Approaches for Using Texts to Advance Literacy and Science Learning

• In Event: 30.029 - Integrating Literacy and Science to Promote Equitable Opportunities in Project-Based Learning: An Interdisciplinary Effort

Abstract

The role of text in PBL in science in the elementary grades is an underexplored area of inquiry; in fact, text use has typically been maligned in this context because contemporary science education reforms emphasize using science, rather than learning about science (NRC, 2014), and the use of text has historically been conceived of as learning about science. Furthermore, PBL is typically focused on the creation of artifacts. Our argument is that well-chosen/designed texts - thoughtfully situated in robust tasks - can support both the learning of science concepts and the process of scientific inquiry in PBL contexts. Furthermore, we argue that it is especially incumbent upon researchers to determine how to employ text, and teach with text, in the elementary grades in schools in which children depend upon effective instruction to learn to read and engage in knowledge building with text.

In this paper, our objectives are to describe design-based research in which we are systematically exploring the design, selection, and use of text to: (1) motivate science inquiry, (2) provide accessible sources for knowledge building in science, and (3) support discourse in the service of science learning. This research is being conducted with the use of teaching experiments (Cobb, 1999) in which the researchers are designing and revising texts and tasks that are consistent with comprehension theory, specifically Kintsch’s (2004) construction-integration model of comprehension, and with the aims of PBL science instruction. The teaching experiments were conducted in a third-grade classroom with 34 students, a number of whom had Individualized Education Plans, and whose literacy achievement, measured in terms of decoding and text comprehension, varied widely.

In the full paper we will articulate the design principles and text genres with which we experimented. By way of illustration, in the context of a unit designed to teach (among other core concepts) structure/function relationships, we designed a text describing the structure and function of a bird’s beak. The text was segmented so that each segment focused on a specific kind of beak. After each segment, students were asked to compare the different beaks. The segmenting and comparisons allowed students to accumulate specific information and represent that information in a rich web of contrasting examples. As a second example, for the same unit, we designed four texts, supplemented with video clips, about bird behaviors (such as murmuration and flocking). Using a jigsaw approach, students acquired and shared their expertise regarding these behaviors. In Papers #2 and #3, we present cases constructed from the teaching experiments in this third-grade classroom, illustrating innovative texts and uses of text.

This research is significant because it provides developmental information for researchers and curriculum developers who seek to identify a potential trajectory that would inform instruction for middle school students that addresses the ambitious ELA literacy goals that support the NGGS practices including: conducting research, using textual evidence, and synthesizing complex information.

Authors

• Annemarie S. Palincsar, University of Michigan

• Linda L. Kucan, University of Pittsburgh