Publications

Past research has shown various benefits of combining the argumentative and the dialogic in cognitive development. However, it has also shown that attempts to implement dialogic argumentation in school fail to leave a sustainable impact. One reason for this situation is related to the lack of explicit knowledge about how to design and organize dialogical activities in realistic school settings. The present study addresses this lacuna while putting forward interdisciplinarity as a promising venue for promoting student dialogue and argumentation. We first elaborate on the connection between dialogic argumentation and interdisciplinarity, review the relevant literature on instructional and task design and then suggest a configuration of the design principles needed to be developed: these are content-related principles, pedagogy-related principles and organization-related principles. This is followed by an illustration of how specific design principles of these types emerged from and are reflected in task-design practices of project team of researchers in science, mathematics and philosophy education. Finally, we show that while the focus on interdisciplinarity seems to narrow the issue of the implementation of dialogue and argumentation in schools, it in fact opens it and provides instructional design principles in complex educational projects relevant to the society.

Evolution is one of the most controversial scientific issues worldwide, mainly because of the presumed conflict with religion, which also arises in school biology classes. Here, we surveyed biology teachers from different Jewish sectors in Israel about their experiences teaching evolution and their perspective on relating to students' religious faith. Information was collected using an online questionnaire that was answered by 97 teachers, and three focus groups of 9 teachers. Half of the teachers reported encountering student religious-based opposition, in traditional/religious schools more than in secular ones. The teachers indicated that students' religious faith may hinder their understanding of evolution, while teachers' own perception of the conflict influenced their attitude. Most of the teachers indicated their willingness to relate to their students' religious faith in class, mainly because of the importance of relating to students' inner world. Our research adds to the global interest in evolution education by shedding light on this topic in a Jewish population, which has been little studied. In addition, the study emphasises the importance of relating to teachers' experiences and perspective in the discussion on whether to relate to students' religious faith during science class, because teachers are the mediators of science to future citizens.

Introducing datasets in to the science classroom may facilitate developing scientific practices and epistemic thinking. However, authentic datasets are rarely used in high school, and little is known about biology teachers’ knowledge considerations regarding dataset - driven instruction. Here we investigated these knowledge considerations
in high - school biology teachers. Forty teachers designed dataset - driven instruction units and completed open - ended questionnaires during a professional development workshop. Our analysis, based on the PISA framework of scientific literacy, indicated that although epistemic considerations were the most prominent of teachers' perceived benefits of dataset - driven instruction, they were less pronounced than content and procedural considerations in the instruction units that they designed. This suggests that although teachers recognize the value of epistemic thinking and see authentic datasets as a means to facilitate scientific literacy, further effort is needed to assist teachers in designing instruction units which better reflect these goals.

This study seeks to understand why dialogic argumentation has not been adopted as a legitimate means of instruction by science teachers. To answer this question, this qualitative case study examines the mutually constitutive relationships between macrolevel phenomena, such as the taken‐for‐granted institutional mandates that teachers and schools call upon to maintain their legitimacy in society, and microlevel routinized teacher–student classroom interactions. Integrating ethnography with the analysis of classroom interactions, we seek to capture the social structuring that informs instruction and classroom interactions. Based on an inductive analysis of observations, interviews with teachers, and documents, three types of macrolevel institutional logics that mediate against the implementation of dialogic argumentation emerged. These included the logics of (a) accountability, (b) tracking, and (c) the profession. These logics give rise to instructional practices that run counter to the pursuit of dialogic argumentation. Classroom observations were analyzed to examine how these logics are conveyed through institutionally bounded interactions between teachers and students. Shaped by these institutional logics, instruction in classrooms is narrowed to mostly direct instruction of terminology and absolute facts, and is stratified into various status levels according to classroom tracking. We argue that teachers may resist dialogic argumentation primarily because it violates the fundamental rules, norms, and practices that grant them individual and organizational legitimacy. This contextualization of teacher–student interactions as motivated by institutional logics may explain in greater detail the absence of dialogic argumentation from science classrooms.

