explanation – Cory T Forbes

Article published in Science Education

corytforbes — Fri, 22 Aug 2014 13:14:00 +0000

A new paper was published in the July issue of Science Education.

Zangori, L. & Forbes, C.T. (2014). Scientific practices in elementary classrooms: 3rd-grade students’ scientific explanations for seed structure and function. Science Education, 98(4), 614-639.

This research focuses on 3rd-grade students’ scientific explanations for plant-related phenomena as part of the FOSS Structures of Life curriculum module across multiple classrooms. Drawing from a diverse array of data, the study explores connections between teachers’ conceptions, their observed instructional practices, and student. The study provides evidence that teachers’ professional ideas and pedagogical reasoning about evidence-based explanation in science – a crucial scientific practice highlighted in the Next Generation Science Standards – play an important role in their instructional practices to support students’ explanation-construction in the classroom.

PIESC3 2013 publications

corytforbes — Sat, 02 Nov 2013 01:35:40 +0000

Core empirical results from the PIESC3 project were published this year in three journal articles:

Biggers, M., Forbes, C.T. , & Zangori, L. (2013). Elementary teachers’ curriculum design and pedagogical reasoning for supporting students’ comparison and evaluation of evidence-based explanations. The Elementary School Journal, 114(1), 48-72.

Forbes, C.T., Biggers, M., & Zangori, L. (2013). Investigating essential characteristics of scientific practices in elementary science learning environments: The Practices of Science Observation Protocol (P-SOP). School Science and Mathematics, 113(4), 180-190.

Zangori, L., Forbes, C.T., & Biggers, M. (2013). Fostering student sense-making in elementary science learning environments: Elementary teachers’ use of science curriculum materials to promote explanation-construction. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 50(8), 887-1017.

Each of these studies involves the use of our newly-developed observation protocol, the P-SOP, to investigate inquiry practices in elementary classrooms. The paper in School Science and Mathematics details the development and testing of the P-SOP, as well as a comparison of features of inquiry evident in observed elementary science instruction. The other two articles are mixed-methods studies using the P-SOP explore opportunities afforded students to formulate and evaluate evidence-based explanations.

Article published in Science Education

corytforbes — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 01:21:41 +0000

A new paper was published in the March issue of Science Education.

Zangori, L. & Forbes, C.T. (2013). Preservice elementary teachers and explanation construction: Knowledge-for-practice and knowledge-in-practice. Science Education, 97(2), 310-330.

This research are part of a larger study of preservice elementary teachers’ learning to use science curriculum materials to teach science as inquiry (Biggers & Forbes, 2012; Forbes, 2013; 2011; Forbes & Davis, 2010). The findings presented in this article build upon these previous studies to illustrate how preservice elementary teachers both conceptualize and learn to support students’ explanation-construction in elementary classrooms.