science literacy in general education: assessing its metadisciplinary nature, providing...

Science Literacy in General Education: Assessing Its Metadisciplinary Nature,

Providing Metacognitive Solutions

Ed Nuhfer, Humboldt State University [email protected]

AndKarl Wirth, Macalester College

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

What do you believe will be the most valuable quality that your students can acquire as result of their undergraduate educational experience? Write on a scratch paper.

Reflective Prompt

Show of hands:

How many picked something to do with elevated reasoning ability?

How many picked additional content knowledge?

Reflect for a moment on that quality…

• What signature trait could you observe in a student’s work that would be indicative of a student’s starting to achieve that quality?

• ….then share that quality and the signature trait that you could observe with your neighbor.

Learning we offer as SLO’s

Knowledge

Skills

Reasoning

By making distinctions for ourselves between these different kinds of learning challenges, we engaged in some metacognition.

We should guide students to do the same. Ideally, a GE curricula should help students become mindful of how to distinguish the three and how to learn all three effectively.

Metadisciplines

• Groups of disciplines that hold in common an overarching framework of reasoning/way of knowing that unites them.– Example: anthropology, biology, chemistry,

environmental science, geology, physics hold in common the overarching way of reasoning of science.

Traditions of Critical Thinking(Brookfield, 2012)

• Logic and philosophy• Science• Pragmatism• Psychoanalysis• Critical theory

Traditions of Critical Thinkingand where these occur

TRADITIONS• Logic and philosophy• Science• Pragmatism• Psychoanalysis• Critical theory

METADISCIPLINES• Humanities• Science• All metadisciplines• Social science• Social science,

humanities

GE Science: Version 1 (Knowledge)

• General Education: – Strives to impart content knowledge that citizens

should know– This accords with the type of science literacy tested

on certain science literacy tests:• All radioactivity is man-made.• Radioactive milk can be made safe by boiling it.• The earliest humans lived at the same time as the

dinosaurs.Respond by agree-disagree.

(Miller, 1998)

Version 2 (Skill)• General Education:

– Strives to impart an excitement and enthusiasm for science by engaging students in doing science…ideally with other students

– This accords with involvement in applied research experiences such as

• Field studies• Laboratory studies• ….active development of knowledge and skills in authentic experiences

– And it is a successful approach to recruiting science majors……who are and always will be a minority of citizens

What about the majority?

Version 3 (Reasoning)• General/Liberal Education for Citizen Literacy

– Develops through "… the collaboration and integration of general education and the major.”

• Content and specialty skills alone do not enable easy integration across majors.

• But understanding a framework of reasoning and way of knowing does allow such transfer.

• We want to convey the kind of science literacy that enables students to understand science as a way of knowing, recognize its limits and strengths, and employ the framework of reasoning of science as educated citizens.

• In brief, we hope to deliver on the truth-in-advertising found in most college catalogs

What We Want To Do

Worth beingfamiliar with

Important toknow and do

Improved Reasoning & Awareness of

Learning

Wiggins and McTighe (1998)

What We Mostly Do

Worth beingfamiliar with

Important toknow and do

Disciplinary Knowledge &

Skills

Wiggins and McTighe (1998)

If we want to promote higher level reasoning…

• Teach the overarching way of knowing of our metadiscipline—not just our discipline

• Convey awareness that EVERY metadiscipline has a valuable way of knowing / framework of reasoning

ArtsArts ScienceScienceMath-ematicsMath-

ematicsSocial

ScienceSocial

ScienceHuman-

itiesHuman-

itiesTechn-ology

Techn-ology

General Education: development of critical and creative reasoning through employing ways of knowing of…

General Education: development of critical and creative reasoning through employing ways of knowing of…

FYS: Development for learning & reasoningFYS: Development for learning & reasoning

Humboldt State University’s Challenge: Thinking in Progress

SynthesisIntegrated Capstone

SynthesisIntegrated Capstone

Major and minor programs: development of disciplinary knowledge, skills and advancement of reasoning through drawing

on all of the above

Major and minor programs: development of disciplinary knowledge, skills and advancement of reasoning through drawing

on all of the above

Reasoning

Reasoning

Metacognition

Knowledge

Skills

Reasoning

Key to:•building ‘expertise’•transfer•creativity & innovation•lifelong learning

Metacognition Involves Reflection

• What kind of problem is this?

• What is the best strategy for solving it?

• What kind of reasoning is most appropriate?

• How will I know if I solved it correctly?

• What additional information do I need?

• How can I use my new understanding to solve other kinds of problems?

