Innovations in Science Education and Technology

Innovations in Science Education and Technology For other titles published in this series, go to www.springer.com/series/6150

Bernard Zubrowski Exploration and Meaning Making in the Learning of Science

Bernard Zubrowski Education Development Center, Inc. Newton USA ISBN 978-90-481-2495-4 e-isbn 978-90-481-2496-1 DOI 10.1007/978-90-481-2496-1 Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg London New York Library of Congress Control Number: 2009929355 Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009 No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher, with the exception of any material supplied specifically for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Printed on acid-free paper Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)

Acknowledgments The following were very generous in giving their time to reading various chapters in the book and providing valuable feedback. Karen Worth, Rachel Hellenga, David Crismond, Paul Tatter, Richard Duschel, Susan Henry, Tracy Noble, Pat Campbell, and Joyce Gleason v

Contents 1 Characteristics of a Genetic Approach to Curriculum Design... 1 Mobiles and Balancing Toys... 4 The First Activity... 5 The Second Activity... 6 The Third Activity... 9 The Second Part Balancing Objects Horizontally... 11 The Overall Scheme of These Activities... 12 Psychological Movements... 13 Pedagogical Practices... 14 Contextualizing the Object of Study... 14 Archetypical Phenomena and Technological Artifacts... 15 Multisensory Engagement... 16 Empathy... 16 Aesthetics... 16 Exploration and Play... 17 Models and Analogies... 18 Philosophical Framework... 19 Reference... 19 2 A Pedagogical Model for Guided Inquiry... 21 Faraday and Maxwell Models for Extended Inquiry... 21 Case Study #1 Michael Faraday... 21 Multisensory Engagement... 23 Visualizations... 25 Explorations and Analogies... 26 Thought Experiments... 26 A Case Study in the Use of Analogies and Metaphors in Science... 27 Case Study #2... 27 Generative Metaphor... 30 The Use of Analogies and Science Pedagogy... 32 A Modified Pedagogical Model as a Developmental Progression... 35 Phases of Inquiry... 38 Exploratory Phase... 39 vii

viii Contents Data Gathering and Experimental Phase... 40 Meaning Making Phase... 41 Modeling Phase... 42 Extending the Inquiry with a Closely Related Phenomena... 42 Relationship to the Learning Cycle Model... 43 Cycles in Guided Inquiry... 44 Theoretical Rationale... 46 References... 47 3 A Grade 1 9 Curriculum Framework Composed of Archetypical Phenomena and Technological Artifacts... 49 Scenario #1... 49 Concrete Images in Scientific Thinking... 53 Images as They are Related to Primary Processes and Paleologic Thinking... 55 Key Symbols in Scientific Thinking... 57 The Function of Key Symbols... 60 The Relationship Between Key Symbols, Root Metaphors, and Pedagogical Archetypes... 62 Affective Coherence in a Grades 1 9 Science Curriculum Framework... 71 References... 75 4 An Alternative Paradigm as a Basis for a Holistic Approach to Science Education... 77 Scenario #2... 77 The Architect as One Model for Curriculum Design and Teaching... 80 Portoghesi and the Listening Architect... 81 Curriculum Design and Teaching as a Dialectical Process: An Alternate Paradigm... 84 Engineering Versus Artist Paradigm... 86 The Alternative Paradigm and Constructivism... 89 Students Prior Knowledge and Conceptual Change... 90 Pedagogical Practices for a Constructivist Approach to Teaching Science... 93 Authenticity and Science Education... 95 A Holistic Approach to Science Education Meaning Making in the Broader Sense... 97 References... 102 5 The Body Image and Feelings in Science Learning... 105 Scenario #3... 105 A Rationale for This Approach... 108