The use of a molecular viewer to visualize proteins has become more prevalent in high schools in recent years. We relied on the foundations of two theoretical frameworks to analyze questions in two learning tasks designed for 10th- to 12th-grade biotechnology majors that make use of Jmol. The two theoretical frameworks were: (i) classification of scientific knowledge into content, procedural, and epistemic knowledge; and (ii) evaluation of the cognitive skills central to visual literacy in biochemistry. During the analysis, two sub-elements of procedural knowledge emerged from the data: (i) the visualization of molecular models, and (ii) the use of Jmol software features. Based on the theoretical frameworks and data analysis, we suggest a conceptualization of learning about proteins using a molecular viewer, where the scientific knowledge elements are integrated with the eight cognitive skills central to visual literacy in biochemistry. In addition, a model presenting a hierarchy for the knowledge elements and sub-elements is suggested. In this model, content knowledge is a basic requirement; without it, the other knowledge elements cannot be used. Moreover, the use of epistemic knowledge or Jmol software features is not possible without visualization of the molecular models, which requires content knowledge. This conceptualization is expected to facilitate the development of learning tasks, decrease the complexity of knowledge acquisition for students; it may also assist the teacher during the teaching process.

Human evolution is a sensitive and controversial topic, which might explain why it is not included in science curricula or textbooks in many countries. We prepared an online student-centered human evolution activity dealing with lactose tolerance. In constructing the activity, we considered the following design principles: a medical issue connected to students' lives, a noncontentious topic of human evolution, and a one-step genetic example that can be demonstrated by basic bioinformatics tools. The activity consists of four units dealing with the activity of the enzyme lactase in our small intestine, the differences in lactose tolerance in people from different origins, the genetic foundation of lactose tolerance, and an extension unit dealing with the control of lactase gene expression. The activity was experienced by a pilot group of approximately 100 students, preservice and in-service teachers who showed great interest in the genetics of a trait that has undergone evolutionary changes. We noted the need for a teacher as mediator while students perform the activity. We suggest using the activity in the context of evolution, genetics, or when teaching about systems of the human body, either all units in succession or as a modular activity.

The importance of promoting genetics understanding in high-school students lies in enabling them, as future citizens, to think critically and make informed decisions regarding genetics-related issues. Students should know how genetics knowledge has been acquired and its applications to societal issues. However, high-school students rarely have access to current technologies and practices used in genetic research; therefore, their opportunities to be exposed to the way genetics knowledge is gained and applied today are limited. One way to provide these opportunities is through authentic scientific experiences practiced in schools, i.e., experiences that are as similar as possible to the way science is practiced by scientists. This chapter reviews the characteristics of authentic scientific experiences and examples of authentic science experiences in genetics that have been practiced in high schools: hands-on experiments, student–teacher–scientist partnership, design-based learning, use of bioinformatics tools, and learning with adapted primary literature. Each example is related to a different research context in which genetic concepts are applied. Through these examples, we demonstrate the benefits of authentic scientific experiences to genetics learning. The challenges in implementing authentic experiences in genetics in high school, and the role of scientists in the process of developing and carrying them out are discussed.

The idea of the interaction between genes and environment in the formation of traits is an important component of genetic literacy, because it explains the plastic nature of phenotypes. However, most studies in genetics education characterize challenges in understanding and reasoning about genetic phenomena that do not involve modulation by the environment. Therefore, we do not know enough to inform the development of effective instructional materials that address the influences of environmental factors on genes and traits, that is, phenotypic plasticity. The current study explores college students’ understanding of phenotypic plasticity. We interviewed biological sciences undergraduates who are at different stages of their undergraduate studies and asked them to explain several phenomena that involved phenotypic plasticity. Analysis of the interviews revealed two types of mechanistic accounts: one type described the interaction as involving the environment directly acting on a passive organism; while the other described the interaction as mediated by a sensing-and-responding mechanism. While both accounts are plausible, the second account is critical for reasoning about phenotypic plasticity. We also found that contextual features of the phenomena may affect the type of account generated. Based on these findings, we recommend focusing instruction on the ways in which organisms sense and respond.

