1. ELE344 Dr. Jale Çakıro ğ lu

2. What is Science? The word science originates form the Latin word scientia, meaning “knowledge” Science: a way of constructing meaning that systematically uses particular ways of observing, thinking, investigating, and communicating to develop interconnected ideas about the physical and biological world.

3. What is Science? Science is an andeavor with 3 interrelated but distict aspects: ◦ a body of knowledge ◦ a methods or process ◦ a way of knowing and constructing reality

4. What is Science? 1. Body of Knowledge:  The knowledge is the laws, theories, concepts principles, etc. of science.  All disciplines have a body of knowledge (biology, physics, & chemistry)  Biology: structure and function of living things  Physics: the forces that govern the physical world  Chemistry: atoms, molecules, compunds and their interactions

5. What is Science? 2. Methods and Process: ◦ Scientific knowledge is necessarily developed through the use of various methods and processes. ◦ Some of the more common procedures used by scientists in the development of knowledge are observation, organization and representation of data, data analysis, hypothesizing, testing of hypotheses, inferences, and concluding.

6. What is Science? 3. Ways of knowing and constructing reality: ◦ A basic assumption of the scientific way of thinking is that world is knowable through empirical observation. ◦ No matter how hard scientists try, most of the time they can never collect a complete and absolute set of data on any object of interest. ◦ At some point, scientists must speculate and infer about what they can not see (e.g. no one has ever directly observed a single atom).

7. What is Science? These necessary inferences and speculations imbue scientific knowledge with certain unavoidable characteristics (NOS): ◦ Scientific knowledge is partially a product of human creative imagination. ◦ Scientific knowledge is tentative. ◦ Scientific knowledge is partially a function of human subjectivity. ◦ Scientific knowledge necessarily involves a combination of observation and inference

8. Why should Children Learn Science? Science is important for children to study today because: ◦ the natural world is inherently interesting to them, ◦ science provides entry to so many other areas of the curriculum, ◦ it is imperative that children grow up scientifically literate in this ever-changing world.

9. Why should Children Learn Science? Students should have the opportunity from the earliest grades to explore and begin to understand our wonderful and complex world. As a teacher in a new millennium, you must prepare children for an ever changing world. In the 21st century, this country will need many more people with special training in science, health care, and technology.

10. Goals of Science Education Use of science process skills Development of scientific literacy Understanding of the nature of science Understanding of science concepts, principles, and systems Demonstrating awareness of the social and historical aspects of science Communicating effectively using science language and reasoning Manifesting scientific attitudes and interests

11. Science Process Skills Scientist uses a variety of procedures to explore and explain the marvellous mysteries of our universe. These procedures have been called process of science. 1. Basic Skills 2. Integrated Skills

12. Basic Science Process Skills If childeren show that they can observe, classify, communicate, measure, estimate, predict, and infer, they are showing understanding of basic science processes. Basic skills can be emphasized at the primary level and then serve as a foundation for using the integrated skills at the intermediate grades and higher.

13. Basic Science Process Skills Observations Inference Classification Communication Measuring Prediction

14. Integreted Science Process Skills Rely on the student capabilities to think at a higher level and to consider more than one thought at a time. incorporate the basic skills in combination to facilate various investigative activities The basic skills are prerequisites for integrated skills-those necassary to do science experiments.

15. Integrated Science Process Skills ◦ Identifying & Controlling Variables ◦ Defining terms operationally ◦ Formulating Hypothesis ◦ Experimenting ◦ Collecting & recording data ◦ Interpereting data ◦ Drawing conclusion

16. Development of Scientific Literacy Develop scientifically literate citizens with intellectual resources, values, attitudes and inquiry skills to promote development of man as a rational human being (AAAS, 1993; MEB, 2000). The vision of new Turkish “Science & Technology” curriculum is: “All students, regardless of individual differences, should have the opportunity to attain high levels of scientific literacy”

17. What is Scientific Literacy? A general goal for scientific literacy in schools is awareness, appreciation, and understanding of the key scientific concepts and processes requires for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity. It includes understanding key concepts, principles, and processes of science and the ability to use this knowledge in making personal and societal decisions. It demands that people understand how science knowledge is generated, tested, and used.

18. What is Scientific Literacy? The scientifically literate person (Bybee et al., 1991) : ◦ understands the nature of modern science, the nature of scientific explanation, and the limits and possibilities of science.

19. Scientifically literate person: Ask, find or determine answers to questions from everyday life about the environment in which s/he lives. Read label, warning, & instructions on consumer products, food & practices. Read & understand articles about science & talk about them, drawing sound conclusions.

20. Scientifically literate person: Identify underlying issues & make informed decisions when local or national decisions about science are made. When scientific information is presented in the media, the SLP, can evaluate the quality of information based on its source & make determinations about the method used to generate the data. Adequate understanding of NOS. ARE YOU A SCIENTIFICALLY LITERATE PERSON?

21. Understanding the NOS An understanding of NOS as a method of inquiry is a fundamental component of scientific literacy. Teaching students about NOS can help them learn science content, enhance their interest in science, and facilitate their informed judgments and decisions about scientific issues.

