TY - JOUR
T1 - Mapping the increasing sophistication of students’ understandings of plate tectonics
T2 - A learning progressions approach
AU - McDonald, Scott
AU - Bateman, Kathryn
AU - Gall, Helen
AU - Tanis-Ozcelik, Arzu
AU - Webb, Aubree
AU - Furman, Tanya
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019, © 2019 National Association of Geoscience Teachers.
PY - 2019/1/2
Y1 - 2019/1/2
N2 - Plate tectonics is the organizing paradigm of geosciences, but it is also conceptually complex, and students often struggle with developing a system level understanding of the earth. This article reports on research designed to create a characterization of the different levels of sophistication around plate tectonics in the form of a learning progression for middle grades (grades 6–9). A learning progression is an educational research construct that can guide curriculum, assessment, and instruction by creating a description not just of students’ misunderstandings but of a sequential pattern of increasingly sophisticated and productive student conceptions. This article reports on research findings from a 7-year National Science Foundation-funded project focused on the teaching and learning of earth and space science, which engaged in hundreds of conceptual interviews with students in diverse contexts across the state of Pennsylvania. This article focuses on the implications for higher education faculty in geosciences with regard to the preparation of students, the likely alternative conceptions they may hold, and hence instructional approaches to help their ideas mature toward a normative scientific understanding.
AB - Plate tectonics is the organizing paradigm of geosciences, but it is also conceptually complex, and students often struggle with developing a system level understanding of the earth. This article reports on research designed to create a characterization of the different levels of sophistication around plate tectonics in the form of a learning progression for middle grades (grades 6–9). A learning progression is an educational research construct that can guide curriculum, assessment, and instruction by creating a description not just of students’ misunderstandings but of a sequential pattern of increasingly sophisticated and productive student conceptions. This article reports on research findings from a 7-year National Science Foundation-funded project focused on the teaching and learning of earth and space science, which engaged in hundreds of conceptual interviews with students in diverse contexts across the state of Pennsylvania. This article focuses on the implications for higher education faculty in geosciences with regard to the preparation of students, the likely alternative conceptions they may hold, and hence instructional approaches to help their ideas mature toward a normative scientific understanding.
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U2 - 10.1080/10899995.2018.1550972
DO - 10.1080/10899995.2018.1550972
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85063752580
SN - 1089-9995
VL - 67
SP - 83
EP - 96
JO - Journal of Geoscience Education
JF - Journal of Geoscience Education
IS - 1
ER -