiences as they engage in hands-on investigative science - not possible in their urban school settings. This quasi-experimental study explores: (1) If this authentic outdoor model of instruction is an effective approach for urban based middle school students to gain understanding about the environment?, and (2) Is this model more effective than vicarious learning experiences that are typically managed in the traditional classroom context? Specifically, we evaluate students’ attitudes, content knowledge, and mental model conceptualization of the environment.

A23. The Interplay between Student and Material Agency in Ecological Investigations Michelle Cotterman, Vanderbilt University, [email protected] Richard Lehrer, Vanderbilt University

ABSTRACT: Although both ecologists and students must struggle to obtain a material grasp on the ecosystems they study, students’ practice differs from that of the discipline as much of what they wrestle with, though new to them, has already been harnessed by others. This disciplinary foresight into how ecosystems materially function raises a concern about students’ agency in designing ecological investigations: could a research interest in a minor element impede students in developing knowledge of the system as whole? This comparative case study examined to what extent an early focus on critical system elements predicts what middle level students will learn across sustained investigations of aquatic microcosms. Findings indicated that the initial state of students’ investigations did not seem to predetermine the complexity of their final system explanations, suggesting that how students begin their investigations might be less decisive than how they refine their practice and accommodate material resistance as these investigations evolve. Two features of students’ practice seemed particularly meaningful for the types of system relationships students came to see as they wrestled with the materiality of their aquaria: fluidity in dealing with the emergent nature of research and social interaction within the classroom community.

Strand 3: Science Teaching--Primary School (Grades preK-6): Characteristics and Strategies