Science Education as a Pathway to Teaching Language Literacy


Book Description

In this era of mandated high stakes and standardized testing, teachers and schools officials find themselves struggling to meet the demands for improved student achievement. At the same time, they are also expected to teach all subjects as required by national and state curriculum standards.




Science Education as a Pathway to Teaching Language Literacy


Book Description

In this era of mandated high stakes and standardized testing, teachers and schools officials find themselves struggling to meet the demands for improved student achievement. At the same time, they are also expected to teach all subjects as required by national and state curriculum standards. Because of these competing demands, science is not even taught or taught less often in order to make more room for mathematics and language arts "drill and practice" and "teaching to the test." Anyone concerned with providing students with a well-rounded education should ask whether these drastic measures-even if they were to show improvement in achievement-justify denying children access to the unique opportunities for intellectual growth and social awareness that the effective instruction of science provides. Will these students have enough exposure to the science curriculum to prepare them to do well later in middle and high school? How is this current situation going to help ameliorate the pervasive achievement gap in science, and how is it going to motivate students to pursue science-related careers? The authors of this book believe that instead of sacrificing the science curriculum to make more time for drill and practice in mathematics and language arts, what should be done is to connect current research on literacy and science instruction with effective pedagogy. Therefore, this volume provides fresh theoretical insights and practical applications for better understanding how science can be used as a pathway to teaching literacy, and hence, as a pathway to improving teachers' practice and students' learning.




Language and Literacy in Science Education


Book Description

Science in secondary schools has tended to be viewed mainly as a 'practical subject', and language and literacy in science education have been neglected. But learning the language of science is a major part of science education: every science lesson is a language lesson, and language is a major barrier to most school students in learning science. This accessible book explores the main difficulties in the language of science and examines practical ways to aid students in retaining, understanding, reading, speaking and writing scientific language. Jerry Wellington and Jonathan Osborne draw together and synthesize current good practice, thinking and research in this field. They use many practical examples, illustrations and tried-and-tested materials to exemplify principles and to provide guidelines in developing language and literacy in the learning of science. They also consider the impact that the growing use of information and communications technology has had, and will have, on writing, reading and information handling in science lessons. The authors argue that paying more attention to language in science classrooms is one of the most important acts in improving the quality of science education. This is a significant and very readable book for all student and practising secondary school science teachers, for science advisers and school mentors.




STEM Road Map


Book Description

STEM Road Map: A Framework for Integrated STEM Education is the first resource to offer an integrated STEM curricula encompassing the entire K-12 spectrum, with complete grade-level learning based on a spiraled approach to building conceptual understanding. A team of over thirty STEM education professionals from across the U.S. collaborated on the important work of mapping out the Common Core standards in mathematics and English/language arts, the Next Generation Science Standards performance expectations, and the Framework for 21st Century Learning into a coordinated, integrated, STEM education curriculum map. The book is structured in three main parts—Conceptualizing STEM, STEM Curriculum Maps, and Building Capacity for STEM—designed to build common understandings of integrated STEM, provide rich curriculum maps for implementing integrated STEM at the classroom level, and supports to enable systemic transformation to an integrated STEM approach. The STEM Road Map places the power into educators’ hands to implement integrated STEM learning within their classrooms without the need for extensive resources, making it a reality for all students.




Complexity and Simplicity in Science Education


Book Description

This edited volume brings together a broad range of international science education studies, focusing on the interplay of teaching and learning science. It recognizes the complexity present in today’s education, associated with major science related issues faced by society, such as climate change, diseases and pandemics, global conflicts over energy, food and water. The studies discussed in this volume are focused on presenting different opportunities to teach these convoluted matters in order to find simplicity within the complexity and make it accessible to learners. They bring together the challenges of preparing the students of today to become scientifically informed citizens of tomorrow.




International Handbook of Research on Multicultural Science Education


Book Description

This handbook gathers in one volume the major research and scholarship related to multicultural science education that has developed since the field was named and established by Atwater in 1993. Culture is defined in this handbook as an integrated pattern of shared values, beliefs, languages, worldviews, behaviors, artifacts, knowledge, and social and political relationships of a group of people in a particular place or time that the people use to understand or make meaning of their world, each other, and other groups of people and to transmit these to succeeding generations. The research studies include both different kinds of qualitative and quantitative studies. The chapters in this volume reflect differing ideas about culture and its impact on science learning and teaching in different K-14 contexts and policy issues. Research findings about groups that are underrepresented in STEM in the United States, and in other countries related to language issues and indigenous knowledge are included in this volume.




Teaching Reading in Science


Book Description

This book suggests that the reading of science text and textbooks requires the same thinking skills that are involved in a hands-on science activity and presents the latest research on reading and learning science. This supplement also includes suggestions on how to implement appropriate science readings into instruction and help students learn how to construct meaning from science textbooks. Contents include: (1) "Three Interactive Elements of Reading"; (2) "Strategic Processing"; (3) "Strategic Teaching"; (4) "Six Assumptions about Learning"; and (5) "Reading Strategies." (Contains 54 references.) (YDS).




Illuminating and Advancing the Path for Mathematical Writing Research


Book Description

Mathematical writing is essential for students’ math learning, but it’s often underutilized due to unclear guidelines. Mathematical writing is a mode of communication that provides teachers access to their students’ thinking and, importantly, offers students an opportunity to deepen their mathematical understanding, engage in mathematical reasoning, and learn a fundamental way to communicate mathematically. Notably, one needs to be able to judiciously combine mathematical symbols, representations, and text. However, more research is needed to exemplify the qualities of mathematical writing, develop implementation methods, and support teachers. Illuminating and Advancing the Path for Mathematical Writing Research, is a necessary comprehensive resource designed to enhance mathematical writing and promote equitable learning. This research book provides a comprehensive understanding of the current state of mathematical writing and illuminates various perspectives on moving the teaching and learning of k-12 mathematical writing forward. Mathematical writing is an important yet underutilized component of mathematical discourse, and this book offers further insight into understanding what it means to write mathematically for mathematics educators and researchers. It informs with research-based implementation strategies and creates purposeful professional learning opportunities. Ultimately, k-12 students will benefit from a more informed field because they will have access to a vital mode of mathematical reasoning and communication.




Supporting K-12 English Language Learners in Science


Book Description

The contribution of this book is to synthesize important common themes and highlight the unique features, findings, and lessons learned from three systematic, ongoing research and professional learning projects for supporting English learners in science. Each project, based in a different region of the U.S. and focused on different age ranges and target populations, actively grapples with the linguistic implications of the three-dimensional learning required by the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards. Each chapter provides research-based recommendations for improving the teaching of science to English learners. Offering insights into teacher professional learning as well as strategies for measuring and monitoring how well English learners are learning science and language, this book tells a compelling and inclusive story of the challenges and the opportunities of teaching science to English learners.




Inquiry-Based Science in the Primary Classroom


Book Description

The chapters in this book represent a cross-section of research conducted in inquiry-based science education at primary levels of schooling in international contexts that include school settings in Australia, India, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, Northern Ireland, and the United States. The book includes empirical studies on the role of inquiry-based learning in advancing students’ conceptual understanding and modelling proficiency, students’ understandings about the nature of scientific inquiry, classroom studies on teachers’ enactment of inquiry-based learning, teachers’ facilitation of classroom discourse for inquiry-based learning, and co-teaching in developing teachers in adopting an inquiry-based pedagogy. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal Education 3–13.