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This paper provides an introduction to the concept of pedagogical link-making in the context of teaching and learning scientific conceptual knowledge. Pedagogical link-making is concerned with the ways in which teachers and students make connections between ideas in the ongoing meaning-making interactions of classroom teaching and learning. First of all we draw upon socio-cultural perspectives to outline why we think that "link-making" is fundamental to science learning and consequently to science teaching and then we identify three main forms of pedagogical link-making. The related research literature is then used to specify pedagogical link-making approaches associated with each of the three main forms. Finally, the resultant framework of link-making forms and approaches is applied in analysing a teaching sequence taken from a UK secondary school science classroom. Part of this analysis involves identifying specific pedagogical tools/strategies that might be employed in the classroom to support link-making. (Contains 12 figures and 1 table.)

The literature suggests that understandings of teaching and learning can be classified around two metaphors: acquisition and participation. It is further argued that neither metaphor is sufficient and that both are necessary. Drawing on material from a larger study related to the professional development of Special Educational Needs Coordinators, the paper uses concept maps and the associated interviews to explore the understandings of the course participants and changes in their conceptualisation over time. The data reveal that individuals do draw on both metaphors and that their progress can be viewed in terms of both acquiring knowledge and also progress from "novice to expert." If teaching and learning, and participants' progress are viewed in this way, there are implications for course development and evaluation. Some of these are considered. (Contains 3 tables and 6 figures.)

In this study we present an analysis of classroom interactions initiated by students' wonderment questions. Our interest in such events arises from their potential to stimulate active intellectual engagement in classrooms, which can impact upon the subsequent development of the classroom discourse. In investigating this issue we shall address the following research question: How do student questions impact upon the teaching explanatory structure and modify the form of the ongoing classroom discourse, in selected science lessons? From data collected in a Brazilian secondary school we have selected three classroom episodes, with large differences in both the context in which the student's question emerges and in the communicative approach developed in response to it. The analysis, based on the framework proposed by Mortimer and Scott [Mortimer and Scott (2003). "Meaning making in secondary science classrooms." Maidenhead: Open University Press], shows that questions made by students are important in providing feedback from students to the teacher, enabling adjustments to the teaching explanatory structure. These adjustments sometimes occur smoothly, at other times with major changes to the features of the classroom discourse, and elsewhere with misunderstanding and disagreement. The data also suggest the need to consider students' intentions and their active participation in the negotiation of both the content and structure of classroom discourse. (Contains 2 tables.)

The difficulty of using insights from educational research and scholarship to inform the design of subject teaching is widely acknowledged. In this article, we present an example of the design of a short science teaching intervention to illustrate one approach to using insights from research to inform the design of teaching. After outlining the general difficulty in question, the article begins by justifying two "design tools" in terms of perspectives on science learning ("learning demand" and "communicative approach"). We show how these design tools were used to generate a "design brief" for the teaching, and how the design brief was addressed through one "worked example". We consider the role of factors other than educational research and scholarship in the design process. The article concludes with a discussion of this approach to designing teaching as compared to approaches used in the North American design literature, and the (non-Anglophone) European didactics literature. (Contains 1 figure.)

This paper reports upon a study addressing teaching and learning about solubility to Turkish first-year secondary school students (age 14-15). The principal aim of the research was to investigate the impact on students' understanding of solubility, of introducing a simple particle model of matter. A teaching intervention to fit within the existing chemistry curriculum was designed, which explained macroscopic and quantitative aspects of solubility in terms of particles. To this extent, the teaching intervention met the requirements of the existing curriculum, and the teaching intervention was conducted under all the time and other restrictions imposed by the Turkish system. Students' performance on test questions about solubility was assessed before and after instruction, and after 6 months. In addition, students in a similar class, following typical teaching about solubility, completed identical test questions. Findings suggest that it is possible to design a teaching sequence that introduces a simple particle model of matter in such a way that students can successfully use it to explain various solubility phenomena. However, students who followed such instruction did not significantly out-perform others who did not follow it, in all aspects of the conceptual domain. There is some evidence of long-term retention of particulate ideas by students, suggesting the possibility that this might be drawn upon in future teaching and learning. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of the kinds of claims that can be supported from a study such as this.

Considers how theories of learning can inform the practice of science teaching in formal settings and describes two broad strands of learning theory that have been drawn upon in science education, namely individual and sociocultural views. Shows how aspects of both views can usefully inform understanding of teaching and learning in science in formal settings. (Contains 71 references.) (Author/YDS)

Reviews evidence on the effectiveness of "sequence of teaching activities" on student learning and the design and evaluation of science teaching sequences. Discusses the social constructivist perspective on learning and offers a generalized approach to planning a science teaching sequence. Provides an example of how to plan an instructional sequence on simple electric circuits. (Contains 59 references.) (YDS)

Within-group similarities and between-group differences are used to illustrate the socio-cultural nature of the concept-building process in highly collaborative computer science classrooms. Simultaneously, a social constructivist perspective is used to […]