Contents ix The Body as Ultimate Image and Basis for Physical Intuition... 109 Embodied Cognition... 111 Metaphoric Projection and the Embodied Mind... 112 Nonverbal Thinking and the Role of Emotions and Feelings in Learning... 116 Emotions and Feelings... 118 Body Image and Spatial Orientation... 120 The Embodied Curriculum and a Holistic Education... 123 References... 125 6 Sensory Understanding... 127 Scenario #3 Exploring with Siphon Bottles... 127 Alternative Pedagogical Practices in Science Teaching... 131 Scientific Imagination and the Role of Intuition... 135 The Multimodal Imagination of Creative Scientists and Inventors... 135 Nonverbal Thought: Vision and Its Relationship to the Other Senses... 141 Thinking Without Language... 142 Case Study #3... 142 The Neurophysiology of Intuition... 144 The Role of Vision in Exploring a Phenomenon... 145 Visualism, Language, and Science Pedagogy... 149 Authenticity in Science Education... 154 References... 158 7 Movement in Explorations, Gestural Representations, and Communication... 161 Scenario #4... 161 Movement During Explorations... 163 Movement in Communication Hand Gestures and Thinking... 168 Gesture and Talk... 172 Gestures, Body Movement, and the Focusing of Attention... 176 Expressive Movements and Expressive Stories... 178 References... 180 8 Empathy... 183 Scenario #5... 183 The Art Experience and Empathy... 186 The Relative Contributions of the Visual, Kinesthetic, and Tactile to Empathy... 191 Intrinsically Interesting Phenomena and Archetypical Images... 193 Difference/Distance and a Holistic Approach to Science Education... 200 References... 202

x Contents 9 Aesthetics in the Learning of Science... 205 Scenario #6... 205 Historical Examples of the Impact of Aesthetic Impulses on Scientific Thinking... 210 A Broad Historical View... 210 A Case Study of a Historical Period... 212 Case Studies of Individual Scientists and Inventors... 215 Shaping Experiences Aesthetically... 217 Aesthetics in the Selection and Organizing of Science Curriculum Experiences... 221 Choosing Aesthetically Interesting Phenomena... 222 Aesthetics and Exploratory Behavior... 224 Structuring a Sequence of Experiences to Have an Aesthetic Orientation... 227 Representing Experiences with Aesthetics in Mind... 228 Aesthetics in Conceptualizations... 232 Aesthetics Experiences as a Model for Science Education Experiences... 234 Aesthetic Experience as a Model for Holistic Science Education Experiences... 236 References... 240 10 Play and Exploration in the Teaching and Learning of Science... 243 Scenario #7... 243 Conditions for Play: Play and Intrinsic Motivation... 246 Conditions for Play Frames and Contexts... 252 The Boundaries of After-School Programming... 253 The Boundaries of School Activities... 254 Differentiating Play and Exploration... 256 Exploration and Play During Different Time Intervals... 260 The First Few Minutes... 261 During a 45 50 Min Class Session... 261 Over Multiple Sessions of an Extended Investigation... 262 Over a 9-Year Period... 265 Symbolic Play and Conceptual Change... 266 Fusion, Empathy and the Anthropomorphic Involvement and Projection of Children and Adults... 267 The Evolution of Generative Symbols... 271 The Transitional Zone as the Primordial Play Situation Role Model for a Holistic Science Education... 275 The Transitional Zone and Conceptual Change... 279 References... 280

Contents xi 11 Play and Variations in Explorations and Representations: The Stereoscopic Principle and Montage in the Design of Science Educational Experiences... 283 Scenario #8... 283 Collage and Visual Perception... 287 Proust and Stereoscopic Vision... 292 Goethe s Alternative Approach to Understanding the Natural World... 295 Goethe and Contemporary Science Education... 297 Variable Exploration of Children... 297 Science Curriculum and Exhibits Using Multiple Examples... 299 Stretch a Bubble... 299 Large Bubble Dome... 300 Small Bubble Dome... 300 Frame a Bubble... 300 Bubble Cells... 300 Bubble Writing... 301 A Bubble Investigation in the Classroom... 302 Juxtaposition of Phenomena... 304 Analogies as Juxtapositions... 305 References... 308 12 The Role of Metaphor, Models, and Analogies in Science Education... 311 Scenario #9... 311 Mile-Wide Inch-Deep Versus Narrow Focus and In-Depth... 314 Defining a Domain and Subdomains... 316 Domain Specificity and the Learning of Analogies... 318 Analogies Within Domains and Subdomains... 320 Accessing Analogies... 322 Models and Modeling... 322 Simple Physical Models Related to Real Objects... 324 Current Problems with Design Challenges... 325 Time... 325 Conflating Design and Inquiry... 325 Visual Representations... 327 Assessment... 327 Visual Modeling... 327 Visual Modeling Combining Hands-On Activities with the Use of a Computer... 328 Modeling with Computers... 330 The Modeling of the Particulate Nature of Matter... 330 First or Second Grade Dyes and Pigments... 331 Third or Fourth Grade Crystals... 332

