Inquiry‐based science in the middle grades: Assessment of learning in urban systemic reform

Abstract

Science education standards established by American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the National Research Council (NRC) urge less emphasis on memorizing scientific facts and more emphasis on students investigating the everyday world and developing deep understanding from their inquiries. These approaches to instruction challenge teachers and students, particularly urban students who often have additional challenges related to poverty. We report data on student learning spanning 3 years from a science education reform collaboration with the Detroit Public Schools. Data were collected from nearly 8,000 students who participated in inquiry‐based and technology‐infused curriculum units that were collaboratively developed by district personnel and staff from the University of Michigan as part of a larger, district‐wide systemic reform effort in science education. The results show statistically significant increases on curriculum‐based test scores for each year of participation. Moreover, the strength of the effects grew over the years, as evidenced by increasing effect size estimates across the years. The findings indicate that students who historically are low achievers in science can succeed in standards‐based, inquiry science when curriculum is carefully developed and aligned with professional development and district policies. Additional longitudinal research on the development of student understanding over multiple inquiry projects, the progress of teacher enactment over time, and the effect of changes in the policy and administrative environment would further contribute to the intellectual and practical tools necessary to implement meaningful standards‐based systemic reform in science. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 41: 1063–1080, 2004

No silver bullet for inquiry: Making sense of teacher change following an inquiry‐based research experience for teachers

“…The four teachers in this study gained an understanding of scientific inquiry through direct research experiences. The case studies of Renee and Kaitlin provide images of what teachers actually were doing following professional development, addressing a call for this in the literature (Marx et al, 2004: Yerrick, 2000. This research also adds credence to the model of teachers at the center of reform (Woodbury & Gess-Newsome, 2002), highlighting the role of teachers' underlying goals, beliefs, and values, corroborating the work of Anderson (2002), Crawford (2007), Kegan (1994), and others.…”

“…Indeed, the ways in which teachers actually implement inquiry in the classroom following professional development have not been adequately studied (Crawford, 2000;Marx et al, 2004;Yerrick, 2000).…”

Is alignment enough? Investigating the effects of state policies and professional development on science curriculum implementation

“…The focus on reading and mathematics in federal and state policy has led school leaders to increase instructional time for those subjects, often at the expense of science instruction (Diamond & Spillane, 2004;Lee & Luykx, 2006;Marx et al, 2004). Even prior to passage of No Child Left Behind, case studies offer examples of schools where accountability pressure on elementary schools to increase achievement in reading and mathematics has diminished attention to science and science curriculum (Means et al, 2001;Spillane et al, 2001).…”

Doing the project and learning the content: Designing project‐based science curricula for meaningful understanding

“…An investigation project might, for example, require answering a puzzling question about why some finches survived a crisis on a Galápagos island while many others died off or ask students to investigate different causes of disease and how their bodies fight disease (Hug, Krajcik, & Marx, 2005). Studies of investigation PBS curricula suggest that they improve students' meaningful understanding of science (Krajcik et al, 2008;Linn, Bell, & Davis, 2004;Linn & Clark, 1997;Marx et al, 2004;Rivet & Krajcik, 2004;Schneider, 2002). A performance project, on the other hand, might require designing paint, fins, and nose cones to make model rockets go as high as possible (Barron et al, 1998) or designing and building a miniature car and its propulsion system to go over several hills and beyond .…”