The gap between theory and teachers’ practice is a barrier to education improvement. There is therefore an ongoing need to understand teachers’ thinking and find new ways to meaningfully relate theory and practice in STEM education. The research explores, through teachers-as-learners’ questions, the connections made by experienced high-school biology teachers between theory and practice, their practical concerns, and the contribution of a supportive course pedagogy to these connections. The research included 31 experienced high-school biology teachers that participated in a special graduate program.

Technological breakthroughs in the past two decades have ushered in a new era of biomedical research, turning it into an information-rich and technology-driven science. This scientific revolution, though evident to the research community, remains opaque to nonacademic audiences. Such knowledge gaps are likely to persist without revised strategies for science education and public outreach. To address this challenge, we developed a unique outreach program to actively engage over 100 high-school students in the investigation of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Our program uses robotic automation and interactive web-based tools to bridge geographical distances, scale up the number of participants, and reduce overall cost. Students and teachers demonstrated high engagement and interest throughout the project and valued its unique approach. This educational model can be leveraged to advance the massive open online courses movement that is already transforming science education.

In genetics education, symbols are used for alleles to visualize them and to explain probabilities of progeny and inheritance paradigms. In this study, we identified symbol systems used in genetics textbooks and the justifications provided for changes in the symbol systems. Moreover, we wanted to understand how students justify the use of different symbol systems when solving genetics problems. We analyzed eight textbooks from three different countries worldwide. We then presented a genetics problem to eight 9th-grade students and probed their justifications for the use of different symbol systems. Our findings showed that there is no one conventional symbol system in textbooks; instead, symbol systems are altered along and within textbooks according to the genetic context. More importantly, this alteration is not accompanied by any explicit explanation for the alteration. Student interviews revealed that some students were able to identify the genetic context of each symbol system, whereas others, who were unable to do so, provided justifications based on different non-genetics-related reasons. We discuss the implications of our analysis for how multiple symbol systems should be presented in textbooks, and how they should be introduced in the classroom.

To determine what knowledge of genetics is needed for decision-making on genetic-related issues, a consensus-reaching approach was used. An international group of 57 experts, involved in teaching, studying, or developing genetic education and communication or working with genetic applications in medicine, agriculture, or forensics, answered the questions: "What knowledge of genetics is relevant to those individuals not professionally involved in science?" and "Why is this knowledge relevant?" The answers were classified in different knowledge components following the PISA 2015 science framework. During a workshop with the participants, the results were discussed and applied to seven cases in which genetic knowledge is relevant for decision-making. The analysis of these discussions resulted in a revised framework consisting of nine conceptual knowledge components, three sociocultural components, and four epistemic components. The framework can be used in curricular decisions; its open character allows for including new technologies and applications and facilitates comparisons of different cases.

This special issue of the Journal of Biological Education is devoted to selected papers from the European Research in the Didactic of Biology (ERIDOB) conference held in Braga, Portugal, in July 2010. The theme of the ERIDOB 2010 conference was Authenticity in biology education: benefits and challenges. This theme emerged from discussions that had taken place at the ERIDOB 2008 conference in Utrecht, The Netherlands. During those discussions, it had become apparent that various ERIDOB members related differently to the meaning of the term authenticity. Some believed that activities that are performed outside the classroom are authentic, while others thought that authentic activities should engage students in posing questions and designing their own paths to solve them. In this short editorial, we attempt to frame authenticity within the current literature, and to point out how the papers that were selected for this special issue contribute to our current understanding of authenticity in biology education.