xii Contents Sixth Grade Salad Dressing Physics... 332 Seventh Grade Chromatography... 333 Eighth Grade Investigating Special Inks... 333 Comparison Across Subdomains... 334 Concluding Comments... 336 References... 338 Index... 341

Introduction Mountaineers, Rock Climbers, and Science Educators Around the 1920s, rock climbing separated from mountaineering to become a separate sport. At that time European climbers developed new equipment and techniques, enabling them to ascend mountain faces and to climb rocks, which were considered unassailable up to that time. American climbers went further by expanding and improving on the equipment. They even developed a system of quantification where points were given for the degree of difficulty of an ascent. This system focused primarily on the pitch of the mountain, and it even calculated up to decimals to give a high degree of quantification. Rock climbing became a technical system. Csikszentmihaly (1976) observed that the sole interest of rock climbers at that time was to climb the rock. Rock climbers were known to reach the top and not even glance around at the scenery. The focus was on reaching the top of the rock. In contrast, mountaineers saw the whole mountain as a single unit of perception. The ascent (to them) is a gestalt including the aesthetic, historical, personal and physical sensations (Csikszentmihaly, 1976, p. 486). This is an example of two contrasting approaches to the same kind of landscape and of two different groups of people. Interestingly, in the US, Europe, and Japan a large segment of the early rock climbers were young mathematicians and theoretical physicists, while the mountaineers were a more varied lot. There is a parallel to the current practices in science education. There are science educators who are like the mountaineers. They approach science from a larger perspective where the attention to the aesthetic of a phenomenon is part of their way of teaching science. Their encounters with different natural phenomena are a matter of discovery and resonance. They are motivated as much by curiosity as by intellectual development. Others are more like the rock climbers, where there is a narrower conception of science and the teaching of science. It is a way of mastering nature. Measurement tends to dominate their first encounters and their main focus appears to be solely conceptual understanding. The aesthetics of the phenomena are barely mentioned or noticed. In recent times this attitude has been accentuated by the introduction of computer software and the use of measurement probes. In schools, even at the xiii

xiv Introduction elementary level, probes are used to make measurements of great accuracy even where simple qualitative comparisons would do. To some degree these characterizations are a bit of an exaggeration. This metaphor is used to bring into focus some of the values and attitudes that pervade contemporary science education. From my perspective there is a general problem with the way science is taught in the elementary and middle schools. It has been noted that there is a lack of balance in the way science is taught (Pintrick et. al., 1993). There is an overemphasis on the rational and cognitive aspect with a neglect of the affective. One indicator of this problem is a recent report showing that there is a significant decrease in interest in science as elementary students move through the grades. By high school only a small percent of students continue in science (Zacharia and Calabrese-Barton, 2003). Some of this, no doubt, reflects the narrowing of interest of students because of their own specific talents. Some of it could also be attributed to the narrow way in which science is taught. A part of the problem is the growing emphasis on testing. From my work with teachers I have found that they are very conscientious in attempting to address the state standards. In my exchanges with them they state that they would like to spend more time with each topic but because of the number of standards there is not enough time for extended development of each. Under pressure from their administration to have students perform well on the tests, they narrow their pedagogy to teaching to the test. There is also the question of high expectations of the teachers. A great deal of research in recent years has generated many recommendations for changes in teaching practice. There is a gap between the expectations arising from these recommendations and where most teachers are in terms of their background. There is also a problem of insufficient funds for in-service programs to learn about these changes (Duit and Treagust, 2003). These expectations can be demoralizing to teachers and can affect the way they teach. The Need for a Holistic Approach to Science Education There is a deeper problem that may also account for the drop in interest in science. Bo Dahlin (2001) describes this overemphasis on objective detachment as a type of cognitivism. He defines it as letting conceptual, theoretical cognition constitute the central theme of all research or practice dealing with teaching, learning and the development of knowledge. The acquisition of concepts becomes the primary and most important aim of all schooling (Dahlin, 2001, p. 460). Dahlin s concern is about the neglect of sense experience or aesthetics in educational practice. Dahlin s corrective to this overemphasis is to draw upon the approach advocated by John Dewey and the perspective of phenomenologists such as Merleau-Ponty. He argues for a more fundamental role of experience where there is direct engagement with phenomena and aesthetic richness. He advocates for a kind of experience where the person lets the thing think in us (p. 465).

