Seen as one of the essential domains for active citizenship, examining how students relate to science has become crucial. Based on a person-centered approach, this article investigates self-related dispositions and motivation in science using the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data set. By employing a latent profile…

This paper investigates how features of teaching practice may foster appropriation: learning that involves both deep conceptual understanding and transforming scientific discourse in a way that is significant for oneself. Data were drawn from classroom discussions during a unit on thermodynamics that took place in a high school in Italy. We…

Pursuing both disciplinary authenticity and personal relevance in the teaching and learning of science in school generates tensions that should be acknowledged and resolved. This paper problematizes and explores the conceptualizations of these tensions by considering personal relevance, disciplinary authenticity, and common school science as three…

Argumentation has become an increasingly recognized focus for science instruction--as a learning process, as an outcome associated with the appropriation of scientific discourse, and as a window onto the epistemic work of science. Only a small set of theoretical conceptualizations of argumentation have been deployed and investigated in science…

Describes a three-year coordinated sciences course taught to Italian high school students by physics and biology teachers and biology, physics, and psychology faculty from the University of Palermo. The course examines the structure of matter and energy from physical, biological, chemical, economical, and historical viewpoints. (MLH)