Abstract Teachers’ understanding and teaching of argumentation is gaining more attention in science education research. However, little is known about how science teachers engage in argumentation with teachers of different subject taking an interdisciplinary perspective that may inspire new pedagogical ideas or strategies. In particular, the positioning of argumentation at the juncture of science and religion is rare. This paper reports an empirical study involving science and religious education (RE) teachers who collaborated on teaching argumentation in three secondary schools in England. Their interdisciplinary collaboration was sustained by a series of professional development sessions over 18 months. Analysis of the interview data unfolds how the teachers’ collaboration impacted their understanding of argumentation and views of teaching their subject. Through working relationally in exploring and teaching argumentation, the science teachers reflected more notable changes than their RE counterparts. Science teachers came to appreciate student voice in the learning process and the role of argumentation in fostering students’ scientific reasoning. The paper is a salient step to researching argumentation in a cross-curricular terrain, particularly in relation to RE. It also sheds light on how collaborating with teachers of another subject bolstered science teachers’ professional development and broke subject barriers. 

/pdf/the-impact-of-collaboration-between-science-and-religious-1nlj6ond.pdf

The Impact of Collaboration Between Science and Religious Education Teachers on Their Understanding and Views of Argumentation

Spatial Navigation Test with Virtual Starmaze: the Role of Spatial Strategy in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education

ABSTRACT Background In learning astronomy, students need to shift between 3D and 2D representations involving complex interactions between the body and material environment. Little attention has been paid to the iconic nature of this astronomical diagramming. Purpose This research explored the value for students of diagramming to reveal the structural relationships of astronomical phenomena. The study aimed to 1) operationalise Charles Peirce’s pragmatist semiotics to analyse students’ bodily and material reasoning 2) identify the iconic nature of students’ diagramming through Stjernfelt’s activating of Peirce’s iconicity. Sample Two students (a pair) from a class of 30 Year 7 students (12 years old) and their teacher (1) from a government secondary school in Melbourne, Australia. Design and Methods A micro-ethnographic approach to the analysis of video/audio records and student artefacts was utilised in the context of three moments from a 1 hr lesson on astronomy. This data was analysed using Peirce’s sign types of icon, index and symbol to construct a triadic account of the bodily and material nature of students’ reasoning as diagramming. Results The two students determined, by revealing structural relationships with their bodies as well as a mini-whiteboard and a torch and globe, that the Sun is higher in the sky in Summer than Winter due to the Earth’s rotational axis with a tilt (of 23.5 degrees) and its elliptical orbit around the Sun. Conclusion For students to transduct between 3D and 2D astronomical representations, they need to coordinate space-based and Earth-based perspectives through bodily and material diagramming that makes apparent key structural relationships (i.e. iconicity).

A pragmatist semiotic analysis of secondary students’ embodied and material reasoning in astronomy

Scientific modeling (SM) is a core practice of science and an important component of scientific literacy. Supporting students in developing the competence to construct, use, evaluate, and revise models is hence of particular relevance. While research has shown that spatial visualization (SV), a core component of spatial ability, is correlated with student s’ SM performance, it is unclear which role SV plays in students performing the four elements of SM: the construction, the use, the evaluation, and the revision of models. This study analyzes the role of SV in the performance of a series of SM tasks by 279 students in Grades 4 and 7. The findings indicate that SV affects student s’ performance in SM but that the effect is more significant in Grade 4 than in Grade 7. More specifically, SV is significantly predictive for model revision in Grade 4, but significant for model evaluation in Grade 7. However, there was no gender difference in the effect of SV on SM. The implications are that science teaching and learning must better attend to supporting younger students through visual aids when engaging them in SM. The study also suggests that further studies are needed to understand the different cognitive processes involved in student s’ SM and their complex interplay.

Exploring the Relationship of Spatial Visualization and Scientific Modeling in Grades 4 and 7 Students Based on Cognitive Assessment Data

Scientific modeling (SM) is a core scientific practice and critical for students’ scientific literacy. Previous research has not used interactive computer assessment to investigate students’ SM ability. This study aimed to explore an effective way in human-computer interaction to reveal the challenges faced by students in the four-element process of constructing, using, evaluating, and revising models. Contextualized in the solar system, eleven interactive tasks assessed 419 students in grades 4, 7, and 10. Results indicated that “model evaluation” and “model revision” were more difficult for students than “model construction” and “model use.” Grade significantly predicted students’ SM ability (p<.001). The interaction with re-answer according to feedback promoted students’ in-depth reflection and performance in SM. Findings of the study may provide a basis for improving students’ SM ability.

/pdf/interactive-computer-assessment-and-analysis-of-students-2c7y0487.pdf

Interactive computer assessment and analysis of students’ ability in scientific modeling

Strong spatial skills are foundational in predicting students' performance in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. Decades of research have considered the relationship between thinking spatially and how scientists reason and solve problems. However, few studies have examined the factors that influence improvement in students' spatial thinking during their school science curricula. The present study investigates the ThinkSpace curricula—two middle school astronomy units designed to support students' ability to apply the spatial skill of perspective-taking (PT) while learning to explain lunar phases (3 days) and the seasons (8 days). U.S. students in 6th and 8th grades (N = 877) across four districts participated in the study, completing assessments before and after the ThinkSpace curricula, along with an additional group of students in 6th and 7th grades (N = 172) who participated as a spatial control group. Data collection included multiple-choice content assessments, PT skill assessments, and interviews (from a sub-sample of 96 students), before and after instruction. After participating in ThinkSpace curricula, students demonstrated improved spatial thinking within the domain of astronomy, as measured by improved written content assessments, increased application of PT during conceptual interviews, and a general measurement of PT skill. Higher initial PT skill and higher gain in PT skill predicted greater improvement in students' astronomy understanding, even when accounting for their initial content knowledge. Although ThinkSpace students in all demographic groups improved PT skill post-instruction, 8th graders (who were in districts with lower SES), and females were predicted to have smaller gains in their PT skill than the 6th graders (who were in districts with higher SES) and male students. These findings suggest that middle school students' spatial thinking in science can be improved during their middle school science curricula, but questions remain concerning how to reduce spatial-learning gaps that are associated with gender and possibly SES. 

Learning to think spatially through curricula that embed spatial training

This contribution interrogates shifts in the landscape of science education research and practice that have had a substantial influence on teacher learning in argumentation. Existing research on the specialized knowledge and practices unique to science teaching is summarized. From this, the question of why argumentation is uncommon in school science when there has been significant attention to research and practice in this area for decades is raised. In light of this dilemma, argumentation is considered in the context of current reform endeavors that foreground productive participation in scientific practices for understanding and using disciplinary core ideas in chemistry (and other domains of science) to construct evidence-based explanations for natural phenomena. The demands of supporting teacher development in argumentation is further explored using conceptual, epistemic, and social lenses. Once this terrain is mapped, the literature on science teachers’ learning needs is examined, and promising approaches for teacher learning and development are described. The chapter concludes with what the authors believe to be one of the most pressing considerations moving forward with the continuous professional development of science teachers – that of equitable opportunities and access to high quality science learning experiences for every student.

Chapter 7:Research and Practice on Science Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development in Argumentation

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Learning to think spatially through curricula that embed spatial training

Chapter 7:Research and Practice on Science Teachers’ Continuous Professional Development in Argumentation