Uncovering the hidden curriculum Danielle Boyd Harlow University of California – Santa Barbara AAPT / PERC Bridging Session, 2010 decisions that shape

Self-reported interest in pursuing science at 8 th grade is a significant predictor of whether or not a student will be working as a scientist at age 30. Tai, Lui, Maltese, Fan, 2006

20% of California elementary school teachers report spending more than 60 minutes on science per week. 16% report not teaching science at all. Dorph, R., Goldstein, D., Lee, S., Lepori, K., Schneider, S., Venkatesan, S, (2007).

What do I want my undergraduate students to learn? What do I want my undergraduate students to learn? What do I want her students to learn?

Begin Elementary School Graduate College Today’s children will use technologies we have yet to imagine… …and face problems that don’t yet exist …and face problems that don’t yet exist

We talk about wanting students (of all ages) to learn that creativity is used in science. But we may not pay enough attention to how children develop creativity or how to help teachers help students develop it. or even what it is. Create Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy Anderson, & Krathwohl, 2001 Creativity

Creativity is ability to produce work that is both novel and appropriate (Sternberg & Lubart, 1999)

Requires domain-specific knowledge and ability to apply that knowledge flexibly. Schwartz, Bransford, & Sears (2005) Efficiency Innovation Frustrated Novice Adaptive Expert Novice Routine Expert Optimal Adaptability Corridor

Torrance test of creative thinking (TTCT) Try to improve this toy stuffed rabbit so that it will be more fun to play with. Scores are correlated to lifetime creative achievement. Kim, Example Item Average scores steadily dropping since 1990 (especially among K-6 th grade students). A process of becoming sensitive to problems, deficiencies, gaps in knowledge… identifying the difficulty; searching for solutions; making guesses, or formulating hypotheses; testing and retesting these hypotheses and possibly modifying and retesting them; and finally communicating the results. (Torrance, 1966)

What do teachers need to do? How can we help them? If we want children to be able to develop the skills and habits of mind to create new science knowledge…..

Engaging students in developing explanatory models of phenomenon is a powerful instructional strategy.  Adds to scientific expertise  Knowledge of the process  Epistemological understanding e.g., Russ, Scherr, Hammer, & Mikeska, 2008; Windschitl, & Thompson, 2006; Osborne, Erduran, & Simon, 2004.

We now know that children are capable of much more sophisticated reasoning than previously thought. Children of all age levels show sophisticated reasoning abilities (NRC, 2008). Model of an elbow (Lehrer & Schauble, 1996ab) 1 st graders representations of height of plants

Yet.. Model-based instruction is rarely observed in K-12 classrooms. Why not?

Literacy Math School Day Science Social Studies Arts Physical Education 1. Current state of elementary science education 2. Teachers have never had the opportunity to learn in ways that help them understand how science knowledge develops.

New Physics Curriculum New Physics Curriculum Research on students’ Ideas about forces, electricity, quantum mechanics…. Research on how undergraduates learn Evaluations of other curricula (what works?) Research on students’ ideas about the Nature of Science Research from Physics Education Research, Science Education, Cognitive Science and Psychology contributes to our development of Curriculum and activities Reformed Physics Curriculum Reformed Physics Curriculum

Great Physics Activity! Great Physics Activity!

Model of Magnetism (Physics & Everyday Thinking) “Rubbed Nail” - A nail that has been repeatedly rubbed with a bar magnet. Students observe what happens when they bring the two nails together in various combinations. “Unrubbed Nail” – an ordinary iron nail

S N N N N N S S S S S N S N Before rubbing a nail with a magnet, north and south (or + and -) are randomly arranged in a non- magnetized nail Common Students’ Ideas: “Charge Separation” Model

NS N S N S NS NS N S N S NS N S Charge Separation Model “Cut the Nail” Activity Context (Students’ Ideas) Teacher Actions “Tiny Magnets” Model of Magnetism Desired Outcome

Through this activity, what do the undergraduates (future elementary teachers) learn? Magnetism How models are developed in science That they can develop science knowledge Can they then implement this (or similar strategies) with their elementary students?

It’s a bit of sleight of hand They don’t know that we know that they will likely propose the charge separation model of magnetism.

Observe rubbed nail acts like a magnet Predict that upon cutting a nail in half, 2 monopoles Observe 2 smaller magnets Compare “rubbed” and “unrubbed” nail Explain what makes a rubbed nail act like a magnet What will happen when nail is cut in half? Cut nail in half Observe Phenomenon Explain (propose model) Explain (propose model) Predict (based on model) Predict (based on model) Test Domain-like model of magnetism Explain how cutting the nail results in two nails Revise Scientific practice Events Actions “charge separation model” Model of Magnetism Activity

Ms. Carter’s Elementary School Class

Students propose “dust” and “activation” models Predict what will happen when dust is rubbed off Students predict nail will no longer be magnetized Observe what happens when dust is rubbed off Different Same The differences at the event level were necessary to preserve the similarities at the scientific practice level.

Knowledge ≠

New Physics Curriculum New Physics Curriculum Research on students’ Ideas about forces, electricity, quantum mechanics…. Research on how undergraduates learn Evaluations of other curricula (what works?) Research on students’ ideas about the Nature of Science Research from Physics Education Research, Science Education, Cognitive Science and Psychology contributes to our development of curriculum and activities New Physics Curriculum New Physics Curriculum

Like students, teachers need domain specific knowledge that they can use flexibly But to do so, they need to understand the decisions that go into curricular design.

Thank you! Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1997). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention: Harper Perennial Kim, K. (2006). Can we trust creativity tests: A review of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking (TTCT). Creativity Research Journal, 18,1,3-14. National Research Council. (2007). Ready, Set, Science: Putting research to work in K-8 science classrooms. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. Osborne, J., Erduran, S., & Simon, S. (2004). Enhancing the quality of argument in school science. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 41(10), Russ, R., Scherr, R., Hammer, D., & Mikeska, J. (2008). Recognizing mechanistic reasoning in student scientific inquiry: a framework for discourse analysis developed from philosophy of science Science Education, 92(3), Sawyer, K. (2004). Creative teaching: collaborative discussion as disciplined improvisation. Educational Researcher, 33(2), Schwartz, D., Bransford, J., & Sears, D. (2005). Efficiency and Innovation in transfer. In J. Mestre (Ed.), Transfer of learning from a modern multidisciplinary perspective (pp. 1-51). Greenwich: Information Age Publishing. Sternberg, R., & Lubert, T. (1999). The Concept of Creativity: Prospects and Paradigms. In R. Sternberg (Ed.), Handbook of Creativity. Cambridge Cambridge University Press. Tai,R. et al (2006). Planning Early for a career in science, Science, 312, Windschitl, M., & Thompson, J. (2006). Transcending simple forms of school science investigation: The impact of preservice instruction on teachers' understanding of model-based inquiry. American educational research journal, 43(4), Selected references