Creating A Classroom Community Of Young Scientists

Creating a Classroom Community of Young Scientists helps teachers - both pre-service and in-service - to develop exciting science programs in their classrooms. This book provides the groundwork for designing and implementing a science program that takes into account the latest research in teaching and learning. It provides an approach that will capture children's imaginations, stimulate their curiosity and create a strong foundation for their continued interest in, and appreciation of, science and the world in which they live. The book is designed to be user-friendly, and offers an approach to teaching science that is exciting for teachers as well. This thoroughly revised, second edition focuses on making inquiry more explicit both in terms of the process of inquiry and teaching in ways that capitalize on children's curiosity and questions. New material has also been added on U.S. and Canadian science standards, as well as professional standards for teachers.

In response to requests from science education professionals, this is the perfect vehicle for implementing and assessing this concept of whole-class inquiry in your classroom. This is a must-have package for preservice and inservice middle and high school science teachers.

This book is a collection of narratives from a diverse array of science education researchers that elucidate some of the difficulties of becoming a science education researcher and/or science teacher educator, with the hope that through solidarity, commonality, and “telling the story”, justice-oriented science education researchers will feel more supported in their own journeys. Being a scholar and teacher that sees science education as a space for justice, and thinking/being different, entry into this disciplinary field often comes with tense moments and personal difficulties. The chapter authors of this book break into many painful, awkward, and seemingly nebulous topics, including the intersectional nuances of what it means to be a researcher in the contexts of epistemic rigidness, white supremacy, and neoliberal restructuring. Of course these contexts become different depending on how teachers, students, and researchers are constituted within them (as racialized/sexed/gendered/disposable/valued subjects). We hope that within these narratives readers will identify with similar struggles in terms of what it means to desire to “do good in the world”, while facing subtle and not-so-subtle institutional, personal cultural, and political challenges.

This book takes stock of where we are in science education research, and considers where we ought now to be going. It explores how and whether the research effort in science education has contributed to improvements in the practice of teaching science and the science curriculum. It contains contributions from an international group of science educators. Each chapter explores a specific area of research in science education, considering why this research is worth doing, and its potential for development. Together they look candidly at important general issues such as the impact of research on classroom practice and the development of science education as a progressive field of research. The book was produced in celebration of the work of the late Rosalind Driver. All the principal contributors to the book had professional links with her, and the three sections of the book focus on issues that were of central importance in her work: research on teaching and learning in science; the role of science within the school curriculum and the nature of the science education we ought to be providing for young people; and the achievements of, and future agenda for, research in science education.

Over recent years connective partnerships between educational communities and sectors outside of education have become increasingly popular. One significant reason behind this popularity has the expansion of information and communication technologies which have increased access and provided mechanisms for ongoing connections to be made between differing worlds. But... successful connections that cross cultural boundaries are not easy to establish and even harder to maintain in ways that are mutually beneficial. This book focuses on science and technology connective ventures and the complexity inherent in bringing such worlds together. . The authors have been ‘in the business’ of developing such connections and this book brings them together to describe how and why making connections can support the science/technology education sector, the technology/science communities, and the wider sociocultural life we all inhabit. A range of illustrative examples of connections-in-action provide an empirical basis from which to explore and gain insight into the issues for and potential of such connective ventures, alongside a rich mix of critical commentary, arguments, cautions and challenges. Five key principles have been distilled from the collective experience and wisdom of the authors, serving to capture that which underpins effective and efficient connective initiatives. Each principle is accompanied by a set of questions that reflect the issues raised and successes illustrated throughout the book. It is hoped these principles and questions will serve to guide people interested in developing, funding and/or participating in future connective initiatives in the fields of science and technology.

For many college students, studying the hard sciences seems out of the question. Students and professors alike collude in the prejudice that physics and molecular biology, mathematics and engineering are elite disciplines restricted to a small number with innate talent. Gregory Light and Marina Micari reject this bias, arguing, based on their own transformative experiences, that environment is just as critical to academic success in the sciences as individual ability. Making Scientists lays the groundwork for a new paradigm of how scientific subjects can be taught at the college level, and how we can better cultivate scientists, engineers, and other STEM professionals. The authors invite us into Northwestern University’s Gateway Science Workshop, where the seminar room is infused with a sense of discovery usually confined to the research lab. Conventional science instruction demands memorization of facts and formulas but provides scant opportunity for critical reflection and experimental conversation. Light and Micari stress conceptual engagement with ideas, practical problem-solving, peer mentoring, and—perhaps most important—initiation into a culture of cooperation, where students are encouraged to channel their energy into collaborative learning rather than competition with classmates. They illustrate the tangible benefits of treating students as apprentices—talented young people taking on the mental habits, perspectives, and wisdom of the scientific community, while contributing directly to its development. Rich in concrete advice and innovative thinking, Making Scientists is an invaluable guide for all who care about the future of science and technology.