ERIC Number: EJ1448614
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0002-7685
EISSN: EISSN-1938-4211
Using Student Uncertainty as a Pedagogical Resource (SUPeR) Approach to Support Students' Productive Struggle in the Biology Classroom
Ying-Chih Chen; Jongchan Park; Jamie G. Rapkiewcz
American Biology Teacher, v86 n8 p485-495 2024
Productive struggle is a process in which students expend effort to grapple with perplexing problems and make sense of something that is not immediately apparent and beyond their current level of understanding and capacity. The experience encourages students to reflect on and restructure their existing knowledge toward a new understanding of scientific concepts and practice. Scientific uncertainty is common in scientific sensemaking practice and is one of the major factors provoking student struggle. A teaching approach called Student Uncertainty as a Pedagogical Resource (SUPeR) is introduced to encourage teachers to engage students in the practice of productive struggle. The SUPeR approach is composed of four phases: (1) problematize a phenomenon, (2) engage in material practice, (3) participate in argumentative practice, and (4) engage in reflection, transformation, and application. An example from an eighth-grade biology class unit on Mendel's Law of Segregation is used to demonstrate how the SUPeR approach can be implemented in the classroom.
Descriptors: Error Correction, Biology, Science Education, Teaching Methods, Inquiry, Authentic Learning, Scientific Concepts, Elementary School Science, Grade 8, Knowledge Level, Genetics, Educational Resources, Visual Aids
University of California Press. 2000 Center Street Suite 303, Berkeley, CA 94704. Tel: 510-643-7154; Fax: 510-642-9917; e-mail: customerservice@ucpressjournals.com; Web site: http://www.ucpressjournals.com/journal.php?j=abt
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Elementary Education; Grade 8; Junior High Schools; Middle Schools; Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: 2100879