United States and China: common issues in science education

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United States and China common issues in science
education

• Creating student scientists, not just science
  students.
• Steven B. Case Ph.D.
• Center for Science Education
• University of Kansas

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United States and China seeking common
environmental research strategies
International Research and Education Planning
Visits and Workshops (Program Solicitation NSF
04-035) from the Directorate for Social,
Behavioral, and Economic Science, Office of
International Science and Engineering.
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United States and China seeking common
environmental research strategies

• Two Goals
• Establish a collaborative research network
  between three universities in China Tianjin
  University, Zhengzhou University and Sichuan
  University, and the University of Kansas.
• 2) Establish a DHN among the universities and
  local schools that will extend the research and
  education outreach to form a collaborative
  research community.

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United States and China seeking common
environmental research strategies
Where did we go? Tianjin China Tianjin
University Nankai University University High
School Zhengzhou, China Zhengzhou
University Kaifeng, China Three High
Schools Chengdu, China Sichuan University
Sichuan Student Technology Association Shi Shi
Middle and High School
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United States National Science Education Standards

• Developed in 1996, there are seven national
  standards that describe what students should
  know, understand, and be able to do in the
  natural sciences. These standards are clustered
  for grade levels K-2, 3-4, 5-8, and 9-12.
• 1. Science as Inquiry
• Physical Science
• Life Science
• 4. Earth and Space Science
• 5. Science and Technology
• 6. Science in Personal and Environmental
  Perspectives
• 7. History and Nature of Science

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Scientific Research Scientific Inquiry

• 1) Inquiry Instruction
• 5 - E Model for Instruction
• Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend, Evaluate
• Learning Cycles
• Exploration, Concept Invention and Application
• Discrepant Events
• Playful Discovery
• 2) Scientific Inquiry

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The Standards and Scientific Inquiry

• Students at all grade levels and in every domain
  of science should have the opportunity to use
  scientific inquiry and develop the ability to
  think and act in way associated with inquiry,
  including asking question, planning and
  conducting investigations, using appropriate
  tools and techniques to gather data, thinking
  critically and logically about relationships
  between evidence and explanations, constructing
  and analyzing alternative explanations, and
  communicating scientific arguments.
• (NSES, 1996)

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Science Education Process or Content

• The new vision includes the "processes of
  science" and requires that students combine
  processes and scientific knowledge as they use
  scientific reasoning and critical thinking to
  develop their understanding of science.

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Contextualized Knowledge

• To enhance student learning, these investigations
  will provide fertile ground where their students
  can transfer their learning to multiple contexts.
  Learning that only occurs in a single context
  will become inert except within that context.
• To enhance student learning, problem-centered
  learning allows many experiences and prior
  knowledge to come into play as students develop
  new constructs.
• For Teachers, the development of a
  problem-centered approach to learning allows
  teachers to operate as a mediator, guide,
  provocateur, friend and co-learner with their
  students.

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Technology in the NCSE

• The Central characteristic between science and
  technology is a difference in goal The goal of
  science is to understand the natural world and
  the goal of technology is to make modifications
  in the world to meet human needs.

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Pattern seeking
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Global Warming Research

• Stomatal densities as bioindicators of
  atmospheric carbon dioxide

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Pattern seeking in data
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Student Research based on Global Warming
Creating the Context

• What is the normal variation in the Stomatal
  Index found on a species?
• How much does the Stomatal Index vary between
  species?
• Is the age of the tree related to the number of
  stomata found on the leaf?
• Does the cardinal direction the leaf comes from
  on the tree influence the Stomatal Index? (In
  North America, the south side of a tree will
  receive more light and be exposed to more wind.)
• Does the direction the terrain slopes (where the
  tree is) make a difference tree on the number of
  stomata found on the leaves?
• Is there a difference in stomatal index on leaves
  grown in a carbon dioxide enriched environment to
  those grown under normal atmospheric conditions?
  
• Is there a variation in the stomatal index along
  a rainfall gradient?
• What is the variation in numbers of stomata that
  occur between plants growing in similar habitats
  but using different photosynthetic pathways, C3,
  C4, and CAM?

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Chinese science education
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Contact Information

• Steven B. Case Ph.D. stcase_at_ku.edu
• Center for Science Education http//www.kuscied.or
  g
• Center for Research on Learning
• 1122 West Campus Road 702A
• University of Kansas
• Lawrence, Kansas 66045-3101
• http//home.everestkc.net/scase001