Establishing epistemic practices in students’ formulation of scientifically researchable questions in upper secondary science education

• The development of students' capability to engage in scientific inquiry is part of the science curricula across the educational system. However, previous research shows that laboratory and practical work in science education do not necessarily develop the capability to engage in scientific inquiry or contribute to developing an understanding of the nature of inquiry. The purpose of this study is to explore how teaching activities can be designed with a specific focus to develop students' capability to formulate questions for scientific inquiry. Some science education research points to that in order for students to develop an understanding of the nature of science inquiry, teaching has to include activities explicitly focusing aspects of inquiry such as asking questions, observing and making inferences. In this study we draw on the theoretical framework of epistemic practices to analyse and design teaching with the purpose of developing students' capabilities to formulate questions for scientific inquiry. Epistemic practices refer to the ways people in a specific community propose, justify, evaluate and legitimize knowledge claims within a disciplinary framework. From this perspective, formulating scientifically researchable questions makes sense only as part of epistemic practice in relation to a motive of knowledge production. The research question is: How can epistemic practices be established in upper-secondary school science where students are invited to participate in activities of formulating researchable questions?The study was carried out as a design-based research collaboration with a research team consisting of nine science teachers and four science education researchers. Data was collected in three cycles of design, intervention and analysis of research lessons with six classes in three different upper-secondary schools. The data consists of video-recordings of student interaction while engaging in tasks of formulating researchable scientific questions. The data is analysed using the didactical model of organizing purposes; distinguishing between overarching purposes and the student-orientated purposes emerging in interaction. The results indicate that the development of students’ capabilities to formulate researchable questions is situated in the processes of interaction with peers, and the conditions for situating the formulation of questions in a practice characterised by closeness to an epistemic object and gathering of observational data. Based on the results, we argue for a shift in science education from focusing students’ views of a generic nature of science or nature of science inquiry to focussing student participation in epistemic practices of various kinds.  

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Utbildningsvetenskap -- Didaktik (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Educational Sciences -- Didactics (hsv//eng)

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Didactics

didaktik

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