Introduction xv This engagement can be described as a transaction where sensory experiences with educational guidance bring about a conception rather than one imposing a conception on the experience. There is a dialectical interaction between the subject and the object. Artists and craftspeople often mention this process. Sculptors and craftspeople, in particular, have been known to practice a variant of this approach when they state that the materials tell them what to do. Edmund Carpenter provides an example of this approach in reporting his observations of an Eskimo carver working with a piece of ivory or bone. The carver does not start off with a preconceived notion of what he will end up with but rather whittles away getting a feeling for the material. In the process of having a dialogue with the material a shape begins to emerge. Eventually, the shape of a seal emerges. Somehow it came from the bone. It was not imposed on it. This stance toward materials has a parallel in the world of science. Evelyn Fox Keller in her biography of Barbara McClintock, the noted biologist, reports on her research on the genetics of corn. McClintock felt a need to listen to the material and that one should let the experiment tell you what to do. This approach to and the conception of the relationship between a person and a phenomenon can act as a philosophical framework for the way curriculum is designed and the relationship between teacher and student. It can be described as a holistic approach to science education. This approach will be the basis of an alternative paradigm for science education that will be presented in Chapter 4 and is an underlying conception that runs throughout the book. Truncated Inquiry It may appear that these more philosophical concerns are far removed from the dayto-day teaching of science. In my work over the years with teachers and in the review of many curriculum programs I see a direct relevance. For instance, there are two common practices in science education that I think are manifestations of an excessive concern about conception. There is a tendency to downgrade the role of sensory experience and the aesthetic properties of a phenomenon. Closely related to this attitude, there is undervaluing of open explorations and a lack of adequate support to help the student transition from formal experiments to explicit explanations. Hands-on explorations are perhaps the only time when students have direct contact with natural or physical phenomena. It is one of the few times where there is a chance for multisensory stimulation. Art classes may be the other possible instance but art comes and goes with the fluctuations in school budgets. In my work with students and in many observations of classroom, I have observed that direct engagement with materials can be highly motivating. There is an affective charge when students have control over the materials and can act on, produce effects, and observe interesting objects and organisms. There is another aspect to this interaction that tends to be overlooked. Students resonate with different phenomena and

xvi Introduction materials in a way that gives rise to meaningful personal connections. There is the possibility of an aesthetic experience. With the rise of the use of computer and the proliferation of software there is a trend to move away from this type of direct engagement. In fact, there appears to be a strong debate about the relative effectiveness of these two approaches. Recent research reports that with some kinds of activities children were able to learn as well with a virtual approach as with physical materials (Klahr, 2007). The implications of these kinds of studies will further question the importance of direct encounters with phenomena. Why engage in hands-on experience when virtual ones with a computer are not messy and easily replicated? We will surely hear more about this issue in the future about how the computer can replace direct experience with phenomena. Here I am not going against the essential and very productive role it can play. It is more a matter of when and how it enters into the inquiry investigation. The overall purpose of this book is to present a case for the importance of direct engagement with phenomena and materials. I will argue that this practice is more than a matter of motivating students to become engaged in inquiry. There is added value to this practice because of the personal connections and the aesthetic dimension. Support for this approach can be found in the changing understanding about the relationship between metaphorical thinking and embodied cognition. These theoretical developments and related research suggest that these direct experiences with materials may play an essential role in promoting conceptual change in students. If teachers are involved in hands-on activities in a science education context there is a tendency to move through the initial exploratory phase of an inquiry investigation quickly or even skip some parts of it, moving directly to measurements. This results in students having an encounter of a few minutes or only one session where they are allowed to explore the materials in a relatively open-ended manner. Even if it is allowed to happen there are moves and talk by the teacher to direct students to that which will be directly related to the concepts that will be taught. Valuing the experience in and of itself is a foreign notion. There is a rush to formal experimentation and explanation without much time for the students to become reacquainted with a phenomenon and develop a deeper intuition about its properties. Some curriculum programs will explicitly include as part of their pedagogical model an exploratory phase but there are still problems with the way this phase is dealt with in these guides and practiced. I will critique some of these problems in some of the chapters. The other problem is the way conceptualization is developed. The more sophisticated practitioners of inquiry do insist on evidence gained from the experimentation. What is neglected is the transitional phase between the open explorations and experimentation and the transition from gathering evidence to explicit conceptual development. Not enough recognition is given to transitional modes of representation such as gesture. Not enough time is given to moving students through multiple representations so that they can begin to develop a mental model. Prior to explanations students need to work through a series of external representations moving through kinetic and gestural enactments, visual media such as sketches or graphs, verbal descriptions, and then the written word. There is a need to provide for these

