Category Archives: Teaching

Research published on undergraduate students’ socio-scientific reasoning about wildlife

Leave a reply

Congrats to Ashley (McKenzie) Sutter for publication of her thesis work in the International Journal of Science Education.  Utilizing value belief norm (VBN) theory and construal level theory (CLT), the study explores how undergraduate students reason and make decisions about prairie dog conversation issues.  The research, which was conducted in the SCIL 101 course (Science and Decision-Making for a Complex World), is grounded in the use of structured-decision making as a teaching and learning strategy in large enrollment, undergraduate STEM courses.  Findings from the study illustrate the interrelationships between students’ values, problemmatization of the issue, and science-informed decision-making.  

Sutter, A.M., Dauer, J.M., & Forbes, C.T. (2018). Construal level and value-belief norm theories: Implications for undergraduate decision-making on a prairie dog socio-scientific issue. In International Journal of Science Education, 40(9), 1058-1075.

Forbes Group presentations @ AERA, NARST, and NSTA, 2018

Leave a reply

The Forbes team attended the 2018 annual meetings of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST), held March 10-13 in Atlanta, GA, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), held March 15-18 in Atlanta, GA, and the American Educational Research Association (AERA), held in New York City.  We had the opportunity to present  an array of findings from the WELL, MoHSES, UnICORN projects.

Bhattacharya, D., Forbes, C.T., Ingram, E., Hawley, L., Stevens, J. & Cisterna, D. (2018, March).  Developing 3rd-grade students’ understanding of inheritance using a model-based curriculum. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Atlanta, GA.

Bhattacharya, D., Forbes, C.T., Ingram, E., Hawley, L., Stevens, J. & Cisterna, D. (2018, March).  Supporting scientific modeling practices in elementary science instruction about inheritance. Poster presented at annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Atlanta, GA.

Bhattacharya, D., Ingram, E., Forbes, C., Cisterna, D. (2018, March). Using agriculture as a context for teaching genetics in elementary classrooms: Insights from UnICORN (Understanding Inheritance in CORN). Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Science Teachers Association (NARST/NSTA sponsored session), Atlanta, GA.

Böschl, F., Vo, T., Forbes, C.T., Lange-Schubert, K., (2018, March). Development of an empirically grounded learning performance framework for elementary students’ modeling competency of water. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Atlanta, GA.

Cisterna, D., Bhattacharya, D., Vo, T., Zangori, L., & Forbes, C.T., (2018, March). Examining multiple programs to supporting K-12 teachers’ instruction about water using scientific models. Submitted to the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST), 2018 Annual International Conference, Atlanta, GA.

Lally, D., Dauer, J.M., Forbes, C.T., (2018, March). Helping undergraduate students’ CREATE understanding of scientific and popular media articles about contemporary water issues. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Atlanta, GA.

Lally, D., Forbes, C.T., (2018, March). Water in society: Making water issues matter to undergraduate students. Session presented at the annual meeting of the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA), Atlanta, GA.  

Petitt, D., Lally, D., Forbes, C.T., Brozovic, N., & Franz, T. (2018, March). Undergraduate students’ learning and reasoning about socio-hydrological issues. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Atlanta, GA.

Vo, T., Bhattacharya, D., Baumfalk, B., Zangori, L., Welch, G., Forbes, C., (2018, April). Examining the impact of a modeling enhanced water unit on 3rd grade students’ scientific explanations. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), New York City, NY.

Vo, T., Forbes, C.T., (2018, March). A mixed methods comparison of elementary students’ model based explanations about water. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST), Atlanta, GA.


Invited talk at the U. of Maryland Center for Science and Technology (CSTE)

Leave a reply

In November, I was invited to visit the Center for Science and Technology (CSTE) at the University of Maryland. During my visit, I met with CSTE-affiliated faculty and graduate students and gave a Distinguished Lecture. My talk, entitled, “Scientific Modeling for K-16 Earth Systems Education: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Insights”, focused on empirical and theoretical work associated with the WELL, MoHSES, and CliMES projects.  This was a wonderfully engaging experience – many thanks to Randy McGinnis and Diane Kettelhut for the invitation!

Kicking off CliMES collaborative work with LPS teachers

Leave a reply

At the end of September, our CliMES team came together with a group of high school teachers from our district partner – Lincoln Public Schools – to begin collaborating on development of the CliMES curriculum module.  We are working to develop a 6-week module designed around EzGCM for LPS’ 9th-grade Geoscience course.  The proposed module will be aligned with national, state, and district standards, with a particular emphasis on HS-ESS3-5:

Analyze geoscience data and the results from global climate models to make an evidence-based forecast of the current rate of global or regional climate change and associated future impacts to Earth systems.

We’re looking forward to continuing these discussions and working with our collaborating teachers as we move forward with development of the curriculum module, planned for pilot implementation in spring, 2018.

