Agenda for the afternoon

2:00 pm – 2:45 pm: Learning theories (constructivism, behavioral and cognitive)

2:45 pm – 3:30 pm: Supporting key pedagogical practices (Part 1):

Addressing students’ everyday conceptions and misconceptions across grades 5-10. 

3:30 pm – 3:45 pm: Break 

3:45 pm – 4:30 pm: Supporting key pedagogical practices (Part 1): Levels of representations in science (macroscopic, microscopic, symbolic) – examples from biology, chemistry and physics.

How do we learn?

1. Work in groups of four or five. Write in the middle of the paper “How do we learn?

2. For 2 minutes each person writes down what she/he thinks how we learn.

3. Then move clockwise one place. Read what your colleague has written and add a comment.

4. Repeat step #3 until you be back at your first statement. Read what has been written.

5. Sharing with all groups in whole group.

How do we learn?

Learning via Conceptual Change

Conceptual Change: A context-appropriate change to the target science concept and a broadening of the learned scientific concept. (Duit, 1996)

Learning: A process of active construction which is shaped, helped or hindered—by the students’ prior knowledge and conceptions.

Students choose selectively from the whole host of teacher’s information, including all conscious and unconscious comments and statements.

Students choose information to which they can give their own meaning based on their previous conceptions.

Learning via Conceptual Change

The brain actively interprets the selected information and “draws inferences based on its stored information” (Nakhleh, 1992, p. 191).

Previous cognitive structures will either be:partly supplemented or broadened (conceptual growth), or rearranged, newly structured, and their area of application and status of importance changed (conceptual change) (Duit, 1996).

Student creates her or his cognitive structures, which represent sensible, coherent, and conclusive understandings of events and phenomena in her or his surroundings (Osborne & Wittrock, 1983).

Has learning happened?

Quote of a 17-year old student in his third year of chemistry:

“When I look at the formula for carbon dioxide (CO2) then carbon must be gotten out of it. But in reality it is not possible to extract a solid, black substance from an invisible gas”

(Pfundt, 1975, p. 158).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkEJTiodg-Q http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkEJTiodg-Q

Addressing everyday conceptions/misconceptions

What do students know about a scientific concept”

Elicit their prior knowledge: Probe 13, 2012, pp. 69-74

Doing science – engage students in scientific inquiry

Scientific Inquiry

How do we do inquiry?

In groups of four do the following task:Using the handout create a helicopter and explore the properties of a helicopter.Share your work, ideas and experiences with the whole class.

Types of Inquiry

Essential Features of anInquiry-based Classroom

Learners engage in scientifically-oriented questions

Learners give priority to evidence in responding to questions

Learners formulate explanations from evidence

Learners connect explanations to scientific knowledge

Learners communicate and justify explanations

(NRC, 1996, p. 29)

(Probe #12, Vol. 3, pp. 93-100)

Related Ideas about Doing Science Grades 5 to 8

Understanding about Inquiry:Different kinds of questions suggest different kinds of investigations

Observing and describing objects, organisms, or eventsDesigning and conducting experimentsSeeking informationMaking models

No fixed set of steps but scientific investigations usually involve:

Collection of relevant evidenceUse of logical reasoningApplication of imagination in devising hypotheses and explanations to make sense of collected evidence

Related Ideas about Doing Science Grades 5 to 8

History and Nature of ScienceScientist formulate and test their explanations of nature using

Observations,experiments, andtheoretical and mathematical models

Related Ideas about Doing Science – Grades 9, 10 and higher

Understanding about scientific inquiry

Investigations are conducted for different reasons includingTo explore new phenomenaTo check on previous resultsTo test how well a theory predictsTo compare different theories

Controlling of condition in order to obtain evidence

Observe as wide range of natural occurrences as possible to be able to discern patterns

Levels of Representations

Levels of RepresentationsGo into subject groups and discuss examples of scientific concepts on the three levels of representations: macroscopic, explanatory or microscopic, and symbolic.

Share examples with whole class

For technology educators: see next slide

Levels of RepresentationsMultimedia simulations allow learners to view and interact with models of phenomena and processes.

Such simulations provide learners with visual representations of dynamic theoretical entities that are difficult to represent in the static environment of the science textbook but are critical for understanding why matter behaves as observed.

Such simulations encourage active learning by giving students opportunities to manipulate complex systems and discern patterns through their own investigations.

Your task is to design a multimedia simulation reflecting the three levels of representation of a scientific phenomena. What simulation design questions would you have?

Macroscopic level

Overarching Understandings for ContentObservable (Macroscopic/Phenomenological/Everyday Experience/Everyday Conceptions) Example:

Water boiling

Students everyday conceptions(Probe #8, Vol. 2, pp. 65-70)

Observed phenomena can be explained by the behavior of particles: The observed pressure of a gas arises from the combined effect of many particles

Explanatory (Microscopic) LevelExplanatory (Models, Theories)

All matter is made up of tiny particles called atomsThe particles in solids, liquids and gases are always moving (never still).

The properties of matter you see are a result of how those atoms behave.

Symbolic Level

Symbolic (Graphs, Formulas)

A variable is something that changesRelationships between variables can be plotted on a graphRelationships between variables can be interpreted from a graph

What can boiling water teach us?Content Understanding

Kinetic molecular theory

Gases are composed of particles that are constantly in motion

There is empty space between the particles of a gas

The average speed of particles in motion is related to the temperature of the gas (higher speeds correspond to higher temperatures)

Internal pressure is directly proportional to temperature Internal pressure is directly proportional to number of particles

Content Understanding

Gas laws

Diffusion

Internal pressure is directly proportional to temperatureInternal pressure is inversely proportional to volumeVolume is directly proportional to temperature

Mass of the particles affects their rate of diffusionTemperature affects the rate of diffusion

Content Understanding

Phase change

Adding heat energy changes state

Interactions between particles affects the amount of heat energy needed for phase change

Phase change requires energy change but no change in temperature

SummaryEveryday conceptions vs. misconceptions

Conceptual change and constructivist learning theories

Addressing everyday conceptions/misconceptions

Inquiry-based learning

Levels of Representations