Introduction xvii transitions so that the pre-analytic modes of thinking, the emerging intuitions can gradually take shape, be externalized, and tested. Too often these different modes of representations are given a cursory recognition. This problem will also be addressed throughout the book. A holistic approach to science education would continue to challenge students to think critically and work toward adopting more scientific explanations while also promoting personal growth. There would a balance between the academic goal of conceptual change and the goal of providing for meaningful personal connections with the world. This balanced approach could result in less alienation from the natural and man-made world as well as lay a deeper and richer foundation so that students might more readily reconcile their prior knowledge with a more scientific understanding of basic phenomena. Aesthetics, Play, and Metaphor There are modes of perception, attitudes, and pre-analytic thinking that can be associated with the approach of letting the material speak to you. This approach implies that there is a relationship of empathy between the phenomenon, materials, or living thing and the student. There can be identification with these entities. Feelings about these entities can arise in the student because of the specific characteristics of the object or materials. This resonance between the object and person arises from aesthetic predispositions. If this resonance were an essential part of the engagement, then it would make sense for the science educator to look toward the arts for some guidance in what brings about engagement and how these experiences can be communicated by useful explicit representations. In this book I present a modified paradigm of science education that is related to the stance of the artists in their dialogue with materials as described previously. This is in contrast to the current prevailing paradigm of an engineering approach to education. I propose that the curriculum designer can find some guidance from the practice of some architects, and the teacher can find some inspiration from the conductor of a jazz orchestra. I also draw upon the art of the mime and specific artists like David Hockney and Macel Proust to illustrate ways of characterizing explorations and how educational experience can be structured. In various ways the sense that there can be an aesthetic approach to science education pervades the whole book. Those who have studied play in the broader social context have observed that there is a close relationship between play and aesthetic engagement. Although play is a politically incorrect term and is considered a problem in formal schooling, it is an approach to the world that is natural for students. The characteristics of play should be studied for a sense of how to guide students in their explorations and ways to stir their imagination in making sense of experiences with phenomena. One of the chapters specifically addresses this basic mode of activity and it is implied in discussions in other parts of the book.

