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Identity-based research in physics education has been receiving increased attention in the past few years given the potential of identity in producing novel insights into the ways' students engage in physics. In this study, we examined the development of preservice physics teachers' physics identity through a specific instructional practice: a specially designed course incorporating the use of the multiple representations. Although specific programs and instructional practices have been found to influence the development of physics identity, there is no clear evidence about the kinds of instructional practices that might support its development. To examine the influence of multiple representations on each component of physics identity, we designed and implemented a physics course that used a multiple representation (MR)-based instructional approach with a group of 61 preservice physics teachers at a public university in Indonesia. Data were collected with a pre- and post-questionnaire on physics identity, a conceptual understanding test, and a post-test that examined differences between identity components before and after the course, conceptual understandings, as well as the participants' views about the use of the MR-based instructional approach. The findings revealed a significant improvement of two components of physics identity, namely, competence and interest, and point to the potential of MR-based instruction in physics courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main focus of this paper is to put forward an argument about the value of asset-based, culturally relevant/responsive and sustaining pedagogies in science education, especially in former colonial contexts. Countering the framing hegemony of science education through a historically Euro-dominant lens, we call for a critical analysis of the state of science education in the Netherlands by exploring, specifically, the Dutch Caribbean community which includes Suriname and the former Dutch Antilles and Aruba and the need to respond with a more culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogical stance. In doing so, we provide a concrete example of a CR-SP-focused community-based STEAM program for young children and their parents in the north of the Netherlands. We hope that this paper will provide the foundation to springboard conversations among educators and researchers with an interest in designing, enacting and researching CR-SP-informed programs and curricula geared for historically marginalized families and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounded within current reform recommendations and built upon Giere's views (1986, 1999) on model-based science, we propose an alternative approach to science education which we refer to as the Evidence-Explanation (EE) Continuum. The approach addresses conceptual, epistemological, and social domains of knowledge, and places emphasis on the epistemological conversations about data acquisitions and transformations in the sciences. The steps of data transformation, which we refer to as data-texts, we argue, unfold the processes of using evidence during knowledge building and reveal the dynamics of scientific practices. Data-texts involve (a) obtaining observations/measurements to become data; (b) selecting and interpreting data to become evidence; (c) using evidence to ascertain patterns and develop models; and (d) utilizing the patterns and models to propose and refine explanations. Throughout the transformations of the EE continuum, there are stages of transition that foster the engagement of learners in negotiations of meaning and collective construction of knowledge. A focus on the EE continuum facilitates the emergence of further insights, both by questioning the nature of the data and its multiple possibilities for change and representations and by reflecting on the nature of the explanations. The shift of emphasis to the epistemics of science holds implications for the design of learning environments that support learners in developing contemporary understandings of the nature and processes of scientific practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the lens of teacher professional identity, in this case study, we examine how a beginning science teacher deals with practical work in a physics classroom. We explore how various interactions occurred between personal, interpersonal, and situational dimensions of his identity as a beginning physics teacher when dealing with practical work. Various kinds of data were collected over a period of 10 months: 3 semi-structured interviews, 26 classroom observations, 32 brief interviews, as well as various artifacts and lesson plans. The analysis was done through a constant comparative method, and it was grounded within the three-dimensional framework of professional identity: personal, social, and situational. Four main themes emerged through the analysis of the data that represent the main features of the participant's identity enactment as a beginning physics dealing with practical work: (a) personal characteristics, (b) sense of agency, (c) contextual constraints, and (d) ongoing interpretation of experiences with practical work. These findings are presented through a narration of the participant's identity with regard to practical work alongside authentic extracts and quotes from the data. Drawn upon these findings, we offer a set of recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our purpose in this paper is to put forward an argument about both the need and the value for understanding how the constructs of science identity and the nature of science (NOS) might intersect and intertwine and offer useful insights about science participation in times of crises. Based on our knowledge and understanding of these two research areas, we maintain that science identity research has not been fully engaged in understanding how perspectives on NOS might be intersecting with the questions of who can be (or not) a scientist and who is allowed (or not) in science. In this paper, we argue that the formation of a disrupting science identity that challenges existing constructed systems of power in science, requires robust understandings of NOS that place emphasis on the socially-produced narratives about science and scientists. In doing so, we engage with the following questions: (a) How have understandings of NOS contributed to conceptualizations of who can be a scientist and who is recognized as a scientist? (b) How have these conceptualizations contributed to producing exclusionary narratives and perpetuating inequalities in science? and, (c) How might an exploration of NOS through the lens of science identity be used to promote goals related to equity and social justice? