The Relationship Between Engagement in and Articulation of Authentic Scientific Practice (Poster 73)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Seven
  In Poster Session: Youth Teams in Education Research Poster Session

Abstract

The purpose of this inquiry is to investigate the efficacy of an intervention during high school science instruction. The epistemological foundations of student’s scientific knowledge were examined before and after the intervention, through written declarative statements about the nature of scientific practices. The intervention includes, but is not limited to, students engaging in authentic scientific practices using the Next Generation Science Standards.
Our research questions include: 1) How does an intervention affect students’ ability to describe science and scientists? 2) How does the explicit instruction affect the efficacy of transfer between engaging in scientific practices and forming declarative statements about science? 3) What is the gradient of change between simple and naïve statements to sophisticated and more accurate statements?
Testing these ideas requires our Youth Researchers to examine and code written statements from students who were prompted to answer the following questions: What is Science? What Do Scientists Do?
To measure student performance, several methods were employed, starting with the crude quantifiable measurement, such as character count in the responses. The next level of analysis was the coding of key words that show sophistication of scientific knowledge. And finally, student interviews were conducted to investigate the process of transfer.
The theoretical framework for this project relies on the notion that language and learning are inextricably linked, however, the mechanism for evaluating the causal agent remains unclear. For example, engagement in a practice does not necessarily mean that one is articulate in that practice. This tension is a criticism of sociocultural theory, which suggests that learning is situated, meaning that how one learns is dependent on the contextual nature of how the learning takes place.
The results show that despite making gains, learning implicitly is insufficient for articulating authentic scientific practice. This tension is examined in this study.

Authors

• Brian M. Wargo, Freedom Area High School
  Presenting Author

• Leannah Messenger, Youth Teams in Education Research
  Presenting Author

• Brandi Bonzo, Youth Teams in Education Research
  Presenting Author

• Carter Altvatter, Youth Teams in Education Research
  Presenting Author

• Ana Shipman, Youth Teams in Education Research
  Presenting Author

• Meadow Ging‐Wargo, Youth Teams in Education Research
  Presenting Author