xviii Introduction Aesthetics and play provide the foundation for the ways in which people make sense of their encounters with their environment. These modes of perception and behavior provide a structure for ways to see relationships between disparate situations, objects, and systems. This is related to the ability of humans to conjure up metaphors and analogies. Fundamental to the thinking of scientists and the processes of science is the use of analogies and models. In recent times the role of models and modeling are receiving increasing attention because these modes of thinking are seen as fundamental to bringing about conceptual change in students. The relationship between basic sensory experiences and the development of analogies and modeling will also be addressed. My sense is that these three aspects of learning are intimately connected which means that if science educators want to give importance to the role of metaphor and modeling they should also be considering how aesthetics and play support the making of metaphors and analogies. Technology in Addition to Nature Writers such as Bo Dahlin and others in their advocacy for a more holistic approach to science education generally write about the student s growing alienation from the natural world. I agree with this view but I feel that there is also a need for expanding the scope of what is to be experienced sensorally and aesthetically. There should also be recognition of a need to be at home with the man-made world. In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, Robert Persig (1974) addresses this issue by weaving into his travelogue on his motorcycle some deep philosophical issues about the contemporary person s alienation from modern technology. Interestingly, he uses the metaphor of traveling the back roads instead of the highway that could be compared to the difference between the mountaineers and the rock climbers. He traveled the back roads instead of the superhighways to get a better sense of the countryside. It was a more personally engaging way of getting a feel for the country he was traveling through. In this book Persig is writing about contemporary people s alienation from their own technology. Perhaps, it is no accident that he is traveling by motorcycle. The union of a person and his motorcycle is a special one. It is an instance where machine and person become one. In his travelogue he contrasts his approach of bricolage when maintaining and troubleshooting his motorcycle to his adult traveling companion s reliance on others to maintain his motorcycle. At one point Persig relates how he uses a piece of a beer can as a way of solving a problem with his motorcycle, while his companion relies totally on others to maintain his vehicle. The companion appears to have no notion of how his piece of technology functions while Persig has enough of a sense of how it functions that he can quickly solve a minor problem. He has a feel for how this machine functions. I propose that a pedagogical approach should explore both natural phenomena as well as those of human creation. Therefore, I will be using the term technological artifact to stand in for the multiplicity of all of these creations.

Introduction xix Practical Background This book represents my attempt to summarize my evolving thinking about curriculum design and direct work with students. Over the years I have been involved with several different curriculum efforts, the development and design of interactive exhibits for children s museums and science centers, the writing and publishing of children science books, as well as the productions of several video projects for teacher education. I draw upon all these experiences to give specific examples to illustrate what I consider important pedagogical practices and how they relate to extended inquiry. I mentioned this background because it represents the practical work I have been doing. Over the years of my involvement in science education, I sometimes worked with the same phenomena and set of activities transforming them to fit different media-trade books, exhibits, and videos. Out of these experiences I came to see that the context and media shapes what kind of learning can occur. In my view context is not just the social and physical environment but must include the specific materials and the phenomena being investigated. I have drawn upon this work with different media to illustrate pedagogical issues and present examples of how inquiry can be guided. Most of the curriculum mentioned is in published form and available from a publisher. Structure of the Book Overall, the book can be divided into three parts. The first four chapters lay out different levels of a pedagogical approach and an overall theoretical orientation. The first chapter presents an example of one curriculum topic. This is used to introduce different pedagogical practices and related psychological processes that will be commented on in the remainder of the book. The second chapter presents a modified pedagogical model, meaning that it is based on existing practices and current research. The third chapter presents a rationale for a grade 1 9 curriculum framework based on the concept of archetypical phenomena and technological artifacts. The fourth chapter presents an alternative paradigm for science education. Chapters 3 and 4 present some surveys of broad theoretical issues but also include specific examples to illustrate these issues in a concrete way. The middle chapters focus on what might be called sensory knowledge. These are concerned with the role of different sensory engagements, movement as related to gestural representation, and the role of empathy in exploration. The role of empathy is something not usually discussed in science education but my sense is that it is fundamental to conceiving of a holistic approach to education. The last four chapters are about the role of aesthetics, play, variable exploration, and metaphor in the shaping of science education experiences. What is developed in these chapters builds on what was mentioned in the middle chapters and provides

xx Introduction a general rationale for what was proposed in the first four chapters. There are vast literatures associated with each of these topics. At the risk of being too biased, I have selected certain accounts that support the particular pedagogical approach and the general orientation being proposed. Each chapter is introduced with a scenario or case study describing the behavior and talk of elementary or middle school students. (Most of these scenarios are taken from a series of published videos that are part of the Learning to See project which is available from the Education Development Center.) The intention in presenting these scenarios is to help the reader stay grounded while considering the more abstract development of research reports and broader philosophical issues. The specific examples that I give come from the various curriculum projects that I have been involved in over the past 30 years. Most of these are available in published curriculum or trade books. The approach I have taken in the writing of the book and the chapters is an unorthodox one. There is a spiraling around several themes that are related to the general thesis. There are repetitions where I return to some of the same specific activities and some of the same authors and quotes. The point of this repetition is that the same investigation of a phenomenon or behavior of a student can be viewed with multiples lenses. The way a particular inquiry investigation is structured and potentially carried out can be informed by the way one thinks about the role of sensory engagement, empathy, aesthetics, play and metaphor. Terminology Education is filled with lots of clichés, jargon, and terms that quickly expand to include a wide range of understandings and references diluting the original meaning. I thought it would be helpful here to comment on some educational terms and the way I will be using them. Guided Inquiry Inquiry has now been adopted by all kinds of curriculum programs, textbook publishers, and teachers. There is currently a wide range of practices by teachers and a wide range of pedagogies that go by this term. Closely tied to these different pedagogies are ideological differences about what makes inquiry authentic and relevant. The different approaches to inquiry could be represented by a continuum where at one end there is completely open inquiry giving students much leeway and at the other end represented by a highly structured approach. Open inquiry seems to mean that students are very free to choose what they will investigate and how they will carry it out. An alternative to this approach is guided inquiry that also can have

