The Scientific Thinker Project: A study of teaching and learning concepts of evidence and nature of scientific evidence in elementary school

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New York University (NYU) will study children's developing epistemological understandings of evidence (e.g., what is scientific evidence, how does it differ from other kinds of evidence, why is it durable and tentative and what is its role in scientific thinking). NYU seeks to understand the experiences and conditions that facilitate elementary science students understandings of the nature of scientific evidence. This will be accomplished through a design-based research program.The project will take place over a 2-year period to study the possibility of emphasizing more challenging forms of science and epistemological forms of understanding than is typical for U.S. elementary school children. The overarching research goal is: To determine whether elementary school children can learn the nature of scientific evidence when provided a coherent, contiguous course of study in one topic area (development and interactions) sustained over time (a 2-year period; grades 3-4). Along with documenting how and to what extent students can understand the nature of scientific evidence, identification of what teaching-and-learning supports are necessary to achieve this and if not, what are the barriers to learning.The work will be conducted in elementary classroom and laboratory settings at an elementary school in New York City with a diverse student population (grades 3-4). The design-based research model proposed for this study is one of iterative cycles of intentional intervention and analysis. Through this approach NYU will develop and test instructional tools (materials, interactions, experiences) that shape and are shaped by an activity theory model for development.