MONASHEDUCATION

Towards building authentic understandings of contemporary science practices for science educators

Deborah CorriganGreg LancasterLisa FazioJoanne BurkeDavid Overton

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ReMSTEP Project – Monash initiatives

(1) Schools Science Project - for scienceundergraduate students (60+) to visit primaryschools to work with teachers and students tonurture and promote science interest &engagement.

A collaboration between Monash Faculties of Education and Science

(2) Mathematics Engagers - shortcreative videos designed by Monashresearchers on engaging topics (fractals,Koch curve) using the Monash CAVE2™for use with pre-service teachers &secondary schools.

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ReMSTEP Project – Monash initiatives

(3) Engaging with practices of contemporary scienceA new unit designed in collaboration with Monash Faculties of Education and Sciencefor pre-service and in-service teachers.

Key objectives for this unit are to;

• Understand how science knowledge, processes and communication shift over time through the influence of social and technological change.

• Explore the diverse and changing understandings of the Nature of Science (NoS) while challenging participants to re-conceptualise their own personal contemporary view.

• Investigate first hand contemporary practices of science (and mathematics) and examine how the new knowledge created has significantly changed to become more inter-/multi- and trans-disciplinary, e.g. Nanoscience, and Bio-informatics.

Pop-culture view of science?

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• Using the provocative NoS card activityoutlined by Cobern & Loving (1998),participants are encouraged to construct acoherent personal view of NoS and invited tojustify their new understandings to peers.

• Participants are challenged to create an imageor multimedia representation of contemporaryscience that is consistent with their personalview of NoS.

• Personal understandings of NoS are testedand reviewed during interviews conducted withresearch scientists and discussions withteacher mentors during professional practice.

Re-conceptualising a personal view of NoS

Engaging with practices of contemporary science

Image by Kirkh - biomech_eye

Cobern, W.W. & Loving, C.C. (1998). The card activity: Introducing teachers to the philosophy of science. In W. McComas (Ed.), The nature of science in science education: Rationales and strategies (pp. 73-82). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers

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• All participants arrange a one day site visit toa research facility. They ‘shadow’ andinterview a practicing scientist .

• The interviews focus on investigating thescientist’s view of NoS and provide insightsinto the nature of their work and how theycommunicate ideas to diverse audiences.

• The interview findings and experiences areshared amongst the participants to enrichtheir views of NoS and build newunderstandings of contemporary sciencepractices including science communication.

Interviewing ‘real’ scientists engaged in ‘real’ research

Engaging with practices of contemporary science

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A framework for classifying science cognitiveengagement (Corrigan, 2015) was explored to assistparticipants.

Five levels of Science Cognitive Engagement

Public Engagemento Communicating with novice members of the

general public Informed Engagemento Communicating with people with science

backgrounds or relevant technical skills Applied Engagemento Communicating with a broad range of people

involved with the applications of science Focused Engagemento Communicating with specialist peers

Expert Engagemento Communicating with discipline experts and

visionaries

Investigating the complexity of science cognitive engagement

Engaging with practices of contemporary science

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On reconceptualising a personal view of NoSParticipants reported;

• Greater self-confidence in constructing and justifying a personal coherent view of NoS.• Improved ability and confidence in discussing NoS understandings across professional

settings.• Self perception of improved confidence and competence in teaching science as a way of

knowing with their students.

Early findings on unit impact (class anecdotal & detailed interviews n=3)

Engaging with practices of contemporary science

Student (3) – “You know you always start this going, oh [I] already know this, [but] ... really talking about it [NoS] and kind of expanding that understanding was really good. ... I came out [after the unit] with a fairly different kind of conception…than I started with of what science is and what’s core to it”.

Student (1) – “Questioning and actually reflecting on ... what I think about science and what other people think about science and trying to figure out ... what you know, what a coherent view is because a lot of these things aren’t ... necessarily explicitly looked at ... ”.

Student (3) – “If I was doing an interview for a science position I think it gives me a better understanding to talk about science education in a way that I think would stand out to employers, compared to people who hadn’t done this unit or something similar”.

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On improved understandings of contemporary science practicesParticipants reported;

• Changed and improved their understandings of current science practices.• self-confidence in constructing and justifying a personal coherent view of NoS.• Improved ability and confidence in discussing NoS understandings across professional

settings.• Self perception of improved competence in teaching science as a way of knowing.

Early findings on unit impact (class anecdotal & detailed interviews n=4)

Engaging with practices of contemporary science

Student (1) – “Yeah that was really good. I enjoyed ... the interview part [of] the site placement and talking to a working scientist and finding out what they value … the importance of creativity and collaboration and what they ... know.”.

Student (3) – “There was a few things that ... I wouldn’t have thought was important [before doing the unit] that when I got to do ... the interview towards the end of the subject ... a lot of things came up that we’d talked about ... and it was ... confirmed ... by the working scientists”.

Student (1) – “For example in science education our experiments work ... is not what it's like in actual science. You don't know the outcome of ... the actual experiment”.

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Preliminary findings were limited but suggest that many of the intended outcomes were achieved.

• A surprising finding was that the focus on participants re-conceptualising their personal view ofthe Nature of Science (NoS) proved much more effective and engaging than originallyanticipated. Participants were keen to revisit this ideas throughout the course.

• Constructing a coherent contemporary view of NoS provided participants with language andconfidence to engage in professional discourse which challenged and further enriched theirunderstandings.

• Participants self reported improved confidence and competence in their professional practicewhen exploring science with their students as a way of knowing and understanding the world.

• The site visits and interviews with practicing scientists were highly informative and althoughthe conversations and experiences proved widely diverse were highly regarded in building acontemporary view of science practices.

Summary of preliminary findings

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• Early findings indicate high levels of engagement and positive outcomes for pre-service andin-service teachers in the unit.

• The participants have suggested some welcome improvements to the sequencing of onlineresources and greater clarity around assessment tasks.

• The positive preliminary findings now warrant a more detailed study which captures feedbackfrom a larger cross-section of the unit cohort. More targeted research instruments are plannedto better understand the impact and effectiveness for both participants and the scientistsinvolved.

Where to from here?

Engaging with practices of contemporary science

Towards building authentic understandings of contemporary science practices for science educatorsSlide Number 2ReMSTEP Project – Monash initiatives ReMSTEP Project – Monash initiatives � � � �Slide Number 9 � � �