IBSE Final

Chapter 3 The Science Curriculum and Classroom Instruction

tHE tEACHING OF SCIENCE: 21 st-CENTURY PERSPECTIVES 59

task, recognize patterns, formulate reasonable arguments, propose explana-

tions, and analyze alternative explanations is closely related to knowledge. But

that knowledge is not a Jeopardy! question or Trivial Pursuit item. That is, it is

not disconnected, unrelated, and isolated. The knowledge is connected to and

part of a deeper conceptual framework and understanding. This interconnec-

tion of factual information and conceptual understanding allows experts to

extract meaning from information at levels that novices do not recognize, and it

helps experts remember, retrieve, and transfer relevant information. Here, one

sees the need for both knowledge and major concepts. The direct implications

suggest that curriculum materials be structured using major conceptual ideas

and that factual knowledge be introduced in direct and clear connection with

the concepts.

Third, students can learn strategies to help them define learning goals

for themselves and monitor their progress in achieving these goals. Research

on experts who are in the process of inquiry and problem solving reveals

that they monitor their own understanding, note where more information

is needed, realize the consistency or inconsistency of new information with

what they know, and apply analogies that help advance their understanding.

Many of these strategies parallel methods of scientific inquiry. Research also

has demonstrated that students can be taught strategies such as predicting

outcomes, explaining to oneself, activating background knowledge, planning

ahead, and noting inadequacies. Research also indicates that these metacogni-

tive strategies must be incorporated into subject matter; they cannot be taught

in isolation.

Incorporating inquiry and helping students develop strategies of self-

questioning and reflection in the context of their work seems the direct impli-

cation of this finding.

So what is the “modern scientific point of view?” It is the content described

earlier in the National Science Education Standards (NRC 1996) and the contempo-

rary common core standards. The Standards present concepts and abilities appro-

priate for students at different ages and stages of development. They provide a

conceptual framework for curriculum developers and classroom teachers. Table

3.4 (p. 60) summarizes this discussion on creating learning experiences.

In Why Schools Matter, Bill Schmidt and his colleagues (2001) state

another challenge.

When districts provide more demanding and coherent curricula, students find

greater opportunities [for learning] and students with greater opportunities

usually achieve more. Without national leadership, it would appear that the

United States will continue to have only accidental enclaves of excellence.

(Schmidt et al. 2001)