Scientific Inquiry in the College, Secondary, and Primary School Classroom

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Scientific Inquiry in the College, Secondary, and
Primary School Classroom

• Loretta Jones
• University of Northern Colorado (UNC)

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Teaching science is becoming more complex

• Science is changing.
• The world is changing.
• We know more about how learning takes place.

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Scientific research is changing.

• New research technologies
• Growing interdisciplinary focus

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The world is changing.

• From a text-based society to an image-based
  society.
• New tools lead to changes in the curriculum.
• Schools are changing.
• Students are changing.

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We know more about how students learn.

• Individual differences
• Learning styles
• Cognitive styles
• Student misconceptions preconceptions
• Importance of active learning
• The difference between authentic scientific
  inquiry and school science

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Authentic Science

• Scientists
• Make observations
• Formulate problems
• Search for information
• Design experiments and materials
• Make and check predictions
• Make discoveries

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School Science

• Children
• Solve problems for which the answers are
  already known.
• Report laboratory work by filling in blanks.
• Memorize information.
• Take multiple-choice tests.
• School science is not authentic science.
• However, inquiry activities are authentic
  science.

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What is inquiry?

• "Inquiry is an approach to learning that involves
  a process of exploring the natural or material
  world, that leads to asking questions and making
  discoveries in the search for new
  understandings." (http//www.exploratorium.edu/IF
  I/resources/inquirydesc.html)
• Inquiry education is where we can create
  opportunities for students to be engaged in
  active learning based on their own questions.
  http//www.inquiry.uiuc.edu/whatsnew/workshop.php
  

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Criteria for inquiry

• Children must
• be actively involved in a hands-on activity or
  simulation
• formulate questions
• make and check predictions
• design/carry out investigations
• collect, analyze, and explain data
• manipulate variables
• report results and compare them with accepted
  facts
• develop scientific reasoning skills
• are stimulated to learn more

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In inquiry learning children formulate questions.
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The Research Literature Shows

• Good lectures can be effective means of
  instruction for teaching theory and concepts.
• Problem-solving skills are taught more
  effectively in small cooperative groups.
• Practical skills taught more effectively in a
  hands-on laboratory setting.
• Active involvement promotes learning.

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Study 1 Lecture attentiveness Harold
Horowitz, IBM

• Small, management training classes
• Highly motivated adult students
• But not reaching goals.
• Observers in classrooms
• Two types of instructor identified
• Lecture
• Lecture-discussion

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Traditional Lecture
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Lecture vs. Lecture-Disc.
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Rocky Mountain Teacher Education Collaborative

• A 5 year program in 6 colleges to improve science
  and math teacher preparation through redesigning
  college-level instruction.

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Cooperative learning groups

• Structured active learning in the lecture hall
• Heterogeneous groups
• Positive interdependence
• Individual responsibility
• Some elements of inquiry

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Study 2 How do students react to active working
groups?L. Jones, UNC

• Do students believe that cooperative groups help
  them learn?
• Do students prefer group work or lectures alone?
  
• N 101

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Group work helped me to understand chemistry
better.
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Groups helped me develop problem-solving
strategies
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I would pick a class with group work over one
without.
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Study 3 Classroom Observations Lynn Geiger, UNC

• Same instructor, two different methods
• Experimental cooperative working groups
• Control traditional lecture
• No difference in content learning.
• Differences were seen in classroom observations.
• N(Experimental) 12 male, 23 female
• N(Control) 22 male, 29 female

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Observation checklist

• Who answered the teachers
• Low-level questions?
• High-level questions?

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Who answered the questions?
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Who answered the high-level questions?
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POGIL Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning

• National project to promote inquiry learning
• www.pogil.org
• Activities to download
• Teaching guides

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POGIL Students

• Are actively engaged and thinking in class.
• Learn how science is done by analyzing data and
  drawing conclusions.
• Work together in self-managed teams to understand
  concepts and solve problems.

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How can computers facilitate inquiry?
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Comprehensive Chemistry Curriculum

• Challenges children to experiment.

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ChemDiscovery

• Challenges students to construct the world.

