Crosscutting Concepts (C - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Crosscutting Concepts (C3)– Melding Mechanisms, Models, & Minds

Richard A. Duschl

The Pennsylvania State University

Building Capacity for State Science Education – September 30, 2011Slide2

Crosscutting Concepts Core Ideas+

Scientific Practices

Inquiry & Nature of Science

Curriculum

Instruction Aligned

+

Assessment

Instruction-Assisted

Development & Learning

PerformancesSlide3

When did NOS become a focus of Science Education?

James Bryant Conant (1947)

On Understanding Science: An Historical Approach (Yale University Press) Science Education for Non-scientists

– lawyers, writers, teachers, public servants, businessman

Clarification of Popular Thinking about Methods of Science

Close study of a FEW SIMPLE Case Histories

Cultural Assimilation of Science . . .in the New Age of machines and experts.

Some understanding of science – Pure & Applied (Is research & method different?) vs. Social Sciences (Is it really science?)Slide4

Tactics & Strategies of Science as the goal of science education for non-scientists (p 12)

“The stumbling way in which even the ablest of the early scientists had to fight through thickets of enormous observation, misleading generalizations, inadequate formulations and unconscious prejudice is the story which it seem to me needs telling” (

p

15)

Philosophical analysis has led to misunderstandings of science (Logical positivism, language & logic)

“The case histories would almost all be chosen from early days in the evolution of the modern discipline.” (

p

17)

Physics – 17

th

& 18

th

Centuries

Chemistry – 18

th

& 19

th

Centuries

Geology – early 19

th

Centuries

Biology – 18

th

& 19

th

Centuries (certain phases)Slide5

From Duschl & Hamilton (2011). Science. In P. Alexander & R. Mayer, eds. Handbook on Learning and Teaching, London: Routledge

.

[

P]hilosophy

of science had been conducted in a relatively

a priori

fashion…with philosophers of science just

thinking about what scientists

ought

to do, rather than about what they actually

do

do

. This all began to change in the 1960s and 1970s, when philosophy of science took its’ so-called “historical turn.” [emphasis in original] (

Carruthers

et al., 2002,

p

. 3)

It became important, then, to see science, too, as a natural phenomenon,

somehow recruiting a variety of natural processes and mechanisms–both cognitive and social

–to achieve its results. Philosophers of science began to look, not just to history, but also to cognitive psychology in their search for an understanding of scientific activity. (

Carruthers

et al., 2002,

p

. 4)Slide6

Pickering’s Mangle of Practice

“three elements: a

“material procedure” which involves setting up, running and monitoring an apparatus; an

“instrumental model,”

which conceives how the apparatus should function; and a

“phenomenal model,”

which “endows experimental findings within meaning and significance . . . a conceptual understanding of whatever aspect of the phenomenal world is under investigation. The

“hard work”

of science comes in trying to make all these work together” (

Zammito

, 2004; pp. 226-227).

Ford, M. (2008). “Grasp of practice” as a reasoning resource for inquiry and nature of science understanding.

Science & Education, 17, 147–177.

 Slide7

Deepening & BroadeningScientific Explanations (Thagard, 2007)

Epistemic Achievements

Relativity Theory

Quantum Theory

Atomic Theory of Matter

Evolution by Natural Selection

Genetics/Cell Theory

Germ Theory of Disease

Plate Tectonic Theory

Epistemic Attempts/Failures

Crystalline Spheres Astronomy

Catastrophist (Flood) Geology

Phlogiston Theory of Chemistry

Caloric Theory of Heat

Vital Force Theory of Physiology

Ether Theories of Electromagnetism and Optics

Theories of Spontaneous GenerationSlide8

Thomas

Eakin

“The Gross

Clinic”

1875Slide9

Taking Science to School (TSTS)

Ready, Set

Science! (RSS)

National

Research Council 2007Slide10

What Is Science?

Science is built up of facts as a house is of stones, but a collection of facts is no more a science than a pile of stones is a house.

