Analysis of Elementary Students Applying Three-Dimensional Science Learning to Construct Explanations in Project-Based Learning

• In Event: 45.027 - Supporting Elementary and Middle School Students to Write Scientific Explanations

Abstract

Purpose
The Next Generation Science Standards demand students engage in three-dimensional science learning, defined as making sense of phenomena or solving problems by using scientific and engineering practices (SEPs), disciplinary core ideas (DCIs) and crosscutting concepts (CCCs) working together. This study examined how features of project-based learning (PBL) may support elementary students in applying aspects of three-dimensional science learning when constructing scientific explanations.

This case study examined how students, engaging with an earth science unit in the Multiple Literacies in Project-based Learning (ML-PBL) curriculum, used DCIs on energy transfer, and CCCs on cause and effect, to construct scientific explanations of landform phenomena. The following research questions served to focus this study:
1. What aspects of three-dimensional learning (i.e., DCIs, CCCs, and SEPs) from the ML-PBL unit did students use in constructing their explanations?
2. What design features of project-based learning did students orient toward in constructing their explanations?

Perspectives
PBL design principles (e.g., students figure out phenomena, have choice in their learning, etc.; see Authors, 2018) may promote opportunities for students to coherently engage in three-dimensional science learning. The ML-PBL curriculum, wherein students continually construct explanations of phenomena using a Claim-Evidence-Reasoning (CER) format (McNeill & Krajcik, 2011), serves as a potential example of how PBL can support three-dimensional science learning.

Methods
This initial analysis used sociocultural perspectives that theorize conceptual tools - like DCIs, CCCs, and SEPs- as mediating desired activity (Vygotsky, 1978). Identifying patterns of data required qualitative coding approaches, including codes for mediating tools (e.g., aspects of energy transfer DCIs, CER components).

Data Sources
Data in this study were collected from a fourth-grade classroom of 19 students. Primary sources of data included three sets of students’ scientific explanations, each pertaining to different landform phenomena (e.g., riverbanks, cliffs, mudslides) from the unit.

Results
Over the course of the 8-week unit, students generally showed more use of energy transfer DCIs (e.g., “…river gives energy…”), more use of aspects of the CER format, and more use the CCC cause and effect (e.g., “…energy transfer causes…”) (see Appendix A). However, usage for each aspect presented challenges. Regarding constructing explanations, students repeated data from the evidence section as their reasoning, or conversely, provided only aspects of DCIs as evidence. This points to a potential need to design more effective scaffolds for elementary students for navigating a CER format. PBL features students oriented to the most in their explanations included investigations of figuring out phenomena, which students consistently drew on as evidence for their claims.

Significance
This study provides potential design insights for developing PBL science curricula at the elementary level that can support students in engaging in constructing explanations as part of three-dimensional science learning.

Author

• Samuel Severance, Michigan State University