IBSE Final

60 NaTIoNal SCIENCE TEaChERS aSSoCIaTIoN

Chapter 3 The Science Curriculum and Classroom Instruction

Table 3.4 Creating Learning Experiences Research on How Students Learn (Bransford, Brown, and Cocking 1999, 2000) Curricular Problem Instructional Problem Solution Students come to classrooms with preconceptions about how the world works.

Identify potential misconceptions

Teach for conceptual change

Instructional model

Competence in an area of inquiry includes (a) a deep foundation of factual knowledge, (b) understanding facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and (c) organizing knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application.

Incorporate both factual knowledge and a conceptual framework

Establish major concepts, introduce knowledge, and apply knowledge to new situations

Design curriculum based on major scientific concepts and provide experiences to learn factual knowledge and apply it to new situations Students can learn strategies that help them monitor their progress in problem solving.

Provide opportunities to introduce and emphasize students’ metacognitive strategies

Teaching strategies of inquiry

Emphasize inquiry abilities

The National Research Council report How People Learn (Bransford, Brown,

and Cocking 2000) supports the contention that the curriculum materials used in

most classrooms are far from demanding and coherent. Instead, “many models

of curriculum design seem to produce knowledge and skills that are discon-

nected rather than organized into coherent wholes” (Bransford, Brown, and

Cocking 2000, p. 138). In the science curriculum in particular, “existing curricula

tend to overemphasize facts and underemphasize ‘doing science’ to explore and

test big ideas” (Bransford, Brown, and Cocking 2000, p. 137).

The final challenge in answering the first question requires curriculum and

instruction that are rigorous, focused, and coherent. Rigor means centering on

the content, particularly the conceptual structure of science disciplines. Focus

refers to the depth of treatment of the content. Coherence refers to the connections

among science concepts and inquiry abilities in both horizontal and vertical

dimensions of the curriculum.