Trends in Language, Reading, and Writing Research in Science Education

1. Trends in Language,Reading, and Writing Researchin Science Education Larry D. Yore University of Victoria Kaohsiung, Taiwan February 21, 2005

2. Educational Reforms inNorth America: Canada & USA

3. Cross-Curricular Viewof Current Reforms • Standards for the English Language Arts (NCTE/IRA) • Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (NCTM) • Science for All Americans (AAAS) • National Science Education Standards (NRC) • Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (NCSS) • Technology for All Americans (ITEA) • Western Canadian Protocol for Mathematics (Alberta, British Columbia, other western provinces) • Pan-Canadian Framework for Science (CMEC)

4. Common Features Acrossthe Disciplines (Ford, Yore, & Anthony, 1997) • Target Goals • All Students • Contemporary Literacy • Pedagogical Intentions • Constructivism • Authentic Assessment

5. Contemporary Literacy(Yore, 2000) • Abilities, Thinking, and Habits of Mind to Construct Disciplinary Understanding • Communications to Inform and Persuade • Big Ideas/Unifying Concepts

6. Fundamental Sense Cognitive and Metacognitive Abilities Critical Thinking Habits of Mind Scientific Language Arts Information and Communication Technologies Derived Sense Understanding of the Big Ideas and Unifying Concepts Nature of Science People’s attempt to search, describe, and explain patterns of events in nature Scientific Inquiry Technological Design Interacting Senses of Science Literacy: Cognitive Symbiosis(Norris & Phillips, 2003)

7. Cognitive and Metacognitive Abilities • Building knowledge claims and making sense of the world • Critical analysis of claims, procedures, measurement errors, data, etc. • Justifying data as evidence for/against a claim based on the theoretical backings/warrants • Analytical reasoning, problem solving and troubleshooting • Science processes: Observing, measuring, etc. • Planning and evaluating inquiries and designs

8. Critical Thinking: Deciding What to Believe or Do About a Challenge • Worthwhile challenge, issue, or problem deserving consideration (Ford, 1998) • Deliberations of evidence, criteria, opinions • Judgment about what to do/believe • Justification of the claim/judgment • Thinking about your thinking as you are thinking to improve the quality of your thinking (Paul & Elder, 2003, Foundation for Critical Thinking)

9. Habits of Mind: Emotional Dispositions Toward Science Inquiry and Technological Design(AAAS, 1993) • Values and Attitudes • Willingness to seek solutions and solve problems • Keep records and offer reasons for findings • Consider other interpretations and reasons • Critical-Response Skills • Express skepticism; ask: “How do you know that?” • Buttress claims with evidence and information • Compare and consider trade-offs • View science and technology with critical stance • Evaluate and validate information, data, reasons, and arguments • Understand the roles of chance and errors in relationships

10. Scientific Language Arts(Yore, Hand, & Florence, 2004) • Orally present, write, read and follow directions, state purpose for the stepwise procedures, and produce a compelling argument, sound explanation, or clear description • Construct, view, and interpret sketches, diagrams, models, tables, charts, maps, pictures, and graphs • Use visual and textual displays to reveal relationships • Locate and evaluate information from various textual and digital sources • Choose and use appropriate vocabulary, spatial displays, numerical operations, and statistics • Etcetera

11. Information and Communication Technologies (21st Century ICT Literacy Map for Science) • Use and read calculators, analog/digital meters and digital records, cameras, and videos (AAAS, 1993) • Troubleshoot common problems and determine potential causes of malfunctions (AAAS, 1993) • Use 21st Century tools for accessing, processing, managing, interpreting, and communicating information • Understand, manage, and create effective oral, written, and multi-media communications • Exercise sound reasoning, make complex choices, and understand interconnections among systems • Ability to frame, analyze, and solve problems • Etcetera (http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/matrices/default.asp)

12. Big Ideas or Unifying Concepts (NRC, 1996) • Nature of Science • History of Science • Science as Inquiry • Personal and Social Perspectives • Content for Biological, Earth, and Physical Sciences • System, order, and organization • Evidence, models, and explanations • Change, constancy, and measurement • Evolution and equilibrium • Form and function

13. Myths about Science (McComas, 1998) • Science evolves — hypotheses, theories, laws. • Hypotheses are educated guesses. • The scientific method is general and universal. • Evidence accumulates to produce truths. • Science and inquiry result in absolute proof. • Science is procedural — not creative. • Science can address all questions. • Scientists are objective. • Experimentation is the primary route to claims. • All science is reviewed to ensure honesty.

