To promote a justice-oriented approach to science education, we formed a research-practice partnership between middle school science teachers, their students, curriculum designers, learning scientists, and experts in social justice to co-design and test an environmental justice unit for middle school instruction. We examine teacher perspectives on…

Guiding teachers to customize curriculum has shown to improve science instruction when guided effectively. We explore how teachers use student data to customize a web-based science unit on plate tectonics. We study the implications for teacher learning along with the impact on student self-directed learning. During a professional development…

Rapid advancements in computing have enabled automatic analyses of written texts created in educational settings. The purpose of this symposium is to survey several applications of computerized text analyses used in the research and development of productive learning environments. Four featured research projects have developed or been working on:…

Advances in technology, science, and learning sciences research over the past 100 years have reshaped science education. This chapter focuses on how investigators from varied fields of inquiry who initially worked separately began to interact, eventually formed partnerships, and recently integrated their perspectives to strengthen science…

This study investigated how professional development featuring evidence-based customization of technology-enhanced curriculum projects can improve inquiry science teaching and student knowledge integration in earth science. Participants included three middle school sixth-grade teachers and their classes of students (N = 787) for three consecutive…

Teachers play a central role in inquiry science classrooms. In this study, we investigate how seven teacher variables (i.e., gender, experience, perceived importance of inquiry and traditional teaching, workshop attendance, partner teacher, use of technology) affect student knowledge integration understanding of science topics drawing on previous…

A developmental investigation of the ability to control variables was conducted. One or two logically similar physics problems were individually administered to 120 subjects age 12 to 14. The problems involved either familiar or unfamiliar variables. Each problem was presented in three different informational formats. Success on the problems in…

Describes a study of junior high students which investigated academic achievement and higher cognitive skill development outcomes of a computer programming course in which two augmentations to traditional BASIC instruction were compared. A model for understanding learning outcomes is presented, suggesting ways to augment instruction to focus on…

A theoretical perspective is presented for examining conceptual change in adolescence and the social context of learning. A case study of the Computer as Lab Partner project illustrates the following: (1) conceptual and cognitive changes in eighth graders' understanding of physical science concepts; (2) ways concepts are constructed; and (3)…

Discusses whether and how computer programing courses can teach problem solving. Provides results of an integrated set of studies of middle school programing students whose problem solving skills increased in a programing class. Argues that "exemplary" instruction is more efficient than "typical" instruction. Examines the influence of students'…

Compared laboratory and naturalistic content influences on formal reasoning tasks of 90 13-, 15-, and 17-year-olds, focusing on tasks requiring ability to control variables. Results indicate that 8 to 20 percent of performance variance was associated with task content. Content effects were also shown to reflect expectations about task variables.…

Investigates the cognitive and social aspects of a mainstreamed setting for deaf children. Twelve mainstreamed deaf subjects, placed with nonhandicapped children in an elementary school, were compared with nine resource deaf subjects. The reactions of nonhandicapped to handicapped children was also assessed. Results of cognitive tests showed no…

This article covers the following: (1) contrasts several perspectives on science education reform by examining recommendations for introductory science courses; (2) identifies research finding that can guide reform; (3) discusses the impact of research on national precollege curriculum reform; and (4) offers a set of recommendations to guide…

How students restructured their scientific ideas in response to contradictions was studied with 166 male and female students (aged 12 to 14 years) who tested their predictions about water displacement by experiment. Conceptual change varied; all subjects tended to hold onto old ideas, even when presented with conflicting information. (SLD)

When comparing performances across four versions of Computer as Lab Partner curriculum, increases in understanding were found when students predicted outcomes and reconciled results, and students used a heat-flow model of thermodynamics to integrate their experimental results. Argued is that curriculum must explicitly motivate students to…