Update on reflective assessment of learning in ED 589

My field work as a participant-observer in Integrated Science continues with much hands-on co-investigation and discussion of topics. My role as teacher-researcher has deepened my understanding of the role of teachers as facilitators and as collaborators in learning, ie. with the students.

There continue to be "power issues" however, and I'm not quite sure how to fully address them. I plan on conducting a couple of focussed interviews with students that are coping well and with those that are particularly unhappy about the structure of the class, our roles as "teachers" and their expectations.

In giving up some power or responsibility for the learning process we are trying to guide students to their own knowledge building. The most troubled students are really having a difficult time assuming the role of full participant in the inquiry process.

These power issues are really important and ones I feel must be addresses if I am to get really trustworthy data from the participants in this pilot study. The question is, or one of many questions I need to broach with my focus group is: How does the fact that I may represent the "typical" figure of a scientist/educator effect the attitudes and beliefs they have about the nature of science inquiry?

As I mentioned in the last reflection, I am now even more concerned with how I can get the students to recognize the lens of their own perception/learning as being one that I and others may influence, shape and tint, but not construct for them. They must build their own view of inquiry.

I now have a couple of really good questions to begin with in researching this class from a qualitative standpoint.

In my research proposal (late in coming and confounded by my own need for growth in understanding the nature of qualitative research), I will be asking the following questions:

1. What is science?
In asking this question, I want the participants to answer with and in terms of their own experience of science. I will ask them to refrain from using such terms as „study¾ and „research¾ and look into their own experience for other descriptors.

2. Draw a picture of a "typical" scientist.

3. What does a "scientist" do?

4. Why did you draw this image the way you did?

5. What are your experiences with science?

6. What are your experiences with scientists?

In all of these questions I hope to illustrate and bring out in the student/participants¼ their own conceptions of what scientific research and scientists look like.

I believe many or most of the participants in this class view Dr. Kearny and myself as "scientists-teachers". Their is a definite wish for us to "deliver" knowledge to them in the standard lecture mode. Our efforts to engage them in collaborative inquiry are so often met with resistance that I feel the „power¾ issues are still largely unresolved, and perhaps cannot be resolved until they examine and reflect on the true nature of science inquiry and what a scientist looks like/does.

The Integrated Science class began with the students conjuring up their favorite image of earth, sketching it, and listing various descriptors. We all then used these ideas in an open brainstorming session to build a group concensus of earth and earth systems. It is remarkable that the students came up with the major divisions in earth¼s physical environment that are the fundamental research areas identified by professional scientists, and conceived of interacting „spheres¾. As importantly, they identified an all encompassing sphere of „emotions¾ or human interaction.

I hope my focus on "what is science? what is a scientist?" furthers their reflection on research as inquiry and scientific research as formalized inquiry method.

An ongoing part of the class involves the students in keeping a journal/lab book in which they record their observations, data, descriptions of the activities and reflective notes on the meaning of the inquiry. Included are their ideas on how they would or could use these or similar activities in their own teaching.

I have begun to focus my readings of their journals in search of clues to their conceptions of the nature of science. My participant-observations will continue with renewed vigor in recording their discussions and actions in defining for themselves what science inquiry is. The interviews I hope to conduct toward the end of the semester will focus on two or three individuals. I hope to get participation by one of the students who is clearly "buying into" our strategy and one or two of those that seem to be the most reluctant. In discussing their perceptions of the class, our constructivist approach, and the roles each of us are playing in collaborative learning, I hope to glean some valuable insight into a beginning student¼s perceptions of science as a form of natural inquiry.

As I hone the direction of this pilot study, recognizing that it may indeed lead to other more interesting questions, I will be developing a strategy for my dissertation.

Of the readings I have finished lately, Lofland & Lofland¼s descriptions of participant observation, data collection, memos and field notes are really helping me organize my approach.