Vertical Collaborative Inquiry: Assessing Elementary and Middle School Students’ Models of Energy Transfer in Ecosystems

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  In Roundtable Session: Influences on Teaching Science

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of a collaborative inquiry project involving four urban science teachers from different schools and grade levels in the Boston Public Schools. The vertical collaboration model assessed students’ development of energy transfer in an ecosystem through creating scientific models across grade levels. Student models were analyzed at two levels: level of understanding of scientific models and content knowledge. The results of a thematic analysis indicated that student-generated models revealed more about students’ understanding and misconceptions than other more limited assessments, and student knowledge correlated with more complex models. Recommendations include increasing the use of scientific models as a learning task and assessment tool to improve students’ systems-based thinking in science.

Authors

• Erin A. Hashimoto-Martell, Boston College/Boston Public Schools

• Michael Clinchot, Boston Public Schools

• Fiona Bennie, Boston Public Schools

• Haven Daniels, Boston Public Schools