Discourse and Agency during Scaffolded Middle School Science Instruction

Critical thinking (CT) is widely regarded as an important competence to obtain in education. Students’ exposure to problems and collaboration have been proven helpful in promoting CT processes. These elements are present in student-centered instructional environments such as problem-based and project-based learning (P(j)BL). Next to CT, also higher-order thinking (HOT) and critical-analytic thinking (CAT) contain elements that are present in and fostered by P(j)BL. However, HOT, CT, and CAT definitions are often ill-defined and overlap. The present systematic review, therefore, investigated how HOT, CT, and CAT were conceptualized in P(j)BL environments. Another aim of this study was to review the evidence on the effectiveness of P(j)BL environments in fostering HOT, CT, or CAT. Results demonstrated an absence of CAT in P(j)BL research and a stronger focus on CT processes than CT dispositions (i.e., trait-like tendency or willingness to engage in CT). Further, while we found positive effects of P(j)BL on HOT and CT, there was a lack of clarity and consistency in how researchers conceptualized and measured these forms of thinking. Also, essential components of P(j)BL were often overlooked. Finally, we identified various design issues in effect studies, such as the lack of control groups, that bring the reported outcomes of those investigations into question.

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Situating Higher-Order, Critical, and Critical-Analytic Thinking in Problem- and Project-Based Learning Environments: A Systematic Review

Loyens

Meerten

Schaap

et al. 2023

Educ Psychol Rev

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Seeking a Comprehensive Theory About the Development of Scientific Thinking

Lombardi,

Sinatra,

Bailey

et al. 2024

Educ Psychol Rev

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Socio-Scientific Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparing In-person and Virtual Science Learning Using Model-Evidence Link Diagrams

et al. 2023

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Science learning is an important part of the K-12 educational experience, as well as in the lives of students. This study considered students’ science learning as they engaged in the instruction of scientific issues with social relevance. With classroom environments radically changing during the COVID-19 pandemic, our study adapted to teachers and students as they were forced to change from more traditional, in-person instructional settings to virtual, online instruction settings. In the present study, we considered science learning during a scaffold-facilitated process, where secondary students evaluated the connections between lines of scientific evidence and alternative explanations about fossil fuels and climate change and gauged the plausibility of each explanation. Our investigation focused on the relations between students’ levels of evaluations, shifts in plausibility judgments, and knowledge gains, and examined whether there were differences in these relations between in-person classroom settings and virtual classroom settings. The results revealed that the indirect relational pathway linking higher levels of evaluation, plausibility shifts toward a more scientific stance, and greater knowledge gains was meaningful and more robust than the direct relational pathway linking higher levels of evaluation to greater knowledge gains. The results also showed no meaningful difference between the two instructional settings, suggesting the potential adaptiveness and effectiveness of properly-designed, scaffolded science instruction. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10956-023-10046-z.

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Discourse and Agency during Scaffolded Middle School Science Instruction

Cited by 10 publications

References 75 publications

Situating Higher-Order, Critical, and Critical-Analytic Thinking in Problem- and Project-Based Learning Environments: A Systematic Review

Situating Higher-Order, Critical, and Critical-Analytic Thinking in Problem- and Project-Based Learning Environments: A Systematic Review

Seeking a Comprehensive Theory About the Development of Scientific Thinking

Socio-Scientific Learning During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Comparing In-person and Virtual Science Learning Using Model-Evidence Link Diagrams

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