Field trips are a popular method for introducing students to concepts, ideas, and experiences that cannot be provided in a classroom environment. This is particularly true for trans-disciplinary areas of teaching and learning, such as science or environmental education. While field trips are generally viewed by educators as beneficial to teaching and learning, and by students as a cherished alternative to classroom instructions, educational research paints a more complex picture. At a time when school systems demand proof of the educational value of field trips, large gaps oftentimes exist
Years before encountering their first formal science lessons in elementary school, children may already be practicing scientific thinking on a weekly, if not daily, basis. In one recent survey, parents reported that their kindergartners engaged, on average, in more than 300 informal science education activities per year - watching science television shows, reading science-oriented books, and visiting museums and zoos (Korpan, Bisanz, Bisanz, Boehme, & Lynch, 1997). This strikes us as a lot, but it is likely to pale in comparison to what young children may experience five years from now
This theoretical paper attempts to make the case for the use of narrative (i.e., fictional written text) in science education as a way of making science meaningful, relevant and accessible to the public. Grounded in literature pointing to the value of narrative in supporting learning and the need to explore new modes of communicating science, this paper explores the use of narrative in science education. More specifically, in this paper we explore the question: What is narrative and what are its necessary components that may be of value to science education? In answering this question we
One issue of interest to practitioners and researchers in science centres concerns what meanings visitors are making from their interactions with exhibits and how they make sense of these experiences. The research reported in this study is an exploratory attempt, therefore, to investigate this process by using video clips and still photographs of schoolchildren’s interactions with science centre exhibits. These stimuli were used to facilitate reflection about those interactions in follow‐up interviews. The data for this study were 63 small group interviews with UK primary school children (129
After establishing an argument for attention to the role of beauty and aesthetics in science and scientific inquiry, this paper reviews literature in four areas that contributes to an understanding of a "scientific-aesthetic" space: (1) beauty in ideas and their form; (2) beauty in wonder, awe, and sublime; (3) beauty as it relates to cosmology and understanding God's design, and; (4) beauty in experience with science and scientific ideas. Following this, research exploring connections between aesthetics and science, including related conversations like interest, out-of-school transfer, and
Many science educators encourage student experiences of “authentic” science by means of student participation in science-related workplaces. Little research has been done, however, to investigate how “teaching” naturally occurs in such settings, where scientists or technicians normally do not have pedagogical training and generally do not have time (or value) receiving such training. This study examines how laboratory members without a pedagogical background or experience in teaching engage high school students during their internship activities. Drawing on conversation analysis, we analyze
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Pei-Ling HsuWolff-Michael RothAsit Mazumder
The purpose of this study was to investigate how two female students participated in science practices as they worked in a multimedia case-based environment: interpreting simulated results, reading and writing multiple texts, role-playing, and Internet conferencing. Using discourse analysis, the following data were analyzed: students' published web posters, Internet conferencing logs between American and Zimbabwean university students, and a focus group interview. Three constructs supported the development of these students' identities in practice: (a) multimedia cases creating emotional
The authors explored the perceived effects of an environmental expressive writing exercise by using a modified phenomenological method. The authors asked preservice teachers enrolled in a required public university science and society education course to compose multigenre compositions describing personal environmental impacts, followed by written reactions to the assignment. A group of 5 students from the course participated in interviews in which the authors investigated their backgrounds, attitudes, and experiences related to the expressive writing project. Analysis of the participants'
Learning to see inequity in science is critical to anyone who is actively encouraging young people to invest their education, career, and life in the discipline. If the culture of science is grossly inequitable, why should students take the risk of entering this discipline over careers in other arenas? Many scholarly publications from the fields of psychology, science education, and sociology have described inequities in science; proposed theoretical frameworks for understanding them; and explored practical strategies for addressing such inequities, but progress in jettisoning these inequities
This study follows an ethnically and economically diverse sample of 33 high school students to explore why some who were once very interested in science, engineering, or medicine (SEM) majors or careers decided to leave the pipeline in high school while others persisted. Through longitudinal interviews and surveys, students shared narratives about their developing science identities, SEM participation and aspirations. In analysis, three groups emerged (High Achieving Persisters, Low Achieving Persisters, and Lost Potentials), each experiencing different interactions and experiences within
A recognised aim of science education is to promote critical engagement with science in the media. Evidence would suggest that this is challenging for both teachers and pupils and that science education does not yet adequately prepare young people for this task. Furthermore, in the absence of clear guidance as to what this means and how this may be achieved it is difficult for teachers to develop approaches and resources that address the matter and that systematically promote such critical engagement within their teaching programmes. Twenty-six individuals with recognised expertise or interest