 

Research published on student metacognition in undergraduate biology

Leave a reply

Congrats to Dr. Jaime Sabel for publication of dissertation work in CBE–Life Sciences Education.  This study explored the used of reflective scaffolds and metacognitive tools to support and enhance undergraduate students’ learning in the context of an introductory undergraduate course for non-majors.  Study findings provide insight into how students use these tools, how they can be integrated into the design of course activities, and ways in which they productively impact students’ life science learning.

Sabel, J., Dauer, J., & Forbes, C.T. (2017).  Introductory biology students’ use of enhanced answer keys and reflection questions to engage in metacognition and enhance understanding.  CBE–Life Sciences Education, 16(3), 2-12.

NSF DRK-12 project funded – CliMES

Leave a reply

I am excited to announce our new project funded by the National Science Foundation’s Discovery Research K-12 program (DRL 1720838 and 1719872). In the High School Students’ Climate Literacy through Epistemology of Scientific Modeling (CliMES) project, we will engage in a 4-year, mixed-methods, design-based research project to investigate classroom use of EzGCM (Easy Global Climate Modeling), a web-based climate modeling suite designed to provide non-scientists experiences with climate modeling. We are developing and implementing a 6-week climate science module for secondary science classrooms designed around EzGCM. Each year, we will collect and analyze evidence of students’ model-based reasoning about climate, including pre-/post- measures of students’ conceptual and epistemic knowledge, curriculum-embedded modeling tasks, interviews, and videorecorded observations of instruction to investigate two research questions: 1) how do secondary students develop epistemic and conceptual knowledge about the Earth’s climate and climate science? and 2) how do secondary science teachers support students’ use of EzGCM to develop epistemic and conceptual knowledge about the Earth’s climate and climate science?  The project will impact over 50 secondary teachers and 3000 secondary students over four years and leverages a new partnership between Columbia University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, promoting cross-fertilization between climate scientists and science educators, in partnership with Nebraska school districts.

Published research on undergrad students’ reasoning about water SSIs

Leave a reply

Many thanks to all members of our research and instructional team who collaborated on a study investigating undergraduate students’ reasoning about water-focused socioscientific issues.  Carried out in the first iteration of the revised SCIL 101 course (formerly AGRI/NRES 103) with more than 200 students, study results illustrate strengths and limitations of students’ thinking about the use of groundwater for agriculture in the context of a multi-week course module.  Thanks to Dr. Jaime Sabel for leading this effort!

Sabel, J.L., Vo, T., Alred, A., Dauer, J.M., & Forbes, C.T. (2017). Undergraduate students’ scientifically-informed decision-making about socio-hydrological issues. Journal of College Science Teaching, 46(6), 64-72.

WELS2 summer 2017 workshop

Leave a reply

In June, the WELS2 project team held a 1-week workshop for more than 30 Nebraska middle- and high school science teachers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  The workshop focused on supporting teachers to learn to use a computer-based groundwater modeling tool, the Hydrogeology Challenge, and to develop instructional materials and supports that would enable them to use this tool within their existing science curriculum.

As part of the workshop, teachers explored the Next Generation Science Standards, conducted water-related investigations, learned about the scientific practice of modeling, and worked on curricular resources to support their own teaching.  Teachers also had the opportunity to participate in the workshop as part of a UNL graduate course – NRES 898 Teaching and Learning about Water Systems.  We thank our project partners from the Groundwater Foundation and Water for Food Global Institute for contributing to making this workshop a successful experience for all involved.  We look forward to continuing to work with NE teachers through ongoing academic year activities and a teacher research experience in summer, 2018.

SCIL 109 Water in Society Spring, 2017

Leave a reply

As part of the WELL project, our team had the chance to teach our new course – SCIL 109 Water in Society – this past spring semester.  It was an amazing opportunity work with 45 undergraduate students, both STEM and non-STEM majors from an array of programs.  It was also a wonderfully enriching experience to collaborate with colleagues spanning multiple disciplines as part of our instructional team.  The course touched on core hydrology concepts, exploration of contemporary real-world water-related challenges, and opportunities to communicate about both the scientific and non-scientific dimensions of these issues.  Students used computer-based water modeling tools based upon authentic datasets, worked in collaborative teams on long-term projects, participated in site visits, and developed and presented infographics to attendees at an international water-focused conference.   Please see our spring, 2017 syllabus and course calendar here.

CADRE video series: What is Scientific Modeling?

Leave a reply

In a new video series from CADRE, a network for STEM education researchers funded by the National Science Foundation’s Discovery Research K-12 (DR K-12) program, I had a chance to share a bit about the importance of scientific modeling in science learning environments. It’s very exciting to be featured as part of a group, including Dan Damelin (The Concord Consortium) and Brian Reiser (Northwestern University), discussing this important topic related to our MoHSES, NE WETS, WELS2, and WELL projects.

What is Scientific Modeling? from CADREK12 on Vimeo.