Introduction xxi multiple meanings. In my use of the term I would associate it with a balance between teacher-directed and student-directed approaches. I would situate the type of examples of investigations given in this book as a type of guided inquiry locating somewhere in the middle of the continuum. Genetic Curriculum The proposed pedagogical model given in Chapter 2 is not very different on the surface from the practices already in place with some curriculum programs and teaching. From my perspective I would give higher priority to the role of explorations and give particular attention to the changing type of representations that develop during an investigation. To differentiate the pedagogical approach being proposed from others that are more prevalent, I have decided to designate it as a curriculum that is genetic in its structure. This refers to the psychological movement from concrete experiences that are multisensory, to the initial representations through gestures, on to visual and verbal representations that eventually can be the basis for the development of mental models. I focus on these changing representations to emphasize the need to be very cognizant of the foundational role of sensory engagement with a phenomenon and the role of aesthetics in learning. Phenomenon I associate this term with basic natural objects, systems, and happenings in the natural and physical world. It covers such happenings as air and water movement, objects in motion such as balls on tracks, and soap bubbles. Holistic Versus Humanistic There is also the problem of finding an appropriate term to cover the need for a more balanced approach to science education as I have mentioned above. Some writers when advocating this perspective sometimes have used the term humanistic. In reviewing the history of this term, it becomes problematic because the center of attention is the person. My concern is more with the person s relationship to the natural and man-made world and how these are experienced in a sociocultural environment. The best I can come up with is holistic. This term has associations with some psychological practices and dogmas. In this book I wanted it to have the sense that there was recognition and need for an aesthetic approach for teaching science, while still allowing for movement from the sensory experience and aesthetic representation to the eventual abstract conceptualizations.

xxii Introduction Acknowledgments The following were very generous in giving their time to reading various chapters in the book and providing valuable feedback: Karen Worth, Rachel Hellenga, David Crismond, Paul Tatter, Richard Duschel, Susan Henry, Tracy Noble, Pat Campbell, Joyce Gleason. References Carpenter, E. (1965). Art of the Eskimo Carver in Education of Vision, Kepes, G. (ed.). New York: Braziller. Csikszentmihaly, M. (1976). The Americanization of Rock Climbing in Play: Its Role in Development and Evolution, Bruner, J.S., Jolly, A., and Sylva, K. (eds.) (pp. 484 486). New York: Viking Penguin. Dahlin, B. (2001) The primacy of cognition or of perception? A phenomenological critique of the theoretical bases of science education. Science & Education, 10:453 475. Duit, R. and Treagust, D.T. (2003). Conceptual change: A powerful framework for improving science teaching and learning. International Journal of Education, 25(6): 671 688. Klahr, D., Triona, L.M., and Williams, C. (2007). Hands-on what? The relative effectiveness of physical versus virtual materials in an engineering design project by middle school children. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(1): 183 203. Persig, R. (1974). Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values. New York, Morrow. Pintrich, P.R., Marx, R.W., and Boyle, R.A. (1993). Beyond cold conceptual change: The role of motivational beliefs and classroom contextual factors in the process of conceptual change. Review of Educational Research, 63: 167 199. Zacharia, Z. and Calabrese-Barton, A. (2003). Urban middle-school students attitudes toward a defined science. Science Education, 87: 1 27.