Consolidating Understanding of Variation as Part of STEM: Experimenting with Plant Growth

Autor/inn/en	Watson, Jane; Wright, Suzie; Fitzallen, Noleine; Kelly, Ben
Titel	Consolidating Understanding of Variation as Part of STEM: Experimenting with Plant Growth
Quelle	In: Mathematics Education Research Journal, 35 (2023) 4, S.961-999 (39 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Watson, Jane) ORCID (Fitzallen, Noleine)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1033-2170
DOI	10.1007/s13394-022-00421-1
Schlagwörter	STEM Education; Plants (Botany); Science Curriculum; Foreign Countries; Elementary School Students; Formative Evaluation; Workbooks; Science Activities; Graphs; Concept Formation; Statistics; Australia + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? STEM; Pflanze; Ausland; Arbeitsbuch; Grafische Darstellung; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; Statistik; Australien
Abstract	Integrated STEM activities are espoused as appropriate for enhancing student learning in relation to statistical concepts; however, a greater understanding of the way in which students' ideas about those concepts develop is needed to maximise the learning potential offered by engagement in STEM activities. For this study, plant growth was chosen as a topic from the Year 6 Australian Science Curriculum as an appropriate context to employ aspects of the four STEM disciplines to explore students' developing ideas about variation. Sixty-four Year 6 students across three school terms worked in groups of four to trial various treatments and their effects on the growth of radish or wheat seeds. This report considers two aspects of student learning related to this topic based on (i) the formative assessment of features of students' workbook entries specifically related to variation during the part of the classroom activity based on their "TinkerPlots" graphs and (ii) the later summative evidence of learning in responses to end-of-year questions on the activity for 56 of the students. The workbook entries are presented via a qualitative analysis to provide evidence of the forming of understanding of variation in a STEM context, with the SOLO Taxonomy being employed to assess the longer-term evidence and developmental nature of that learning. Overall, a broader picture has emerged of the potential for developing appreciation of variation in a STEM context in primary school. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01