Jim Short, Ed.D. American Museum of Natural History Jamie Mikeska, Ph.D. Michigan State University.
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Transcript of Jim Short, Ed.D. American Museum of Natural History Jamie Mikeska, Ph.D. Michigan State University.
Using Secondary Data Sets to Develop Teachers' Understandings about
Scientific Inquiry and Investigations
Jim Short, Ed.D.American Museum of Natural History
Jamie Mikeska, Ph.D.Michigan State University
Gottesman Centerfor Science Teaching & Learning
To extend the use of Museum resources into formal K-12
education
amnh.org/education
The goal of the Urban Advantage program is:
To improve students’ understanding of scientific knowledge and inquiry through collaborations between the public school system and science-rich cultural institutions of New York City.
UA ProgramSchool Year
2004-2005
2005-2006
2006-2007
2007-2008
2008-2009
2009-2010
2010-2011
2011-2012
Schools 31 111 129 156 147 174 156 138
New Teachers 62 133 116 127 61 182 86 64
Continuing Teachers 62 94 129 196 204 285 282
Total Teachers 62 195 210 256 257 386 371 346
UA Students 5,500 18,722 21,016 27,541 24,793 37,582 37,822 34,829
2011-2012:50 schools have > 3 UA teachers
69 schools include all grades (6, 7, 8)
UA Framework: Six ComponentsProfessional Development
Workshops for science teachers and school administrators
Classroom Materials and Equipment Science materials/equipment for schools, teachers, & students
Access to Institutions Vouchers for class field trips, family field trips and visits
Outreach to Families Public exhibitions of student work, family science events at
institutions, support for school-based family science nights
Capacity-Building and Sustainability Lead Teachers, Leadership Institute for science teams
Assessment Program goals, student learning, and systems of delivery
Raw performance data suggests UA is effectiveStudent Weighted Mean Achievement, 8th Grade Intermediate Level Science (ILS) Test – Percent Proficient
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 20100
20
40
60
80
38.244.0
39.3 40.548.5 46.2
53.2
44.3 40.044.2
57.7 55.5 56.3
UA Non-UA
Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Y6
1st year UA
Urban Advantage is about students doing “real” science
Science Exit ProjectsNYC has defined four types of science
investigations:
Controlled Experiments
Field Studies
Design Projects
Secondary Research
New Teacher PD goalsCycle 1 (2 days) Provide an introductory learning experience using specific UA tools and strategies for
teaching science exit projects. Provide an overview of the four types of science exit projects and how UA partner
institutions support the teaching of long-term science investigations. Cycle 2 (5 days) As learners, teachers complete their own science exit project using specific UA tools and
strategies designed to support students and the resources of a particular UA partner institution.
Teachers reflect on their learning experience and develop plans for how to incorporate effective school group visits to a particular UA partner institution.
Teachers develop lesson plans for their classrooms that apply the specific UA tools and strategies designed to support science exit projects with students and the resources of a particular UA partner institution.
Cycle 3 (1 day) Teachers learn how to design an effective school group visit to a second UA partner
institution that is connected to the process of teaching students how to do successful science exit projects.
Essential Features of Scientific Inquiry in the ClassroomEngaging in scientifically oriented questions
Giving priority to evidence
Formulating explanations from evidence
Evaluating explanations in light of alternative
explanations
Communicating and justifying proposed
explanations
National Research Council
Understandings about Scientific Inquiry from the National Science Education Standards
Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of scientific investigations.
Current scientific knowledge and understanding guide scientific investigations.
Mathematics is important in all aspects of scientific inquiry.
Technology used to gather data enhances accuracy and allows scientists to analyze and quantify results of investigations.
Scientific explanations emphasize evidence, have logically consistent arguments, and use scientific principles, models, and theories.
Science advances through legitimate skepticism.
Scientific investigations sometimes result in new ideas and phenomena for study.
