Handbook of Research on Science Education

1345 Pages·2007·6.91 MB·English

by  Sandra K. Abell

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This state-of-the art research handbook provides a comprehensive, coherent, and current
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synthesis of the empirical and theoretical research concerning teaching and learning in
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DITED BY
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ANDRA BELL
NORMAN G. LEDERMAN S K. A
ANDRA BELL
N G. L
ORMAN EDERMAN
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HANDBOOK OF RESEARCH
ON SCIENCE EDUCATION
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HANDBOOK OF RESEARCH
ON SCIENCE EDUCATION
EDITED BY
Sandra K. Abell
and
Norman G. Lederman
New York London
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Senior Acquisitions Editor: Naomi Silverman
Editorial Assistant: Joy Tatusko
Cover Design: Tomai Maridou
Full-Service Compositor:MidAtlantic Books & Journals, Inc.
This book was typeset in 10.5/12 pt. Palatino Roman, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic.
Copyright ©2007 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in
any form, by photostat, microform, retrieval system, or any
other means, without prior written permission of the publisher.
First published by
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers
10 Industrial Avenue
Mahwah, New Jersey 07430
www.erlbaum.com
Reprinted 2010 by Routledge
Routledge Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group Taylor & Francis Group
270 Madison Avenue 2Park Square
New York, NY10016 Milton Park, Abingdon
Oxon OX14 4RN
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Handbook of research on science education / edited by Sanda K. Abell and Norman G. Lederman.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8058-4713-8 (case :alk. paper) — ISBN 0-8058-4714-6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Science—Study and teaching—Research. I. Abell, Sandra K. II. Lederman, Norman G.
Q181.H149 2006
507.1—dc22
2006031809
ISBN 978-0-8058-4713-0 (case)
ISBN 978-0-8058-4714-7 (paper)
ISBN 978-0-2038-246 9-6 (ebook)
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6
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Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
Sandra K. Abell and Norman G. Lederman
PART I: SCIENCE LEARNING
1 Perspectives on Science Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
Charles W. Anderson
2 Student Conceptions and Conceptual Learning in Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31
Phil Scott, Hilary Asoko, and John Leach
3 Language and Science Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
William S. Carlsen
4 Attitudinal and Motivational Constructs in Science Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Thomas R. Koballa, Jr. and Shawn M. Glynn
5 Classroom Learning Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Barry J. Fraser
6 Learning Science Outside of School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .125
Léonie J. Rennie
PART II: CULTURE, GENDER, SOCIETY,
AND SCIENCE LEARNING
7 Science Education and Student Diversity:
Race/Ethnicity, Language, Culture, and Socioeconomic Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . .171
Okhee Lee and Aurolyn Luykx
8 Postcolonialism, Indigenous Students, and Science Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . .199
Elizabeth McKinley
9 Issues in Science Learning: An International Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .227
Chorng-Jee Guo
10 Gender Issues in Science Education Research:
Remembering Where the Difference Lies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .257
Kathryn Scantlebury and Dale Baker
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vi CONTENTS
11 Special Needs and Talents in Science Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .287
J. Randy McGinnis and Gregory P. Stefanich
12 Science Learning in Urban Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .319
Angela Calabrese Barton
13 Rural Science Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .345
J. Steve Oliver
PART III: SCIENCE TEACHING
14 General Instructional Methods and Strategies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .373
David Treagust
15 Learning and Teaching in the School Science Laboratory:
An Analysis of Research, Theory, and Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .393
Vincent N. Lunetta, Avi Hofstein, and Michael P. Clough
16 Discourse in Science Classrooms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .443
Gregory J. Kelly
17 Digital Resources Versus Cognitive Tools:
ADiscussion of Learning Science with Technology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .471
Nancy Butler Songer
18 Elementary Science Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .493
Ken Appleton
19 Interdisciplinary Science Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .537
Charlene M. Czerniak
20 High School Biology Curricula Development: Implementation,
Teaching, and Evaluation from the 20th to the 21st Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .561
Reuven Lazarowitz
21 Teaching Physics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .599
Reinders Duit, Hans Niedderer, and Horst Schecker
