Science Learning Traditions

Perspectives on Science Learning

• Three research traditions differ in their approaches to characterizing learners and the process of science learning.
• The most important research on student learning has relied on qualitative methods, focusing on individual learners, small groups, or learning in a few classrooms.

Conceptual Change Tradition

• Focuses on scientific literacy as conceptual understanding.
• Has the longest history and most influence within the science education community.
• Encompasses a wide variety of perspectives and practices, tracing back to Jean Piaget's developmental research.

Research Methods and Results

• Moje et al. (2001) analyzed science teaching and learning in a seventh-grade classroom with students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
• The teacher, Maestro Tomas, was a native Spanish speaker, and most students were Latino or Latina with varying levels of proficiency in Spanish and English.
• The research team was composed of individuals with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Sociocultural Learning

• Focuses on methods that help learners master language and culturally embedded practices.
• Teaches students to communicate meaningfully across linguistic and cultural differences.
• Moje et al. (2001) developed congruent third spaces in classrooms, where everyday and scientific Discourses and knowledge can be negotiated and merged.

Child Rearing and Cultural Perspectives

• Barton and Yang (2000) told a story of frustration and disappointment, highlighting the importance of cultural perspectives in science education.
• Miguel's story showed how cultural power influences equitable science education reforms.

Discussion and Implications

• Science educators can learn from Miguel's story by critically understanding how culture and power influence what creating an inclusive science community might mean.
• Excluding certain populations from formal science education has resulted in the silencing of scientific knowledge.

Developing Prescriptions for Policy and Practice

• Research on learning has improved our understanding of why educational institutions fail to engender scientific literacy in many students.
• We need to develop better ways to translate analytical power into practical results, influencing policies and resources for science education.

Putting the Issues in Perspective

• The field has made significant progress in understanding science learning over the past 25 years.
• Earlier research paradigms, such as behaviorist, verbal learning, and developmental theories, were inadequate and limited in their descriptions of scientific knowledge.

A comparison of approaches to characterizing learners and the process of science learning, including research goals and methods.