Helping Students Learn Science:

What Does the Research Show?

Francis Molina

Consu l tan t and Adv ise r

Na t iona l Sc ience D ig i ta l L ib ra ry , U .S .A .

DOST Ba l ik Sc ien t is t a t UP N ISMED

(2013 -2014 )

f ranc is .mo l ina@gmai l . com

About me

• An advocate for science education

and science literacy

• Have been involved in K–12 and

college-level education

• Primarily interested in interventions

to promote student learning

Align curriculum, instruction, and assessment to

clearly defined and articulated learning goals.

Curriculum Instruction

Helping Students Learn

What we’ll cover

1. Examples of student misconceptions and

difficulties

2. The Holy Grail of science education:

conceptual understanding

3. Criteria for judging the effectiveness of

textbooks and classroom instruction

4. Which criteria/teaching strategy are the “best”

for helping students learn?

5. Classroom observations

6. Wrap up and discussion

Science

Science

Technology

Engineering

Mathematics

Examples of student

misconceptions and

difficulties

Example misconceptions/difficulties

Physics:

Batteries and Bulbs

Life Science:

Where the weight of a plant/log

comes from

Earth and Space Science:

The reason for the seasons

The Holy Grail of Science

Education: Conceptual

Understanding

The Holy Grail of Science Education

• Learning for all

students

• Rote vs. conceptual

learning

Acid Tests for Conceptual Learning

• Explain the science idea in their

own words

• Relate the science idea to other

ideas

• Apply the concept to other

(novel) situations

Students can:

Criteria for judging the

effectiveness of

textbooks and

classroom instruction

I. Providing a Sense of Purpose for Students

I.A Conveying Unit Purpose

I.B Conveying Lesson or Activity Purpose

I.C Sequencing Activities

II. Building on Student Ideas

II.A Attending to Prerequisite Knowledge and Skills

II.B Alerting Teachers to Commonly Held Student Ideas

II.C Assisting Teachers in Identifying Their Students’ Ideas

II.D Addressing Students’ Ideas

III. Engaging Students with Real World Examples/Phenomena

III.A Providing a Variety of Relevant Real World Examples/Phenomena

III.B Providing Firsthand and Vicarious Experiences

Instructional Quality Criteria

IV. Developing and Using Mathematical or Scientific Ideas

IV.A Providing Evidence for Learning Goals

IV.B Introducing Terms and Procedures Meaningfully

IV.C Representing Ideas Effectively

IV.D Connecting and Synthesizing Ideas

IV.E Demonstrating Skills and Use of Knowledge

IV.F Providing Practice

V. Promoting Student Thinking about Experiences and Knowledge

V.A Encouraging Students to Explain Their Ideas

V.B Guiding Interpretation and Reasoning

V.C Encouraging Students to Think about What They Have Learned

VI. Assessing Student Progress

VI.A Aligning Assessment to Goals

VI.B Probing Student Understanding

VI.C Assessing Effectively

VI.D Informing instruction

VII. Enhancing the Learning Environment for Students

VII.A Providing Teacher Content Support

VII.B Encouraging Curiosity and Questioning

VII.C Supporting All Students

Which criteria/teaching

strategies are the “best” for

helping students learn?

Research Approach

1. Train coders/scorers to identify

teaching strategies

2. Videotape classroom instruction

3. Score the instruction for use of the

teaching strategies

4. Assess students for what was taught

5. Determine correlation

AAAS mathematics study looked at five criteria:

1. Representing ideas effectively

2. Encouraging student explanations

3. Asking guiding questions

4. Finding out students’ ideas, and

5. End of lesson assessment

Some Instructional Quality Criteria

Appear to be More Important than Others

Student

Learning

• A professional

development program

supporting grade 4, 5,

and 6 teachers in

teaching concepts in

biology, physical science,

and Earth science.

Science Teachers Learning from Lesson

Analysis [STeLLA] (Roth et al., 2009)

• Teachers used two lenses to analyze

videocases of science teaching and learning:

the Student Thinking Lens and the Science

Content Storyline Lens.

Student learning was significantly predicted by

teachers’ use of three content storyline teaching

strategies:

1. Linking science content ideas and activities,

2. Linking content ideas to other science

ideas, and

3. Using and selecting content representations

matched to the main learning goal.

