Liz,+Denise,+Cecila

(1) Co-op Students’ Access to Shared Knowledge in Science-Rich Workplaces HUGH MUNBY, JENNIFER TAYLOR, PETER CHIN, NANCY L. HUTCHINSON Faculty of Education, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada K7L 3N6 ISSUE1

ABSTRACT: Wenger’s (1998) concepts “community of practice,” “brokering,” and “trans- fer” explain the challenges co-operative (co-op) education students face in relating the knowledge learned in school with what they learn while participating as members of a workplace. The research for this paper is set within the contexts of the knowledge economy and increased collaboration in the workplace. The paper draws on several qualitative studies of work-based education to examine the similarities and differences between learning in the workplace and learning in school, with a focus on science education and science-rich workplaces. Barriers to connecting school knowledge and workplace knowledge include the nature of science (its purpose, accountability, and substance), the structure of knowl- edge in each setting, the form content knowledge takes, the sequence that the curriculum is presented in, and the gatekeeping that occurs when knowledge is accessed. The paper addresses implications for interventions in school and the workplace, with attention to the transition from school to work, and concludes by pointing to profound obstacles to con- necting school knowledge with workplace knowledge.

(2) Becoming a Scientist: The Role of Undergraduate Research in Students’ Cognitive, Personal, and Professional Development ANNE-BARRIE HUNTER, SANDRA L. LAURSEN, ELAINE SEYMOUR ISSUE 1

ABSTRACT: In this ethnographic study of summer undergraduate research (UR) expe- riences at four liberal arts colleges, where faculty and students work collaboratively on a project of mutual interest in an apprenticeship of authentic science research work, analysis of the accounts of faculty and student participants yields comparative insights into the structural elements of this form of UR program and its beneﬁts for students. Comparison of the perspectives of faculty and their students revealed considerable agreement on the nature, range, and extent of students’ UR gains. Speciﬁc student gains relating to the process of “becoming a scientist” were described and illustrated by both groups. Faculty framed these gains as part of professional socialization into the sciences. In contrast, students emphasized their personal and intellectual development, with little awareness of their socialization into professional practice. Viewing study ﬁndings through the lens of social constructivist learn- ing theories demonstrates that the characteristics of these UR programs, how faculty practice UR in these colleges, and students’ outcomes—including cognitive and personal growth and the development of a professional identity—strongly exemplify many facets of these theo- ries, particularly, student-centered and situated learning as part of cognitive apprenticeship in a community of practice.

(3) Addressing Nonscientiﬁc Presuppositions in Genetics Using a Conceptual Change Strategy N. M. MBAJIORGU, N. G. EZECHI, E. C. IDOKO ISSUE 3

ABSTRACT: Researchers are becoming aware of the inﬂuence of students’ presupposi- tions in directing their construction of science concepts. When these are entrenched and drastically nonscientiﬁc, they predispose the children to alternative explanatory frameworks that are inhibiting, especially in a knowledge domain such as genetics. In this study, we identiﬁed such nonscientiﬁc presuppositions among 17- to 18-year-old secondary school students from the Igbo community of Southeastern Nigeria. We designed a research-based instructional model to address these presuppositions. The relationship between the levels of nonscientiﬁc presuppositions held by students and their achievement in genetics was assessed. Finally, the effect of the instructional model on students’ relinquishing these non- scientiﬁc presuppositions and on their achievement was determined relative to a comparison group. It was found that this group of students had nonscientiﬁc presuppositions that they used in explaining genetic phenomena, and that the present instructional model aided the students in relinquishing these nonscientiﬁc presuppositions to a great extent. We conclude that a conceptual change model that addresses explicitly nonscientiﬁc presuppositions will lead to an increased understanding of science concepts.

(4) Ninth-Grade Student Engagement in Teacher-Centered and Student-Centered Technology-Enhanced Learning Environments HSIN-KAI WU YA-LING HUANG

ABSTRACT: Engagement has been viewed as an important construct to understand stu- dents’ learning performances in classroom settings. Taking an interactive perspective, the study investigates ninth graders’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement in teacher-centered (TC) and student-centered (SC) technology-enhanced classrooms. 54 students from two science classes in Taiwan participated in this study. Multiple sources of data were collected during a 3-week instructional unit. The statistical results showed that although students in the SC class reported having signiﬁcantly higher emotional engage- ment, the emotional engagement level had no impact on students’ learning achievement. Analyses of qualitative data showed that students in both classes spent a majority of class time on cognitive involvement in learning activities, but there were qualitative differences in cognitive and behavioral engagement between the two classes. One type of activities that did not occur in the TC class was making reﬂections in which students in the SC class self-assessed what they did. In addition, the SC class usually interacted through group discussions provoked by the simulations, whereas the TC class frequently inter- acted through initiation – response – evaluation sequences and engaged in student-initiated discussions. The ﬁndings suggest that both instructional approaches promoted students’ conceptual understanding and provided students with different opportunities to engage in science learning.

“Chemistry for All, Instead of Chemistry Just for the Elite”: Lessons Learned From Detracked Chemistry Classrooms MAIKA WATANABE

ABSTRACT: Within the already limited literature on instructional practices in detracked classrooms, there are even fewer research-based studies of detracked science classrooms. This article attempts to address this gap in the research literature, delving into the unique challenges and instructional responses to teaching detracked science. The authors report on a case study of two chemistry teachers’ heterogeneous classrooms at a racially diverse, public high school in California, where all students have been required to take chemistry since the school’s founding in 1994. The authors highlight the following four beliefs and instructional practices that were instrumental in teachers’ successful efforts to teach detracked chemistry classes: (1) teachers’ true belief in a developmental conception of ability and intelligence; (2) a focus on an inquiry-based pedagogical approach to chemistry foregrounding real-world contexts; (3) a focus on teaching students study skills; and (4) a strong sense of community in the classroom, where students are held responsible for their own and each other’s learning. To illustrate each of these ﬁndings, the authors select vivid examples from ﬁeldnotes of classroom observations as well as interviews of teachers and students that make clear how teachers enacted and students experienced these elements in chemistry classrooms.

Addressing Nonscientiﬁc Presuppositions in Genetics Using a Conceptual Change Strategy N. M. MBAJIORGU, N. G. EZECHI, E. C. IDOKO

ABSTRACT: Researchers are becoming aware of the inﬂuence of students’ presupposi- tions in directing their construction of science concepts. When these are entrenched and drastically nonscientiﬁc, they predispose the children to alternative explanatory frameworks that are inhibiting, especially in a knowledge domain such as genetics. In this study, we identiﬁed such nonscientiﬁc presuppositions among 17- to 18-year-old secondary school students from the Igbo community of Southeastern Nigeria. We designed a research-based instructional model to address these presuppositions. The relationship between the levels of nonscientiﬁc presuppositions held by students and their achievement in genetics was assessed. Finally, the effect of the instructional model on students’ relinquishing these non- scientiﬁc presuppositions and on their achievement was determined relative to a comparison group. It was found that this group of students had nonscientiﬁc presuppositions that they used in explaining genetic phenomena, and that the present instructional model aided the students in relinquishing these nonscientiﬁc presuppositions to a great extent. We conclude that a conceptual change model that addresses explicitly nonscientiﬁc presuppositions will lead to an increased understanding of science concepts.