The development of science process skills in authentic contexts

Abstract

Instructional strategies and curriculum sequences aimed at teaching process skills have received considerable attention in science education. On the other hand, the teaching of domain‐independent, context‐free skills has been subject to criticism on the ground that important aspects of cognitive activities are functions of meaningful contexts. The intent of this study was to examine the development of integrated process skills in the context of open‐inquiry laboratory sessions. The data‐collection approach was qualitative and included videotapes of laboratory sessions, laboratory reports of students, and the reflective journals kept by the two teachers involved in the study. Forty‐eight students from the Grade 11 introductory physics course, 29 students from the Grade 12 physics course, and 60 students from the Grade 8 general science course from an all‐boys private school participated in the study. An interpretive research methodology was adopted for construction of meaning from the data. Students worked in collaborative groups during all of the open‐inquiry laboratory sessions. Findings from the study indicate that students develop higher‐order process skills through nontraditional laboratory experiences that provided the students with freedom to perform experiments of personal relevance in authentic contexts. Students learned to (a) identify and define pertinent variables, (b) interpret, transform, and analyze data, (c) plan and design an experiment, and (d) formulate hypotheses. Findings of this study suggest that process skills need not be taught separately. Integrated process skills develop gradually and reach a high level of sophistication when experiments are performed in meaningful context.

Using Role-Play to Improve Students’ Confidence and Perceptions of Communication in a Simulated Volcanic Crisis

“…Simulation is defined as a learning experience that occurs within an imaginary or virtual system or world (van Ments 1999) and 'role-play' as the importance and interactivity of roles in pre-defined scenarios (Errington 1997(Errington , 2011. Simulation and role-play require more active participation from students than lecture-based teaching techniques and intend to teach practical and theoretical skills that are transferable to different future situations (Roth and Roychoudhury 1993;Lunce 2006). Research shows that role-play and simulation improve student attitudes towards learning (DeNeve and Heppner 1997;van Ments 1999;Shearer and Davidhizar 2003) and interpersonal interactions (Blake 1987;van Ments 1999;Shearer and Davidhizar 2003), generic transferable skills (problem-solving and decision-making skills (Errington 1997;Barclay et al 2011), communication skills (Bales 1976;van Ments 1999;Hales and Cashman 2008); and teamwork skills (Maddrell 1994;Harpp and Sweeney 2002), as well as discipline-specific knowledge (DeNeve and Heppner 1997; Livingstone 1999) and volcanic eruption forecasting skills (Harpp and Sweeney 2002;Hales and Cashman 2008).…”

Developing views of nature of science in an authentic context: An explicit approach to bridging the gap between nature of science and scientific inquiry

“…Inquiry requires identification of assumptions, use of critical and logical thinking, and consideration of alternative explanations. (NRC, 1996, p. 23) Within a classroom, scientific inquiry involves student-centered projects, with students actively engaged in inquiry processes and meaning construction, with teacher guidance, to achieve meaningful understanding of scientifically accepted ideas targeted by the curriculum (Krajcik et al, 1994;Minstrell & van Zee, 2000;NRC, 1996;Roth & Roychoudhury, 1993).…”

Assessment of Application Technology of Natural User Interfaces in the Creation of a Virtual Chemical Laboratory

“…This way of teaching generates an increase in problem-solving skills among students (Yang and Heh 2007). Building scientific knowledge of students is associated with their ability of analytical thinking, which includes scientific reasoning and critical thinking (Roth and RoyChoudhury 1993;Tamir and Lunetta 1981). Scientific inquiry just as logical thinking requires student engagement (Roschelle et al 2000), the understanding of scientific knowledge and processes that are dependent on the cognitive structure related to the scientific, intellectual and social context (Cobb and Bowers 1999;Calik and Coll 2012;Calik et al 2013).…”