The Role of Wonder in Students' Conception of and Learning about Evolution

Autor/inn/en	Sundberg, Bodil; Andersson, Magdalena
Titel	The Role of Wonder in Students' Conception of and Learning about Evolution
Quelle	In: Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 13 (2023) 1, S.35-61 (27 Seiten) PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1855-9719
Schlagwörter	Evolution; Science Education; Student Interests; Scientific Concepts; Concept Formation; Learner Engagement; Foreign Countries; Grade 7; Secondary School Students; Biology; Aesthetics; Expectation; Student Attitudes; Personality Traits; Sweden + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Naturwissenschaftliche Bildung; Studieninteresse; Concept learning; Begriffsbildung; Ausland; School year 07; 7. Schuljahr; Schuljahr 07; Sekundarschüler; Biologie; Ästhetik; Expectancy; Erwartung; Schülerverhalten; Individual characteristics; Personality characteristic; Persönlichkeitsmerkmal; Schweden
Abstract	Learning about evolution can be challenging for students, as a full understanding may require them to see the world in new ways, to master a disciplinary language and to understand complex processes. Drawing on a long line of theoretically grounded arguments of philosophers and researchers for including wonder in science teaching, we report on the results of an empirical study with the primary aim of investigating the role of wonder in students' learning about evolution. The study was carried out through a formative intervention in which two researchers in science education collaborated with a seventh-grade teacher. Over a period of six weeks, 45 students participated in lessons and workshops aimed at eliciting a sense of wonder in relation to concepts that are known to impact the learning of evolution. We incorporated four 'triggers' to elicit students' wonder in the science class: "aesthetic experiences," "defiance of expectations," "agency and awareness of a mystery within the ordinary." Logbook entries and interviews with student pairs provided empirical material for a qualitative analysis of the role of wonder in the students' meaning-making about, learning of and engagement in evolution. The results show that it is possible to design science teaching that triggers students' wonder in relation to an intended learning object. The results also reveal that the participating students described their sense of wonder in qualitatively different ways and that they still struggled to make sense of the concept of evolution after six weeks of teaching. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Education. University of Ljubljana Kardeljeva plošcad 16. Slovenia. Tel: +386-1-5892-344; e-mail: editors@cepsj.si; Web site: https://ojs.cepsj.si/index.php/cepsj/index
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2024/1/01