Comprehension Strategy Support in Inquiry-based Science

Continuing analysis investigating the participation of five teachers in a design-based research experience was the focus of the recent phase of research resulting in a new framework for teacher professional development called Teacher Design Research (Bannan-Ritland, 2008). The findings of several qualitative case studies revealed that each participating teacher (N=6) demonstrated a transformation and progression of his or her articulation of scientific inquiry during their participation in the design research experience. The evidence suggested the teachers experienced a progression of thinking about science from a rigid set of steps toward a more fluid process when engaged in design research. There was also evidence that the teachers began to see connections across the curriculum related to the inquiry process, particularly in science and reading. Each of the teachers expressed some attempt or action to try out different teaching approaches in their classrooms during the course of the TDR experience. The articulation of the overlap of science and reading processes by several of the teachers was especially noteworthy.

A quasi-experimental study was conducted with 308 8th grade students in four classes who were engaged in experimental activities to investigate the use of explicit metacognitive prompts based on the nature of science to explore if students can be taught to think scientifically at a metacognitive level. Findings indicated that there was a significantly higher gain in content knowledge and nature of science knowledge for the experimental group receiving the embedded prompts than in the control group. Students who were instructed in the 4-phase developmental prompts based on the nature of science not only gained in their understanding of the nature of science, but also gained in their understanding in the science content. The intervention resulted in a significantly higher gain in content knowledge and nature of science knowledge for the experimental group receiving the embedded prompts than in the control group. The focus group transcripts showed that students who used the 4-phase EMPNOS (see Peters, 2007) talked more about the development of their knowledge than the control group. The control group tended to focus on listing the content their learned when asked about how they thought in a scientific way during the focus group discussion. While this study was conducted at the middle school level, it provides a trajectory of what is needed to progress fourth graders toward increasing demands of metacognitive processing of science content and informs the design of technology-based embedded metacognitive prompts to support science learning.

A second study examined the effect of the use of questioning and self-monitoring in science and reading. The study specifically examined reading comprehension, science content knowledge, the awareness of the relationship between science and reading and the transferability of strategies of questioning and self-monitoring among upper elementary, bi-lingual students with and without documented disabilities. The study employed a quasi-experimental mixed methods approach combined with a multiple baseline single subject design (N=78). The students participated in an active experience involving the GO Inquire system, field experiences and visual-based assessments. Students exposed to the integrated science and reading intervention: 1) generated higher level of questions; 2) demonstrated a higher ability to monitor their comprehension and 3) demonstrated a decreased number of misconceptions related to slow geomorphological changes and 4) made more connections on a concept map between science and reading providing evidence of increased awareness of these connections.

Another study focused on investigating the assessment of geological observation through the development and field testing of performance tasks. Employing qualitative coding, item-difficulty analysis and non-parametric comparisons, this study contributed to the limited knowledge related to geological observation and assessment at the upper-elementary level. Results revealed that assessment should take into account the separation of visual from verbal responses which inform different components of the performance of geological observation. In addition, assessment should identify the use of iconic gestures more associated with relevant observations than deictic gestures during classroom interactions. As a result of this data the redesign of performance tasks was conducted and a conceptual framework of design assessment for geological observation was presented that linked the methods of design with research to guide future inquiry.