22. Teaching the NOS It is inappropriate to expect your students to develop more appropriate notions of the NOS on their own or through conducting scientific inquiries or investigations. It is necessary to explicitly guide learners in their attempts to develop proper understandings of the nature of the scientific enterprise.

23. What is the NOS? Epistemology of science, science as a way of knowing, or values and beliefs inherit to the development of scientific knowledge ( Lederman, 1992 ). In order to distinguish science from other academic endeavors (e.g. political science, art, history, religion) it is the NOS that establishes the difference.

24. Scientific Knowledge tentative (subject to change) empirically-based (based on and/or derived from observations of the natural world), Subjective or theory-laden (Scientists’ theoritical commitments, beliefs, previous knowldge, training, expreiences actually influence their work), necessarily involves human inference, imagination, and creativity is socially and culturally embedded (influenced by social and cultural factors)

25. Additional important aspects Distinction between: observations & inference, The functions of, & the relationship between scientific theories & laws.

26. Inappropriate notion of NOS ◦ Far too many students and teachers still believe that scientific knowledge is:  provable in an absolute sense,  objective,  devoid of creativity and human imagination.  laws are theories that have been proven,  there exists a single scientific method which characterizes scientific investigation (Lederman, 1992). ◦ There is a simplistic, hierarchical relationship between observations, hypotheses, theories, and laws.

27. NOS Scientific knowledge is partly a product of human inference, imagination, and creativity, even though it is, at least partially, supported by empirical evidence (e.g. observations of the natural world). Scientific knowledge is never absolute or certain. This knowledge (including theories and laws) is tentative and subject to change.

28. Observation vs Inference Observations: descriptive statements about natural phenomena that are “directly” accessible to the senses (or extensions of the senses) Inferences: are interpretations of these observations that is based on prior knowledge and experience. statements about phenomena that are not “directly” accessible to the senses.

29. Theories and Laws Theories and laws are different kinds of knowledge, and, one can not become the other or be transformed into the other. Laws are statements or descriptions of the relationships among observable phenomena, whereas Theories are inferred explanations for observable phenomena, Laws can not be proven theories.

30. Alternative View of the Relationship of the Categories of Scientific Knowledge Social and Cultural Context

31. Understanding of science concepts Students come to science class with their ideas, Students’ ideas are often different from scientist, Students’ preconceptions are strongly held, pervasive & resistant to be changed at least by traditional teaching methods, not lead to substantial conceptual change.

32. Understanding of science concepts A goal of science teaching is to help children build on or abandon their misconceptions as they construct science concepts appropriate to their ages and cognitive abilities. The important question for teacher is:  “What can I do to help children change or give up their naïve concepts, that is their misconceptions, and construct more acceptable scientific concepts?”

33. Sources of Misconceptions Everyday experience  Using everyday language in a scientific context  Teacher factor  Textbook factor

34. How Students Learn The construction of knowledge begins with what students know when they come to science class. Students come to school with a great deal of personal knowledge about natural world, and this prior knowledge is a critical element in their learning science.

35. Constructivism Humans construct knowledge as opposed to knowledge being transmitted into learner minds. Constructivism stresses the importance of considering what is already in the learner’s mind as a place to initiate instruction. Learning is regarded as an active process whereby students construct personal meaning of the subject matter through their interaction with the physical and social world.

36. Constructivism A theory that assumes knowledge cannot exist outside the minds of thinking persons. Key element of constructivist theory is that people learn by actively constructing their own knowledge, comparing new information with their previous understanding and using all of this to work through discrepancies to come to a new understanding.

37. Constructivism Chinese proverb encapsulates the intent of constructivism: I hear and I forget, I see and I remember. I do and I understand.

38. Two variations on a Constructivist theme 1. Cognitive constructivism : is an outgrowth of Piaget’s ideas because it focuses on the cognitive processes that take place within individuals. The interaction with objects and events stimulates the construction of knowledge, as opposed to passive listening. 2. Social Constructivism: This view has its roots in the writings of such individuals as the psychologist Vygotsky and the educational philosopher John Dewey. Vygotsky focused his attention on social interaction. He believes that peers and adults greatly influence learning and acquisition of the science concepts. He also stressed the importance of language in the mediation of ideas

39. Equilibration and Contradiction When an individual takes in information from objects and events, he or she assimilates it into existing cognitive structures. Along with assimilation, accommodation occurs. Accommodation is the modification of existing cognitive structures to fit the ideas Piaget and others recommend the use of contradiction to stimulate assimilation and especially accommodation. Discrepant events are used by science teachers to challenge students to think and encourage them to focus on a concept, law, or principle under study.

40. Teaching for Conceptual Learning Learners’ alternative conceptions (or misconception) must be challenged and changed before more accurate concepts and explanations can be built. Posner et al. (1982) theorize that if students are to replace alternative conceptions, new conceptions must be:  intelligible. They must make sense and help students better understand the perplexing situation.  plausible. They must be meaningfully related to students’ current knowledge bases.  fruitful. They must be useful in explaining other phenomena and events. In order for conceptual change to occur, students must become dissatisfied with their existing conception.

