Mapping Feminized Fish, Discovering Science Through Representational Scaffolds

• In Event: Toward a Refined Understanding of Social and Material Scaffolds in STEM Education

Abstract

Objectives
This study describes the use of representational scaffolds (Palincsar, 1998) in a group setting during a chemical oceanography afterschool program for girls from groups traditionally underrepresented in the sciences. The program was a collaboration between an urban middle school, the local chapter of a national society for scientists of color, the School of Oceanography, and the Learning Sciences program at a research university in the Pacific Northwest. The program was also a design-based research initiative (Bell, 2004) to introduce youth of color to practices of the geosciences through inquiry-based curriculum and a self-designed action project.
The representational scaffolds were designed collaboratively with natural scientists to help youth understand content, engage in scientific explanation and argument, and use of tools and languages of science to access data from a peer reviewed article about fish feminization in Puget Sound.

Theoretical Framework
“Scaffolding implies that given appropriate assistance, a learner can attain a goal or engage in a practice otherwise out of reach" (Davis & Miyake, 2004). This study describes the use of representational scaffolds in a group setting where the students interacted with peers, representational scaffolds, more competent others, and complex scientific data. Pea (2004) cites Wood et al. (1976) when describing scaffolding as channeling, focusing, and modeling. We view data driven representations (Kali & Linn, 2008) as scaffolds that promote student learning.

Methods
The data for this study come from audio and visual recordings of classroom interactions, artifacts, and written youth reflections. Youth data were collected over two afterschool program sessions in November 2010 and April 2011. Participants include ten girls (from cultural backgrounds such as African American, Asian American, Somali, Caucasian, and Latina) in grades six and eight in an urban middle school.

Findings
Initial findings indicate that youth used representational scaffolds to engage directly with data in ways that parallel expert engagement: recognizing patterns, questioning validity, and generating evidence-based conclusions. Sixth graders asked questions about sample site distribution and validity. Eighth graders noticed a correlation between the numbers of feminized male fish and population density.

Scholarly Significance
This year’s call for papers asked AERA researchers to think about the aspects of learning that move beyond knowing and doing. As the field strives to build “spaces” for youth to gain expertise in the sciences, a focus on knowing and doing is essential but fails to capture all aspects of learning. Herrenkohl and Mertl (2011) answer this challenge by exploring aspects of learning as being. We believe that research on learning environments that allow youth to do science is integral to understanding the ways that youth become the kinds of people who can be scientists.
The field of literacy has addressed the role of scaffolding in learning through cognitive apprenticeship (Palincsar & Brown, 1984) and culturally responsive reading instruction (Lee, 2007; Au, 1980). This paper argues that engaging with data driven representations in science can impact youth identity development by placing them in parallel roles to science professionals, and maximizing participation.

Authors

• Deana Scipio, University of Washington

• Shelley Stromholt, University of Washington

• Amanda Bruner, University of Washington

• Andrew W. Shouse, University of Washington