tag:nabble.aealearningonline.org,2006:forum-15053Nabble - The difference between “learning about science” and “figuring out how and why something works.”2024-03-29T02:31:07Z• What do you see as the difference between “learning about” a science idea and “figuring out how and/or why” something works (in science)?
<br/>• Which of these two ideas (learning about or figuring things out) best represents the most recent research on how students learn science today?
<br/>• Why might the idea of "figuring things out" be included in a section on "How Students Learn Science"? Support your answer/argument with examples and/or evidence.
<br/><br/>Read through at least 3 other participant's thoughts to expand your thinking.tag:nabble.aealearningonline.org,2006:post-20660The difference between “learning about science” and “figuring out how and why something works.” - Geisler(Clausen)2023-07-23T17:09:19Z2023-07-23T17:09:19Zmadisonclausen1995@gmail.com
What do you see as the difference between “learning about” a science idea and “figuring out how and/or why” something works (in science)? Learning about science is very vague, figuring out how and/or why something works is understanding and answering main questions, a phenomena as the starting point of learning. We use the phenomena to raise questions to try and understand. Which of these two ideas (learning about or figuring things out) best represents the most recent research on how students learn science today? Why might the idea of "figuring things out" be included in a section on "How Students Learn Science"? “How Students Learn Science?” article because the hands on approach to teaching is engaging. An inquiry-based learning approach. Making connections with real-world situations is also a great approach to how students learn science. It is through these discussions that students learn and inquire about the world around them.
tag:nabble.aealearningonline.org,2006:post-19037The difference between "learning about science" and figuring out how and/or why something works2022-05-10T18:55:41Z2022-05-10T18:55:41ZAmanda Buck
What do you see as the difference between “learning about” a science idea and “figuring out how and/or why” something works (in science)? Learning about a science idea is more about memorizing concepts and facts. Figuring out how and/or why something works in science means using phenomena as the starting point of learning. We use the phenomena to raise questions to try and understand.
<br/><br/>Which of these two ideas (learning about or figuring things out) best represents the most recent research on how students learn science today? Figuring things out best represents the most recent research on how students learn science today.
<br/><br/>Why might the idea of "figuring things out" be included in a section on "How Students Learn Science"? Support your answer/argument with examples and/or evidence. This is included because students are motivated by first being presented with a phenomena because they want to figure out what it means. Then they will continue to return to the phenomena as they learn more about the science behind it so students are applying science knowledge as they are building it.
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tag:nabble.aealearningonline.org,2006:post-18149The difference between "learning science" and "figuring out:2021-11-24T06:31:48Z2021-11-24T06:31:48Zmichael.hughes
• What do you see as the difference between “learning about” a science idea and “figuring out how and/or why” something works (in science)? The difference between the two ideas is how we approach the teaching and bringing the enthusiasm & importance of the concepts to the kids. Reading about it from a book removes that natural curiosity. By giving them a problem or phenomenon to explore, we are giving them a purpose and (hopefully) bringing out their innate desire to learn more about the world around them.
<br/><br/>• Which of these two ideas (learning about or figuring things out) best represents the most recent research on how students learn science today? Figuring things out is the approach that is best. When I teach science, I always try to present the issues as solving puzzles. The kids no longer think of it as learning form a book, but instead, having a purpose and an end goal.
<br/><br/>• Why might the idea of "figuring things out" be included in a section on "How Students Learn Science"? Support your answer/argument with examples and/or evidence. To be scientific literate is much more than being able to state facts. It is being able to understand the world around us using the information we have at our disposal. A great example of this is COVID and how it impacts us. By having scientific literacy, students are able to look at the data that is being presented by their peers, family, and news sources and make informed decisions. This is also evidenced in problem solving issues that we encounter in our day-to-day lives.