41. Learning Conditions for Conceptual Change Students must be aware of their prior knowledge. Students must be allowed to act on prior knowledge. Students must confront, and become dissatisfied with, their existing idea. Young students must interact with peers if conceptual change is to take place. Unguided and individual efforts to make sense of an experience usually result in poor understanding and an inability to apply knowledge. Students must comprehend the new idea. Students need time to resolve the conflict between their ideas, their observations, and the new idea. Students must find the new, more appropriate idea to be as plausible and more useful than the prior, less appropriate idea. Students must extend the new idea and connect it to new situations. Students must be encouraged to use and transfer the new idea to relevant experiences in their lives.

42. Meaningful Learning vs Rote Learning Meaningful learning is learning with understanding which involves creating knowledge of the environment that makes it possible to have an awareness, appreciation, or ability to make decisions and successfully participate in everyday life. Meaningful learning implies that as a result of instruction, individuals are able to relate new material to previously acquired learning. One of the tasks of science teachers is to help students acquire a body of scientific knowledge in a meaningful way and to form correct explanations for these ideas.

43. Meaningful Learning Meaningful science learning is a process of integrating and building many types of science ideas by:  Adding, modifying, and connecting relationships between ideas  Identifying reasons for these relationships  Finding ways to use ideas to explain and predict natural phenomena  Finding ways to apply the ideas to many events (NRC, 1996)

44. Meaningful Learning vs Rote Learning Rote Learning: memorization without understanding and without a connection to the previous knowledge is called rote learning. Rote learning promotes memorization of facts, meaningful learning promotes conceptual understanding.

45. Some Suggestions for Science Teaching 1. Use a variety approaches in teaching science 2. Utilize advance organizers ◦ David Ausebel (1963), a cognitive psychologist, was particularly concerned with how learners can turn verbal knowledge presented to them by direct instructional methods into meaningful knowledge. ◦ He emphasized that information acquired from expository instruction can be meaningfully learned only when it is related to the student’s prior knowledge. ◦ One strategy advocated by Ausebel to facilitate the linking of verbal material with prior learning is the use of advance organizers.

46. Advance Organizer an abstract, general introduction to a new body of information or subject matter content to be learned (Introductory information about subject). presented early in instruction to provide a framework for the assimilation of new ideas. verbal device that provides relevant introductory material, so that learner has least heard about the materials to be presented in the lesson.

47. Expository Organizer Example: “Today, we will be visiting a field not too far from the school in order to learn about the kinds of plants and animals that live there. More important, we will be considering how those plants and animals are related to one another. So that you will have a better understanding of the activity, there are some words you need to be able to define. These words are: mini-environment, food chain and food web. First, we will look at what is meant by a mini environment. Second, we will consider the idea of a food chain, and, finally, we will consider the food web.”

48. Some Suggestions for Science Teaching 3. Organize science content with concept maps Concepts maps portray the important concepts and interrelationships that must be known in understanding a science topic.

49. Concept Map

50. Concept map of a concept map

51. Roundhouse Diagram

52. Vee Diagram

53. KWL KWL What We KnowWhat We Want to Find Out What We Learned How Can We Learn More Dinosaurs are large. Dinosaurs are dead. They lived a long time ago. There is a movie about dinosaurs How long ago did they live? Why did they die? How do we know what they looked like? Who are the people who study dinosaurs? An archeologist has an exciting life. Dinosaurs eat plants and some eat meat. Some dinosaurs were gigantic, but had small brains. Fossils uncover dinosaur traits. Research Museums Field Trips Archeological digs Videos Internet computer search

54. Some Suggestions for Science Teaching 4. Slow down, you teach too fast! Teachers sometimes try to rush learning. However, students need to adequate time to think, reason, and gain insights into scientific concepts, principles, and skills.

55. Some Suggestions for Science Teaching 5. Encourage all students to learn science You need to avoid introducing gender bias and other types of bias. Suggestions: ◦ Pay attention to how often you call on children of both genders. Call children name, and give both gender equal time and encouragement to answer. ◦ Allow all students to think about their answers before you call on anyone—even if the boys are waving their hands. ◦ Provide time for girls to manipulate and experiment with science tools and equipment, without boys’ “help.” ◦ Introduce activities that involve children working together rather than competing, as girls tend to learn better in cooperative groups.

56. Some Suggestions for Science Teaching 6. Do not overuse direct instruction Direct instruction: ◦ a method for the transmission of knowledge through verbal means. ◦ most effective for teaching well-defined performance skills or specific facts, concepts, and information to be remembered.

57. Some Suggestions for Science Teaching 7. Use reading judiciously as an instructional method The power of printed words rests in the author’s ability to enrich and extend the ideas already within a reader (Lowery, 1998).

58. Some Suggestions for Science Teaching 8. Think about your own reactions to different teaching approaches To what extent do you believe each approach: ◦ provides for discovering physical knowledge about the world? ◦ provides for prior knowledge of science? ◦ considers learners’ misconceptions and alternative theories? ◦ provides for meaningful, accurate science learning? ◦ warrants the time it takes? ◦ fits into learners’ cognitive developmental levels and interests? ◦ has an easy-to-follow, teacher-friendly format?