THE ‘NEXT GENERATION’ OF CONSTRUCTIVIST REFORM IN SCIENCE AND STEM: CASE STUDY EXPLORATIONS OF THE PRACTICES OF STUDENTS AND THE PERSPECTIVES OF TEACHERS

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorElby, Andrewen_US
dc.contributor.authorGreen, Amy Elizabethen_US
dc.contributor.departmentCurriculum and Instructionen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2018-01-23T06:44:10Z
dc.date.available2018-01-23T06:44:10Z
dc.date.issued2017en_US
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation provides insights into the potential for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and a complementary instructional model, transdisciplinary STEM, to advance constructivist approaches to high-quality education by providing a framework and pedagogical model that authentically communicate these principles for practitioners. Through two research projects, I explore some of the dilemmas facing educators implementing these reform initiatives. First, I present a study of the relationship between discursive epistemic agency and scientific authenticity in school. I argue that epistemological misalignment between perspectives underpinning traditional approaches to school science and those of professional science contribute to tensions regarding the amount of control that students should be given over the discourse of science. Using NGSS as representative of authenticity, I explore and respond to a dilemma faced by many science educators of whether students must relinquish discursive agency for their participation in science to be considered authentic. Analyses of contrasting types of ‘talk’ in a first-grade classroom support the theoretical argument that increased discursive agency directly contributes to engagement in authentic science practices (as defined by NGSS). The second report represents a case study analysis of the perspectives of participants in a degree program focused on interdisciplinary approaches to learning. I ask, how do teachers’ epistemological beliefs affect their perceptions of the locus of perceived barriers and the extent to which those barriers may be overcome? My results indicate that accessing teacher beliefs is productive for understanding the relative alignment between their personal epistemologies and those of the reform. Furthermore, epistemological beliefs may be intimately entangled with, rather than function discretely from, these teachers’ perceptions of constraints to implementation of reform. The conclusions of these two research projects indicate that epistemological perspectives pervade the discourse of science, the text of curricular resources, and the language teachers use to talk about the implementation of pedagogical models. Furthermore, authentic enactments of science and meaningful learning are at least partially dependent upon a consistent alignment between the epistemologies underpinning reform efforts, those reflected in the language of school, and the personal epistemologies of educators.en_US
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.13016/M2Q52FF4S
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/20382
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledScience educationen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledTeacher educationen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledDiscourseen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledNext Generation Science Standardsen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledScience Education Reformen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledSTEMen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledStudent Agencyen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledTeacher Beliefsen_US
dc.titleTHE ‘NEXT GENERATION’ OF CONSTRUCTIVIST REFORM IN SCIENCE AND STEM: CASE STUDY EXPLORATIONS OF THE PRACTICES OF STUDENTS AND THE PERSPECTIVES OF TEACHERSen_US
dc.typeDissertationen_US

Files

Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
Green_umd_0117E_18623.pdf
Size:
1.37 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Download

Collections

UMD Theses and Dissertations
Teaching, Learning, Policy & Leadership Theses and Dissertations