In this paper, I offer a critique of "A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas" (NRC, 2012) and of the "Next Generation Science Standards" (Achieve, 2013). While the new version of the science education standards and the arguments put forward to support them are an improvement…

Students' conceptions are characterized by some authors as having a high degree of coherence while, in the minds of others, they show little coherence and great heterogeneity. The objective of this study was to throw light on this problem by reference to "the particulate nature of matter," a topic where great discrepancies have been observed in…

The national science standards, along with prominent researchers, call for increased focus on scientific argumentation in the classroom. Over the past decade, researchers have developed sophisticated online science learning environments to support these opportunities for scientific argumentation. Assessing the quality of dialogic argumentation,…

This study explores the effectiveness of a cooperative learning (CL) approach, where students work together and elaborate concepts of physics. The group problem-solving tasks were conceptual questions from physics, where the students had to discuss and provide explanations of some phenomena. The effectiveness of the learning-in-groups approach was…

This study investigated teacher-child interaction within small-group science activities in a fourth-grade classroom. This qualitative study revealed three "zones of interaction," or teacher-child interaction categories: Individual Zones of Interaction, Multiple Zones of Interaction, and a Collective Zone of Interaction. Each zone was further…

The purpose of this article is to report findings from an ethnographic study that focused on the co-development of science literacy and academic identity formulation within a third-grade classroom. Our theoretical framework draws from sociocultural theory and studies of scientific literacy. Through analysis of classroom discourse, we identified…

This qualitative study examined the role of discourse (verbal elements of language) and Discourse (nonverbal elements related to the use of language, such as ways of thinking, valuing, and using tools and technologies) in the process of group knowledge construction of mechanical engineering students. Data included interviews, participant…

The purpose of this study was twofold. One purpose was to identify the locally negotiated literate practices that defined ways of communicating information and knowledge across the curriculum in a fourth/fifth grade classroom. Through an ethnographic and sociolinguistic set of analyses, this investigation illustrated how the teacher worked to…

In this study, we seek a better understanding of how individuals and their daily interactions shape and reshape social structures that constitute a classroom community. Moreover, we provide insight into how discourse and classroom interactions shape the nature of a learning community, as well as which aspects of the classroom culture may be…