Science Teachers Learning from Lesson

Analysis [STeLLA] (Roth et al., 2009)

Classroom

observations

1. Take the intersection of effective teaching

strategies identified by TIMSS and AAAS

Project 2061’s instructional criteria.

2. Develop a spreadsheet that flags the use of

effective teaching strategies during the

classroom period.

3. Determine the extent to which the

strategies are used.

Development of a Classroom

Observation Instrument

Developing the Observation Instrument

AAAS

Project

2061

TIMSS

Classroom Observation Instrument

Results: Classroom Observations

Location:

Date:

Grade:

Learning

Goal:

5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 Count

0

1 1

0

0

1 1

0

*Strategies 1-6 taken from TIMSS 2011. Blue text = Equivalent AAAS criteria. Total: 2

1. Explaining and summarizing lesson purpose.

2. Relating the lesson to students’ daily lives.

Providing vivid experiences.

3. Questioning to elicit reasons and explanations.

Encouraging students to explain their ideas.

4. Encouraging students to show improvement.

Notes: Teacher started out by reminding students what they studied last time. No explanation of lesson purpose. Questioning involved "filling in the

blanks" at the end of the teacher's sentences, apparently involving recall of what the students read in their textbooks. No other instructional

strategies observed.

6. Bringing interesting materials to class.

5. Praising students for good effort.

Supporting all students.

Calderon High School (Tondo, Manila)

October 4, 2013

Understand the periodic table of elements.

Teaching Strategy*

Third year high school

Time (Mins.)

High School

• We can do better!

• Use research-based

instructional strategies to help

students learn.

Strategies to help students learn

1. Provide firsthand and vicarious experiences.

2. Connect a targeted science concept to other

concepts.

3. Use effective representations to clarify science

concepts.

4. Encourage students to explain their ideas.

5. Guide students in their explanation and reasoning.

6. Provide a supportive/conducive classroom

environment.

Yearly Pattern of Temperature Changes in Different Places

Science Learning Goal

(Weather & Climate Map)

The temperature of a place on the

earth's surface tends to rise and

fall in a somewhat predictable

pattern every day and over the

course of a year. The pattern of

temperature changes observed in

a place tends to vary depending

on how far north or south of the

equator the place is, how near to

oceans it is, and how high above

sea level it is. 4B/M12**

Strategies to help students learn

1. Provide firsthand and vicarious experiences.

2. Connect a targeted science concept to other

concepts.

3. Use effective representations to clarify science

concepts.

4. Encourage students to explain their ideas.

5. Guide students in their explanation and reasoning.

6. Provide a supportive/conducive classroom

environment.

Yearly Pattern of Temperature Changes in Different Places

Math Learning Goal

(Graphic Representation Map)

The graphic display of numbers

may help to show patterns such

as trends, varying rates of

change, gaps, or clusters that are

useful when making predictions

about the phenomena being

graphed. 9C/M4*

Science Learning Goal

(Weather & Climate Map)

The temperature of a place on the

earth's surface tends to rise and

fall in a somewhat predictable

pattern every day and over the

course of a year. The pattern of

temperature changes observed in

a place tends to vary depending

on how far north or south of the

equator the place is, how near to

oceans it is, and how high above

sea level it is. 4B/M12**

Strategies to help students learn

1. Provide firsthand and vicarious experiences.

2. Connect a targeted science concept to other

concepts.

3. Use effective representations to clarify science

concepts.

4. Encourage students to explain their ideas.

5. Guide students in their explanation and reasoning.

6. Provide a supportive/conducive classroom

environment.

Representation of the Earth’s Orbit Around the Sun

1. Provide firsthand and vicarious experiences.

2. Connect a targeted science concept to other

concepts.

3. Use effective representations to clarify science

concepts.

4. Encourage students to explain their ideas.

5. Guide students in their explanation and reasoning.

6. Provide a supportive/conducive classroom

environment.

Strategies to help students learn

Wrap upand

Discussion`

Access a PDF version of this presentation at

http://www.learningprogressions.com.

My contact info: francis.molina@gmail.com.

Questions or Discussion

Points?

Access a PDF version of this presentation at

http://www.learningprogressions.com.

My contact info: francis.molina@gmail.com.

Thanks!