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How do teachers learn to teach scientific inquiry?
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We have developed a specialized course in
scientific inquiry for elementary school teachers
at UNC
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Elementary education at the University of
Northern Colorado

• Students major in Interdisciplinary Studies,
  Liberal Arts (IDLA)
• Students select an emphasis area, such as social
  studies, English, chemistry
• All IDLA students must complete three science
  courses

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Science courses for elementary teachers

• Introductory courses
• SCI 265 (physics and chemistry)
• BIO 265 (biology)
• ESCI 265 (earth science)
• Capstone inquiry science course (rich in
  technology)
• SCI 465 (all sciences)

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SCI 465

• Taught by faculty from all science departments
• About 90-120 students/semester in
• 3-4 sections of 24-30 students each

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Focus of the course To learn about scientific
inquiry in the context of doing inquiry.
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Science 465

• Lecture/lab room with prep area 20 laptops to
  facilitate inquiry

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SCI 465

• Goals
• To examine science as a way of knowing.
• To develop a sense of how I learn by inquiry.
• To understand the interrelationships between
  scientific discovery and society.
• To develop a portfolio of inquiry teaching
  resources.
• To learn to use computers as an inquiry tool.
• To provide science content for Colorado
• Science Content Standards.

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SCI 465

• Textbooks
• What Science Is and How It Works, by Gregory N.
  Derry
• Science Matters Achieving Scientific Literacy,
  by Hazen and Trefil

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Science content

• The nature of scientific inquiry
• Earth system science
• Plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes)
• Geologic time
• Climate
• Physics
• Flow and conservation of energy
• Electromagnetic spectrum
• Chemistry
• Organization of elements
• Nature of matter
• Biology
• Diversity of species
• Natural selection

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Types of course activities

• Online activities (www.dlese.org)
• Hands-on activities
• Blackboard Online quizzes, discussion,
  resources, surveys, links
• Inquiry essay paper
• Selection, evaluation and design of inquiry
  activities
• Book report posters
• Group project
• Peer review
• New palm pilot activities

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WorldWatcher software A powerful modeling tool
Free downloads at www.worldwatcher.northwestern.e
du/
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Sample group projects

• Modeling climate in Worldwatcher
• Designing a planet
• Symmetry and beauty
• Dancing spaghetti
• Cookie consistency

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Chemistry activities vary by instructor

• Online
• Construction of the periodic table
• www.genesismission.org/educate/scimodule/cosmic/pt
  able.html
• Global warming www.epa.gov/globalwarming/kids/ver
  sion2.html
• Gas laws web.umr.edu/gbert/Gas/AIGases.html
• Developing an equation from data
  http//ippex.pppl.gov/interactive/energy/
• Paper
• Library analogy of the periodic table
• Hands-on
• Generating gases
• Constructing solar cells
• http//mrsec.wisc.edu/edetc/nanolab/index.html
• Polymers
• Onion DNA

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www.explorelearning.com
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Chemistry activity survey, Spring 2004

• Was it a good inquiry-based activity?
• Was it an enjoyable activity?
• Was content learned from the activity?

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Was it a good inquiry-based activity? (1-10)
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Was content learned from the activity? (1-10)
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Some student comments about the introductory,
historical part of the course

• I thought it was interesting learning about the
  history part of science because it is not
  something I have done in any other science class.
• In all of my other science class sic we only
  talked about the concepts, so here I learned what
  else was going on when the concept took place.
• I enjoyed seeing the way science is affected
• by or affected society.

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Some student comments about the introductory,
historical part of the course

• I would have wished to do more of this and learn
  basic facts and fun information about scientists
  and scientific movements or theories.
• It was somewhat interesting, but I liked all the
  hands-on activities a lot more and learned a lot
  more.
• It helped me to understand why we use
• science the way we do instead of just
• doing it.

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Acknowledgements

• Kimberly Pacheco, Chemistry
• Richard Schwenz, Chemistry
• Michael Taber, Earth Science
• Courtney Willis, Physics
• Teresa Higgins, Biology and Elem. Ed.
• Carol Fortino, Biology and Elem. Ed.
• Lori Reinsvold, MAST Institute