Promoting Meta-Epistemic Understanding of Science Practices When Learning About Food, Water, and Energy

• In Event: 67.019 - Investigating Epistemic Cognition in Relation to Food, Water, and Energy Issues

Abstract

The papers in this symposium focus on the interconnections between epistemic cognition and learning and thinking about food, water, and energy (FEW) issues. The purpose of our paper is to provide a theoretical analysis of what it means to reason well about FEW issues. We also argue for a new type of instruction termed inquiries into knowing as a way to promote better reasoning
Much of the psychological work on epistemic cognition has focused on epistemic cognition as a set of beliefs (e.g., beliefs about the simplicity and certainty of knowledge; beliefs about how knowledge is justified) or as a progression of developmental stances (e.g., development from objectivist through evaluativist stances). In Barzilai & Chinn (2018), we have argued that that these approaches capture only some of the important elements of successful epistemic performance. We argue instead for a conceptualization of successful epistemic performance in terms of five aspects: (1) cognitive engagement in epistemic performance, (2) adapting epistemic performance, (3) understanding and regulating epistemic performance, (4) caring about and enjoying epistemic performance, and (5) achieving epistemic aims together with others. Within each of these aspects, we specify the appropriate aims, ideals (criteria), and reliable processes needed to achieve successful epistemic performance. Our analysis is grounded in an extensive review and analysis of relevant philosophical, sociological, psychological, and educational literature that help us characterize critical elements of successful epistemic performance. We will illustrate key elements of this analysis by showing its relevant to reasoning about FEW issues.
Our empirical research indicates that an important challenge for promoting successful epistemic performance is that students may not understand (Aspect 3) the aims, ideals, and reliable processes that can be productively used to build knowledge about FEW issues. We present evidence from our own empirical research with middle school and ninth-grade science students that students often have non-normative ideas about appropriate aims, ideals, and processes used to construct knowledge. For example, students may think that it is more important for scientific models to be comprehensible than to be aligned with evidence, due to an underappreciation of the role of evidence in promoting the accuracy of models. They may believe that observation blind to condition is undesirable because observers do not know what to look for when the condition is masked. Educators need to help students not only know about appropriate aims, ideals, and reliable processes for constructing scientific knowledge; they need to help students grasp why these aims, ideals, and reliable processes should be adopted. This requires units that enable students to consider the evidence and arguments for adopting particular aims, ideals, and reliable processes; we call these units inquiries into knowing. These units make aims, ideals, and processes of knowing the focus of inquiry, so that students come to grasp why certain aims and ideals are valuable, and why scientific processes are reliable. We illustrate how such inquiries could be integrated into FEW learning environments.

Authors

• Clark A. Chinn, Rutgers University

• Sarit Barzilai, University of Haifa

• Ravit Golan Duncan, Rutgers University