Examining the Teacher’s Role in Supporting Elementary Students’ Meaningful Engagement in

Scientific ModelingLi Ke and Christina V. Schwarz

Michigan State University

Investigate how learners develop proficiency in the different aspects of scientific practices involved in argumentation, explanation, and modeling

• How can we make science practices meaningful for learners in classrooms?

• How do students develop increasing sophistication in their understanding about and performance of science practices?

Epistemic Considerations

Nature of Account

What kind of answer should our model provide?[Descriptions, details, mechanism]

JustificationHow do we justify our model?[Right/wrong, authority, evidence]

AudienceWho will use our model and how?[Show what I know, persuade others]

GeneralityHow should our model connect to other phenomena and ideas?[be specific, apply broadly, coherence]

Project Goals

Epistemology in Practice

Epistemology in practice: Epistemological understandings about nature of science that guide engagement in the knowledge building work of science.Epistemic considerations: Issues that guide students’ knowledge-building decisions, evident in their products, discourse, and rationales.

• In what ways do the teachers support students’ engagement in the four epistemic considerations of modeling practices?

• How do students take up those epistemic considerations while engaging in modeling practices?

Research Questions

Research Context

• Participants: Two fifth-grade science classrooms taught by two teachers (Mrs. M and Mr. H) in a Midwestern suburban public elementary school from 2012-2013

• Curriculum: a 6-8 week modeling-based evaporation/condensation unit in which students constructed, evaluated, and revised diagrammatic models of phenomena with respect to empirical data and science ideas to answer the driving question: How and why does water appear or disappear on/from surfaces?

• Data: Video-recordings of key parallel modeling lessons in which students were expected to develop, revise, and evaluate their models of evaporation or condensation

Sample Classroom Conversation

Sample Student Group Discussion

Findings

• While Mrs. M framed the purpose of modeling as developing ideas to explain phenomena, Mr. H highlighted modeling as developing a final knowledge product (to add scientifically correct information to the model).

• While Mrs. M emphasized Generality the most, Mr. H focused more on Justification than any other epistemic consideration.

• Students in Mrs. M’s class had many more opportunities to engage in the conversations about the epistemic considerations of modeling practices than Mr. H’s students.

• When developing, revising and evaluating scientific models in groups, students in Mrs. M’s class engaged in conversations that included both procedural and epistemic aspects of modeling practices. In comparison, students in Mr. H’s class were largely procedural and task-oriented.

Group discussion of constructing a consensus model of evaporation (Mrs. M’s classroom)

Sue We have to explain it didn’t seep through the cup, if someone asked that. Our model cannot explain that.

Jack Well, does this explain how paint dries?.

Sue Yes, the water molecules are leaving. This explains how nail polish dries. It also explains how you can smell stuff because molecules go away carrying scent.

Emilia How about labels? Did you label it? Like an open cup.

Ben We know it’s an open cup. If you shaded it in, it’s obviously a closed cup.

Emilia I’m just saying, it’s good to label, just, just saying.

Jack Most people put labeling on what a good model should have.

Acknowledgement

Evaluating student’ model (Mr. H’s classroom)

Mr. H OK, there are molecules, right? They said there are water molecules coming out of the top and the bottom. Great. Is that enough proof for you that evaporation is happening?

Mike No.

Alex Kind of.

Mr. H You think so, Alex?

Alex Where’s the timeline?

Mr. H Why do you need a timeline, Alex?

Alex Because you don’t know what will actually happen.

Mr. H How do we know that those molecules weren’t just there? I’m just throwing these questions back at you guys. These are for you to decide. Alex, you feel that a timeline is necessary?

Alex Well, like I said, those molecules wouldn’t really be there so you don’t actually even know if it’s starting out like that or ending like that.

Mr. H OK. We don’t know if it’s starting or ending like this. Those water molecules could have been in the gas already. Remember the evidence. What evidence do we have that evaporation happens? What have we seen in the labs that we did?

We thank May Lee, Joshua Rosenberg and Gail Richmond for their feedback on this study. This research was funded by the National Science Foundation grants ESI-0628199 and DRL 1020316.

Epistemic Considerations

Students’ engagement in modeling

practices

Teacher’s instructional

practices

Nature of Account Justification Audience Generality

NSF 1020316

Implications

• Teacher’s framing of modeling practices can help clarify goals of scientific modeling for elementary students, which may in turn influence how they construct, revise and evaluate models.

• Teachers can support elementary students’ meaningful engagement in scientific modeling by making the epistemic considerations explicit as well as giving students opportunities to use those considerations while developing and revising their own models.

• Teachers can use epistemic considerations as a formative assessment tool to inform their teaching practice.