-Henri Poincare

Science involves:

Building/Refining theories and models

Collecting and analyzing data from observations or experiments

Constructing & Critiquing arguments

Using specialized ways of talking, writing and representing phenomena

Science is a social phenomena with unique norms for participation in a community of peers.

NRC, 2007 Taking Science to SchoolSlide11

Teaching Science

Practices

1

.

Science

in Social Interactions

A.

Participation

in argumentation that leads to refining knowledge claims

B.

Coordination

of evidence to build and refine theories and models

2

.

The

Specialized Language of Science

A.

Identify

and ask questions

B.

Describe

epistemic status of an idea

C.

Critique an idea apart from the author or proponent3. Work with Scientific Representations and ToolsA. Use diagrams, figures, visualizations and mathematical representations to convey complex ideas, patterns, trends and proposed.

NRC, 2007 Taking Science to SchoolSlide12

National Research Council 1996 AAAS 1993Slide13

National Science Education Standards Content Domains

Big Cs

Life SciencePhysical ScienceEarth/Space Science

Inquiry

Little Cs

Unifying Principles & Themes

Science & Technology

Science in Personal & Social Contexts

Nature of ScienceSlide14
Slide15

NAEP 2009Slide16

C3

The set of crosscutting concepts defined here is similar to those that appear in other standards documents, in which they have been called “unifying concepts” (NSES) or “common themes” (SFAA) . Regardless of the labels or organizational schemes used in these documents, all of them stress that it is important for students to come to recognize the concepts common to so many areas of science and engineering.

Tissue Engineering Laboratory

Georgia Tech (

Nersessian

, 2008)Slide17

Science for All AmericansCommon Themes

Systems

Models – Physical, Conceptual, Mathematical

Constancy & Change

–

Constancy -

Stability and Equilibrium, Conservation, Symmetry,

Patterns of Change

– Trends, Cycles, Chaos

Evolution

– Possibilities, Rates, Interactions

ScaleSlide18

NSESUnifying Concepts and ProcessesSystems, order and organization

Evidence, models and explanation

Change, constancy and measurementEvolution and equilibrium

Form and FunctionSlide19

NSESSlide20

Cubes (C3) for Cubers(CS3)

Patterns (5)

Cause & Effect (5)

Scale, Proportion & Quantity (2)

Systems and Systems Models (1, 3, 7)

Energy and Matter in Systems (4)

Form & Function (6)

Stability (1)

Science: College Board Standards for College SuccessSlide21

Science & (Engineering) Practices

1. Asking questions (for science) and defining problems (for engineering) (1)

2. Developing and using models (4)3. Planning and carrying out investigations (2)

4. Analyzing and interpreting data (3)

5. Using mathematics and computational thinking (5)

6. Constructing explanations (for science) and designing solutions (for engineering) (4)

7. Engaging in argument from evidence (4)

8. Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information (1-5)

Science: College Board Standards for College SuccessSlide22

Science & (Engineering) Practices

Patterns (3, 4)

Cause & Effect (2)Scale, Proportion & Quantity (4)Systems and Systems Models (5)

Energy and Matter in Systems (1)

Form & Function (1)

Stability (4, 5)

Science: College Board Standards for College SuccessSlide23

C3

“(The) crosscutting concepts begins with two concepts that are

fundamental to the nature of science

: that observed

patterns

can be explained and that science investigates

cause and-effect

relationships by seeking the mechanisms that underlie them.”Slide24

C3

The next concept—

scale, proportion, and quantity—concerns the sizes of things and the mathematical relationships among disparate elements.

The next four concepts—

systems and system models, energy and matter flows, structure and function, and stability and change

—are interrelated in that the first is illuminated by the other three. Each concept also stands alone as one that occurs in virtually all areas of science and is an important consideration for engineered systems as well.Slide25

Source-Transmission-ReceptorSlide26

Theory of ObservationShapere, D. (1982). The concept of observation in science and philosophy. Philosophy of Science, 59

, 485-525.