14. Modern View of Science “There is a reality that we may know some day,and claims about nature must be tested.” (Yore, Hand, & Florence, 2004)

15. Modern View of Science • Science knowledge is a temporary explanation that best fits the existing evidence, established knowledge, and current thinking. • Science knowledge claims develop with the aid of a hypothesis and data that are collected and that support or refute the hypothesis. • Science knowledge claims are open to repeated public evaluation. • The scientific method is not bound by a single set of steps — problem, hypothesis, design experiment, collect data, analyze data, and draw conclusion.

16. Science is like Doing a Crossword Puzzle “Picture a scientist as working on part of an enormous crossword puzzle: making an informed guess about some entry, checking and double-checking its fit with the clue and already-completed intersecting entries. ... Much of the crossword is blank, but many entries are already completed, some in almost-indelible ink, some in regular ink, some in pencil, some heavily, some faintly. Some are in English, some in Swahili, some in Flemish, some in Esperanto, etc. … Now and then a long entry, intersecting with numerous others.” (Haack, 2003, pp. 93-94)

17. Constructivism (Yore, 2001) • Theory about learning — not teaching — that assumes learners construct understanding from prior knowledge, sensory experiences, and social interactions. • Prior knowledge may contain misconceptions that are difficult to change. • Conceptual change approaches must challenge misconceptions and allow learners to construct a more understandable and powerful replacement concept. • Numerous interpretations of constructivism • Select an interpretation that matches the discipline and goals — Learning Cycle

18. Constructivist Approach: Science Co-op Learning Cycle(Shymansky, Yore, & Anderson, 2004) • Engage — access, assess, and challenge learners’ prior knowledge • Explore — allow opportunities for learners to investigate the target concepts with hands-on, visual, and language experiences • Consolidate — scaffold the learners’ interpretations of the experiences and connect to the established understandings • Assess — document learners’ ideas in all parts of the cycle to facilitate and evaluate learning

19. Authentic Assessment(Yore, Williams, Shymansky, Chidsey, Henriques, & Craig, 1995) • Assess in the same context as teaching and learning • Document the construction of understanding as well as the recall of ideas • Assess throughout instruction • Use assessment techniques that match the target outcomes and processes • Assess to empower learning and to inform instruction

20. Language is both an end and a means to Science Literacy. • Communications to Inform and Persuade • Language to Construct Science Knowledge Claims • Argument and Debate • Discuss Alternatives and Promote Learning • Reveal Relationships among Experiences • Consolidate and Integrate Learning

21. Symbiosis Between Fundamental and Derived Senses • Learning how impacts using language to learn • Learning to talk/argue and talking/arguing to learn science • Learning to read science and reading to learn science • Learning to write and writing to learn science

22. Enhancing Science Literacy with Embedded Oral Interactions, Argument, Reading, and Writing Instruction in Science Inquiry(Yore, 2000; Yore, Bisanz, & Hand, 2003; Saul, 2004)

23. Talking Science: Oral Discourse and Concrete Experiences(Wellington & Osborne, 2001) • Student talk must be associated with sensory experiences to ensure vocabulary development. • Rich oral discussions within and between student groups encourage consideration of alternative interpretations and causality. • Teacher questioning needs to reflect the phase and purpose of inquiry. • Engage: Accessing and assessing prior knowledge, challenging students’ ideas, and setting purpose • Explore: Productive questions should encourage students to attention-focusing, measuring and counting, comparisons, actions, problem-posing, and reasoning • Consolidate: Questions should encourage sharing, organizing, generalizing, evaluating, and applying • Assess: Questions should document student understanding and concerns to empower future learning and inform future instruction

24. Scientific Arguments(Osborne, Erduran, & Simon, 2004) • Logical Pattern • Claims • Evidence • Warrants • Backings • Counter-claims • Qualifications • Rebuttals

25. Classic Pattern of Argumentation (Toulmin, 1958) Evidence Claims Warrants Backings

26. Example of a Classic Argument(Yore, et al., 2004) Examination of SARS SARS patients Caused by and healthy people a virus Warrant 1: A unique virus (corona) was isolated by UVic and UBC scientists. Warrant 2: SARS patients’ blood and body fluids contain the virus. Backing 1: Established knowledge about respiratory diseases. Backing 2: Influenza is caused by a virus, not bacteria.