Different genres of scientific articles have begun to diffuse into science curricula. Among them, adapted primary literature (APL) retains the characteristics of scientific research articles, while adapting their contents to the knowledge level of students in the 11th to 12th grades. We present three models for the teaching and learning of the opening sections of an APL article by three different biology teachers. Each of the teachers used a different model for 'stepping into the unknown' of the article. The analysis of the teaching approach of the opening sections of an APL in the classroom illustrates the challenges presented by the use of scientific articles for learning and instruction and the strategies that might be useful in overcoming them. By comparing those models for the APL article, we aim at facilitating the use of different genres of scientific articles in class, and promoting the design of additional teaching/learning models.

The importance of biotechnology education at the high-school level has been recognized in a number of international curriculum frameworks around the world. One of the most problematic issues in learning biotechnology has been found to be the biotechnological methods involved. Here, we examine the unique contribution of an animation of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in promoting conceptual learning of the biotechnological method among 12th-grade biology majors. All of the students learned about the PCR using still images (n = 83) or the animation (n = 90). A significant advantage to the animation treatment was identified following learning. Students' prior content knowledge was found to be an important factor for students who learned PCR using still images, serving as an obstacle to learning the PCR method in the case of low prior knowledge. Through analysing students' discourse, using the framework of the conceptual status analysis, we found that students who learned about PCR using still images faced difficulties in understanding some mechanistic aspects of the method. On the other hand, using the animation gave the students an advantage in understanding those aspects.

Providing learners with opportunities to engage in activities similar to those carried out by scientists was addressed in a web-based research simulation in genetics developed for high school biology students. The research simulation enables learners to apply their genetics knowledge while giving them an opportunity to participate in an authentic genetics study using bioinformatics tools. The main purpose of the study outlined here is to examine how learning using this research simulation influences students' understanding of genetics, and how students' approaches to learning using the simulation influence their learning outcomes. Using both quantitative and qualitative procedures, we were able to show that while learning using the simulation students expanded their understanding of the relationships between molecular mechanisms and phenotype, and refined their understanding of certain genetic concepts. Two types of learners, research-oriented and task-oriented, were identified on the basis of the differences in the ways they seized opportunities to recognize the research practices, which in turn influenced their learning outcomes. The research-oriented learners expanded their genetics knowledge more than the task-oriented learners. The learning approach taken by the research-oriented learners enabled them to recognize the epistemology that underlies authentic genetic research, while the task-oriented learners referred to the research simulation as a set of simple procedural tasks. Thus, task-oriented learners should be encouraged by their teachers to cope with the scientists' steps, while learning genetics through the simulation in a class setting.

We shall structure this rejoinder around two main sections. In the first, we address three underlying assumptions of our work that Osborne has identified. We indicate points of agreement, disagreement, and clarification. In the second section, we discuss briefly and add our clarifications to three understandings of his that Osborne introduces into the discussion. It should be noted that Osborne's response is grounded in the same basic assumption as our set of papers, namely, the central role played by reading and writing, and communicative activities in general, both in science and in learning science.

Nearly 79,000 questions sent to an Internet-based Ask-A-Scientist site during the last decade were analyzed according to the surfer's age, gender, country of origin, and the year the question was sent. The sample demonstrated a surprising dominance of female contributions among K-12 students (although this dominance did not carry over to the full sample), where offline situations are commonly characterized by males' greater interest in science. This female enthusiasm was observed in different countries, and had no correlation to the level of gender equity in those countries. This suggests that the Internet as a free-choice science-learning environment plays a potentially empowering and democratic role that is especially relevant to populations that are traditionally deprived of equal opportunities in learning formal science. However, worldwide, girls' interest in submitting questions to scientists dropped as they grew older relative to the boys' interest, and the stereotypically gendered science interests persisted in this environment as well. The strengths and limitations of using free-choice Web-based data sources for studying youth interest in science are discussed. (C) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 93:131-160, 2009