Scientific Practice and Science Education

Abstract

The field of science and technology studies (STS) has seen many "turns" in the past 40 years-toward discourse (Gilbert & Mulkay, 1982), toward technology (Woolgar, 1991), most recently toward ontology (Woolgar & Lezaun, 2013)-but probably no such shift has been more durable or emblematic than the turn toward scientific practice. Sustained attention to what scientists do, rather than what they say they do or what they ought to do, took off in the late 1970s, forming the basis for what Collins (Collins, 2015;Collins & Evans, 2002) calls "Wave Two" of STS. Notable practice-oriented Wave Two genres included laboratory ethnographies (

High school students' situational engagement associated with scientific practices in designed science learning situations

“…The research supports previous findings that students can benefit from the use of the scientific practices in science lessons. For example, by including scientific practices in science learning, students can become more powerfully involved as active investigators, who solve problems based on their experiences (Krajcik, 2015b; Miller et al, 2018; Mody, 2015). Further, students may develop more interest in science learning when performing scientific practices because they are exposed to the multiple ways in which scientists explore and understand the world (Shernoff et al, 2003).…”

“…The central idea behind using scientific practices in science classrooms is to involve students as active investigators who can solve problems based on their experiences (Krajcik, 2015b). Underlying this idea is the assumption that students are more situationally engaged and interested in science learning when they actively participate in science and use multiple ways to explore and understand the world rather than simply memorize or recite information (Krajcik, 2015b; Miller, Manz, Russ, Stroupe, & Berland, 2018; Mody, 2015). Further, the use of scientific practices helps students better understand difficult scientific concepts.…”

“…Further, the use of scientific practices helps students better understand difficult scientific concepts. Science teaching that focuses on scientific practices can also support students' feelings that they can successfully learn and do science (Mody, 2015). Abilities that students learn through scientific practices can also be beneficial outside of the science classroom or even in other science‐based contexts.…”

“…Abilities that students learn through scientific practices can also be beneficial outside of the science classroom or even in other science‐based contexts. Mody (2015), for example, explains how the skills and resources learned through scientific practices are beneficial in everyday life, by highlighting that students will eventually contend with uncertainty, in which they will need to express arguments clearly and back them up with evidence, and subject their own and others' ideas to skeptical review. Using scientific practices can help students acquire the skills and resources needed to do so.…”

“…While many competencies can be categorized as scientific, and additionally various practices and activities can be used in science lessons (Ford, 2015), we focused on the following 10 scientific practices, which are common and emphasized in both standards: asking questions, developing models, using a model, planning an investigation, conducting an investigation, analyzing data, solving math problems, constructing an explanation, using evidence, and evaluating information. Previous research related to scientific practices has mainly described the qualities of scientific practices (Ford, 2015; Mody, 2015; Osborne, 2011, 2014) or discussed the use of specific practices in the classroom (Bell, Bricker, Tzou, Lee, & Van Horne, 2012; Evagorou, Erduran, & Mäntylä, 2015; Krajcik & Merritt, 2012). However, there is a need for research that examines how scientific practices are associated with students' individual experiences, such as situational engagement, in real classroom situations.…”