Handbook of Research on Science Teaching and Learning


Book Description

Sponsored by the National Science Teachers Association, this handbook provides a uniquely comprehensive and current survey of the best reasearch in science eduction complied by the most renowned researchers. More than summaries of findings, the content provides an assessment of the significance of research, evaluates new developments, and examines current conflicts, controversies, and issues in the major science disciplines: biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science.




Teaching Scientific Inquiry


Book Description

What are scientific inquiry practices like today? How should schools approach inquiry in science education? Teaching Science Inquiry presents the scholarly papers and practical conversations that emerged from the exchanges at a two-day conference of distinctive North American ‘science studies’ and ‘learning science’scholars.




Scientific Research in Education


Book Description

Researchers, historians, and philosophers of science have debated the nature of scientific research in education for more than 100 years. Recent enthusiasm for "evidence-based" policy and practice in educationâ€"now codified in the federal law that authorizes the bulk of elementary and secondary education programsâ€"have brought a new sense of urgency to understanding the ways in which the basic tenets of science manifest in the study of teaching, learning, and schooling. Scientific Research in Education describes the similarities and differences between scientific inquiry in education and scientific inquiry in other fields and disciplines and provides a number of examples to illustrate these ideas. Its main argument is that all scientific endeavors share a common set of principles, and that each fieldâ€"including education researchâ€"develops a specialization that accounts for the particulars of what is being studied. The book also provides suggestions for how the federal government can best support high-quality scientific research in education.




Taking Science to School


Book Description

What is science for a child? How do children learn about science and how to do science? Drawing on a vast array of work from neuroscience to classroom observation, Taking Science to School provides a comprehensive picture of what we know about teaching and learning science from kindergarten through eighth grade. By looking at a broad range of questions, this book provides a basic foundation for guiding science teaching and supporting students in their learning. Taking Science to School answers such questions as: When do children begin to learn about science? Are there critical stages in a child's development of such scientific concepts as mass or animate objects? What role does nonschool learning play in children's knowledge of science? How can science education capitalize on children's natural curiosity? What are the best tasks for books, lectures, and hands-on learning? How can teachers be taught to teach science? The book also provides a detailed examination of how we know what we know about children's learning of scienceâ€"about the role of research and evidence. This book will be an essential resource for everyone involved in K-8 science educationâ€"teachers, principals, boards of education, teacher education providers and accreditors, education researchers, federal education agencies, and state and federal policy makers. It will also be a useful guide for parents and others interested in how children learn.




Teaching Science


Book Description

Reflective practice is at the heart of effective teaching, and this book helps you develop into a reflective teacher of science. Everything you need is here: guidance on developing your analysis and self-evaluation skills, the knowledge of what you are trying to achieve and why, and examples of how experienced teachers deliver successful lessons. The book shows you how to plan lessons, how to make good use of resources, and how to assess pupils' progress effectively. Each chapter contains points for reflection, which encourage you to break off from your reading and think about the challenging questions that you face as a new teacher. The book comes with access to a companion website, www.sagepub.co.uk/secondary.




Learning and Teaching Scientific Inquiry Research and Applications


Book Description

Science teacher educators, curriculum specialists, professional development facilitators, and K - 8 teachers are bound to incresae their understanding and confidence when teaching inquiry after a careful reading of this definitive volume. Advancing a new perspective, James Jadrich and Crystal Bruxvoort assert that scientific inquiry is best taught using models in science rather than focusing on scientists' activities. The authors place additional emphasis on sharing cognitive science research that provides valuable insight into how students learn and how instructions should teach. Educators will find detailed examples, practice problems, activities, and lesson ideas that apply research finding to practical scenarios for the classroom. Extensively researched and pilot tested in both classrooms and professional development settings, Learning and Teaching Scientific Inquiry will help teachers integrate authentic scientfific inquiry into their science programs.




Teaching Science in Diverse Classrooms


Book Description

As a distinctive voice in science education writing, Douglas Larkin provides a fresh perspective for science teachers who work to make real science accessible to all K-12 students. Through compelling anecdotes and vignettes, this book draws deeply on research to present a vision of successful and inspiring science teaching that builds upon the prior knowledge, experiences, and interests of students. With empathy for the challenges faced by contemporary science teachers, Teaching Science in Diverse Classrooms encourages teachers to embrace the intellectual task of engaging their students in learning science, and offers an abundance of examples of what high-quality science teaching for all students looks like. Divided into three sections, this book is a connected set of chapters around the central idea that the decisions made by good science teachers help light the way for their students along both familiar and unfamiliar pathways to understanding. The book addresses topics and issues that occur in the daily lives and career arcs of science teachers such as: • Aiming for culturally relevant science teaching • Eliciting and working with students’ ideas • Introducing discussion and debate • Reshaping school science with scientific practices • Viewing science teachers as science learners Grounded in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), this is a perfect supplementary resource for both preservice and inservice teachers and teacher educators that addresses the intellectual challenges of teaching science in contemporary classrooms and models how to enact effective, reform




Effective Teaching of Science


Book Description

This book reviews the literature on effective science teaching, examining research from the United Kingdom and other countries. The studies included were those that made comparisons between two or more groups differing in science education experiences; those that involved upper elementary or lower secondary students; those that made comparisons in terms of achievement in science or outcomes related to achievement; and those in which innovation was sustainable in normal classrooms. The book focuses on eight aspects of science education that might impact students' achievement but which have received less attention than other aspects (such as gender bias). The book features 10 chapters which include the eight topics: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "The Role of Practical Work"; (3) "Using Computers"; (4) "Approaches to Constructivism"; (5) "Cognitive Acceleration"; (6) "Assessment"; (7) "Planning, Questioning, and Using Language"; (8) "The Curriculum"; (9) "Teachers' Understanding of Science"; and (10) "Discussion." (Contains approximately 197 references.) (SM)




Good Practice In Science Teaching: What Research Has To Say


Book Description

This volume provides a summary of the findings that educational research has to offer on good practice in school science teaching. It offers an overview of scholarship and research in the field, and introduces the ideas and evidence that guide it.




A Framework for K-12 Science Education


Book Description

Science, engineering, and technology permeate nearly every facet of modern life and hold the key to solving many of humanity's most pressing current and future challenges. The United States' position in the global economy is declining, in part because U.S. workers lack fundamental knowledge in these fields. To address the critical issues of U.S. competitiveness and to better prepare the workforce, A Framework for K-12 Science Education proposes a new approach to K-12 science education that will capture students' interest and provide them with the necessary foundational knowledge in the field. A Framework for K-12 Science Education outlines a broad set of expectations for students in science and engineering in grades K-12. These expectations will inform the development of new standards for K-12 science education and, subsequently, revisions to curriculum, instruction, assessment, and professional development for educators. This book identifies three dimensions that convey the core ideas and practices around which science and engineering education in these grades should be built. These three dimensions are: crosscutting concepts that unify the study of science through their common application across science and engineering; scientific and engineering practices; and disciplinary core ideas in the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences and for engineering, technology, and the applications of science. The overarching goal is for all high school graduates to have sufficient knowledge of science and engineering to engage in public discussions on science-related issues, be careful consumers of scientific and technical information, and enter the careers of their choice. A Framework for K-12 Science Education is the first step in a process that can inform state-level decisions and achieve a research-grounded basis for improving science instruction and learning across the country. The book will guide standards developers, teachers, curriculum designers, assessment developers, state and district science administrators, and educators who teach science in informal environments.