Pedagogical Challenge

• Metacognition is a “self-imposed internal conversation”

• Shown to improve transfer (Bransford et al. 2000)

• Easily assumed that students are doing it, or can develop on own; both assumptions are wrong

• Challenge is to keep students in constant contact with their metacognition

• Instruction must be explicit (Pintrich, 2002)

Geologic Time

Personal Resources•Prior Knowledge•Available Strategies

Task Requirements•Type of Learning Task•Appropriate Strategies

GSA (2009)

Geologic Time

Expert Learners - Knowledge

Modified from Ertmer and Newby (1996), Butler (1997), Winne and Hadwin (1998), Pintrich (2000), Lovett (2008)

Metacognitive Knowledge(declarative, procedural, conditional)

PersonalResources

Prior KnowledgeAvailable Strategies

TaskRequirements

Type of LearningAppropriate Strategies

Expert Learners – Self-Regulation


Evaluate Monitor

Plan

Metacognitive Control(self-regulation)


PersonalResources


TaskRequirements


Schoenfeld (1987)

Solving a ProblemElapsed Time (mins)

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

Read

Analyze

Explore

Plan

Implement

Verify

Experts

Elapsed Time

(mins)0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Read

Analyze

Explore

Plan

Implement

Verify

Novices

Expert Learners - Affect


Evaluate Monitor

Plan



PersonalResources


TaskRequirements


GoalsBeliefs

AttitudesMotivation

Affect – Beliefs About Intelligence

• “fixed” versus “growth” theories of intelligence

• Affects motivation to learn and persistence

• Students taught study skills and brain plasticity outperform control groups

Beliefs About Intelligence

• avoid challenges

• give up easily

• see effort as fruitless

• ignore feedback

• be threatened by success of others

• embrace challenges

• persist in face of setbacks

• see effort as path to mastery

• Iearn from criticism

• find lessons and inspiration in success of others

Dweck (2006)

Expert Learners & Reflection

Ertmer and Newby (1996), Butler (1997), Winne and Hadwin (1998), Pintrich (2000), Lovett (2008)

Evaluate Monitor

Plan

Reflection



PersonalResources


TaskRequirements


GoalsBeliefs

AttitudesMotivation

Reflection Reflection

Reflection

Reflection & LearningDimension Description

Habitual ActionMinimal thought and engagement; memorization is emphasized; correlated with surface learning; tasks treated as unrelated activities; an attitudinal state of unreflectiveness

Understanding

Focuses on comprehension without relation to one’s personal experience or other learning situations; book learning that is understanding-oriented; learning stays within boundaries of preexisting perspectives

Reflection

Learning is related to personal experience and other knowledge; involves challenging assumptions, seeking alternatives, identifying areas of improvement; active engagement; characteristic of deep approaches to learning

Critical or Intensive Reflection

Highest level of reflective learning; learners are aware of why they think, perceive, or act as they do; as a result, learner likely alters or changes firmly held personal beliefs and ways of thinking

Modified from Mezirow (1991) by Kember et al. (2000)

Metacurriculum for Metacognition

Activity Knowledge or Skill

Knowledge Surveys Goal-setting, Monitor. & Eval.

Reading Reflections Reflection & Monitoring

How I Earned an “A” Goal-setting & Monitoring

Exam Wrappers Refl., Monitoring & Evaluation

Learning Reflections Evaluation & Goal-setting

Critical Thinking Strategies for Thinking

“Science literacy”

• Pray tell….

• What is “science literacy?”

• If a citizen possesses “science literacy,” how can we recognize this? How can students recognize when they are “getting it?”

Concepts for Citizen Literacy in the Metadiscipline of Science1. Science explains physical phenomena based upon testable information about

the physical world.2. In modern life, science literacy is important to both personal and collective

decisions that involve science content and reasoning.3. Doubt plays necessary roles in advancing science.4. Scientists use evidence-based reasoning to select which among several

competing working hypotheses best explains a physical phenomenon.5. A theory in science is a unifying explanation for observations that result from

testing several hypotheses.6. Peer review generally leads to better understanding of physical phenomena

than can the unquestioned conclusions of involved investigators.7. Science can test certain kinds of hypotheses through controlled experiments.8. All science rests on fundamental assumptions about the physical world.9. Science differs from technology.10. Scientific knowledge is discovered, and some discoveries require an important

history.11. Science employs modeling as a method for understanding the physical world.12. Scientific knowledge imparts power that must be used ethically.

Concepts restated as 12 Outcomes for Science LiteracyStudents will be able to…

1. Define the domain of science and determine whether a statement constitutes a hypothesis that can be resolved within that domain.

