Argumentation and Explanation when Participating in After School Citizen Science Program

• In Event: Impacts and Implications of Participation in Informal Science Education for Students' Science Engagement and Teachers' Practice

Abstract

The purpose of this video ethnographic case study will be to describe the interaction between students and how they interact and engage in authentic scientific practices in an after school citizenship science project. Preliminary findings show that students throughout the entire course of the program participated in some form of an authentic scientific practice such as gathering and analyzing data and samples. Peers notice students who position themselves outside of authentic scientific practices and make it known. The instructional aid’s engagement in authentic scientific practices positions the students as incorrect or wrong. Findings from this study highlight the importance participating in scientific practices mediates becoming part of a scientific community of practice with its own purpose, discourse, and methods.

Authors

• David Da Wei Liu, University of California - Irvine

• Jennifer Joan Long, University of California - Irvine