Processes of students development of scientific practices

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During the last 15 years, the learning of science and the learning about science have been considered relevant for achieving scientific literacy. National and international science education standards describe these learning goals and research has paid growing attention towards the process-based science competencies associated with the learning about science. Currently, research mainly assesses students process-based competencies and how these differ for students of different age. Only a limited number of studies investigates how process-based competencies are developed, how their development can be promoted during learning, and how the development may or may not differ between students with specific individual profiles. Main aim of the project is, therefore, to investigate the development of students scientific practices with respect to asking questions and formulating hypotheses, planning experiments, and analyze data. The focus on scientific practices as an integral part of process-based competencies was chosen as these are highly relevant for German science education and can be related to national and international research in particular on the control of variables strategy. Furthermore, students have to conduct experiments during learning (scientific inquiry as teaching method) so that researchers can identify how students understand and make use of scientific practices (as teaching goal) and how this understanding develops during learning. The project utilizes data gathered already from a quasi-experimental study with N = 160 students of upper secondary. The study contrasts two approaches one of which explicitly targets scientific practices as learning goal by emphasizing the concepts relevant for the practices whereas the other approach is constructed with a focus on these concepts but these have to be discovered by students themselves. Both approaches have shown to promote the development of scientific practices but the explicit approach has a significantly higher effect. N = 95 students in small groups were documented on video while working on either approach which lasted each 225 minutes and was distributed over three weeks. The video data will be analyzed with a category-based approach and, where it applies, a sequential analysis of transcripts in order to identify how the students develop scientific practices and how this development does (not) differ in the two approaches. Furthermore, results can be related to the assessment of students inquiry knowledge (pre- and post), their knowledge in mechanics, their cognitive abilities, and their interest in physics and their self-concept.