Beyond “asking questions”: Problematizing as a disciplinary activity

Phillips, Anna McLean; Watkins, Jessica; Hammer, David

doi:10.1002/tea.21477

Cited by 48 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Pedagogical implementations are also discussed. Our analysis resonates with recent studies that support the role of uncertainty in students' learning in science (e.g., Hartner‐Tiefenthaler et al, 2018; Kirch, 2010; Manz & Suárez, 2018; Phillips et al, 2018; Sezen‐Barrie et al, 2020; Tiberghien et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Developing deep learning in science classrooms: Tactics to manage epistemic uncertainty during whole‐class discussion

Chen

Techawitthayachinda

2021

J Res Sci Teach

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Science teachers usually view students' uncertainty as a barrier to overcome, a negative experience to be avoided, a deficiency in need of remedy. Building on the theory of deep learning in science as a generative and sensemaking process, the purpose of this design‐based study is to identify tactics for teachers to manage their students' epistemic uncertainty as a pedagogical resource to develop student conceptual understanding during whole‐class discussion. Classroom observations of whole‐class discussion were collected from six teachers' classes ranging from third to eighth grade. A total of 18 whole‐class discussions were collected, transcribed, and analyzed. A storyline talk to manage uncertainty during whole‐class discussion was developed and consisted of three stages: (1) Raise epistemic uncertainty through creating ambiguous conditions; (2) Maintain epistemic uncertainty through preventing immature disclosure and discussing alternative explanations or conflicting ideas; and (3) Reduce epistemic uncertainty through making coherent connections among current uncertainty, prior knowledge, and familiar phenomena. Seven nuanced tactics used by teachers to achieve each stage of uncertainty management were identified. The results suggest that managing uncertainty goes beyond asking questions and problematizing phenomena. When engaging students in storyline‐based whole‐class discussion, teachers should focus on one specific uncertainty and establish a coherent, consistent storyline that raises, maintains, and reduces student uncertainty to horizontally and vertically construct a collective knowledge among students. The horizontal nature occurs within a stage of management, and the vertical nature of a storyline talk is related to moving along from stage to stage. Through the storyline talk focusing on students' epistemic uncertainty, students can truly become agents in the learning process when the lesson is centered on and driven by students' uncertainty.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Developing deep learning in science classrooms: Tactics to manage epistemic uncertainty during whole‐class discussion

Chen

Techawitthayachinda

2021

J Res Sci Teach

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“…If we consider that preparing students to be scientifically literate is about “learning how to think and practice like a scientist” (Pearson et al., , p. 459), teachers should design and embed uncertainty in scientific literacy practice similar to the practices of scientists (Howes, Lim, & Campos, ). Uncertainty is more than asking questions to elicit students’ prior knowledge and raise students’ curiosity toward the discussed issues (Coiro, ; Phillips, Watkins, & Hammer, ). Uncertainty opens a space for argumentation, enabling students to engage in scientific literacy practices.…”

Section: Four Principles To Design a Stwh Lessonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using the Science Talk–Writing Heuristic to Build a New Era of Scientific Literacy

Chen

2019

The Reading Teacher

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One of the major goals of science education is preparing students to be scientifically literate. Argumentation is a core practice to promote both scientific literacy and science learning. However, incorporating argumentation into science teaching can be challenging for both teachers and students. The author introduces the Science Talk–Writing Heuristic as a teaching approach that science teachers can use to integrate literacy practices and science learning in an argumentative environment.

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“…From there, students began to ask questions such as why is there variation in plant height across elevations? "Asking questions" is another key scientific practice described in NGSS, and it is the means through which scientists problematize the observed phenomenon (Phillips et al, 2018). In this case, students were problematizing the concept of intraspecific variation.…”

Section: Lesson Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Digitized Museum Collections to Investigate Population Variation in Plants

Guy-Gaytán¹,

Scholl²,

Leger³

2021

The American Biology Teacher

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Understanding the causes and consequences of variation among populations is fundamental for understanding the process of evolution via natural selection. To support students in noticing, questioning, and investigating variation in wild populations, we describe an introductory investigation that used digitized museum plant specimens as the primary focus. The activity illustrates how digitized museum collections can be used to introduce natural phenomena into the classroom, even without physical access to a museum. Through measuring plant specimens and examining patterns in data, students had opportunities to discuss how to obtain accurate measurements, handle noisy data, and request data that would be helpful for further investigation of the patterns they observed. In our example, we focused on one flowering plant, the royal penstemon (Penstemon speciosus), which varies in size across environmental gradients: larger plants are found at lower elevations, and smaller ones on the highest peaks, a pattern commonly observed in nature. Overall, this lesson led students to observe this pattern and wonder about the environmental constraints affecting phenotypes. We provide examples of the kinds of activities that could follow our lesson to provide students with opportunities to connect their ideas to intraspecific variation, a key component for understanding evolutionary processes.

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Beyond “asking questions”: Problematizing as a disciplinary activity

Cited by 48 publications

References 46 publications

Developing deep learning in science classrooms: Tactics to manage epistemic uncertainty during whole‐class discussion

Developing deep learning in science classrooms: Tactics to manage epistemic uncertainty during whole‐class discussion

Using the Science Talk–Writing Heuristic to Build a New Era of Scientific Literacy

Using Digitized Museum Collections to Investigate Population Variation in Plants

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