Early Elementary Students' Understanding of Complex Ecosystems: A Learning Progression Approach

Autor/inn/en	Hokayem, Hayat; Gotwals, Amelia Wenk
Titel	Early Elementary Students' Understanding of Complex Ecosystems: A Learning Progression Approach
Quelle	In: Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 53 (2016) 10, S.1524-1545 (22 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0022-4308
DOI	10.1002/tea.21336
Schlagwörter	Elementary School Students; Grade 1; Grade 2; Grade 3; Grade 4; Logical Thinking; Ecology; Environmental Education; Semi Structured Interviews; Learning Processes; Thinking Skills; Science Instruction + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? School year 01; 1. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 01; School year 02; 2. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 02; School year 03; 3. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 03; School year 04; 4. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 04; Ökologie; Umweltbildung; Umwelterziehung; Umweltpädagogik; Learning process; Lernprozess; Denkfähigkeit; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht
Abstract	Engaging in systemic reasoning about ecological issues is critical for early elementary students to develop future understanding of critical environmental issues such as global warming and loss of biodiversity. However, ecological issues are rarely taught in ways to highlight systemic reasoning in elementary schools. In this study, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 44 students from the first through fourth grades. Using an iterative process, we developed an empirically grounded learning progression that captures how elementary students use systemic reasoning to explain interactions in ecosystems. This learning progression contains five reasoning patterns: anthropomorphic reasoning, concrete practical reasoning, simple causal reasoning, semi-complex causal reasoning, and complex causal reasoning. The results also show that many students exhibited mixed-level reasoning, meaning that they used reasoning patterns at multiple levels to construct a single response. We discuss the implications of the study for learning progression research and teaching ecosystems at early elementary grades. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01