Relevant Science: An Investigation of How Schoolteachers Make Science Relevant in the Classroom

• In Event: Marriott Roundtable Session Three
  In Roundtable Session: Teaching Science for Culture Relevance and Justice (Table 4)

Abstract

Previous research has addressed the importance of relevance by investigating the integration of real-world experiences with discipline knowledge, but little research addresses whether and how teachers make lessons relevant in practice. In this paper we investigated i) the types of information teachers practically integrate into classes to make content relevant to students; and ii) the extent to which they integrate these types of information, through a qualitative study of 8 different science classrooms. We identified four main different types of relevance information that teachers used and the prevalence of each relevance type. The framework that we present from our study can be used to aid teachers in creating a more relevant science lesson for their students.

Authors

• Sharon Lynn Chu, University of Florida
  Non-Presenting Author

• Brittany Garcia, Texas A&M University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Qing Li, University of Florida
  Presenting Author