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this conceptual paper, I put forward an argument about the conceptualization of science identity as a landscape of becoming by placing emphasis on recognition and emotions, as core features of identity, through an intersectionality lens. These constructs intertwined, I argue, can give meaning to the process of becoming a science person or forming a science identity, and at the same time shed light on issues related to power, inequality, racism, and exclusion. In the context of these bigger issues, I argue that forming a science identity is not only personal, but also political. The need for intersectionality as a conceptual framework for studying science identity is underscored by the dearth of theory and empirical evidence that addresses classroom inequalities, as well as the multiple and interlocking influence of systems of privilege and oppression in science, such as racism and sexism. Recognition, which refers to how individuals are recognized by others as certain kinds of people, is an ineradicable part of our social world; it is bound within sociopolitical contexts and tied to specific cultural norms, values, beliefs, and stereotypes. Hence, recognition becomes of paramount importance in science identity research. However, critical questions still remain unanswered, such as who is allowed in the world of science and who is recognized as a science person in specific contexts? Directly linked to recognition, I argue, are different types of emotions which can offer a valuable lens for studying inequalities within the process of forming a science identity. What this means for science identity research is how important it is to explore the emotionality of science identity given that emotions are not just dialectically related but inextricably bound with (mis)recognition as well as with various systems of oppression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this multiple case study was to uncover a series of critical events and experiences related to the formation of the science identities of four beginning elementary female teachers, through a life-history approach and a conceptualization of teacher identity as lived experience. Grounded within the theoretical framework of Figured Worlds, the study used qualitative, interpretive methods for data collection (interviews, biographies, teaching philosophies) and analysis. The analysis shed light on the ways in which various experiences situated within different Figured Worlds (science, family and childhood, schooling, out-of-school, university, professional) impacted the participants' identity trajectories. The findings provided three main insights that contribute to science identity research and have implications for elementary teacher preparation: (a) science teacher identity is multidimensional and extends beyond cognitive domains of becoming to include affective dimensions; (b) science teacher identity is relational, linked and shaped by various other constructs or sub-identities; (c) place and time, defined as a space with meaning created by experiences, and science teacher identity are inextricably bound to one another. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cultural Studies of Science Education is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The need to reform science teacher preparation programs has been pointed out in research (Bryan and Abell in J Res Sci Teach 36:121-140, ; Bryan and Atwater in Sci Educ 8(6):821-839, ; Harrington and Hathaway in J Teach Educ 46(4):275-284, ). Science teachers are charged with the responsibility of incorporating both cognitive and non-cognitive parameters in their everyday teaching practices. This often results in their reluctance to teach science because they often lack disciplinary and/or pedagogical expertise required to promote science learning. The purpose of this study is to propose an alternative instructional approach in which Lego vehicles were used as a tool to promote pre-service elementary teachers' development and to examine whether there are non-cognitive parameters that promote or obstruct them from using Lego Technologies as a teaching tool. The context of the study was defined by a teacher preparation program of a private university in a small Mediterranean country. A sample of 28 pre-service elementary teachers, working in five 5-6-member groups were involved in scientific inquiries, during which they had to use vehicles in order to solve scientific problems related to concepts such as gear functioning, force, and motion. The nature of their cognitive engagement in the scientific inquiry process, non-cognitive parameters contributing to their cognitive engagement, and the impact of their involvement in the process on their development were examined through qualitative analysis of pre- and post-inquiry interviews, presentations of their solutions to the scientific problems and of their personal reflective journals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cultural Studies of Science Education is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)