The Study

Professor Charles “Andy” Anderson and University of Miami (Fla.) colleague Okhee Lee examine in this article reform efforts in science education that have been labeled as constructivist in nature. They describe a study they conducted in two sixth-grade classrooms that sough to understand who would take advantage of the opportunities for meaningful science learning that these instructional programs provide.

Findings

The study was conducted in two sixth-grade classrooms in two different schools. Both school were located in an urban district in the Midwest, and both had an ethnically mixed student population. Both teachers were recommended as exemplary by their principals and colleagues, and both used a science unit on matter and molecules that had been designed to induce conceptual change. The goals of the curriculum and instruction in both classes were to make science meaningful to students by making connections between students’ conceptions and scientific conceptions and by engaging students in using scientific knowledge to describe, explain, and make predictions about natural phenomena. The researchers selected 12 student from the two classrooms for intensive study. They represented a wide range of abilities, motivational styles, and cultural and social backgrounds. What the researchers found was that “not all students are likely to benefit from improvements in science programs that provide increased opportunities for meaningful learning.” The curriculum in the study was effective for those who were willing to expend significant effort to understand science. When students’ personal agendas were compatible with the goal of understanding science, the results were rewarding both for students and teachers. However, in those instances where personal agendas were indifferent or hostile to the goal of scientific understanding, “the careful attention that the curriculum materials and teachers paid to helping students develop conceptual understanding made little impact.” The authors conclude: “Helping students to learn science with understanding requires attention to cognitive, social, cultural, and gender issues. No matter how tightly students’ classroom behavior is controlled and guided by teachers and curriculum materials, students always retain personal control over their attention and effort. Thus effective science instruction must start with understanding students’ personal agendas and commitments, as well as their conceptions and learning processes in science.”

What It Means To You

How well do your teachers know their students? Anderson and Lee make the case that knowing students well enough to understand their personal agendas and commitments is essential to teaching for understanding and meaning in science. Without taking these issues into account and dealing with them, the kind of learning that leads to meaningful learning may not take place.

For More Information

Anderson, C.W. & Lee, O. (1997). Will students take advantage of opportunities for meaningful science learning? Phi Delta Kappan, 78, 720-724.

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