12 Learning at the Intersection

Overview

I have attended multiple conferences since I received tenure (2010), including research conferences (AERA, ASTE and NARST[1]) where I presented 10 different papers and practitioner conferences (MnSTA, NSTA, NCTM) where I delivered one invited session and 6 regular sessions. During that time period, I published four research papers, two practitioner articles, and one book chapter. I am Co-editor of a book, Towards Inclusion of All Learners in Science Teacher Education, that will be published by Sense publishers in late fall 2017. I have two chapters for a book and two articles currently under review. I have one book chapter in press with Springer Publication. My research and scholarship focus on different areas: disciplinary literacy, scientific inquiry and explanations and inclusion in science and mathematics.

Disciplinary Literacy

This line of research was generated from an EARLI[2] conference I attended while I was on sabbatical in 2011.  The forum allowed me to understand that I did not support the disciplinary literacy, the reading, the writing and the spoken language, of disciplines like science or math with my preservice teachers. One of the chapters that I have submitted for the book Towards Inclusion of All Learners in Science Teacher Education details how to develop disciplinary literacy in science for all students, especially those with exceptionalities. I use that chapter with my teacher candidates. Another publication in press with Dr. Richard Beech will provide secondary teachers of English an overview of how they can bring elements of the science of global climate change within a text such as Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf. This work originates in the InTEgrate Project led by Julie Bartley and Laura Triplett. Finally, a recent publication in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching (JRST) reports on how teacher created adaptations of science primary literature were used in science classrooms (Koomen, et al., 2016b).

Inclusion in Science and Mathematics

During a debriefing conversation with a student teacher in Minneapolis over ten years ago, I asked about the lack of engagement of a particular student in the lesson.  She responded: “Well, that’s Chad.” Her dismissive attitude about Chad revealed to me that she had no real expectations for his learning. It also pointed out to me that I knew little about how she might go about supporting his learning. This research line was born from what I did not know.

I use Disability Studies in Education (DSE) as my theoretical framework for my work in inclusion. DSE is a field strongly rooted in a commitment to social justice and political transformation and seeks to challenge the way that disability is constructed socially-culturally. The aim of DSE is to deepen understandings of the daily experiences of people with disabilities in schools and universities, throughout contemporary society across diverse cultures, and within various historical contexts. A case study (2016a) that I recently published reported on a student with special education needs in an inclusive seventh grade life science classroom. Wizard used his strengths to help him navigate the science learning environment however, the inclusion that he experienced was fragmented and functional. I use his story and his experiences to give voice and develop understanding of the challenges faced by students with exceptionalities in regular education classrooms like science with my teacher candidates.

A few years ago, we enrolled a teacher candidate with cerebral palsy in our methods courses. Alejandro (pseudonym) shared his story with me about his own experiences in learning science in K-12 settings. The shared work that we did together resulted in a book chapter that will be part of the edited book: Towards Inclusion of All Learners in Science Teacher Education. Like the story of Wizard above, I use Alejandro’s story to help our methods students to understand the complexity that is inclusion and the daily experiences of students with disabilities.

Towards Inclusion of All Learners in Science Teacher Education. I am a Co-Lead Editor with Sami Kahn from the University of Ohio on this edited book that will be published in late fall of 2017. The book seeks to mediate the gap in the research and published literature in inclusive science teacher education as a needed educational resource for learning about how to provide science education to students with disabilities.

Scientific Inquiry and Explanations

This line of research dovetails with the work that I do with teacher candidates at Gustavus. A paper published in 2014 (Koomen, et al.) explores the implementation of scientific inquiry in K-12 classrooms after teachers have completed professional development. We found that the higher sense making skills of inquiry (analyzing data, drawing conclusions and communicating results) were diminished within the classrooms of the teachers we followed, results that I share with my methods students.

The NSF DR-K-12 requires directed research in secondary classrooms. Our main focus is on how teachers who complete our program implement scientific inquiry and promote scientific explanations in the work that they do with their students around citizen science. Lizzy Schutz’16 and Ali Hoffman’17 and four other undergrads have worked with me on this research. Lizzy and Ali and I have a paper under review that studies the development of scientific inquiry and scientific explanations in independent middle school science fair projects. Part of this work included the development of two analytical rubrics aligned with the eight Next Generation Science Standards practices of science (2013) and the claims, evidence and reasoning framework developed by Kate McNeil and Joe Krajcik (2012). The other four undergraduates have assisted in data collection and videotaped classroom lesson transcriptions. Working with undergraduates in research has been a highlight of my career at Gustavus.

Two recent publications in Science and Children, a practitioner journal for K-6 science teachers, feature units developed by former students in practicum (Lauren Pauley’15 and Kendra Weege’15) and two in-service teachers (Jenny Kil and Bonnie Johnson) from the work that I do at the U of MN. These two publications are examples of the intersection of my teaching with my research. All four co-authors developed exemplary units in life science for their classrooms that were well deserving of publication. I brought my understandings of scientific inquiry from the research literature and classroom experience together to shape these two articles that led to the successful publication.