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tag:nabble.aealearningonline.org,2006:post-15347Learning vs figuring2020-03-14T11:13:10Z2020-03-14T11:13:10ZAllison Van Aartsen
The mental picture I get when someone says they are learning about science is of someone reading scientific information and/or hearing lectures on scientific topics. The person might be able to follow what they are reading or hearing, but it is quite likely that they may have gaps in their learning. The idea of “figuring out how or why” suggests to me that the student is taking on a more active role in learning about the topic. The shift to the Next Generation Science Standards encourages teachers to find ways for students to figure things out instead of always feeding them the information and expecting them to memorize it without completely understanding it. The idea of “figuring it out” is included in this section on How Students Learn Science because being or becoming a scientist involves making observations, questioning, experimenting, and documenting those results to discover how and why something is the way it is or does the things it does. There are documented results that support the idea of “figuring it out”. According to an article I read about a school in Tucson, Arizona implementing science notebooks in their classrooms, they discovered that they were able to monitor their students thought processes as they were “figuring it out”.
tag:nabble.aealearningonline.org,2006:post-15114Learning and Figuring2020-01-16T16:21:25Z2020-01-16T16:21:25ZTeacher 3
<br/><br/>I believe the figuring things out approach best represents the latest research on how students learn science best. You might find the figuring things out approach included in the “How Students Learn Science?” article because the hands on approach to teaching is engaging. This approach gets students actively involved and questioning in order to to understand the phenomena. I agree that it is important to show students that are multiple ways to solve problems. The learning about approach to teaching science doesn’t express to students that there are many ways to solve a problem. Using the figure out about method to teaching science showcases how one problem could be solved multiple ways. Starting with a phenomena as the jumping off point gets students involved and doing/applying their reasoning right from the start. Not only is this more engaging than simply reciting and memorizing facts and data but it gets kids questioning and thinking outside the box. It shows kids that you don’t have to always be ‘right.’ Often learning occurs when something does not go as planned. I believe this is an important life lesson for our students to learn. Not only is this approach beneficial in the classroom but also in the real world. Problem solving, persevering, identifying cause and effect relationships are all very important.
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tag:nabble.aealearningonline.org,2006:post-15113The difference between “learning about science” and “figuring out how and why something works.”2020-01-16T16:20:08Z2020-01-16T16:20:08Zdkrefting
<br/><br/>I think the biggest difference between 'learning about' and 'figuring out how/why' has to do with who is at the center of the lesson. With 'learning about' I view it as more teacher directed and picture students sitting at desks or on the carpet listening to the teacher tell them about a science topic. But with 'figuring out how/why', the students are at the center of the learning and are directing the lesson. They are exploring through inquiry, asking questions and conversing with one another. They are engaged with what they are learning which we know is a leading cause as to how students can alter their misconceptions to make more sense.
<br/><br/>'Figuring things out' is most certainly represents where science teaching is today. It has many students at the center with their learning and contains everything from incorporating their metacognition to their imagination. For example, when a flashlight goes out from being left on too long and students are asked to explore possible reasons within a group of classmates, they are using their imagination to think about what the flashlight looks like inside, how flashlights are made, if there are different kinds of flashlights, if flashlights can be powered different ways etc. They are opening up their brains to new questions that can lead them to figuring out answers and in the long run relating it to problems they'll have in the future. Going along with this flashlight example, they are also taking on the problem with a scientists lens through metacognition and thinking about the problem as it relates to the real world. This helps teachers understand where they are confused and how to plan their lessons for the future.
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tag:nabble.aealearningonline.org,2006:post-15112Learning vs Figuring out2020-01-16T16:19:15Z2020-01-16T16:19:15ZMyrna Fynaardt
<br/><br/>I like the idea of focusing on how/why we are studying something in science vs. just studying about something for the sake for just knowing more about something. Again, I think of my seventh and eighth graders from last year where one-third of the students were book learners, self-taught independent learners because they were good readers. The other two-thirds of my students were average readers and would much rather "do" than "read". They were the first one standing up and ready to go when we had a lab or hands-on, observational activity to do.
<br/><br/>Giving students a useful reason to find out something is highly motivating! (I think as adults we have that in our life, too. Having a good reason to know something will drive us much more than just knowing for the sake of knowing.)
<br/><br/>One example I can think of with my students -- two years ago when I was teaching Life Science, we were studying the human body - DNA, cells, mutations, diseases, and treatments, weighing out treatment side-effects vs. disease effects. My mom was going through serious cancer and treatments at that time. My students knew that, even though I never really brought her up in the discussion. When we began to discuss this topic each one of them seemed to become very engaged in taking in the information. I didn't really know if they would care about something that older people go through, but they did. Later in the year, they also listened intently and showed interested in our discussion on viruses, bacteria, and pneumonia. Their teacher had been out of school for some time with pneumonia! I also find that they like to share about people they know or themselves concerning health issues they may have when we discuss these things. The point being -- if there is a reason to learn something, it's more motivating.