Science Practices from the new Framework for K-12 Science Education
Asking questions
Developing and using models
Planning and carrying out investigations
Analyzing and interpreting data
Using mathematics, information and computer technology, and computational thinking
Constructing explanations
Engaging in argument from evidence
Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information
Exit Projects at the MuseumSecondary research investigations
Earth ScienceCentral Park weather data from NOAA using
ExcelEarthquake data from IRIS
Life ScienceHudson River ecosystem and zebra mussel
invasion
Learning Science as Inquiry with the Urban Advantage:
Formal-Informal Collaborations to Increase Science Literacy and Student Learning
NSF-funded DR-K12 ProjectJim Short, Principal Investigator, AMNH
Suzanne Wilson, Co-Principal Investigator, Michigan State University
HypothesisLearners must have access to the real work of scientists if they are to learn both about the nature of science and to do inquiry themselves.
Guiding QuestionsHow can informal science education institutions
best design resources to support teachers, school administrators, and families in the teaching and learning of students to conduct scientific investigations and better understand the nature of science?
How are these resources then used, and to what extent and in what ways do they contribute to participants’ learning?
How are those resources then used for student learning?
Project Goals1. Refine the Urban Advantage professional
development model by including opportunities to engage in field studies and the use of authentic scientific data sets to investigate the zebra mussel invasion of the Hudson River ecosystem
2. Extend the resources available to help teachers understand the nature of scientific work and apply this understanding to their teaching
3. Integrate a research agenda into the Urban Advantage program
Teaching Case
Understandings about scientific inquiryMeet the Scientists Four passages describing the work of Cary Institute scientists
Teacher versions for use in professional development Student versions for use in the classroom
Four video segments of scientists at work in the field and in the lab
Short documentary video feature of Cary Institute scientists
Abilities to do scientific inquiryGraph the Data, Analyze the Data Web-based data interactive of data sets from Cary Institute
Data Collection Guiding Question: How are these resources used?
Observed four PD sessionsTook field notes on teachers’ learning
opportunities and interactions
Collected supporting documents (e.g., handouts, charts) used or created during each session
Completed structured observation protocol describing each PD activity
Data AnalysisCoded each PD activity for:
Opportunities to do scientific inquiry (SI)Opportunities to understand the nature of
science (NOS) Opportunities to understand the nature of
scientific inquiry (NOSI)
Coding PD ActivitiesScientific Inquiry PracticesAsk questionsDesign investigationsConduct investigationsCollect dataDraw conclusions
Coding PD ActivitiesNOS Aspects
TentativenessEmpirical basisSubjectivityCreativitySociocultural embeddednessDistinction between
observation and inferenceDistinction between laws
and theories
NOSI AspectsQuestions guide investigationsMultiple methods of scientific
investigationsMultiple purposes of scientific
investigations Justification of scientific
knowledgeRecognition and handling of
anomalous dataSources, forms of, and
distinctions between data and evidence
Community of practice
FindingsMultiple opportunities to observe and engage in all
scientific inquiry practicesTeachers engaged in two “mini-cycles” of scientific
investigations over the course of the four sessions
PD activities emphasized building teachers’ understanding about:Empirical and creative nature of scientific knowledge
Importance of observations and inferences in generating scientific knowledge
Use of questions to guide scientific investigations
Use of data and evidence to justify scientific knowledge
FindingsPD enacted theory of teacher learning
involving two specific features:
Teachers witness scientists’ work
Recreate similar experiences for teachers to engage in
Observed this pattern with activities related to helping teachers generate and understand scientific explanations and data
FindingsScientists’ work…Teaching case video showed
Cary Institute scientists making data collection decisions and collecting data
Teaching case videos showed scientists using their data and previous research to construct explanations for the relationships between the zebra mussel population and various biotic and abiotic factors
Teachers’ work…Teachers made plans for
their own data collection in Central Park and wrestled with similar problems when doing field work
Teachers used Developing a Scientific Explanation tool to construct explanations to answer their original investigation questions
Continued WorkHypothesize that the interplay between these
two features – witnessing scientists’ work and engaging in similar experiences – provided a rich learning environment for teachers
Using other data sources – survey responses, teachers’ completed exit projects, classroom observations, teacher interviews – to explore in what ways these resources contribute to participants’ learning
Contact InformationJim Short, Ed.D.Director, Education DepartmentAmerican Museum of Natural [email protected](212) 769-5139amnh.org/education/hudsonriver
Jamie Mikeska, Ph.D.Project DirectorMichigan State [email protected](517) 432-9991http://education.msu.edu/research/projects/urban-advantage