The Understanding Science Project (USP)
Dr. Keith S. Taber
Senior Lecturer, University of Cambridge Faculty of Education
The Understanding Science Project has been looking at pupils’ experiences
of learning school science, with the main focus on aspects of conceptual
understanding. The project is part of an umbrella project, labeled ECLIPSE,
which is my main research focus as a researcher (i.e. a University Teaching
Officer required to divide my time between teaching and research) in the
Faculty of Education at Cambridge. ECLIPSE stands for Exploring Concept Learning,
Integration and Progression in Science Education, and is located within a
well-established tradition in science education of investigating how students
construct their understanding of science topics. This is sometimes called
‘constructivism’ in science education, and for most researchers in the constructivist
programme a key concern is to identify features of student learning that
can inform science teaching (Taber, 2006).
Early work in this tradition sought to identify the range of student conceptions
(especially misconceptions, or ‘alternative conceptions’) in different science
topics. More recent work has explored broader questions, and ECLIPSE is
concerned particularly with issues of how understanding develops, and the
extent to which learners appreciate links within science subjects and topics.
The approach to this type of research is to interview individuals in depth,
preferably over extended time periods. This does not offer the generalisability
of findings possible from surveys, but is an approach which provides suitable
data to investigate something as subtle, complex and individual as conceptual
understanding. Longitudinal studies, such as NUSP, are more difficult than
approaches that collect data at one point in time, but are necessary when
researchers are interested in conceptual change. This type of work has led
to an international corpus of studies, exploring aspects of student learning
in different science topics. A previous study I have undertaken explored
learning about the specific topic of chemical bonding, and led to findings
about how student tends to make sense of this topic, and how their ideas
can progress, which have been widely published (e.g. Taber, 1998, 2001).
NUSP is unusual in not focusing on any particular topic. Rather than asking
students about a specific concept area, the interviews all start from what
the student is currently studying in science. This adds methodological complications
(as there is little control over the likely topics to be discussed, different
students may talk about different topics, and discussions are usually about
topics in progress rather than completed), however is a more naturalistic
approach (as students are not being asked to think about topics that are
not currently being considered in school). This approach allows the researcher
to explore the extent to which the student can see links between different
topics and science subjects: both those volunteered spontaneously, and by
explicitly asking students if there are perceived links.
The focus on conceptual linkage is an important one that has not been widely
explored (presumably because of the methodological difficulties alluded
to above). Conceptual integration is at the heart of science, which seeks
conceptual models and schemes that are consistent and based on as few fundamental
assumptions as possible. Appreciating linkage between ideas is also at the
centre of well-accepted theories of learning. So we should look to encourage
conceptual linkage both to enhance learning in science, and to ensure that
what is learnt in school science is an authentic representation of the nature
of science itself.
References.:
Taber, K. S. (1998) An alternative conceptual framework from chemistry
education, International Journal of Science Education, 20 (5), pp.597-608.
Taber, K. S. (2001) Shifting sands: a case study of conceptual development
as competition between alternative conceptions, International Journal
of Science Education, 23 (7), 731-753.
Taber, K. S. (2005) Conceptual integration and science learners - do we
expect too much?, presented at the Centre for Studies in Science and Mathematics
Education, University of Leeds, February 2005, available at
http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/eclipse/download.html#CSSME
Taber, K. S. (2006) Beyond Constructivism: the Progressive Research Programme
into Learning Science, Studies in Science Education, 42, pp.125-184.
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