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The importance of how classroom discourse can be used to support science learning has gained national attention with respect to both science teaching and research across K12 and higher education. In this review article, we examine a commonly referenced set of nine frameworks for use in science classrooms. Specifically, we examine the ways in which various frameworks emphasize the structure (i.e., form) or practical use (i.e., function) of language across classroom settings, and the impact of such an emphasis on the facilitation and analysis of science classroom discourse. The findings from this review should help researchers investigate and educators facilitate classroom discourse in ways that ensure that all students can participate in and demonstrate their scientific understanding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This paper describes a professional development model for developing science teacher leaders that has evolved and been refined through working with 16 high school chemistry and physics teachers in high-needs schools over the past 3 years. The theoretical framework draws upon Goodwin’s notion of professional vision and Dempsey’s four metaphors to inform an understanding of professional identity consistent with innovation and empowerment in (a) the classroom setting with students and (b) with teachers in collegial environments. Thus, leadership practices and purposes are discussed at two distinct levels and contexts, which interact reflexively. Sociolinguistic discourse analysis of multiple data sources enabled us to identify the professional development features that promoted or hindered the teachers’ growth toward a leadership perspective and disposition. Implications for science teacher renewal and retention as well as limitations of the study and proposed leadership model are also shared and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

This paper presents a new lens for analyzing written reflections on the teaching experiences of pre-service [science] teachers. The lens, which borrows heavily from Activity Theory, allows science education researchers and teacher educators to identify tensions, disturbances, conflicts, and contradictions within teachers' written reflections as a means to help the participants situate their successes and challenges within the activity systems in which they operate. This paper describes the process through which the lens was crafted, defines the key constructs comprising the lens, applies the lens to the analysis of two purposefully selected reflection documents, and then considers the affordances of the lens. It also discusses how the insights gained from this lens have lead to new ways of facilitating reflection in pre-service science teachers, including the use of Kenneth Snelson's tensegrity sculptures as a metaphor for the goal of reflection. Finally, it connects the tensions identified in the individual reflections of two pre-service science teachers to broader issues being addressed in science education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In this paper, we argue for a more systematic approach for studying the relationship between classroom practices and scientific practices-an approach that will likely better support the systemic reforms being promoted in the Next Generation Science Standards in the USA and similar efforts in other countries. One component of that approach is looking at how the nature of the activity structure may influence the relative alignment between classroom and scientific practices. To that end, we build on previously published research related to the practices utilized by five high-school chemistry teachers as they enacted problem-solving activities in which students were likely to generate proposals that were not aligned with normative scientific understandings. In that prior work, our analysis had emphasized micro-level features of the talk interactions and how they related to the way students' ideas were explored; in the current paper, the analysis zooms out to consider the macro-level nature of the enactments associated with the activity structure of each lesson examined. Our data show that there were two general patterns to the activity structure across the 14 lessons scrutinized, and that each pattern had associated with it a constellation of features that impinged on the way the problem space was navigated. A key finding is that both activity structures (the expansive and the open) had features that aligned with scientific practices espoused in the Next Generation Science Standards-and both had features that were not aligned with those practices. We discuss the nature of these two structures, evidence of the relationship of each structure to key features of how the lessons unfolded, and the implications of these findings for both future research and the training of teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...

In Penetrating a Wall of Introspection: A Critical Attrition Analysis, Johannsen, Rump, and Linder strive to give a voice to those whose thoughts might otherwise be unheard: students representing the casualties in the conflict surrounding the practices of STEM education, specifically those in the field of physics. Beyond giving those students a voice, they try to filter out and amplify a message that the seven individuals themselves may not have recognized: that the cause of their struggles in their physics programs might not be something innate ( causa materialis in the authors' framework), but might be found outside the individuals ( causa efficiens in the authors' framework). In our response, we attempt to extend the conversation regarding the issues these authors have raised by (1) considering the conditions within the physics community that might exacerbate this situation and (2) exploring from a different perspective the nature of the discourses that will either perpetuate or ameliorate such circumstances. In so doing we seek to provide a more holistic description of the features of the educational system that help to construct the wall of introspection and that might, in turn, be redressed in order to help tear it down-and positively impact attrition rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] more...