27. Extended Pattern of Argumentation (Toulmin, 1958) Evidence Qualifiers and Claims Counter-claims Warrants Rebuttal Backings

28. Example of an Extended Argument (Yore, et al., 2004) Examination of: AIDS and HIV in HIV healthy some causes patients people AIDS HIV was found People in all AIDS with weak patients and some immune healthy patients systems

29. Reading in Science:Interactive and Constructive (Yore, 2000) • Text-driven Strategies • Prior Knowledge about Science and Topic • Metacognition

30. Interactive-Constructive Model of Science Reading:Requisite Knowledge, Metacognition, and Strategies Prior Domain and Topic Knowledge Metacognitive Awareness and Executive Control Science Reading Strategies

31. Assessing Generating Questions Summarizing Inferring Monitoring Utilizing Text Structure Reading and Reasoning Improving Memory Self-regulating Skimming, Elaborating, Sequencing Explicit Science Reading Instruction: Strategies That Respond to Instruction

32. Metacognition Self-appraisal of Cognition Self-management of Cognition Declarative Knowledge Planning Procedural Knowledge Evaluation Conditional Knowledge Regulation

33. Metacognitive Awareness/Self-appraisal of Task Declarative: What Procedural: How Conditional: When & Why Executive Control/ Self-management of Task Planning: Setting purpose, etc. Evaluation: Monitoring progress Regulation: Adjusting effort and action Metacognition

34. Expert Science Reader(Yore, Craig, & Maguire, 1998) • Science Reading • Science Text • Science Reading Strategies

35. Science Reading • Reading is interactive-constructive. • Meaning Making, not Meaning Taking • Self-confidence and Self-efficacy • Shift Reading to Textual Demands

36. Science Text • Words are labels for ideas and experience. • Text is somebody’s interpretation. • Text represents the nature of science • Tentative claims about reality • May not actually represent reality • Contains a degree of uncertainty • Evaluates plausibility, accuracy, and connectedness of text

37. Science Reading Strategies • Identify purpose, access prior knowledge, plan heuristic, and select strategies • Use knowledge-retrieval techniques • Use input techniques to access text-based information • Use knowledge-constructing techniques • Apply critical thinking • Monitor and regulate reading

38. Knowledge Telling Knowledge Building Genre (form & function) Narrative Description Instruction Argumentation Explanation Effective Applications Involve a series of tasks Require transformation Encourage revision without repetition Writing in Science (Yore, 2000)

39. Narrative (Aram & Powell, 2005; Unsworth, 2001) • Process of sequencing people and events in time and space • Purpose: Entertain, tell a story, or recount personal or historical experiences • Structure (Story grammar): Setting, characters, problem, actions, and resolution

40. Description (Aram & Powell, 2005; Unsworth, 2001) • Process of classifying and describing things into taxonomies of meaning • Purpose: Documents the way something is or was • Structure: General class, qualities, parts and functions, and habits

41. Instruction (Aram & Powell, 2005; Unsworth, 2001) • Process of logically ordering a sequence of actions or behaviors • Purpose: State procedure of how something is done through a series of ordered steps or actions • Structure: Goal, materials, ordered steps, and summary statement

42. Argument (Aram & Powell, 2005; Unsworth, 2001) • Process of persuading listeners or readers to accept a logical ordering of propositions • Purpose: Promote a particular point of view, claim, or solution • Structure: Thesis/position statement, series of claims, rebuttals and evidence, and summary or reiteration of thesis/position statement

43. Explanation (Aram & Powell, 2005; Unsworth, 2001) • Process of sequencing phenomena/events in temporal or causal patterns • Purpose: Explain how something works, the processes involved, or the cause-effect relationship justified by a theoretical model or canonical knowledge • Structure: General statement, time-series steps, linked processes, cause-effect, or problem-solution

44. Prior Domain and Topic Knowledge Metacognitive Awareness and Executive Control Science Writing Strategies Knowledge-Building Model of Science Writing

45. Writing Genre (Yore, 2000) GenrePurposeOutcomeAudience Narrative Recording Attitudes Self and emotions others and ideas Description Documentation Basic Other of events knowledge Explanation Causality Cause-effect Others relationships Instruction Directions Procedural Others knowledge Argumentation Persuasion Patterns Others of argument

46. Writing in Science(Yore, Bisanz, & Hand, 2003) • Sequential Writing Tasks — data tables, graphs, descriptions • Science Writing Heuristics • Information and Communication Technology Strategies • Explicit Writing Instruction

47. Recommendation 1 • Ensure any attempts to enhance your students’ argumentation, reading, and writing are based on authentic models of argument, reading, and writing and valid assessment of the oral and print-based language demands of science.

48. Recommendation 2 • Make your argument, reading, and writing instruction pay off now and pay off later (symbiosis). Develop authentic science communication tasks that enhance science literacy in the fundamental sense and result in better derived sense — science learning and understanding.

49. Recommendation 3 • Make science language arts instruction an integral part of the science inquiry teaching and science program and continue until graduation to elaborate and reinforce effective science communication arts — listening, speaking, debating, reading, viewing, representing, and writing.

50. Recommendation 4 • Provide explicit instruction as a natural part of authentic science inquiry, debate, reading, writing, and science learning activities.