Leaving the laboratory: Using Field Science to Disrupt and Expand Historically Enduring Narratives of Science Teaching and Learning

Abstract

Despite efforts to help youth form better connections to the natural world, many recent science initiatives (such as the Next Generation Science Standards) privilege laboratory science over field science, thus reinforcing an image of science that is placeless and individual. To better understand the impact of field science on youth, we examined youths' experiences and participation in field science across two separate research projects, one of which was associated with a school (the "moth project") and one of which occurred in an informal setting (the "herpetology project"). We argue that field science, which is not given the same attention in NGSS as science derived from laboratory work, might disrupt and expand science teaching and learning. By expand, we mean that field science offers novel opportunities for youth and educators to develop and engage in practices that disrupt persistent sociohistorical narratives of how science work is accomplished, and that emphasize the cultural production of knowledge in a setting by making public the meaning making that is negotiated in a community. Such expanded moments differ from many experiences in which youth and educators expand typical ways of knowing and participating valued across many formal and informal settings.

Emotion, place, and practice: Exploring the interplay in children's engagement in ecologists' sampling practices

“…As science education ideally becomes more rooted in the places and causes central to young people's lives, it will be important to attune to and sustain these emotional relationships, understandings, and histories children have within their daily locales. Given that science education research and the related reform documents draw heavily from western, laboratory‐based depictions of practice (Stroupe & Carlone, 2021), scholarship further centering emotion and field‐based studies will be important in ensuring multifaceted understandings of how science practices are sparked and sustained. Existing work in ecology studies offers a strong grounding in this area already, elevating the reciprocal relationships among practice and place possible for children, families, and scientists alike (e.g., Kimmerer, 2013; Marin & Bang, 2018).…”

CAREER: Rethinking How Middle and High School Students Analyze and Interpret Ecological Data

“…Thus, in science learning settings, the focus may be on the scientific content (e.g., ecological phenomena), but learners can-likely will-consider other aspects of the place in which they live, developing an understanding of both science and the place they live simultaneously. A place-based approach is a complement to fieldwork (Stroupe & Carlone, 2021) and observation-based ecology (Merritt & Bowers, 2020) approaches.…”