Language and argument are epistemic tools that learners can use to help them generate and validate knowledge for themselves, as emphasized in NGSS and previous NRC reports. Not all learning environments elicit or support the use of these epistemic tools equally, thus affecting how students grow in competence in relation to their use. The present…

In the present study, I analyze ethnographic data from a year-long study of two Advanced Placement (AP) Biology classes that enrolled students with diverse racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. Specifically, I consider participation, positioning, and learning of newcomer Korean students in the focal classes. Building on the notion of figured…

Science includes more than just concepts and facts, but also encompasses scientific ways of thinking and reasoning. Students' cultural and linguistic backgrounds influence the knowledge they bring to the classroom, which impacts their degree of comfort with scientific practices. Consequently, the goal of this study was to investigate 5th grade…

Studied effects of participation in Science - A Process Approach activities through an experimental-control, pretest-posttest research design. Data analyses of 113 kindergarten children enrolled in four classes of an inner-city school showed that transmitting skills were enhanced with increasing beginning reading ability. (CC)

Uses theories of social cognition and verbal communication to analyze how an experienced fourth-grade teacher blends teaching skills in language arts and reading with hands-on science to stimulate classroom inquiry. Discusses implications for elementary science instruction. Contains 41 references. (Author/JRH)

Examines science textbook language and determines some characteristics of them: distant authorial voice, concern for precision, limited context, limited syntax, and rhetorical model. Suggests three further researcher needs. (YP)

Investigated performance of Hispanic science and engineering students (N=43) on reading a sentence describing the mathematical relationship between two variables and writing an equation describing the relationship. Results compared with (1) subjects' grade point average and language proficiency and (2) monolingual group (N=52). (Author/SK)