Theory of Source - Theory of Transmission - Theory of Reception

Neutrino Capture Experiments – Vats in Deep Earth Mines

Ocean Salinity Measurements – Satellite detected Salinity Variations in Oceans to Model Climate Change

Groundwater Depletion Measurements – Coupled satellites processing gravity fluctuations

Problematizing

Evidence/Discovery ScienceSlide27

Theory/Model-Building View

of Scientific Inquiry

Duschl, 2003 ‘E-E Continuum’ Assessment of Inquiry

Pattern/Model

Explanation/Theory

Measurement/Observation

Data

Evidence

Problem/QuestionSlide28

Evidence-Explanation

Continuum

It has in its heart the question: “What counts”?

It seeks to work out the details of the process of constructing scientific explanations

It refers to both the

content and nature

of

explanations and the dialectic

process

of explanation construction and communication within social contexts

It considers not only cognitive, but also epistemological and social aspects of dealing with data that lead to a change in scientific understandingsSlide29

4 Strands of Scientific Proficiency

Know, use and interpret scientific explanations of the natural world.

Generate and evaluate scientific evidence and explanations.

Understand the nature and development of scientific knowledge.

Participate productively in scientific practices and discourse. Slide30
Slide31

 INTERCONNECTIONS BETWEEN CROSSCUTTING CONCEPTS AND DISCIPLINARY CORE IDEAS

Crosscutting concepts should be reinforced by repeated use of them in the context of instruction in the disciplinary core ideas presented in Chapters 5-8.

Crosscutting concepts can provide a connective structure that supports students’ understanding of sciences as disciplines and that facilitates their comprehension of the systems under study in particular disciplines.

Crosscutting concepts should not be taught in isolation from the examples provided in the disciplinary context. Moreover, use of a common language for these concepts across disciplines will help students recognize that the same concept is relevant across different contexts.Slide32

Assessments to Capture Performance, Gauge Progress

Embedded

- part of daily teaching/activities

Formal/informal observations Ss performance relative to content and epistemic practices.

Benchmark

- occur periodically

within

module

Tied to specific epistemic/reasoning

practice; e

.g.,

causal explanations; modeling; argumentation

Performance

- larger

events,

Ss presented with problem that requires both content and epistemic practices

Use knowledge in generative way, use evidence to support explanations, Slide33

Exactly

what knowledge do you want students to have and

how

do you want them to know it?

claim space

(student model)

evidence

model

task

model

What task(s) will the students

perform

to communicate their knowledge?

How will you analyze and interpret the evidence?

Evidence-Centered Design

What will you accept as

evidence

that a student has the desired knowledge?

Performance Expectation for an Explanation:

Explain the process of seafloor spreading. Include cross sections of a mid-ocean ridge showing the age of the sea floor, data on the thickness of sediments, and

paleomagnetic

information.Slide34

Create Learning Performances

What are Learning

Performances

?

Learning performances define, in cognitive terms, what it means for learners to “understand” a particular idea

Learning performances define how the knowledge is used in reasoning about questions and phenomena

Why Learning Performances

Know or understand is too vague

Performances require learners to use the ideas.

Use terms that describe the performance you want students to learn and be able to do.

Identify, Define,

Refine, Analyze

and Interpret data, Explain,

Build,

Model,

Design

…Slide35

New View of NOSC3 & SPs

Emphasizes the role of models and data construction in the scientific practices of theory development.

Sees the scientific community, and not individual scientists, as an essential part of the scientific process.

Sees the cognitive scientific processes and scientific practices as a distributed system that includes instruments, forms of representation, and agreed upon systems for communication and argument.Slide36

New Technologies and Tools give rise to New Theories - Thank You!Slide37

New Technologies

Electro-spray Ionization Mass Spectrometer

Nobel Prize for John

Fenn

- Yale UniversitySlide38
Slide39

Evolution of Seismographs Slide40

New ToolsCrust of the Earth as Related to ZoologySlide41

San Francisco

Topo

Map & Google EarthSlide42

Geographic Information SystemsSlide43

New Theories Ontogeny Recapitulates Phylogeny Slide44
Slide45