2. Describe through example how science literacy is important in everyday life to an educated person.

3. Explain why the attribute of doubt has value in science.

4. Explain how scientists select which among several competing working hypotheses best explains a physical phenomenon.

5. Explain how "theory" as used and understood in science differs from "theory "as commonly used and understood by the general public.

6. Explain why peer review generally improves our quality of knowing within science.

7. Explain how science employs the method of reproducible experiments to understand and explain the physical world.

8. Articulate how science’s way of knowing rests on some assumptions.

9. Distinguish between science and technology by examples of how these are different frameworks of reasoning.

10. Cite a single major theory from one of the science disciplines and explain its historical development.

11. Explain and provide an example of how modeling is used in science.

12. Explain why ethical decision-making becomes increasingly important to a society as it becomes increasingly advanced in science.

OK…Can we assess this stuff?

The Instrument • For each outcome

– Construct several concept inventory items.– Use established methods for drafting items that have been

developed in other concept inventories.

• In addition…– Test reasoning, not factual knowledge.– Administer the inventory under the conditions in which a

citizen will use common information.

…initial instrument constructed 2008-2010 through the collegial efforts of

• Edward Nuhfer, Faculty Development & Geology, Channel Islands

• Jerry Clifford, Physics, Channel Islands

• Christopher Cogan, Environmental Sciences & Resource Management, Channel Islands

• Anya Goodman, Biochemistry, San Luis Obispo

• Carl Kloock, Biology, Bakersfield

• Beth Stoeckly, Physics, Channel Islands

• Christopher Wheeler, Geology, Channel Islands

• Gregory Wood, Physics, Channel Islands

• Natalie Zayas, Science Education & Environmental Sciences, Monterey Bay

Science Literacy Concept Inventory

• Incorporates 25 validated items that map to the twelve concepts

• Reliability of .85• Tested on over 8000 students in about 30

institutions

Outcome. Student can Define the domain of science and determine whether a statement constitutes a hypothesis that can be resolved within that domain.

• Science explains physical phenomena based upon testable information about the physical world.

• Science is on a mission to refute religion; scientists study the paranormal; untestable statements are like scientific hypotheses.

Concept Some Misconceptions

Which of the following statements presents a hypothesis that science can now easily resolve?

A. Warts can be cured by holding quartz crystals on them daily for a week.

B. A classmate sitting in the room can see the auras of other students.

C. Radio City Music Hall in New York is haunted by several spirits.

D. People with chronic illnesses have them as punishment for past misdeeds.

0, 1, or 2?

Which of the following statements presents a hypothesis that science can now easily resolve?

A. Warts can be cured by holding quartz crystals on them daily for a week.

B. A classmate sitting in the room can see the auras of other students.

C. Radio City Music Hall in New York is haunted by several spirits.

D. People with chronic illnesses have them as punishment for past misdeeds.

What did we learn that made this so interesting?

• Starting with…Do experts (professors) outscore novices (students)?

YES! They do! Also, students on average do come to us with some science literacy: zero literacy = about 25% (random guessing).

Does knowing “stuff” advantage a person?

Professors in Metadisciplines by Mean Score %

We can learn about our students’ science literacy

Our current GE science courses don’t produce science literacy…

Development seems more apparent long term through ranks…

The major gains are breaks that may result from attrition as well as growth in ability to reason.

We can learn much about our students

Gender-equality (n = 8167)

And this holds true so far in our study across every ethnic group except one.

Middle Eastern (n = 178)

First Generation Students: 67% vs 73%

Students from families privileged with higher education generally achieve higher.

English as a First Language: 64% vs 72%

Students whose first language is English generally achieve higher.

Cumulative first-generation and ESL:9 point disadvantage

• 64% versus 73% for those who have English as a first language AND are not first-generation students.

• That may be another way of showing that economic status and struggles of students and their families infuse differences.

SLCI by Institutions with Other Measures

As Eric Gaze and the Quantitative Literacy test researchers have noted, these little literacy tests may be powerful predictors of student success.

Institutions

Given that our GE science courses don’t produce much increase in reasoning of science literacy…

What are some ways that we can convey citizen competency in

science literacy to our students?

OK…Can we teach this stuff?Employ metacognitive reflections…

• Use others’ tests of science literacy• Through reflective learning journals/assignments• Random selection of illustration and identify method of

science needed to produce it• Students construct own tests & knowledge surveys in

science literacy• Students analyze popular media features & news stories• “Where does knowledge/idea XXX come from?”

The end? Hopefully not!

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