Successful STEM Education A Workshop Summary (2011) / Chapter Skim
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3 Practices That Support Effective STEM Education
3 Practices That Support Effective STEM Education
Pages 25-42
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SCIENCE Richard Duschl described recent approaches focused on treating sci ence in the classroom as a practice, and Okhee Lee discussed ways science education can reach traditionally underserved students.
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. Reaching students and helping them to develop as science learners depends instead on instruction that is rich in core knowledge and the practices that are essential to science, such as argument and critique, modeling and representation, and ways in which knowledge is applied.
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Doing so means allowing students to design and conduct empirical investigations, linking the investigations to the core knowledge students are developing, working from a curriculum that is linked to meaningful problems, and providing frequent opportunities for students to engage in logical arguments as they learn to build and refine explanations for their observations. Table 3-1 illustrates the relationships among the categories of empirical reasoning students need to develop, scientific practices, and the actions involved in those practices.
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28 SUCCESSFUL STEM EDUCATION TABLE 3-1 Relationships Among Categories of Empirical Reasoning, Scientific Practices, and Actions Categories for Empirical Reasoninga Scientific Practicesb Verbsb Planning, Selection of observation tools Presents, asks, responds, Designing Data and schedule, selection of discusses, revises, expands, Acquisition measurement tools and units challenges, critiques, knows, of measurement, selection of uses, interprets questions(s) , understanding interrelationships among central science concepts, use central science concepts to build and critique arguments Data Collection Observing systematically, Examines, reviews, measuring accurately, evaluates, modifies, structuring data, setting generates standards for quality control, posing controls, forming conventions Evidence Use results of measurement Extends, refines, revises, (data use)
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There is a need for more research on students' learning pathways in different domains or subjects, as well as research on ways to use learning progressions effectively in teaching. Reaching Diverse and Underserved Students Persistent achievement gaps between student groups are a particular concern in science education because of the increasing economic importance of science and technology, Okhee Lee noted.
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The implication of this cognitive perspective for instruction, Lee observed, is that "when teachers identify and incorporate students' cul tural and linguistic experiences as intellectual resources for science learn ing, they provide opportunities for students to learn to use language, think, and act as members of a science learning community." Other researchers have explored the ways in which nonmainstream students' cultural traditions may be at odds with Western science as it is practiced and taught, and Lee called this the cross-cultural perspec tive because it is grounded in the literature on multicultural education. These researchers have examined varying world views and culturally specific patterns of communication and interaction (see, e.g., Snively and Corsiglia, 2001)
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Studies of informal science learning, in particular, she noted, suggest that students perform at high levels when they see science as personally meaningful and relevant to their current and future lives, and when they are able to actively engage in it. This research sug gests that the mistrust that nonmainstream students bring to the typical classroom is a formidable challenge for their science learning, and that science teachers "must learn to take into account the historical, social, and cultural environments in which their students live," Lee said.
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. The researchers used a quasiexperimental design in which participants were matched according to their achievement prior to the study to examine and compare the implementation of an integrated mathematics curriculum and a traditional
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Researchers used multiple data sources -- pertaining to factors such as professional development, familiarity with standards, distribution of classroom time among lesson development, noninstruction, practice, and closure -- to develop understanding of the relationship of student outcomes to teachers' implementation of the curricula (see Confrey and Maloney, 2011)
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Student results were measured using the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Measure. The researchers found the highest scores for the students exposed to "Math Expressions" and "Saxon Math." Confrey noted that teachers using "Math Expressions" received more professional devel opment than did teachers using the other curricula, and those teachers also provided more supplements to the curriculum.
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It is very important to be clear about what outcomes the measures are capturing and what factors influence implementation in a particular context before drawing conclusions about a curriculum. Teachers' capacities and the professional development they receive are critical, Confrey concluded.
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Class rooms that serve low-income and minority students are much more likely to focus on basics and emphasize instruction that focuses on repetition, practice, and mastering basic arithmetic, Nasir reported from her reading of the research. These conditions have been exacerbated by the recent focus on high-stakes testing, as districts serving nonmainstream students often follow curriculum and instructional practices that have been characterized as teaching to the test in an attempt to increase student scores on
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The first is that a high-quality curriculum that presents cognitively demanding tasks and builds conceptual understanding and reasoning skills helps students build their skills and become "facile with multiple mathematical representations and multiple solution strategies." Second, classroom practices that foster student-centered dis course and free exploration of mathematical ideas, while addressing multiple kinds of abilities, also help marginalized students learn. "Teachers in successful classrooms find ways to disrupt traditional notions of mathematical competence, such as speed," Nasir explained, "and find ways to assign competence to students who have in the past been unsuccessful in mathematics -- for example, by pointing out that particular students ask really good questions." Additional descriptive research also suggests the importance of approaches in which teachers connect to students' cultural and social backgrounds and focus on building strong relationships with students.
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Unfortunately, however, Nasir reported, the Railside mathematics department has recently been under pressure from the district to raise standardized test scores and to use textbooks as the core of their instruc tion. This pressure has coincided with a district mandate to move from a block schedule, which allowed 90-minute periods, to a schedule with seven 45-minute periods every day and an increase in class sizes (the result of budget cuts in the district)
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Studies comparing outcomes for different instructional approaches are needed, as are longitudinal studies that can link classroom practices to equity outcomes. Also important, in her view, will be the development of improved learning measures that can better capture the most important knowledge and skills that students should acquire.
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For example, when a teacher has a clear understanding of the ideas students bring to the topic, he or she can choose or adapt activities and learning opportuni ties that address those student ideas as well as the learning goals.
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BOLT, instead, focuses on the process of "coming to know" science ideas, Minstrell explained, and the development of the classroom as a "community of science learning." As a class works together to develop consensus in their understanding of the material they are studying, they operate as scientists do. In doing so, they take responsibility for their own learning.
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In response to concerns about how to take the successes the program has had with small groups of teachers to a larger scale, Minstrell added, he and his colleagues have developed a web-based program, called Diagnoser Instructional Tools, which provides learning goals, questions designed to elicit student thinking, developmental lessons, and tools for reporting data to students and teachers students. All the tools are based on the research-based facet clusters.1 There is also a need for much more research to support the development of such tools as the facet clusters, Minstrell explained.
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