22 Teaching and Learning the Many Faces of Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .631
Onno De Jong and Keith S. Taber
23 Learning Earth Sciences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .653
Nir Orion and Charles R. Ault, Jr.
24 Environmental Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .689
Paul Hart
PART IV: CURRICULUM AND ASSESSMENT
IN SCIENCE
25 Scientific Literacy/Science Literacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .729
Douglas A. Roberts
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CONTENTS vii
26 History of Science Curriculum Reform in the United States
and the United Kingdom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .781
J Myron Atkin and Paul Black
27 Inquiry as an Organizing Theme for Science Curricula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .807
Ronald D. Anderson
28 Nature of Science: Past, Present, and Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .831
Norman G. Lederman
29 Humanistic Perspectives in the Science Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .881
Glen S. Aikenhead
30 Systemic Reform: Research, Vision, and Politics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .911
Jane Butler Kahle
31 Review of Science Education Program Evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .943
Frances Lawrenz
32 Classroom Assessment of Science Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .965
Beverley Bell
33 Large-Scale Assessments in Science Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1007
Edward D. Britton and Steve A. Schneider
PART V: SCIENCE TEACHER EDUCATION
34 Science Teacher as Learner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1043
J. John Loughran
35 Science Teacher Attitudes and Beliefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1067
M. Gail Jones and Glenda Carter
36 Research on Science Teacher Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1105
Sandra K. Abell
37 Learning to Teach Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1151
Tom Russell and Andrea K. Martin
38 Teacher Professional Development in Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1177
Peter W. Hewson
39 Science Teachers as Researchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1203
Kathleen J. Roth
Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1261
Subject Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1307
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1323
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Preface
Although some have predicted the end of science (Horgan, 1996), the scientific enter-
prise thrives and scientists generate new knowledge at an incredible rate. (Arecent
report from the US National Science Foundation stated that over 92,000 scientific
articles were published in 2001 in comparison with about 70,000 in 1991 (Hill, 2004).)
Essential to the vibrancy of science, scientists continue to ask questions of the world.
In the July 1, 2005 issue of the journal Science, the editor compiled responses from
senior scientists and published the 125 questions that science “should have a good
shot at answering” (Kennedy & Norman, 2005, p. 75) in the next 25 years, many
from relatively young sciences such as neuroscience, genomics, biomedical science,
geophysics, astrophysics, and bioengineering. According to Siegfried (2005), in that
same journal issue:
When science runs out of questions, it would seem, science will come to an end. But
there’s no real danger of that. The highway from ignorance to knowledge runs both
ways: As knowledge accumulates, diminishing the ignorance of the past, new questions
arise, expanding the areas of ignorance to explore. (p. 77).
For many years, science education researchers prided themselves on following
research approaches and paradigms that approximated those of science. Thus, it is
interesting to consider the similarities between science and science education. How
does science education as a discipline compare? Our field has a much shorter his-
tory than that of the natural sciences. Our research has appeared in science educa-
tion journals and books for fewer than 100 years. Yet we have generated a substan-
tial body of knowledge during this time, knowledge from which new questions
have emerged. Like the sciences, our questions are partly shaped by the society in
which we live and partly by the research community in which we work. Research in
science is guided by and builds upon prior research. However, in the science edu-
cation community, researchers are often opportunistic, studying what is convenient
to them rather than building on previous investigations. We believe that a handbook
of research in a discipline such as science education provides a foundation upon which
future research can be built.
The purpose of this volume is twofold. First, the authors look backward in time
in an attempt to capture where science education has been and what we currently
know. Secondly, the authors project into the future, positing research agendas for
The National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) endorses the Handbook of Research on
Science Educationas an important and valuable synthesis of the current knowledge in the field of science edu-
cation by leading individuals in the field.
ix